A friend who was living here for a while said that he was afraid that he was falling victim to Prison Syndrome, which he defined as a situation in which you’ve been deprived of something for too long, so that anything that vaguely resembles it seems pretty appealing, and your new way of life starts to seem normal.
I live in the oldest part of Zurich, where the streets are cobblestone, the ceilings have beams, and there is no guarantee that your apartment will have any 90-degree angles in it. Recently, the city has started installing these 24-hour trash drop-off points every few blocks, they’re basically like outdoor trash chutes. This means that I can throw away my garbage (in regulation trash bags, of course) any day of the week, any hour of the day. I got excited about this new freedom, until I remembered that when I lived in New York, I could throw my trash out 24/7, as well, except that: (1) I didn’t have to buy special bags to do so, and (2) the trash chute was right outside my apartment, instead of several blocks away, so I didn’t even have to put on shoes to get rid of my garbage.
I went to see a movie last night with a few of my friends. We had purchased our tickets online in the afternoon, so we headed up to the seats we had reserved in the second row of the balcony (yes, some of the movie theaters here have balconies). I knew which ones to get, having been in that particular theater before, so I knew that all of the seats on the floor level are positioned such that you have to crane your neck upwards to see the screen, and the seats in the first row of the balcony are partially obstructed by the railing.
Monday is cheap night at the movies here, and we were quite pleased with our seats that had a good viewing angle unobstructed by poles or railings, and which only cost 12 Swiss Francs (instead of the standard 18). And then I remembered that every seat in the theatres back home is positioned to minimize neck injuries, and that even on a normal night, movies in New York cost the same as they do here on cheap night (elsewhere, tickets cost even less).
On the other hand, you can also get used to a good thing, so that going back to the old ways can hurt. I’ve gotten used to carefree traveling. I leave my apartment an hour before my flight (and remember, every flight is an international flight), and get to the airport 40 minutes before takeoff. I amble through security with my carry-on and still have 10 or 20 minutes to waste before boarding. I faintly recall the days when I had to budget up to an hour to get to the airport, and two hours to clear security and board, and I shudder.
And now I’m shuddering again, because the Zurich airport has just announced new security measures that will require getting to the airport an hour before non-U.S. flights (and probably an hour and a half before U.S. flights). On top of that, there are also those weird restrictions on carry-on liquids (100 mL per liquid), which means that I’ll have to put all of my toiletries in travel bottles from now on, since I absolutely refuse to check bags for trips that are shorter than a week. I know, I know, these travel restrictions are nothing in comparison to what people go through at Heathrow or La Guardia, but I’ve gotten used to the footloose and fancy-free style of traveling here, and considering it’s one of the few ways in which the Swiss can be considered “footloose and fancy-free,” it’s a great loss.
In the last twelve months, I’ve flown out of the Zurich airport thirteen times to visit twelve countries. Multiply that by 20 minutes, and almost 4.5 hours of extra time I’ll have to spend in the airport in the coming year!! It’s a hard life, isn’t it?
I live in the oldest part of Zurich, where the streets are cobblestone, the ceilings have beams, and there is no guarantee that your apartment will have any 90-degree angles in it. Recently, the city has started installing these 24-hour trash drop-off points every few blocks, they’re basically like outdoor trash chutes. This means that I can throw away my garbage (in regulation trash bags, of course) any day of the week, any hour of the day. I got excited about this new freedom, until I remembered that when I lived in New York, I could throw my trash out 24/7, as well, except that: (1) I didn’t have to buy special bags to do so, and (2) the trash chute was right outside my apartment, instead of several blocks away, so I didn’t even have to put on shoes to get rid of my garbage.
I went to see a movie last night with a few of my friends. We had purchased our tickets online in the afternoon, so we headed up to the seats we had reserved in the second row of the balcony (yes, some of the movie theaters here have balconies). I knew which ones to get, having been in that particular theater before, so I knew that all of the seats on the floor level are positioned such that you have to crane your neck upwards to see the screen, and the seats in the first row of the balcony are partially obstructed by the railing.
Monday is cheap night at the movies here, and we were quite pleased with our seats that had a good viewing angle unobstructed by poles or railings, and which only cost 12 Swiss Francs (instead of the standard 18). And then I remembered that every seat in the theatres back home is positioned to minimize neck injuries, and that even on a normal night, movies in New York cost the same as they do here on cheap night (elsewhere, tickets cost even less).
On the other hand, you can also get used to a good thing, so that going back to the old ways can hurt. I’ve gotten used to carefree traveling. I leave my apartment an hour before my flight (and remember, every flight is an international flight), and get to the airport 40 minutes before takeoff. I amble through security with my carry-on and still have 10 or 20 minutes to waste before boarding. I faintly recall the days when I had to budget up to an hour to get to the airport, and two hours to clear security and board, and I shudder.
And now I’m shuddering again, because the Zurich airport has just announced new security measures that will require getting to the airport an hour before non-U.S. flights (and probably an hour and a half before U.S. flights). On top of that, there are also those weird restrictions on carry-on liquids (100 mL per liquid), which means that I’ll have to put all of my toiletries in travel bottles from now on, since I absolutely refuse to check bags for trips that are shorter than a week. I know, I know, these travel restrictions are nothing in comparison to what people go through at Heathrow or La Guardia, but I’ve gotten used to the footloose and fancy-free style of traveling here, and considering it’s one of the few ways in which the Swiss can be considered “footloose and fancy-free,” it’s a great loss.
In the last twelve months, I’ve flown out of the Zurich airport thirteen times to visit twelve countries. Multiply that by 20 minutes, and almost 4.5 hours of extra time I’ll have to spend in the airport in the coming year!! It’s a hard life, isn’t it?
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