Goodbye CH, hello NL

In eleven days, I’ll fly to Amsterdam on a one-way ticket. After living in Zürich for ten years, I’ve decided to take an exciting job opportunity and be nearer to some dear friends. I should have done this a long time ago.

In 2002, I first visited Holland while living in Germany as an exchange student, visiting Harderwijk for a long weekend and falling in love with the sound of the Dutch language. Eight years later, I traveled to Holland again for a summer research course. This course changed my life, forever tying me to Holland through the friendships I made. The following summer in 2011, I interned with a research group at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. I spent a magical (but very rainy) summer that I’ll never forget.

When I moved to Switzerland in 2012, I visited Holland whenever I could. Sometimes I’d interview for jobs in Holland, but as I was then in a long-time relationship in Zürich, it wasn’t very easy to take the leap. At the start of the pandemic when I could no longer travel, I started writing a novel based in Holland. After finishing that one, I started another that is partially set in Holland. This was a sign; my heart is tied to this country, for some mysterious reason. And I need to listen to that.

Goodbye Switzerland, hello new Dutch life 🇳🇱 🙌

The stuff

The truck