Laundry

As anyone who has lived abroad can tell you, laundry is certainly one of the most challenging aspects of expat living.  It doesn't seem like something that would be a big deal, but it is.  It is a very big deal.

Ready to wash.  Detergent and laundry card are ready to go!

In Switzerland, each apartment building handles laundry differently. Some buildings, like ours (thank goodness) are first come, first served when it comes to laundry.  In other buildings there is a roster where one must sign up.  In others, there are assigned days for each apartment.  Typically when this is the case, each tenant is given full use of the laundry room for one day every three weeks or so!  Just to keep things exciting, it's a date, not a day that you're given.  So you might wind up having a Thursday, in which case you'd be at work most of the day and then tasked with cramming 8 or 9 loads of laundry in before midnight.  No thank you!

Regardless of when you can do laundry, there are all sorts of rules. In Neuchâtel, the laundry room was locked at 10 pm and all day Sunday. Apparently the concierge in that building was not aware that Sunday is the universal day for doing laundry. Apparently I had never considered laundry "work," nor lived in such a religious place.  Go figure.  

At any rate, I can't really read the rules in my current laundry room. Here's a sampling of the signs I'm wondering about.

I can see that I'm not supposed to do laundry after 10 pm.  Standard enough.  I wonder what the rest says.  Clearly there are some really bright ideas outlined in this rule list.  That man has a lightbulb over his head, that's how I know.

I did manage to gather from this sign that there is a washer and dryer for the red side and another for the blue side.  

It's helpful that this sign is in blue and the other one is in red.

Unfortunately, I couldn't remember what side I live on, so I just did my laundry in the empty machine, which is the red side machine.  Side of what you ask?  Oh, you'll see.

That's when the fun really began.  Do I put my detergent tablet in the little compartment up top or straight in with the clothes?  What does all of this mean?

Hell if I know.

In the end, I put my laundry tablets up top and it seemed to work out fine. Then I went upstairs and set a timer to make sure I am there the moment the cycle finishes.

Action shot.  I can't help but be puzzled by the total lack of suds.

On the way up, I checked to see which "side" I live on. Our apartment is up the stairs to the left, so it turns out I live on the "blue" side.  I can't believe it.  First load and I'm already breaking the rules!  

The lobby is nothing short of hideous.  A far cry from the lovely Silver Court!

Arrival

Our arrival in Switzerland two weeks ago seems like a decade ago. We have as been busy as little bees! We start work full time tomorrow. What happened to summer? Did it fly by or never arrive? I'm going with the latter.

We flew to Zurich July 30th on standby with my wonderful friend Andrea who works for a big airline company.  Miraculously we managed to check 8 huge, overweight pieces of baggage and boxes and got on all of our flights with no problems!  As far as Andrea's getting back to the US on time, that's another story...she had a longer than expected mini-vacation in Zurich.  Uh oh.

We were so surprised to see that our administrator had arranged our apartment so that it was all ready for us when we arrived.  

It was also a big surprise to see our names are on little engraved plaques all over the place - the entry intercom, next to our door, on our mailbox.  So official.  So Swiss.

Although Andrea was effectively stuck here, that meant we had plenty of time to sightsee in Zurich.  One of the funniest passages in our Rick Steves' Switzerland book is about the hypodermic needle machine in Central Zurich.  Rick notes that Switzerland has very progressive drug policies and that doing so has helped to clean up a bit of the drug problem in the country, making it safer for everyone.  He is very tongue in cheek when he writes, "Go ahead, buy a box [of needles] - it's about the cheapest souvenir you can purchase in Zurich."  We did not buy a box as we felt it was best to leave them for the heroin junkies.  But we did stop for a pic with the machine.  Probably the most offensive snapshot possible!

It never hurts to arrive on the eve of the National Day, so we were at a fabulous paella party within 48 hours of arrival, hosted by the brother-in-law of our administrator, Susanne.  To make it extra fun, we took a cable car up to Felsenegg and hiked to the party over two hills.

Walking along.

The patio all ready for the revelers.

Paella in progress.

After dessert, it started to rain, so a tarp was put up.  And when the tarp wasn't enough we grabbed the wine and made a run for it inside.

It was quite the storm!  The dragon downspouts put on quite a show.  As did the lightning!

Once it cleared up, we headed up the hill, watched the fireworks and then went to a big party in a barn!

Of course, that only covers the first two days.  I'll catch up.  Maybe this afternoon.  Maybe later.

Dream Car For Sale

I've dreaded this moment, as I really wish we could keep this lovely auto forever.  But the time has come to part with our darling 2005 Volkswagen Golf TDI GLS.  

This is the ideal car because it is fast, safe and very attractive.  The GLS model has four doors and is fully loaded - Air Conditioning, Moon Roof, CD/Cassette, Alloy Wheels, Heated Seats, Tilt Wheel, Power Windows, Power Locks, Alarm, 5 Speed and much more.  

We are the second owners.  Four new, matching tires purchased in April.  Very low miles!  Just 53K.  This beautiful car is truly in excellent condition.  Please email if you're interested.  Just click the "Email Me" button on the right!

Thank you for your interest!

Our New Apartment

These pictures were taken in April, but with all the hoopla of waiting two months for our work permits to be approved, finishing up school, giving notice to stop managing our current building and so on, this is the first chance I've had to post them.  So exciting!  

Front entrance to the building.  Not a total beauty, but not hideously ugly either.

Back of the building.  

Our street.

Foyer.

Bedroom.

Bathroom I.

Bathroom II.  Eco-flushing toilet and radiator to warm towels.  Alright!

Kitchen from living room.

Living room.

Kitchen up-close.  Very modern and clean!

Ceramic top stove might take some getting used to, but the dishwasher won't!

Living room balcony view to the left.

Living room balcony view to the right.

View from kitchen balcony.

And the other direction.

The departing tenant has left the couch for us and from some expats getting ready to leave Switzerland we got a bedroom set.  Other than that, it's going to be lots of furniture and setting up house.  It's going to be so much fun!

Letting Go {Moving Forward}

I become very attached to the space I live in.  Sadly for me, the time has come to let go of this incredible apartment.  It's not easy.  

When we left our last apartment to come to this one, it was literally a gut wrenching experience for me.  It made me sick to dismantle that home and move out of that space.  This time around won't be quite so dramatic, partly because I've had ample time to prepare mentally and partly because I am very excited about our new life in Switzerland.  But still.  

When we left the Olympic in Northwest, I made it bearable by cleaning the apartment from top to bottom and taking photos so I could remember it just like that.  The funny thing is, I didn't really miss it at all once I was gone.  These are the photos I took.  I do remember it just like that.

So, I plan to do the same thing here.  Tonight I'll get the place all cleaned up, take photos and remember it just like that.  Hopefully, though it seems ridiculously impossible, I won't miss it at all!

Sweet Sweet Sweet

I have never tasted strawberries as wonderful as these.  I bought half a flat at one of those fruit stands out in The Gorge and the car ride home smelled heavenly.  As my mom said, these taste the way strawberries are supposed to taste.  Today, I'm going to try my hand at freezer jam.  The past few days, I've enjoyed many a bowl of these strawberries with fresh whipped cream.  Perfection doesn't last for long.