We've had to do it several times before so we should know the ropes. Even so starting out all over again making friends is not easy. And at this age, with so many wonderful friends all around the world already and one of the partnership who is by nature quite self-contained, it's tempting to say why bother to be proactive.
Fortunately, friends have given us introductions to friends here. So we set off yesterday on a one-hour train journey from Zurich's central station to meet some new people who had very kindly invited us to lunch after Bob had made contact with us by email (so much easier when they make the first move in response to a friend's introduction).
The slight hesitancy with which one naturally embarks on such a journey had almost vanished by the time we reached their home which was less than 10 minutes walk from the station. And I am only NOT saying 5 minutes because we were already deeply enough in getting to know each other for the walk to be a stroll rather than an efficient journey up a hill to a house.
In the course of the lunch we learned a lot about how to settle quickly, fit in and behave "local", though I think it will take a very long time to become "Swiss" - if that is ever possible for two people with such mixed heritage.
Add our weekend encounter to an evening earlier in the week when we also set off on the train for a fondue with a colleague who used to work in Australia, living in a surburb three stops away. They too made us feel at home immediately, gave Richard a book which he can't put down ("Beyond cholocate: understanding Swiss culture") and again we had such a good time we almost forgot to go home at polite time.
So making friends is already looking good.
Fortunately, friends have given us introductions to friends here. So we set off yesterday on a one-hour train journey from Zurich's central station to meet some new people who had very kindly invited us to lunch after Bob had made contact with us by email (so much easier when they make the first move in response to a friend's introduction).
The slight hesitancy with which one naturally embarks on such a journey had almost vanished by the time we reached their home which was less than 10 minutes walk from the station. And I am only NOT saying 5 minutes because we were already deeply enough in getting to know each other for the walk to be a stroll rather than an efficient journey up a hill to a house.
In the course of the lunch we learned a lot about how to settle quickly, fit in and behave "local", though I think it will take a very long time to become "Swiss" - if that is ever possible for two people with such mixed heritage.
Add our weekend encounter to an evening earlier in the week when we also set off on the train for a fondue with a colleague who used to work in Australia, living in a surburb three stops away. They too made us feel at home immediately, gave Richard a book which he can't put down ("Beyond cholocate: understanding Swiss culture") and again we had such a good time we almost forgot to go home at polite time.
So making friends is already looking good.
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