Furka Pass (Valais, Switzerland) as seen in the James Bond film “Goldfinger”
Tag: Swiss Life
Föhn
It’s difficult to sleep when the föhn wind is blowing. Damns Alps!
Alpkäse
I like that the largest sign on this post is advertising cheese for sale! (Alpkäse)
3 Years in Switzerland
Wow. It’s sort of hard to believe that it’s been three years to the day that we arrived in Switzerland. Also hard to believe that it’s already been two years since I wrote this post. On the other hand, the past five months have felt like two years unto themselves.
Some things have changed, others have not. We still don’t know how much longer we’ll stay here (our right to stay depends upon a local job and a permit that must be renewed annually). We still have not really integrated into society here.
On the other hand, I’ve learned a lot more German (after two years of twice-weekly German classes), we’ve traveled pretty extensively both within Switzerland and around Europe (not so much in 2020), and I’ve hiked quite a few mountains.
I still love it here. It’s not perfect. No place is. As much as we complain about the (belated, confusing, mistake-ridden) coronavirus response here, it’s worlds better than the tragedy/disaster that is the United States’ handling of the pandemic.
What’s next? I’m not sure, but it looks like we’ll get another year here. Hike some more mountains, I guess. Explore Portugal more when it’s safe to do so. Work on our bagel baking.
A Year In Switzerland
One year ago today I arrived in Switzerland. Time flies! The past year went by quickly. I really enjoy living here, especially because the pace of life is very different from in the U.S. Still, it can be tough living in a foreign country, especially one where you struggle with the language.
Things I’m pleased about
- Haven’t driven to the supermarket in a year
- Can see cows and corn and mountains from our apartment
- Left my old job and now work for myself
- Learned a fair amount of German
- Visited UK, Portugal, Italy, and France
- Visited many beautiful places in Switzerland
Things that didn’t go as planned
- Need to exercise more
- Need to manage my time better
- Wish I had learned more German
- Wish I had met more locals
- Would like to have traveled even more
Much of the first year in a new place is just settling in: finding a place to live, setting up the apartment, getting a car, finding care providers, learning how things work, learning how and where to buy things, etc. The first year is always the hardest. I hope now that that’s behind us, we’ll have more time to exercise and travel both internationally and domestically.
We don’t know how long we will be here. I’d love to stay for a few more years, but that might not work out. Regardless, we hope to make the most of our time here.