Avant mon arrivée

Hi all, and welcome to my blog. I'm a New Zealander who has been in London from March 2006 until June 2011, living with people from a range of nationalities and working as a corporate PA.

All that changed when I applied for, and got, a position in Geneva, a delightful city in the French part of Switzerland; indeed, right on the border between Switzerland and France. A city well known for its noble pursuits of peace and equality for all mankind, home to many of the most famous non-governmental organisations such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation. A place where almost half of the registered population are foreign nationals; where the pay is substantial but the rent is grandiose; it is the third economic centre of Europe yet is considered by most to be a quiet and sedate destination. This is where I will be for the foreseeable future.

Before I came, I arranged surprisingly little. The first step I took was to register on GLocals, a must for any new arrival to Switzerland. The GLocals forums, guides and classifieds are fantastic when trying to understand the most basic requirements of a move to Switzerland.

Early on I established that I would only need my passport and employment contract to open an account with UBS, as soon as I arrived. I would also need to arrange basic health insurance upon arrival as it is mandatory in Switzerland.

While there were a number of available flats on the GLocals classifieds, many of them were exceptionally pricey, and after perusing the forums I was quick to realise that there is something of a housing crisis in Geneva. Therefore I was sure to pre-arrange accommodation for the first two weeks of my stay.  Its not as easy as it sounds. Hostels are in short supply, as are budget hotels. I soon discovered that one of the the only reasonably affordable options for a pauper like myself was to stay in France. This isn't as extreme as it sounds - a taxi ride from the airport to the F1 Hotel, Ferney-Voltaire, is 10 minutes, and I could book a triple room (one double bed, one single upper bunk) for myself for only 36 EUR/night. I booked this hotel for three nights, and then was lucky enough to get a single room for two weeks at Home St Pierre, a long-term womens' hostel in the centre of Geneva. After that? Who knew. Hopefully a short sublet somewhere in Geneva for me to find my feet. I had looked at a number of pre-furnished, non-serviced apartments as well (if you go for serviced, expect to pay a substantial amount of money). One seemingly good option I came across was Gerpar SA, with rather affordable simple furnished studios in the more central areas of Geneva.

So essentially my checklist was:

• Passport and visa: I didn't have any issue here, as I already have a passport and my new employers would organise a carte de legitimation upon arrival. As a New Zealand citizen I can visit Switzerland without difficulty for up to threee months. Other nationalities may find it more tricky, but as Switzerland is now part of the Schengen system that should make things easier.
• Bank account: With UBS, all I need to open an account is my passport and employment contract. This probably goes for the other banks as well.
• Medical insurance: This can be arranged upon arrival, but is mandatory within the first three months.
• Accommodation: I knew it would be best to have a couple of weeks worth of accommodation arranged for my arrival, due to Geneva's housing crisis. I would recommend checking such websites as HostelWorld and Late Rooms. I also ensured I was watching the Glocals classifieds in the hope of finding a suitable short let.
• Moving my belongings: It took a LOT of work but I managed to get my belongings down to to two (extremely full) suitcases as well as a carry-on bag. I then used frequent flyer miles to upgrade my flight to Geneva to be business class. With British Airways, this allowed me to check in two bags of 32 kg each. So unfortunately for you I can't advise on any moving companies!
• Other stuff: I had looked into getting a Swiss mobile, and what the internet packages were like and so on, but it's not really possible to sort that kind of thing until one arrives.

So here I was.. flights and accommodation booked for 12 June - first day at the new job, 13 June. Geneva, here I come!