Back "Home" (part1)

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Hey guys,

That was a long break, I know...
Things worked out finally. On Friday 4pm, I got my visa back to US from the consulate in Bern.
I trippled checked everything there!
Once I returned to Zurich, I bought the flight ticket to LAX right away for the coming Sunday (I could not re-book my flight ticket for the second time with Swiss air since the only time I could have used was in November!). However, I was lucky not to miss my quarter and be back to the place that I had been living for 3 years.

The first thing to do after hearing the news was to inform my family, my close friends in SB and also my adviser.
Preparing all the documents, and information etc. That took me some time to make sure I was not missing anything. You wanna enter US, well, you need to have all the possible documents ready.

On Saturday, I had to take care of some last minute things. I made a list of 20 items To-Do-List.
Printing some pictures, mailing some documents and letters. Also, I wanted to make sure I had bought the things related to Switzerland so I won't miss it when I come back to US. Who knows when would be the next time that I will be there. Although, I had made a promise that I would come back to the Mount-Pilatus someday. But with my girlfriend or wife next time. :-D
Long way to go. :-D

Tofigh: my good friend in Zurich. We only knew each other for one month. However, I enjoyed the company with him. He had just recently arrived in ETH Zurich to study Electrical engineering as a PhD student. I guess, almost all the Iranians all around the world are doing a PhD in Engineering. We had to stay at
a friend's place for a month. That was such a wonderful time. We had a lot of discussions about everything. He is a smart guy and open minded and full of experience. I am sure he will be a successful person in his life and career. Too bad that I don't know when I can see him again. However, thanks to Facebook, we can get some frequent updates.
The good part of my unwanted extension was finding such a great friend. And I am really glad that this happened this way.
Wish you the best Tofigh khaan.

We went to the market place by the Bahnhofstrasse. Tofigh bought some stuff for his future place. Then we had the lunch on the boat taking the short cruise (1 hour and a half) on the Zurich lake.
Then Tofigh had to finish some research. So, I enjoyed my last minutes in Zurich. I took some pictures from the main building of ETH.
It is interesting that on the last day, I was paying attention to the things that I had noticed on my arrival in Zurich! :-) The trams and public transport, people's attitude, the narrow and not grid-type streets and the European lifestyle which could be noticed right away.
As you can guess, I did not miss the river (lake) walk which was one of my favorites.

Then I headed home to finish packing. That did not seem too bad. It was maybe the first time that I did not have to stay up late in the night to finish packing. Managing my time seemed to function well in this case.

On Sunday morning, Tofigh accompanied me to the Zurich airport.
A last picture with him and bybye.
I don't need to talk about the experience I had with the airport. Just unbelievable!

Anyhow, I wanted to talk about the things, differences, likes and dislikes and everything in Switzerland.
They are totally my personal perception and I don't want to generalize things either.
I just want to share it with you guys. Maye you have had the same feeling or even the opposite.
So, I don't have any intention to offend anyone. Specially Swiss people.

likes:
1- I liked the dairy products more than the ones in the US. Taste and also freshness. And not much preservatives (My German speaking friends, this does not mean condom :-) ).

2- I liked the fact that people were more cautious and considerate about the trash and recycles. The trash bins were on average one fifth of the size in the US. And you could not find many of them either. I think I mentioned that in Zurich, you have to pay around 5-6$ for each trash bag that you are mandated to use! That would make you think more about recycling and trying to be more efficient.

3- I liked the idea of the having a warm coffee at the top of the mountain in a hut! And you could see that in a lot of spaces.

4- Transportation. I think only Japanese can beat the Swiss system. So, I would not talk about it more as you can imagine how amazing the whole system was/is functioning.

5- I found Swiss people rather humble. Considering the fact that Switzerland is the 3rd (4th) in the world ranking based on the GDP per Capita (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita ), they are really rich people.

6- Chocolate, no question about it. :-)

7- Absolutely beautiful gorgeous mountains and nature. No one should miss the nature in alps.

8- I loved Pilatus-Mount view! 360' degree view.

9- My roommates in Zurich, Eva and Alexandra. So friendly, helpful, cool, funny and down to earth.


dislikes,
1- The weather in fall and partly in winter (which I hardly experienced). All foggy and gloomy. You don't get to see the sun anytime unless you go to high elevations. My last days in Zurich, were somehow like that.

2- I did not like the attitudes of the waiters/waitresses in most of the restaurants and Cafes' that I went to. One reason for that is the tipping system which does not exist in many European countries.

3- How early the markets and shops closed (I guess this might be in a lot of places in Europe too). Around 5-6pm. Although you could find some big stores in the big and crowded areas of the city.

4- My friends studying at EPFL and ETHZ universities told me that based on the current rules in Switzerland, after you graduate, you only have TWO weeks to leave the country!
Imagine if you have lived there for 4-5 years to get your PhD degree, and now you want to leave the country. Only two weeks! Come on!

5- Finding housing there in Zurich was no way comparable to what I had seen here in US. My friend Tofigh was going through a nightmare to rent an apartment. In most of the places, he had to fill out the application forms which required a lot of information which seemed a bit ..., well, maybe I should stop here.
Just as an example, information regarding your income and nationality. I think based on the current CA rules, the landlord is not even allowed to ask your nationality.

6- I could see that Swiss people and society in general would like to keep the things the way they are.
Not a big fan of big and crazy changes. Provided that they have a direct democracy system, it requires a big effort and a lot of time to change things.
Just a very simple example which I am sure would surprise a lot you guys (like myself) is this:

"The Swiss referendum on women's suffrage was held on 1 February 1959. The majority of Switzerland's men voted no, however in some cantons the vote was given to women. Switzerland was the last Western republic (although women could not vote in the constitutional monarchy of Liechtenstein until 1984). Women did not gain the right to vote in federal elections until 1973."

So, until 1973, women could not vote in federal elections. And just compare the dates with all the neighboring countries in Switzerland. That somewhat shows how they are more prone to their own values and believe system.

Germany: 1919
France: 1944
Italy: 1946
Austria: 1918

I am sure a Swiss friend could help me more in understanding this matter specially regarding the women's right to vote.


Ok, I thought I could finish this post tonight. But now it is 3:45am and I have a class tomorrow morning. I will continue this post in the next one.

Best,
Momo

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