Hi everyone,
Thought I'd introduce myself as I've been following the forum for a few weeks now.
I may be new to the English Forum but not to Switzerland. I'm American born, but raised all over - Geneva, Sweden, New Jersey, Geneva again - an NGO kid. I studied in Montreal and then came back to Geneva. I just recently became Swiss and speak French.
I moved to Zurich 2 years ago after marrying my German husband. He lured me here and we've been trying to call it home since then. And we just moved out to Uster a few months ago and are expecting our first child in a few months (gasp - 7 weeks).
Just recently stopped working so am spending my time nesting and doing those chores that sit on a list in the back of your mind for months. Trying to get better at German though I find it tough as I'm not a grammar-oriented person. But I like the Swiss German accent. That's fun/funny.
I'd be really interested to meet other new mothers that speak English in this area. Or just other people with common interests - I've many (travelling, reading, cooking, linguistics, science, games, etc). I have some time now but more importantly it's not so easy to build up a social network in this area / culture /with our age group of new parents.
So...nice to meet you and don't be a stranger!
Thanks!
Sara Kappler
Welcome to the forum Sara and Congratulations!
Prepare yourself for the sleepless nights
Hi Sara,
Me and my family are thinking of moving to Uster.
We moved to CH in february from Sweden but I'm originally from Germany. We live outside of Bern right now but want to move closer to Zürich due to my husband job.
We have two boys, 5 and 7 years old.
Do you find Uster a good place to live in? I'm searching for an area that is family friendly and kind of cosmopolitic...where we live right now is pretty conservative.
greeting
Ulrike
Hi Ulrike,
Nice to meet you!
I'm still quite new to the area but it seems to have quite a lot going on for a small town. Here's what I can say so far:
Proximity to Zurich:
15 minutes by S-bahn from Zurich so you get a lot of people commuting into Zurich (including myself and hubby) and it's still pretty affordable so I think a pretty natural move for young couples starting families.
Greifensee
We've got the Greifensee which is really nice. It has lots of trails and paved paths so there are many sporty families around on a nice day especially on a weekend. http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/greifensee.html
WAC
There's the WAC ( http://wac.ch/ ) which has a large following which I haven't yet joined but plan to.
Jazz
So there's a Jazz museum here I haven't been to yet but there is a nice little place called Zum Hut which draws decent names and they have occasional events. It stood out to me as different from the usual Krone or Lowen restaurants each small town seems to have (which have their charm I don't say the contrary)! http://www.zum-hut.ch/
Uster still has a small town feel - with local markets and lots of countryside within short drives. But it's got about 30'000 people and is a bit of a pole in the region of mainly smaller villages. It has a good well known hospital for example. I would guess it's more cosmopolitan than similar size outside Bern just because it's outside Zurich so you naturally have a more cosmopolitan crowd.
Hope that helps as a starting point. Maybe others who are more local or have been here longer can add to these first impressions.
And on another note, where in Sweden did you live? I spent 2 years (7-8 years old) in Knivsta, outside Uppsala. Great memories and long winters. Wish I could remember my Swedish better!
Sara
Thanks Sara! (Tack Sara...that might be something you still remember 😃
We are looking for houses to rent and as soon we will find something we will make the move to Uster.
Maybe we can meet when we have moved!?
If we don't have any more conrac before I wish you well and good luck becoming a mom. Lots of new stuff for you to take in!!
Greetings
Ulrike
Hi Sara,
You're probably busy with the new baby, but when you're settled feel free to drop me a line if you want to catch up. I'm an Aussie living in Uster (been here for almost 4 years, and lived in Belgium and the US before Switzerland). I don't know too many other English speakers in Uster, so would be happy to meet some!
All the best,
Kelly
Hi Sara,
My wife and I are Americans and are expecting our first child (a little girl) come late October. We moved here due to her excepting a post-doc as a chemist. I have a bachelor's in health science, so needless to say we love science and traveling. We too would like to meet parent's to be. We should get together sometime. Let me know, if you guys ever get some free time.
Cheers,
Mike
Definitely check out the WAC. Social events for mums/women and plenty of baby groups/toddler groups to meet other parents and make new friends
Hi Sara. Welcome to the forum. I've lived in Uster myself for 2 years. I think it's a quite nice corner of the Zurich Oberland area. I meanwhile live in Lucerne Wish you all the best with your family.