TIRED (WHAT ELSE IS NEW)
Life update.
I find it hard to write these days.
I have my list of ideas but I don't have the motivation to pursue them. Some of my future posts require editing images and all that, and I only have the energy to type out words.
So here's another journal entry.
(Un)employment
My final RAV appointment was on Thursday. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to try anything that could extend my unemployment benefits. Note to anyone living in Switzerland, if you are on RAV and want to extend your unemployment benefits, you can apply for permanent/temporary self-employment (i.e., starting your own business). But you should do that 6 months before your benefits end; 90 days at minimum.
Both of which I didn't do, even though I knew of the possibility. Perhaps it was a moment of self-sabotage, because that would require me to take the steps to start a business, and I know I didn't want to do that, whether it's real or not.*
* One of the paths is to start a "fake" business, which I won't elaborate on because that would require fact-checking.
On the plus side, the morning of my meeting, I received an email: I was rejected for the job I applied to, but the company asked if I would be interested in another position, which I enthusiastically agreed to. Of course, this isn't guaranteed. I still need to go through the interview process. Daniel had to warn me not to get my hopes up like the last few times.
"The more you hope, the harder you'll fall," he said.
Hope is important. It is important to hope and to dream of a better world, for example. But to act like I already have the job is another thing. That's what we did with that restaurant gig. We were so sure we got it (we hadn't even been interviewed), and we both got rejected.
However, relief during these trying times is still welcomed.
"You will get a job," my psychiatrist had said, "Just not the one you imagined."
I don't want to speak more about this job until the processâgood or badâis over.
Travel
Over the past two weeks, I was mulling over the idea of applying outside of Switzerland and perhaps even leaving the country. Daniel and I had agreed on the Netherlands because we know people thereâ . But he's never been there (our 5-hour midnight layover doesn't countâĄ), so I suggested a short trip so he can see whether Holland is the right place for him.
â Germany wasn't a consideration because I heard from friends that moving there is such a pain in the ass when dealing with admin procedures.
⥠We did walk around, but it was dark, freezing, and pretty much everything was closed. I do have a funny anecdote which I'll share at some point.
Well, since asking around, I've decided that I'm going to stay in Switzerland. Apparently the housing crisis in NL is the worst in Europe, and I heard their healthcare system is appalling. Of course, it depends on where you're coming from. And coming from Switzerland, this would be a severe downgrade.
Regardless, we're still making the trip, because I think we could use one. We'll be staying with my cousin for a week. I'm super excited! I'll meet Han for the first time, and Daniel will also meet his gamer buddy for the first time too. I haven't planned out the trip yet, but I think we'll be spending more time in the Hague (where my cousin lives) with day trips to the bigger cities.
Café culture
The last time I visited was back in 2021 when I worked at a company with headquarters in Amsterdam. Since it was a work trip, I spent most of my time in Amsterdam and then a long weekend in Utrecht where my cousin lived at the time. What I loved about the Netherlands was the café culture, when people just spend time at a café hanging out.
I think it's starting to happen now in Lucerne, but even a few years ago, only the elderly lingered at coffee shops. Younger people would only stay for as long as they'd need to. Plus, the fare was standard; nothing really special. Nothing wrong with those things, but I like my ambience and artisanal beans!
Just this year, two really nice cafĂ©s opened up next door to each other in Neustadt, so the culture is finally taking. Of course, in ZĂŒrich, these types of places are everywhere (Asian cafĂ©s are trending hard right now), and I noticed since remote working became more normalized, more people are working in cafĂ©s now, which wasn't really a thing pre-pandemic.
Today's plans
After I write this, Daniel and I will take a walk to the café I mentioned earlier. I will get my second coffee of the day and a pastry. After that, I will spend time coding my Neocities site (I did a great job of forgetting it during the week so I wasn't tempted at all, lol), and then I'll probably play Tomodachi Life for a bit. That's been preoccupying my time a lot.
Hopefully I'll have some more topical entries to share, but if I don't, then you'll know I'm still in a mood.