Since we currently live in Thalwil and I work at ETH in Zurich, I have to take multiple modes of transportation to get to work. As we've already gushed about, the Swiss transportation makes this a remarkably painless and fun task. To get into Zurich, I normally take the IR (think commuter rail, longer distances and faster) or the SB (think more local, shorter distances and frequent stops). Once at Zurich HB, I have three choices to getting to campus. One is to walk, which would take about half an hour and up quite a steep hill. Second is to take a tram, which is a short 5 minute ride. However, the third is unique to Switzerland and is certainly our favorite mode of transportation - the Polybahn!
What is the Polybahn, you ask? It's basically the most fun way to get to campus. It's a funicular, a cliff railway, that is completely automated and takes mere minutes to scale the steep slope to ETH. But enough talking, I bet you want to see pictures!
 |
| Fun awaits! |
 |
| Here it is! Get excited! |
 |
| Yes. I take this every day. Twice. |
 |
| Second car coming down. Wee! |
 |
| At the top, Polybahn lives in its own mini-chalet. |
While the polybahn has been enjoyable, the commute from Thalwil to ETH still takes quite some time (ranging from 20 to 40 minutes, depending on if I make the connections). We had the option of staying in ETH campus dorms, but a post-doc in my group, Kevin, offered us much more affordable housing in Thalwil and has been a wonderful guide, helping us adjust to Swiss life and culture.
We came to learn that obtaining housing is exceedingly difficult in Switzerland, and that we were at a severe disadvantage because we were not Swiss Citizens. In addition, it took us quite a long time to get our resident permit, which is essential to apply for housing. We actually just got our resident permits this week. We had to first register at the Thalwil Gemeinde (municipality) with the following documents:
Passport photo (NO SMILING)
Official Employment Contract from ETH proving I am a postdoktorand
Both of our VISA forms
Passports
Money - Lots of it
Housing Documentation - Proof we live in Thalwil
Setting up an appointment at Oerlikon's Migration office to get our biometrics taken (fingerprints and photos)
Since we were staying with Kevin, we needed an additional form that said we had permission to live in Thalwil. I can imagine that if Kevin's housing or ETH campus dorms weren't available to us, getting into Switzerland would have been quite troublesome. To get housing, we need a residence permit, but to get the residence permit, we need to show we have proof of housing (what?!?!).
This made us all the more appreciative of the foreign students and immigrants who likely navigate a sea of red tape when arriving in the US. Seriously, kudos.
I also recall many people asking what my wife would be doing in Switzerland and that we'd play it by ear. Well, I'm happy to say that she is an absolute superstar and got a year-long nutrition education research fellowship that allows her to work remotely while she is in Switzerland! She'll even occasionally travel to the States to present her work. This resulted in quite the humorous exchange at the Thalwil Gemeinde:
Gemeinde Official: Do you have a job in Switzerland?
Swiss Ms: No, but I have job in the States.
Gemeinde Official: So you are a housewife.
Swiss Ms: No, maybe I wasn't clear. I will be doing work here in Switzerland for a job based in the US.
Gemeinde Official: But not employed in Switzerland?
Swiss Ms: Yes...
Gemeinde Official: Then in Switzerland, you are a housewife.
The form listed her as a "HausFrau" (housewife).
We were able to open a bank account with the temporary Gemeinde form, but not much else. We had to wait until our appointment at Oerlikon's Migration Department to get our biometrics taken to apply for apartments, or sign up for cell phones. Finally, we received our residence permits in the mail this week! Both the Postdoktorand and HausFrau are finally on the Swiss grid.
Whew! That was a lot of text! Sorry about that! We didn't want to put pictures of our official documents online.
Toni Jogurt Update:
We finished the Tonis! There weren't that many flavors, but we tried the last three from Coop.
 |
| Himbeere (Raspberry) Toni. It was ok. |
 |
| Erdbeere (Strawberry) Toni. Very good! |
 |
| Mocha Toni. Really good. |
To wrap up this post, we have both my and Swiss Ms' rankings of the Tonis we have tried.
Sir Cervelat's Toni Rankings
1) Blood Orange
2) Strawberry
3) Mocha
4) Stracciatella
5) Chocolate
6) Raspberry
7) Nougat
Swiss Ms' Toni Rankings:
1) Chocolate
2) Mocha
3) Blood Orange
4) Strawberry
5) Raspberry
6) Nougat
7) Stracciatella <--- I disagree with this.
Thanks for reading!
-Sir Cervelat
No comments:
Post a Comment