It’s 20 years since I moved to the beautiful city of Zürich. Life has certainly changed a lot for me since 2003.
In that time I have…
moved to a foreign country
learned a new language (almost)
raised two kids
tried downhill and cross-country skiing
changed career from accountancy to teaching
taken the CELTA course
been employed by 6 different schools
set up my own language school, Kreis 6 English
written questions for countless pub quizzes
done a Master’s in Applied Linguistics at Birmingham University
helped hundreds of people prepare for Cambridge exams
got a Swiss passport
joined a band (playing keyboards)
started wearing reading glasses…
The first concert I saw in Switzerland was Simon and Garfunkel. My most recent music event was the hugely enjoyable orchestra karaoke at Theater Spektakel.
My favourite music venue is Kaufleuten and the restaurants I frequent are Sahltimbocca, Dapur and Sternen Grill.
I’m fairly sure I’ve visited all 26 cantons in Switzerland and particularly enjoy spending time in the Engadin.
I've done the Lake Zurich swim once and the Limmat swim twice.
Overall, it’s been a fantastic 20 years and I've been lucky enough to meet so many incredible people. There’s too many to mention by name so I’ll just say a big thank you to all my family, friends, students and colleagues who have made and continue to make my life so enjoyable.
Here's to the next 20 years!
Language tip
Did you notice how often I used the present perfect?
Most of this blog post uses the present perfect as that's the tense we use to connect a past event to the present. Talking about life experiences is a common use of the present perfect.
As a quick reminder, here are some present perfect sentences I used:
Life has changed for me
I have learned a new language (almost)
I have tried downhill and cross-country skiing
I have changed career from accountancy to teaching
I have taken the CELTA course
I've been lucky enough to meet...