Happy New Year!

Just in time before the New Year is about to ring in here in Switzerland. I had guests who insisted to go into town to see the fireworks, and was very worried about me being alone here at midnight.

Not even a million francs, ok maybe 100thou, would make me leave the comfort and warmth of my home to venture into a cold and rainy and very crowded Zürich at this time. Nope, instead I'm off to my neighbours who has a fab view of the whole city (incl fireworks) and from there I can roll home in no time.

Happy New Year!

Democracy at its finest

Tonight was a great evening. I had invited a couple, quite a bit older than me, for dinner. At the same time I had talked to another friend about meeting up, and as it turned out, he could only make it today. So I decided to let them meet each other.

On one hand we had the older conservative been-together-forever couple, dressed up nicely and always behaving, on the other hand the motorbike guy clad in leather with tattooes and an attitude.

And it was a hit! At least for the guys who discussed politics, religion and who-knows-what. We, the women, were shakin' our heads and tried to butt in but to no avail. I think it's great that different generations, backgrounds and cultures can still have a nice evening together.

They kept on talking, talking, talking and when I served the dessert the mc guy was drinking out of the bowl to get the last bit of juice, to be followed by the older and more conservative guy doing just the same. This is what I like to see when I throw a dinner or party. Unruly behaviour and not being predictable.

A fab evening!

Christmas 2015

It was a fairly quiet Christmas Eve this year. There were four of us, having a mixture of ethnic food. And I was impressed by one of the visitors, a friend of my flatmate. She was very young, but engaged, had an education as a baker (the schoggi-mousse was fab!) but has now chosen another career, together with volunteer work for refugees. There is hope yet for the future.

So no stress, just a very pleasant evening with some Christmas music on the computer and no presents in sight. Good so.

Horse show

Last week I went to the stables to watch a show. It was interesting. A combo of professionals (I'll never be able to ride like that!) and students like myself riding in formation, a tiny pony who clearly had his own will and refused to jump, a white unicorn (a white horse with wings attached) and a "bull", consisting of two men under a cloth being chased by a horse. Funny. Sorry about the quality of the pics.

The postman never rings

Yesterday my door rang and the wee neighbour came to deliver a letter for me that had been put in their mailbox, together with a note from the postman:

"Sorry, I put the letter for Annika in your mailbox". And a smiley. How sweet!

Have to remember to give him/her a few cookies on Christmas Eve.

Swiss XXVI

It seems like we're not done with the paperwork. Today I received a "Bürgerrechtsurkunde" (like a citizen formal document) with the city symbol carved out in the paper. The mayor congratulates me and welcomes me to Switzerland and Zürich and tells me I can now vote. Plus that I am invited to a party next year! Who would've thought?

And all I can think about is that where is the bill for this?

Trash men

I dunno what's wrong with men, but something it is. What do they think it means when a trash bag is placed next to the door? That it's decoration?

Swiss XXV

I won! Almost exactly 48 hours after I applied for ze Swiss ID-card, it got delivered directly to my door yesterday. It's like ze Swiss had given up. Ok, so we've given her permission to be a citizen, now we'll show her how quick we can act.

So here I am, a Swissie at last!

Swiss XXIV

Today I went to the "Kreisbüro", the office that handles the applications for a Swiss ID. Yes, you'd think that the paper from yesterday would be enough, but no. Ze Swiss requires you to have at least an ID, even if you don't want a passport. Another 70 francs.

And of course I didn't think to bring a photo. I wasn't the first, since a photo-machine was placed in the foyer. One of these modern ones, which the staff knew, so I was guided through the whole process. Even when we left, me being 10 francs poorer, the machine was still talking.

You're not allowed to show teeth on the pic, why I have no clue, but I remember one time when I took a photo for a passport and had to show an ear. New year, new rules.

So of course I looked really silly, not being made up for a pic. But that's almost always the case, isn't it? I've never seen anybody look good on a passport or ID pic.

I was promised that it would be delivered to me in ten working days, so I hope to have it all done this year. Wouldn't that be something to celebrate on the 31st?

Swiss XXIII

As per 10th of December, coincidentally the day the Nobel prize winners are celebrated, I finally got it! I feel like a winner! Not a Nobel prize mind you, but a win over the Swiss bureaucracy!

I am a citizen!!!

Breast pics

Today I've seen pictures of my breasts. Why you ask? It's not like I haven't seen them before, but to be honest never on a picture.

I went to do a routine mammography, and this time I brought the x-rays from last time, which was five years ago. I remember when they blamed me for not doing that, so yesterday I was locating them, making sure they were in my bag.

Not necessary, as it turned out, they already had my former pics on file. Guess progress has been made the last ten years.

And indeed it has. When leaving the clinic today I had a CD with pics of my breasts instead of these voluminous x-rays. And of course I had to look at it. Not that I got much out of it, other than that my breasts looked really fine. Nice and round and perky (even though it felt like they were flat as pancakes during the mammography). Seriously, I have no clue. Yes, I could see it was a breast, but that was about it.

But as everything was fine, I'm happy. Breasts ok, check!

No jinx

Was visiting some friends this evening, and was proudly telling them that I'm almost Swiss. At which time one of them presented a Swiss ID. WTF!?! Here have I been telling them all about my struggles and the preposterous process I've been going through, and I haven't heard beep from them.

I tell you, some people. The reason was "we didn't wanna jinx it".

And I know, they have been here three years longer than me, but not enough years in Zürich. What I didn't know was that Zürich changed the rules from six to three years some time ago. I'm not one to read the fine print. Still twelve years in Switzerland though.

But I can still win, they started their process in February 2014 and got their ID's in October this year. One year and eight months. I started mine in September 2014 and am almost there. But considering ze Swiss admin, who can be sure?

At least we can celebrate together. If and when I get mine.

Apts available

I'm considering renting out a few of my flats here in central Zürich. Ah, you didn't know that I am in possession of more than one?

Well, as a matter of fact I am. Seems like I'm trustworthy and keys are given to me left, right and center. Hehe.

The only catch is that one of the apts is only available for one day, the other two are empty and up for grabs. Any takers?

Pipe-rinsing

Since a couple of weeks the water in the kitchen hasn't drained properly, and every time the dishwasher was running it collected dirty water in the sink. Yikes.

We've tried everything from cleaning the bit you can reach, pumping to various kinds of cleaning products (avoid, avoid, no good for environment, but when desperate...). Anyway, I had to give in and call a professional.

And professional he was, bringing the heavy artillery with hoses, pump and all sorts of gadgets. Loud they were too, but after an hour or so my pipes were as good as new. Apparently you're supposed to do this every 4-5 years and I've been living here 6.5.

But he gave me a good tip. Instead of trying the useless products on the market, boil several liters of water and splash it down the sink, all in one go. That will clean out fat and things stuck. I shall do this now and then.

But for now, I have a pristine sink with pipes as clean as a whistle.

Zoo III

And the last round is always through the Masoalahalle looking at the giant turtles and enjoying the rain forest.

Zoo II

This is like Kingkong, reflecting the girl in the glass. And a very cute gorilla baby.

And I think there shall be camel babies next year, since I had the pleasure of watching foreplay. Camel-style.

Zoo I

Last year I missed going to the zoo, but yesterday I was there, enjoying the penguin parade once again. They just look too funny.

I was on my own this time, and I almost got lost so I missed the tigers and the lions, but no regrets. I always feel bad for them, having such a small space to live in. But I saw lots of others.

On the countryside

I was at a party last Saturday. It started with us going on horse carriages, two of them drawn by six horses, the biggest 728 kg and about 1.80 cm tall. Big, impressive, well-trained horses. And a joy to join the ride so to speak. It did help with us having wolly blankets and glühwein served.

It felt almost mystical, being in front of the wagon listening to the click-clack-click-clack from the horses hooves, driving through a misty village from dusk to total darkness. Cool. I don't think most people understood how difficult it is to be a driver under those circumstances.

Then we had a fab dinner with tablegrill, a buffet with all sorts of food from bacon, three different kinds of meat, to cheese and garnish. It tasted fantastic after being outside for hours.

And I do think my speech went down well. I cannot be sure, maybe there were just polite, but I have a good feeling and I know my birthday friend had too.

All in all it was a great evening spent with a bunch of nice people of all ages I've gotten to know quite well here in Switzerland. Makes me feel welcome being an almost-Swiss.

A German poet

I'm invited to a birthday party on Saturday. A biggie. An even number, and a dear friend of mine. So tonight I had a few glasses of wine, trying to write a poem in German. Trust me, it needs quite a few glasses.

It's not like she's not fluent in English, but being an almost Swiss, I think it's important to show that I can do it in her language.

Just to give you an example, try rhyming on "Schweizer", and all I could come up with was "Jägermeister". Which is something I'd never drink, but white wine didn't work with my rhyming skills.

But in the end, I think I got it. Well, I don't really know until I've given the speech. Which is another worry. Swiss people don't do speeches at parties. Ah well, maybe it's time they learn to deal with foreigners :)?