Settling in...

Thus far the process of getting settled in to the new apartment has gone relatively smoothly. I’ve still got a lot of random stuff to buy, but the place is indeed coming along. Here are some misc. observations based on the first week…

There’s a clocktower nearby with a bell that chimes every 15 minutes – one “ding-dong” at a quarter past, two at half past, three at three-quarters past and four on the hour. Additionally, on the hour there is also a subsequent sequence of “dings” that indicate the hour itself (e.g., ten dings at 10am / pm). Though the chiming is nice, I guess it’s best that the clocktower doesn’t follow military time.

This morning I found the exact source – it’s at the top of a lakeside hotel a block or so from my apartment.

Along with the main keys to my apartment, I also received individual keys to all the internal door locks. As you can see from the picture below, if I were to put these on my key chain it’d probably resemble that of a medieval jailor. It is worth pointing out that the keys function from both the inside and outside (i.e., there are no internal hand locks), which leads to some interesting issues.

For example, if you want to lock the bathroom when in use, you’d have to use an actual key from the inside rather than simply turning a latch. Additionally, you effectively could be locked in a room with no way out (since there’s no internal latch) if someone were to lock the door from the outside while you’re inside. I’m not really sure what these locks are for (my temporary apt had similar locks, though no keys) so I think I’ll just pack the keys away.

A couple of days after moving into my apartment, I received a copy of “Les Pages Jaunes” (The Yellow Pages). Of all the things that I didn’t necessarily expect to come across in Switzerland, I’d have to say that the Yellow Pages were probably one of them. I guess the Yellow Pages know no boundaries, be it geographical or cultural.