Urban living

So, this country girl has moved to a proper city. (Pfäffige was just a little village, so small the neighbors all waved when they drove by). Saturday night I thought I'd sleep with the windows open in my new room in Basel by the river, but buses and trams and people on the street made me hop back out of bed after midnight to close the window that faces the busiest street. Other than the bustle and the noise, I like my new apartment, with it's creaky wooden floors and sunny rooms. And I like my two new roommates. I'm still thinking about what to call the two of them in my blog. I doubt they want the whole world to know everything about them! So for now: there's a guy and there's a girl and they're both quite nice. Saturday lots of people were over to help haul boxes and furniture up 66 steps to our front door, and we now have 10 bottles of shower products standing in a neat triangle, like bowling pins, on the corner of our tub. It makes us look high-maintenance, but I think we'll be a pretty laid-back little household, actually, with similar rhythms.

I'm still on the hunt for furniture. Saturday I managed to stop by the flea market just before it closed. Two important discoveries: First, I found a very nice, tall secretary desk/dresser in good shape (better than the other one!) for 25.- (marked down from 55.-). It wouldn't fit the space I had in mind, and I didn't want to buy something big and heavy on a whim, but it helped me decide there is no reason to pay more than 80.- for a perfectly decent secretary desk/chest of drawers. I might not come across 25.- again, but I have found plenty of good-looking pieces for under 100 now. Second, I found a big, old mirror in a wide frame (in other words, it has personality) for 50 francs! I looked at others that were about the same size for 600 elsewhere! The frame has some issues, but the mirror itself is good, soo...that's now standing in my room waiting for a little touch up and a nail. Pictures to follow at some point!

Other than moving-related activities and work (which is going fine) I have been catching up with old peeps and getting to know some new ones. I'm looking forward to rock climbing later this week with Pierrick (my work partner). Friday night I went to an Aargau band competition with a few friends. The whole event brought back fun college memories of concerts at Portland's old Meow Meow club! Except this time, we were muuuch older than the average age. The MC was just 14, for example. Fun to be there anyway, though, and I thought the kids did a good job, except for some repetitive lyrics here and there! :)

And so goes my urban living experience thus far. To end with a little Wordsworth:

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.