Last March we packed our whole life into a few (or some more) boxes and left our comfortable life in Switzerland behind to live in Montreal for a year.
A big adventure? Oh yes, especially since I agreed to move to a city I had never been to. But first things first…
One evening in early November 2017 Niels casually asked me over dinner wether or not I could imagine to live in Montreal. Living abroad had always been a dream of ours and while Niels technically already lived the dream (he had moved from the Netherland to Switzerland in 2006) we always dreamed about taking this step once together. However, the opportunity just never came about also owing to the fact that I became more and more aware of all the amenities our cozy life in Switzerland comprised. I turned down proposals of possible relocations to Malta, Romania or Kyrgyzstan. Then we got married and had children, thinking this was it and so we buried the dream for good. Until this one evening in November…
could i imagine…?
The question was posed and my mind was racing. Could I imagine it? I had never been to Montreal. I had only once been to Vancouver before in 2005. I liked it there but could I go and live in Canada? So I did what I always do when I need to take important decisions, I googled for photos of Montreal. Since all the pictures popping up looked rather nice I finally said „yes, why not. Let’s think about it.“
We didn’t have much time to actually think about it. Short after this first tentative talk about Montreal, we went on vacation to Thailand for two weeks. Hubby’s employer granted us exactly these two weeks time to think about it and expected a yay or nay answer the day he returned to work. What followed were discussions most evenings after the kids were asleep. We weighed pros agains cons and finally realized that this is it, our chance to fulfill the dream of moving abroad together. Also, since the assignment would be for a limited time only, the decision was not completely life-changing but rather the decision of going on a big adventure together as a family.
getting ready
We gave up our apartment, which we anyway didn’t like and packed our life into boxes. Some necessities we took along as well as six or seven suitcases with clothes. I had to quit my relatively new and very much beloved job, which hurt a lot. But all the same, I chose life before career as I had done several times before in my life (which is why I’ve got a life but no career to date).
Life continued normally up to the beginning of February. Niels had to go to Montreal several times to get a picture of the assignment, get introduced but also to find an apartment for us and to take care of administrative things concerning our relocation.
In the meantime we had told our friend and families about about our intention to move abroad, which was greeted with mixed reactions. Some friends went straight online to book their flights to come and visit us during their summer vacations, others were impressed, happy for us but sad for them and some started crying right on the spot. This was difficult for me to handle, being a bit of an emotional stone myself (I cannot change it, I’d love to be more emotional but came to except, that I simply ain’t). Nevertheless, I realized how much these tears meant. Of course it was nice when people were happy for us and showed support and encouraging words whenever there was doubt (and make no mistakes, there was doubt), but it was also so real, pure and honest to see these tears. They represented love, which was beautiful and touched me!
single parent for a month
Originally hubby was supposed to leave for Montreal asap but could negotiate to only leave by the end of February. Since I only quit my job in December, having had to wait the written agreement of the relocation before doing so, I was bound to my notice period to stay until the end of March. Since my boss was plainly shocked and very much the opposite of euphoric when I told her about our plans, I did not dare to push it and ask for a reduction of my notice period. Therefore I stayed behind with the girls in March while hubby was boarding the plane towards our new home alone for now.
It was a tough period and I cannot emphasize enough how thankful I was for all the support I got from friends and parents during these weeks. Not only did I have to work and care for two children but I also needed to organize several things before the move and try to see as much of my friends and slowly start to say goodbye to my loved ones. The girls, anyway total daddy’s girls to begin with, were dreadful at first, missing their Papa and not really understanding what was going on. On top of this, one night Kenzie came down with an upset stomach, which resulted in me having to change her bedsheets every half hour and in Liya waking up ever so often as well. In the end I ran out of bedsheets and towels and decided to take the little one in my bed together with a bucket. Unfortunately there was no more sleep for me that night. We own a very comfortable but with children very impractical Box-spring bed and I was so afraid Miss K might fall out of the rather high bed and hurt herself, that I stayed awake furious, exhausted, lonely and resentful. I vividly remember sending agitated text messages to hubby accusing him of abandoning me and the kids. Today we laugh about it, obviously, but during that time I gained a serious respect for single parents. It is hard work if you are a team but doing everything alone, having to take decisions alone and managing day and night (children are 24/7 jobs – every parent knows) on their own is admirable.
the moment of truth
Niels joined us in Zurich again the last weekend of March. Spring was in the air and my last day of work approached – a very sad day for me. Niels’ employer bore the costs of the moving company coming in, packing everything which wasn’t packed into suitcases or boxes by then and moving it all in a container which would be stowed away while we were gone. In the meantime hubby had found us a modern but cozy little apartment in Montreal’s Mile-End neighbourhood (a hipster quarter with charming cafés and shops) which seemed most attractive to us. The place was newly renovated and furnished.
Once everything had been removed from our apartment we moved into the 25h Hotel at Langstrasse, where we would spend our last few nights in Zurich. This was a cool time. Living in a hotel in your own city. Have you ever done it? It felt so unreal, like I was trapped in-between two worlds, two lives maybe even. While the children were still at daycare, hubby and I deregistered at the registration office, quit my mobile phone subscription and went for coffee and lunch at our favorite places one last time. We slowly started detaching while life around us continued in its usual course. We said goodbye to our friends in our favorite ice cream parlor Gelati Tellhof in Zurich, draining the bitter taste of saying goodbye in sweet ice cream. I had one last night out with my girls and then THE day arrived. On March 30th we stepped onto a plane with more suitcases than ever before and left Switzerland for one year in Montreal, a city I had never been before, anxious and nervous what this year ahead of us might bring.
Moving 
Zurich City Registration Office 
Zurich Airport 
Zurich Airport 
Zurich Airport
