At four o’clock on Tuesday, the 8th of September my plane departed from Arlanda. There was a great view over lake Mälaren during the first minutes, and I could clearly discern the Hjulsta bridge, Strängnäs and a few other places I recognized.

We landed ahead of schedule in Zürich-Kloten, and after I had reclaimed my baggage I could finally rearrange my things. I have never flown with so much baggage before, and I was happy that I didn’t have to pay extra fees. When I had put my bag on the scale it showed 23.8 instead of the maximum 20. The clerk also wanted to weigh my hand luggage so I put only one of my bags, which by itself was too heavy for hand luggage. After some arguing she just put the “heavy” tag on the bag and it went away on the conveyor. I hadn’t showed her my bookbag (4 kilos) and my winter jacket (with pockets full of camera lenses, hard drives, calculators etc.). In total I calculated that I was about 15 kilos above the limit.

I took the escalator down to the shopping centre and had some pasta for dinner at the food court. Next stop was Migros, where I got some breakfeast for the next day. Credit Suisse didn’t want to open a bank account for me before I got the ETH card and residence permit, though. After purchasing an annual travel card for downtown Zurich as well as a half-fare card for Switzerland I took the train to my new home.

The Student Hostel is built entirely out of concrete. Almost everything you see is concrete, and walking through the corridors feels a little like walking through a bunker. My room is very nice, though, and I think I will have no problems studying long hours in the semester. Despite having a moderately busy tram route right outside my window the room is quiet, thanks to a good ventilation system and triple-glass windows.

The most basic furniture is included; I have a bed complete with sleeping pillow, duvet and sheets, a desk, chair, desk lamp, wash basin with mirror and a cupboard. Since the kitchen, eating areas, bathrooms and showers are shared, the 12-square-meter-room feels quite big. Too bad there isn’t a storage room as well because I want to get rid of my empty suitcase now that I’ve unpacked.

Out of my window I can see a pizzeria, the tram, a home for elderly, many apartments, and the way up to the Hönggerberg campus.

The kitchen is large, about 50 square meters. All 170 residents share it, and since everybody is responsible for their own cleaning combined with the fact that many who live here seem unable to keep clean makes the kitchen a complete mess. The only thing that keeps it in an acceptable condition is the cleaning lady who spends a lot of time every day cleaning the kitchen. She is not supposed to do that, but I think she does it out of sheer necessity.

Apart from the messiness, the kitchen is very well-equipped. Everything is in stainless steel, and there are a whopping 24 induction stoves. I’ve never used induction stoves before, but they’re wonderful. They have even put up warning signs to inform about how fast the stoves are, water is brought to a boil very quickly. There are microwave ovens, normal ovens (that are so advanced that they can be programmed by inserting SD cards)

The fridges are divided into locked shelves, one student gets one each. They are very, very small, and the only way to fit the milk bottles is horizontally. This is probably the worst thing about the kitchen, the only way to store fresh vegetables is to buy them fresh every day. And there is no freezer.

In general I think I will enjoy living here. During the year, though, i think I will grow tired of the lack of space in the kitchen and the fact that I have to dress up every time I want to use the showers and bathroom. Still, the house is located close to the public transportation and it is really easy to get into town from here. My neighbors also seem nice and friendly, something that not is to be underestimated.

At last I’m back in Zürich!