So... What's New?

No relevence to this blog entry,
I just like this photo of Chris

Now I know what you are going to say, "Oh no here comes another 2/3/4-part blog update on every detail of his life in Switzerland since his last blog entry several months ago... I best put on a pot of coffee...". Well, normally you would be right. I like telling stories and I tend to get carried away with my writing, resulting in blogs of hundreds of lines that would force any readers to set aside an entire evening just to get through a single blog entry.

As of this moment, that will change.

I, Paul Reed-Peck, AKA Ernie McPeck, do hereby solemnly swear to limit the amount of babbling that goes on in my blogs, keeping entries precise and succinct whilst still attempting to describe my Swiss adventures with the same amount of honesty and reality.

A Blog on the Move!

Phew - that was a bit of an effort!

Aaahhh... Now I can finally relax...

Have just finished transferring all my old blog entries from my previous Internet host to my Blogspot blog, something that wasn't made much easier by the fact that Blogspot's "Import" functionality didn't want to work (think this is a known issue as many others have complained about getting the same error as me - sort it out Blogspot/Blogger!).

I had to manually copy and paste all my old blog entries, so that took me a little while. I wanted to keep the readers comments for each entry as well, but unfortunately Blogspot wouldn't let me edit the post time for each comment, so now it looks like everyone commented on my various blog articles within a few minutes of each other. Oh well, the important thing is that I have finished the bulk of the work now!

Finding Somewhere to Live - Part III

Early in the next week, the delivery company dropped off the sofa and the flat-packed bed and wardrobe as scheduled, and we asked Bernard and Chris’ cousin Stephane (a professional carpenter) to come over the following weekend and give us a hand building the furniture.

The plan was for us to construct the bed, and wardrobe on the Saturday, so that our first night of sleeping in the apartment would be that night. Chris and I were very excited about the prospect of finally spending a night in our own place, having had the keys since the start of the month.

 

 Above: Photos of our finished living room

Finding Somewhere to Live - Part II

Whilst back in Switzerland after New Year, and still awaiting further news from the estate agent, Nelly informed us that one of her colleagues owned several apartments in Lausanne and the surrounding areas, and that she had mentioned one that had become available in Bussigny, a village to the west of Lausanne. The price fitted into our budget, and it was described as a 3 pièce, so it sounded pretty good.

What sounded good turned out to look great – Bussigny itself is a nice little village, and the apartment was fantastically well positioned being only a 3 minute walk to the train station, plus local shops, bakers, butchers and restaurants only a short stroll from the apartment.

The building consisted of just six apartments, spread over three floors, making a nice chance from some of the more densely populated areas of Lausanne that we had visited previously. Nelly’s colleague, Anita, let us into the apartment and we could immediately see the potential.

Finding Somewhere to Live - Part I

When most couples take their first steps in their new married life, they usually move in together (if they weren’t already living together before) and start dreaming about all the things they can do as husband and wife, such as starting a family or planning holidays or home improvements.

Unfortunately, Christelle and I are not like most couples; our relationship has never been conventional – coming from different countries, meeting on the other side of the world, living in separate countries for two years, etc – and our married life would also start in an unusual way.

Two days after we tied the knot, I flew back to England and left my new wife in Switzerland, 580 miles away. Some couples who have been married a long time might be thankful to put that kind of distance between them and their partner, but for newlyweds it is somewhat more difficult. As September ended, so did my time as a UK resident, as it was now time to drive over to Switzerland to really start our married life, something else that perhaps makes our relationship unique.

The Big Move

Saturday 3rd October was a momentous day in my life - and not just because I woke up at 5am. This was the day I left England behind me and headed for my new life in Switzerland.

Having packed everything in my car on Friday night ("packed" is definitely the right word to use, it was full to bursting), I woke to the sound of my alarm and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, before getting ready for what would prove to be a very long day. I had precious little sleep the night before, caused by a mixture of anxiety, apprehension, and the giant Mixed Grill I devoured at the Corey's Mill Beefeater just a couple of hours prior to climbing into bed.

After I had showered and dressed I grabbed myself a cup of coffee (which was greatly appreciated), I decided to double check my room to make sure there was nothing I had left behind. It was a good job I did, as I ended up loading a lot more into the car, including a ton of clothes and my PlayStation (how would I survive without that?).

Car cleaning, a farewell and a haircut

It's been a busy week since my last post - as you can imagine I've found lots of things to sort out before I can leave the country safe in the knowledge that various financial institutions and government heavies won't be chasing my trail across Europe.

My last weekend in England was relaxing (but nonetheless enjoyable) as my mum and I finished off the jigsaw I mentioned in my last post - which was nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be - went for a bit of shopping in Stevenage, a town I won't be particularly sad to leave behind, watched "GAMER" at the cinema with my dad (I'd give it 3/5), and enjoyed a hearty meal at the fantastic Indian restaurant in Knebworth high street, the Raja Tandoori.

I tried to convince the staff there to open a restaurant in Lausanne as they would make a lot of money out of hungry Swiss people, although my alterior motive was the fact that I will miss English-style Indian food when I move to Switzerland.



Preparing for Moving Day

Chris and I on our
wedding day

Well, here it is - the inaugral article for my brand new blog. The start of what I hope will be a long and enjoyable foray into the world of Internet journalism (albeit at an exceedingly basic and unpaid level).

Where do I begin?



If you have read the description of my blog or the text in the title header above, then you'll know that I am about to embark on the biggest challenge of my life by moving to live with my new wife, Christelle, in Lausanne, Switzerland. As an Englishman who only speaks a little French (enough to hold up a conversation), it is quite a daunting prospect - and one that is both scary and exciting at the same time.

Ready... Set... Blog!

Where it all began...
Well here it is - Ernie's first Blog. To be honest, I don't really have much to say, and I doubt that many people will ever read it, but I'm doing it to see how easy it is to use Blogspot. If it's good, I'll recommend it to my girlfriend so she can create her own Blog.
It'll be more use to her than to me, as she is a Swiss girl living in England, meaning she is several hundred miles from her family and friends. The Blog will act as a means of her telling stories of her experiences since moving to England, and will be accompanied by photos of her and her life here.
It may also be useful for other people looking to move to England, as they may pick up tips about what they need to do to come here, and what they need to look out for.
Well, that's all for now. Take care y'all.