Tag: Swiss Life

Five Years in Switzerland

Five years ago today we arrived in Switzerland to start a new phase of our lives. 2022 has been a definite improvement for us over the previous two years. COVID of course is still a specter looming over us, but we’ve learned how to live with it (being vaccinated and twice-boosted helps). We’ve traveled extensively within Switzerland, getting to know some of the most scenic parts of the country (focusing on the mountains and high alpine valleys).

In the Spring I returned to the US for the first time in three years and finally got to visit family.

I attended (and spoke at) an in-person tech conference for the first time in three years (and promptly got COVID). I’ve been serving as iOS Chapter Lead and building internal IP at YML for over a year now. The role continues to bring me enjoyment and satisfaction.

I hike regularly and when it’s too hot to hike I hit the lake on our paddle board or our foldable kayak.

Integrating into Swiss society remains a challenge, but over the past year I have finally joined and am active in a Swiss “verein” (a non-profit club): Swiss RPG. It’s an RPG club through which I run a D&D campaign (The Wild Beyond The Witchlight) and play in a West Marches-style shared community world. My son and I got into D&D 5e in a big way last year. Now instead of doom-scrolling Twitter I hang out in the Swiss RPG Discord discussing the merits of different character builds or how to DM particular adventures. This past year we also attended our first fantasy convention, Fantasy Basel where we were able to play some in-person D&D at the Swiss RPG booth.

At the end of this month I resume German lessons after a two-year hiatus. In October I plan to take the A1/A2 Goethe test that is a requirement for applying for permanent residency.

I’m looking forward to at least another year living in this beautiful country.

4 Years in Switzerland

view from the Klausenpass

Four years ago today my plane touched down in Switzerland. I’ll be honest: I had higher hopes for 2021 a year ago. In some ways things are definitely better: Trump is no longer the U.S. President and amazing COVID-19 vaccines have been developed and are widely available in both the U.S. and Europe. Everyone in my immediate family has been vaccinated. On the flip side, the Delta variant is worrying and I don’t know when if ever things will be normal-ish again. I haven’t had any German lessons since the pandemic began, and I feel like we haven’t made much progress on integrating into Swiss culture. But unable (or unwilling) to travel abroad, we have gotten to know more out of the way parts of Switzerland over the past year.

I spent a 9-month stint working with the amazing mobile team at BlockFi on a native re-write of their mobile app. I’m quite proud of the accessibility support that we built into the app. In May I returned to work at Y Media Labs in a role as principal engineer.

It’s been a cold, damp, rainy summer so far in our corner of Switzerland. The weather for water sports has not been very good. It feels like the summer that never was.

What’s next? I’m still not sure, but it looks like we’ll get another year here, maybe two. Hike even more mountains. Snowshoe through the winter. Work on my cross-country skiing.

Dreikönigskuchen

Yesterday was Dreikönigstag, which in Switzerland means you share a sweet bread, the Dreikönigskuchen. One of the pieces has a plastic wiseman baked inside and whoever gets it is king for the day. A paper crown is included. It was so tasty yesterday that we bought another today.