Living in 13 meters squares (140 square feet)

Up until recently, the Swiss Ms. and I have been sharing an apartment in Thalwil with Kevin, a fellow post-doc in my group.  We had hoped to find a place before Kevin's family moved back from the US in early August, but it proved to be but a dream.  Finding housing in Zurich is extremely challenging, time consuming and competitive.  

Fortunately, there seems to be no shortage of business apartments in Zurich.  Since we had become accustomed to the rejection from so many housing applications, it was a pleasant surprise to get the first one we wanted.  

Vision Apartments: They say yes when others say no.

We settled on a cozy thirteen meter squared apartment in Aussersihl, located in the city of Zurich in Kreis 4.  We do miss the view of the mountains and the lake, but there are many more things to do in Zurich than in Thalwil.  Multiple restaurants and cafes are within walking distance, and a short tram ride can take us anywhere downtown.  It's certainly a much different neighborhood than before, but we welcome the chance to explore a new place.



The apartments come fully furnished with a bed, full bathroom and kitchen (with sink, cooking utensils, stovetop, microwave and oven).  How do they do that?  Swiss efficiency.

Everything you need in the kitchen, packed into that small, vertical space.  Note the all important espresso machine!

Fully furnished kitchen.

A small refrigerator with a tiny freezer compartment.

Surprisingly posh bathroom, which comes with soap, shampoo, and conditioner.

They even replace the bath towels twice a week.

Bedding is replaced once a week.  (That bed takes up a good portion of our precious floor space).

She can't believe how small everything is packed in here.  (For reference, she is 5 feet 4 inches tall).  Now imagine this space with our 6 suitcases.

Given such a small kitchen, I wondered how we were going to manage meals on a daily basis.  Well, leave it to the Swiss Ms. to make the most of the situation.

small kitchen = daily quick fire challenge

You can't stop her!

She continues to deliver!

Polenta and ratatouille?  Yes please!

Glamour shot of the beautifully made meal.

Nothing like a warm bowl of oatmeal with fresh peaches.

We also received a little help from my cousin, who sent us a care package from Korea to help tide us over when we're craving something spicy and instant. 

It's a mix of dried squid, a variety of instant noodles (Japagetti, Shin Ramen, Naengmyeon), Marinated Sesame Leaves [Ggaenip” (깻잎)], dried anchovies [Myeol-chee (멸치)], and different Korean cookies and sweets.  Thank you Youna! 

Preparing some Japagetti (짜파게티), courtesy of Youna's care package.

A delicious combination of dehydrated 짜장 (Jajang, a black fried sauce) and 스파게티(spaghetti).  I swear it tastes good.  (Swiss Ms: BRAINS!!)

I will confess that the "oven" has given us some trouble.  It's an odd combination of a microwave/grill/oven.  It can't decide what it is and sucks at all three.

The rare occasion I buy meat in Switzerland, when it's heavily discounted!

While living at Kevin's place in Thalwil, the oven cooked the meat beautifully.

The "oven" at Vision Apartments?  Not so good.  I even had it on the "grill" setting!  As such, we have not been able to bake anything, which really saddens the Swiss Ms.

On the bright side, my commute to ETH in now shorter!  While living in Thalwil, my commute would range from approximately 30 to 40 minutes.  However, in Aussersihl, my commute is never longer than 20 minutes!  

Meanwhile, the permanent housing search continues...

Thanks for reading!

-Herr Cervelat