I don't know why I am moaning - Number Guy has to work his notice and all I have to do is throw out and organise. This is one of the busiest times of the year for him and he is working crazy hours. I think it is finally setting in that while it is a Great Big Adventure, there are some harsh realities - like leaving friends and family behind.
I think we have dealt with all of the legalities and now it is time to sort untilitie etc. HAving said that, the only utility that we have to [ay separately is electricity - the rest is included in our rent, including TV license and Cablecom. We have decided to stay with Cablecom for our TV, Internet, digital package, 'phone etc. This *only* gives us 4 British channels as opposed to the 8 we would have had from Swisscom. But on the whole, I reckon the advantages outweigh the disadvantages - most of the TV that we watch isn't main BBC/ITV anyway and the others aren't available. We could have tried SKY, but the type of insulation on the house means that the facade can't be drilled into, so that is a no-go.
One of the suprises for us has been light fittings - or rather, lack of them. In Switzerland most fittings go with the previous tenant and all that is left is wire poking out of the ceiling, Given that we are arriving in the middle of winter this could be a bit of a problem as we will have so much to organise we won't have many daylight hours to fix lights. Fortunately, a number of fittings are left, namely kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, stairwell. With a couple of plug-in lamps, we will be able to cope for the first few days.
We still need to set up our Swiss Bank accounts (makes me smile everytime I say that). Cheque books are NOT used in Switzerland. There are quite hefty banking charges for using debicredit cards. One way around this, so I believe, is to have a Post Office account. I think this works more like a standard bank account here and use of a debit card isn't penalised. Of course, I could be completely wrong about that...
And just to brighten everyone up on a dull West Coast morning, here is a pic of the garden in the Spring. This garden. The one we won't see this Spring....
I think that you're finding much the same strange things as we found upon coming to this country - the banking & utility differences. Other than that, I think that you're going to settle in. If you need anything when you arrive - special flours, etc. - just let us know. We're in the same spot, of course (who knew that you guys didn't do pinto beans?), but you'll get through it, as we did.
ReplyDeleteOn the "up" side, you get to pick out your own fixtures, and it doesn't sound so radical as how they do it in the Netherlands, where the floors are even stripped down to bare concrete / subflooring!
Welcome to Switzerland!
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