...the most amazing thing happened to me today! I got to do laundry!
While that may not seem to be a super exciting thing, it is positively thrilling if you haven't been able to do laundry for 5 weeks and your next official laundry slot (that you will be in the country for) is in late July.
I have mentioned before how complicated laundry can be here, but my current laundry situation is quite unusual, even for Switzerland. In my building, we are given a washing slot once every 3 weeks. Because we don't have a tumbler (dryer), we are given two days together (so that we can wash on the first day and let our stuff dry on the second day, I guess?).
My days are Friday and Saturday, which means I have to do my laundry on Friday if I a) wish for it to dry within my time-slot and b) want to do anything on Saturday. Because I'm doing 3 weeks worth of laundry and towels and bed linens, this ends up to be quite a few load of laundry, with each wash cycle being over an hour. Thankfully, I have a flexible job so that I can work from home for a morning if I need to, but it is definitely challenging to arrange my schedule so that I can get all of my laundry done and dried in the time allotted.
And, I was on vacation over my last time slot, which is how I went 5 weeks without doing laundry. Also, I am leaving for the US 2 days before my next laundry slot, so, in theory, my next official laundry slot when I will be in the country is in late July. Yikes!
Of course, it actually isn't totally as bad as it sounds, because the Pattons and I stayed in holiday cottages while in France, and Jessi was nice enough to make sure that the first and last places we stayed had washing machines. So I packed only dirty clothes to France, washed them the day we arrived, and then did some wash a few days before the end of our trip. So I haven't gone totally without washing anything these 5 weeks (I'm pretty sure I don't have enough socks or underwear!), but it was definitely getting to the point that I am quite happy to be able to do laundry, especially before my trip to the US.
I have been stalking the washing room for the past week and tonight discovered that it was open, because the people whose washing day it is are retired and did their laundry during the day. I had a rather confusing and entertaining conversation with the husband (the same man who before told me that he has lived in the building for 40 years!!!) to get permission to do wash on their day. In the end, he told me that his wife was out swimming and that he was the husband, so he had no idea about the laundry, but that I should just go ahead and do it, and that it was okay for me to hang it to dry in the drying room.
It was an amazing moment for me. I am so excited for clean clothes and towels!
While that may not seem to be a super exciting thing, it is positively thrilling if you haven't been able to do laundry for 5 weeks and your next official laundry slot (that you will be in the country for) is in late July.
I have mentioned before how complicated laundry can be here, but my current laundry situation is quite unusual, even for Switzerland. In my building, we are given a washing slot once every 3 weeks. Because we don't have a tumbler (dryer), we are given two days together (so that we can wash on the first day and let our stuff dry on the second day, I guess?).
My days are Friday and Saturday, which means I have to do my laundry on Friday if I a) wish for it to dry within my time-slot and b) want to do anything on Saturday. Because I'm doing 3 weeks worth of laundry and towels and bed linens, this ends up to be quite a few load of laundry, with each wash cycle being over an hour. Thankfully, I have a flexible job so that I can work from home for a morning if I need to, but it is definitely challenging to arrange my schedule so that I can get all of my laundry done and dried in the time allotted.
And, I was on vacation over my last time slot, which is how I went 5 weeks without doing laundry. Also, I am leaving for the US 2 days before my next laundry slot, so, in theory, my next official laundry slot when I will be in the country is in late July. Yikes!
Of course, it actually isn't totally as bad as it sounds, because the Pattons and I stayed in holiday cottages while in France, and Jessi was nice enough to make sure that the first and last places we stayed had washing machines. So I packed only dirty clothes to France, washed them the day we arrived, and then did some wash a few days before the end of our trip. So I haven't gone totally without washing anything these 5 weeks (I'm pretty sure I don't have enough socks or underwear!), but it was definitely getting to the point that I am quite happy to be able to do laundry, especially before my trip to the US.
I have been stalking the washing room for the past week and tonight discovered that it was open, because the people whose washing day it is are retired and did their laundry during the day. I had a rather confusing and entertaining conversation with the husband (the same man who before told me that he has lived in the building for 40 years!!!) to get permission to do wash on their day. In the end, he told me that his wife was out swimming and that he was the husband, so he had no idea about the laundry, but that I should just go ahead and do it, and that it was okay for me to hang it to dry in the drying room.
It was an amazing moment for me. I am so excited for clean clothes and towels!
