Settling into Switzerland

The first day of work I flew into Zurich at 7am to find one of my bags did not make it. After registering the lost bag the staff tell me that over 500 bags are currently reported lost in Zurich, sounded like a lot to me. I had a shower in the arrival lounge which was great. Then drove to Zug following the road along the lake of Zurich, it was a clear day the sky was blue the snow was on the mountains and everything looked great.

After a week in Switzerland, it has not been a dream run.

Let me get the whinging over with now:
- apartments do not have lights when you move in. Everyone knows it of course, except for the ususpecting expat. Don't be caught without your sare bulb holders, it seems every swiss guy has a complete set.
- shops are mostly closed when you need them. Shops close anywhere between 5-7pm and all day Sunday. I managed to even miss the supermarket on Saturday afternoon leaving me wondering where the hell to get a carton of milk.
- Supermarkets sell you the bags, after bag crazy HK this was major.
Supermarkets don't weigh fruit at the checkout, so guess who held up the line when the loose fruit was presented at the checkout ? They asked where I was from and verified that Australia did actually use the checkout to weigh stuff. God help me if I had come from somewhere that didn't, I would be quickly black banned from the supermarket no doubt.
- Rubbish is something I still haven't figured out. I know you need to recycle and buy certified rubbish 35l bags at 2 bucks per bag!
- Food prices are outrageous, compare with HK sometimes 4-10 times more expensive
- Swiss are quick to tell you what you can't do, especially the older ones
- Lunches in the cafetieria average 12-15 francs per day, that is approx 100 hkd. Compare to 21 hkd for sweet and sour pork with rice and soup and can of drink. I am missing the barbeque pork from HK too.
- water is "hard" and calcium deposits onto pots quickly, also cannot get a lather up with shampoo.

Ok so it's not the easiest place to settle.

Some good stuff:

1. My colleague Tony took me to the DIY store to buy light temporary fittings and installed them for me. I went to his place after for coffee and got a dinner invitation later this week.

2. Another colleague loaned me some light fittings too.

3. Apple Juice was same price as HK

4. There's lots of snow on the mountain

5. The biking looks promising

6. The office is not buzzing like HK

7. The work hours are flexible

8. The local beer tastes ok, but expensive at 9 bucks a pint.

9. The visa process is relatively painless

10. There is a bar close to the office

11. The apartment has a cracking view over the lake and mountains

12. I found a second hand sat tv receiver in the web for 200 bucks, I don't know if that's great or not but the chance of watching some Aus TV would be worth the extra bucks.


Funny Stuff

I saw a doctors surgery sign with the name:

Dr Beat Muff

I cracked up and looked to see if he was a gynocologist.

TTFN