We have a home

Wooahh, that was a hectic Wednesday! We had applications running for three flats at the same time, and, of course, we had our number one. I honestly had no idea what our chances were and therefore we tried our very best: we scanned the applications the same evening we saw the flats and e-mailed them to the landlords right away. Then I had to go to Basel, my old hometown to get the paper that shows that I am financially more or less alright, I think I wrote about that. 17 Swiss Francs (about 20 NZD) per paper. And of course they all wanted an original, no copy... Well, there is nothing you can do. And its all for a good cause.

And then, waiting... A day later I called one of the landlords under the pretext to check whether the letter has arrived. And to make it very clear how super-interested we are in the flat. Was that a good idea? I was not sure... I had the impression he was slightly annoyed. Oops.

Two days later I had an e-mail in my inbox: We had flat number 3 (on our personal hitlist) for sure. All we had to do was say "yes". Today. Dammit! The others would tell us in two days, should I let this one go and gamble or rather take number three but have it for sure? Esther! I need your help! But Esther was far away and when I finally reached her, she was as undecided as I was. Should I call the landlord of number one and ask him to hurry with his decision? Call the guy again?! Could be the safest way to loose the top flat. But then again, I had to know whether we were at least still in the game. I decided to risk it and called the guy. I was all apologetic and told him right away that I was no stalker at all and explained the misery that I was in. He was very understanding. Phew. We were among the top 2 for flat number 1. Excellent. Actually, he said, we were his favourites, but he still has to check whether the income that we claimed to earn was correct. Seriously, that's how they do it here! I raced to the secretary of our group and told her to call the guy pronto. Done. One hour later my phone was ringing: we got flat number one. Yes.

We will move in July 1. And yes, we have a dedicated guest room. For free.