One Year Down, ?? To Go

Happy Halloween! And happy one-year anniversary on Oct 31 to our family since arriving in Zürich!! Yes, it's simultaneously been the longest and quickest year of our life. So allow me to catalog exactly what we've achieved. Although many list items will sound mundane (they are), imagine the same accomplishments when unfamiliar with your surrounding city, culture, offerings and language. We were quite lucky with the frequency of English spoken in Zürich, things could have been much tougher. But being unable to read anything--packaging, letters, offers, specifications, instructions, etc. (especially in the beginning)--and every item being slightly different than what we're used to makes for a tough slog. And everything costing 2-3 times as much makes any purchase feel like a mistake at first. So here we go, one year of achievements in no particular order...

We worked through the red tape of residence and work permits. We moved twice in two months, first to outlying Kloten in Nov then to Zürich in Jan. We obtained drivers licenses two weeks ago without ever driving (and were repeatedly reminded of the extreme shortcomings of Illinois state government). We located suitable doctors and dentists and groomers and veterinarians and pharmacies. I've learned 1,400 German words and four verb tenses and more grammar than I've heard since eighth grade. We opened a Swiss bank account and circumnavigated online banking and security, conducted wire transfers and learned lessons about maintaining foreign (U.S.) bank accounts; we won a random bank drawing worth 100 CHF in wine. We figured out domestic and foreign postage and how to obtain and mail absentee ballots. We've found repair shops or made calls to fix bikes and espresso machines and smashed computer hard-drives and our Internet connection and washing machine. I finally found a male haircut for the rock-bottom price of 28 Francs instead of the usual 60 CHF; the only catch is you have to speak a little German. Steph only had one Swiss haircut (price = ouch!) in a year, the other two in the U.S.

We've managed through several iterations of electrical transformers and adaptors for all manner of devices; we've improved weak lighting and poor fixtures; we figured out the pay-per-volume garbage system, where using the wrong garbage bag earns a fine. We elucidated the various recycling locations and methods for each plastic, glass, paper & cardboard, and whatever doesn't fit in your kitchen garbage can (for example, big pieces of packing Styrofoam). We've purchased bedroom furniture and patio furniture and entire closets and other storage units without ever using a car. We paid triple the U.S. price (on sale!) for an imported Weber grill from Palatine, IL, a mere 25 miles from our old home, and never regretted it for one instant (I've had some snafus buying charcoal, however).

We figured out public transportation on trams, buses and commuter & interregional trains, including day cards, short trips, round trips, half-fares, weekend rates, add-on zones, flex-passes, dog fares and bike fares, all inside and outside the Zürich network. We acquired cell phones and astronomically expensive calling plans (no other choice), a phone land-line, broadband Internet connection (twice) and cable TV with digital recording. We learned to work several non-U.S. versions of ovens, stoves, washers, driers, and dishwashers; we learned lessons on laundry soap and mandatory appliance water softeners and mandatory dishwasher glass sparkler.

We haven't watched a single TV football or baseball or basketball game; we did watch TV netball games in Kloten. I haven't played a single hand of poker. We went out to exactly zero movies. But we did see R.E.M. in concert. And we have been bowling. I haven't driven, not even once; Steph drove once for work. We haven't skied (to be remedied in early December--who lives in Switzerland and doesn't ski??). We haven't been served a single unsweetened iced tea in a year, but we drink real Coca-Cola with cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup.

On the cuisine front, we discovered Cervelat sausage, crusty Bürli rolls, Christmas fire-pliers Glühwein plonk punch, ubiquitous veal Kalbsgeschnetzeltes, mystery-meat Pferde, delicious cheesey Chäschüchli, chocolate-filled Schoggigipfels, German Maultaschen, Turkish Döner kebabs, blood orange juice (Blutorangensaft), Appenzeller bitters, Rivella Red and Tomme & Tilsiter cheeses. We still miss the burrito but found the best Mexican food in Switzerland (one authentic Mexican ingredient store + everyday grocery produce + our kitchen); we've never made better corn tortillas from scratch.

Healthwise, I was sick once a month for the first six months, but only once afterwards.

Hobbes has explored hiking trails and farm fields and cow pastures and dozens of parks. He's swum repeatedly in mountain-fed lakes and streams. He's a pro at riding on public buses and trams; he's ski lifted up mountains and visited cities in Switzerland that his parents haven't even seen. He's upset swans and ducks but won the hearts of Swiss groomers and veterinarians and pet-shop owners. He misses his old buddy Charlie but loves nature-friendly Switzerland.

Athletically, we swam in Lake Zurich and the Adriatic Sea. I road-biked up 1,800 feet in Zürich and mountain-biked down 3,500 feet in Interlaken; we biked from our front door to Germany (but not back). I hiked to the Alps' Faulhorn peak and ran two half marathons (far from equaling a marathon) but no triathlons despite training for them.

We attended 2008's second-largest world sporting event and Europe's most popular (practically in our backyard), participated in one of the world's largest outdoor rave parties, and spent three days at the world's most legendary beer festival. I saw a gigantic snowman's head explode and burst into flames.

Together we visited 26 cities in 8 European countries (blue tags on the map below); Steph visited six additional cities including twice each to Russia and Istanbul, Turkey (yellow tags, zoom out twice to see them all). We returned to the U.S. twice.



Most importantly, we hosted or rendezvous'ed with 11 different U.S. visitors on 15 wonderful occasions throughout the year. And although we spent our first seven months in Switzerland virtually friendless, we've since made friends from Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Mexico, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.S. (thanks, Europameister 2008!).

A huge thanks to everybody for their extraordinary support, whether that means visiting Europe or just reading the blog and commenting or emailing once in a while, we really appreciate it! So we now have one year down and ?? to go.

Ah yes, and one other recent accomplishment. I also found a job. More on that soon.