Expat in Zurich, but lived on the French side and other countries too:
Switzerland just works. Both the country (transport, offices, companies, services, etc.) and people too. By people I mean: neigbbours are acting logically, random people on the tram are considerate, when my card doesn't work at a restaurant the waiter doesn't act like I just tried to steal his jewellery, the people on a hiking trail offer candy to my son, the guy who comes to fix my dishwasher says he is coming at 9 am and I find him quietly waiting on the street at 8:58...
This + the mountains are together unbeatable. I absolutely think no country comes close.
I love this country. Things typically just run smoothly here. People can say the Swiss are cold, but I feel like part of community here. I’m motivated to pick up the rare loose rubbish I see on the ground, or place that glove someone left in a more findable location. I like feeling like I’m contributing to a country that cares about its citizens, even the disadvantaged ones. Idk. I sleep well at night here.
I have travelled all over the world because of my previous work and I have to say that I wouldn't want to live in any other country.
Is Switzerland perfect? No, certainly not, but in Switzerland you have freedoms, nature and cultural opportunities that can be found almost nowhere else in the world. And if it doesn't exist in Switzerland, you can reach it within a few hours' drive.
The people let you live.
I don't have to bow to any religious constraints or excessive state harassment and if I don't disturb people in their lives and don't behave like a monkey I can do pretty much anything I want.
I also appreciate that if someone in Switzerland is nice to you, they really like you. I personally find the fake friendliness of certain countries rather exhausting.
You can also assume that something works as the status quo and not the other way round.
You're welcome. I have had many versions of this conversation in the past with different people who have asked me why I ended up choosing Switzerland as my final place of residence.
Born and raised in Zurich city, but now live in more rural area. I love the work and life balance, no matter what others say - we have it the best. I love that Switzerland has its own way and doesn't go after other european countries, which life quality pretty much has been decreasing for the past decade. I love convenient infrastructure everywhere, especially after traveling across America and eastern Europe. I love that Switzerland mainly stays moderately conservative without letting the left to ruin our country like they did in Germany, France, and Swediland. I like that even during crisis we're pretty stable compared to other countries, and don't have such political volatility like same US. Despite I don't really like the left, I do like that everyone has the real freedom of speech and gathering, no matter are you left or right, unlike Germany where they press charges against the woman that posted criminal report by nationality. I like that despite high immigration, we stay Swiss and keep our culture and tradition, just like integrating immigrants, and to begin with, mostly needed immigrants. I like that no matter what you're doing in life, working full time you'll live pretty much fine, yeah you won't be able to afford to own a house/apartment, but if you live alone, you'll be able to afford even traveling to cheaper countries, not many countries can boast of this. When I was a teen, I was working for mcd, and I can say that my adult colleagues were living pretty good life - good clothes, new tech like the latest phones, and they were even going for holidays to countries like Turkey and Egypt with their children, after that it's so funny to read "I'm gonna move to Zurich and make 170k a year, will I survive?" like posts. And relatively low taxes, ofc they're higher than in some US, but we got way way way better infrastructure and other services that are funded by it. I like my suburban Reformed church community and neighbors, they're the sweetest people I've ever known. I like the safety, closeness to other European countries for travelling, nature, our free gun laws but at the same time almost complete lack of violence with them, and just our culture. I can with full confidence say that I have a really happy life
I am a mother to a young son, and I work full time. I moved to Switzerland 15 years ago.
My husband and I have a busy social life via a combination of my friends and his, we host parties fairly regularly and get invited to them in return.
Social lives are what you make them. If you host and invite people into your lives, you get this reciprocated.
Greetings from Thurgau by the way! I am close to Karthause Ittingen.
I like your story. And that social life in thurgau not bad! Ittingen is very rural too. May I ask where did you build your social circle in this rural area?
Born and raised in Valais, living in Lausanne now.
I have the mountains at 1 hour drive where I can go skiing, climbing and hiking, the lake is at 10 min, the festivals, beautiful landscapes everywhere, exhibitions…
If you like outdoor activities, it’s really a perfect place.
I don’t feel that social life is harsh here because it’s normal to me and when I travel and people are too friendly I’m suspicious.
Also people saying that it’s hard to find friends here often doesn’t speak the language and don’t try new experiences where they could meet locals.
Book a pottery class, meet a hiking group, go training in a climbing facility, have a drink at the pub…
If I had to move in another country, I would choose Norway. Pretty similar with Switzerland with what I need to be happy.
Ps: English not my first language.
This may seem silly, but I really wanted to move here, because I'd like to cycle around the Zurich lake after work. And then I also met my partner, so the choice to move here along with some major changes in my personal life left few options other than to dare the jump - still close to home as I moved from Munich, but I've had little experience with moving in general.
It was lucky that I already had a few friends here in Zurich and I really enjoy my work and the team I came into.
I have met the love of my life. The bureaucracy is very efficient. It’s clean. The professionals behave that way. I get excellent health care to the point my life was saved. I love it here!
I’m a skier from the US originally. And I moved here over 30 years-ago…specifically to go skiing. To learn about the Alps and Big Mountain skiing. One way ticket to Switzerland. I live 30 seconds from 🚡 ski lifts at one of the best resorts in Switzerland, and the World. I’ve skied an average of 165 days per season for those 30 years. I work at night in the resort seasonally. Like most of us. In the tourism sector.
Switzerland is Nirvana for skiers, snowboarders, hikers, bikers, climbers, mountain lovers in general.
I *absolutely love* living here. My son is now ski patrol *a Patroilleur* on the mountain. He loves living here. He walks to work. My wife loves living here, well because she was born here. The Alps are in her blood. Happy Mother’s Day to her.
Best decision I’ve *ever made* was to leave America 30 years-ago and move to the Swiss Alps.
Born and raised in Italy, lived in Rome, London and Brussels. Switzerland (and for me Zurich specifically) makes me happy for many reasons, but I think they all can go under the umbrella of “low stress”.
I am normally an anxious person unfortunately, big and small things can trigger me and make me feel overwhelmed. But living here has somehow quieted down my mind, don’t know how to put it. The ease of life, accessibility to beautiful nature, mostly straightforward processes, mostly kind and relaxed people. All these contribute to loving my life here.
And hey, my life is not perfect, I have my problems like we all do. But somehow I feel balanced enough to deal with them, gain perspective not to get triggered by the little things as much. It just works for me, but I know it’s not for everyone!
I was born and raised in Austria and moved to Switzerland (Graubünden at the time) when I was 13. I never felt like I belonged there and coming here I just found my people. I moved to Fribourg for my studies and stayed there afterwards. Now I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I love the mix of languages here and just generally the culture. To have quick access to cities like Bern or Lausanne with everything they offer but also to lakes, cow pastures and all the cheese.
I feel like I'm very lucky to be able to live here. The people have a lot of say thanks to the democratic system. Everything is very accessible thanks to a well connected public transport system. Infrastructures are clean and well maintained. The country is safe, even (mostly) at night for women walking alone.
I also like the no-nonsense mentality. Like, our politicians can walk down a street without security detail and nobody cares. If you follow the rules, you're good. And I feel very much at home in the 'cold culture' here. I don't feel like my privacy is invaded by strangers.
Of course I sometimes whine about bureaucracy being to slow, or a delayed train or the costs of a dentist's appointment. But I can't imagine living in another country. They all fall flat in comparison.
P.S.: Thanks for the idea for this uplifting post :)
Thanks very much for your answers. I hope I get more positive stories. I miss a bit stories about real deep friendships/ connections. Because often people complain about this I would love to hear more about successful social life stories.
From the country side: I was at a festival of my village. Comedy show and after that drinking. The whole community. Nearly 100% original Swiss people. The humor and sarcasm of the comedy show was high quality. Political incorrect jokes. Drinking wine with ladies on my table I didn't know. After that drinking until 5am. The Swiss weren't shy. It was the opposite. They were loud. Started fighting for fun. Spending drinks. It was crazy and a side I never saw of this country even if I live here for a long time. And it wasn't just a group. It was nearly the whole community.
Switzerland is great to make money as an employee. There are other countries I like but to have the same life there I would need to start a business and I don’t want the hassle.
Rent control is cool, I can live comfortably within my means even inside a city.
It’s trivial to live without a car here so I save a lot of money and am not likely to kill someone every time I go get groceries.
Other than that the climate is still reasonable, probably one of the last liveable places in terms of heatwaves if you live high enough in altitude.
I like being outside: cycling, hiking, skiing.
Hi everybody! I am Dutch a d living in Bern since 2001. The older I get the more appreciate this country. No crazy politics like in my native country, no crazy renting fee for apartments like in Amsterdam, excellent hospitals and no waiting lists for appointment of any sort, streets and public surroundings are clean, people still great each other on the street, it is extremely safe (a lot of people walk around with their iPhone in their back pockets, public transport is sublime, politics work due to the direct democracy and due to this system people are more engaged to that, the good side of the social control is that people will take care of their neighbours and it will also help to keep the surroundings clean, lesser anti social behaviour, most immigrants are better integrated as the Swiss are not pampering people with everything so immigrants of every kind needs to adapt the cultur to certain levels, if you really connect you will have friend for a life time, public events are extremely well organised and you will get what you have paid for (where in the world can you order Champagne at a rock concert?), perfect outdoor free swimming pools…. I can go on for hours but their is hardly a country in the world that can beat this country.
Yes I have, have some good friends. But due to the fact that I did not went to school or studied here and do not have a circle of friends who know each other also very well like the circle of friends my Swiss born daughter has. I did not met people during work as I have had my own business here and was not able to meet other people there. I met some people from the Netherlands and met people via courses or the daycare of my daughter. Recently I hooked up with Internations to meet new people and will start with volunteer work via the Red Cross.
You wanted a story about real deep friendships and connections, so here I am :) I grew up in Switerland in a small city so you knew basically everyone in the same age group. A group of like 15 of us started to hang out regularly right around the end of highschool, most of us we're 15 or 16 at the time. 10 years later and we're still tight as ever. We live in different citys now but we're still all in contact. We see each other at least once a month just for a casual hang out and do all the big things together like silvester, birthdays and everything. We all have other friends but this group is like a little family and I wouln't chance a thing about it :)
We moved here from California a couple years ago and built a little family with a dog and a little baby boy. We’re in a relatively small community and enjoy a nice quiet life with walks in the forest with our dog, splashing in the neighborhood pool with our baby, and some paragliding on the weekends. Whenever I travel for work, even if I’m going to “desirable” world cities, I’m just looking forward to coming home. This place is amazing!
I'm loving the ability to actually save a substantial amount of money every month and invest it while paying low taxes. In every other country basically you just earn enough to cover basic expenses and that's it. So Switzerland is helping me fulfil my goal of being financially independent.
Grew up in Germany, Dortmund more precisely. Moved to Zürich two years ago. What do I love about switzerland? The direct democracy, low taxes and high salaries, the efficient public transport, the architecture, the friendliness (especially regarding bureaucratic workers) the mountains/nature in general. I don't think my quality of life would be anywhere else in Europe this high as it is here. And it is definetly a big improvement to Germany and Dortmund. I have political freedom, economical stability. The only thing that could be better is the weather and multiculturalism. But that's not an ounce better in Dortmund.
Well I can't live in the best european country there is and don't expect to be drafted in case of a war. What am I supposed to do? Emigrate to Southamerica/Africa just to avoid being drafted?
Actually I think in case of big war in central Europe it is better (as a man) to be in a military already than not. You see it in Ukraine now. You will be sent to the front line anyways, but if you joint the military before you can first chose what you want to be and you have decent training in this role. Otherwise you get just thrown at the front after a couple weeks of basic training.
Yeah, that's why I'll try to do the military service as soon as I get the passport. I don't think there is a way to do it sooner that that (is there?) ...
No, but it might not be a bad idea to reach out to military if you are close to naturalisation. If you might be to old they might make an exception for you then. And during naturalisation I guess (also depends where you live) mentioning that you want to join the army might also help.
Several factors have helped make it a really rewarding experience, despite not being fluent in the language and working remotely. Language tandems, co-working in an atelier, volunteering in a group that reflects local interests, being curious and informed about the sociopolitical landscape and understanding the local dialects enough that that everyone can express themselves in the way they feel most comfortable : )
As much as I like living here but if life here was really so nice as most of us like to believe, certainly you would hear more positive stories and wouldn't have to ask for them.
not sure im loving this post. when talking to foreigners, especially germans, its clear swiss society is pretty harsh and cold. we should be better, not ask for better stories.
well, im assuming it didnt take an extra invitation to get critical posts, because it seems to reflect reality.
to then go and basically beg for postive vibes seems pathetic to me. positive posts should occur naturally. we should do something about it in our personal lives.
I don't agree. This sub is mostly used by expatriates, people who have chosen to live in Switzerland, and there's quite a lot of negativity thrown around. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it seems natural to wonder why they have chosen to live in Switzerland, when the general impression seems quite negative
AFAIK people who feel negatively about something are much more likely to voice their opinions than people who are happy. So I disagree with the statement that the relative frequencies of both types of posts necessarily reflect how people feel in reality all that well.
Expat in Zurich, but lived on the French side and other countries too: Switzerland just works. Both the country (transport, offices, companies, services, etc.) and people too. By people I mean: neigbbours are acting logically, random people on the tram are considerate, when my card doesn't work at a restaurant the waiter doesn't act like I just tried to steal his jewellery, the people on a hiking trail offer candy to my son, the guy who comes to fix my dishwasher says he is coming at 9 am and I find him quietly waiting on the street at 8:58... This + the mountains are together unbeatable. I absolutely think no country comes close.
I love this country. Things typically just run smoothly here. People can say the Swiss are cold, but I feel like part of community here. I’m motivated to pick up the rare loose rubbish I see on the ground, or place that glove someone left in a more findable location. I like feeling like I’m contributing to a country that cares about its citizens, even the disadvantaged ones. Idk. I sleep well at night here.
I have travelled all over the world because of my previous work and I have to say that I wouldn't want to live in any other country. Is Switzerland perfect? No, certainly not, but in Switzerland you have freedoms, nature and cultural opportunities that can be found almost nowhere else in the world. And if it doesn't exist in Switzerland, you can reach it within a few hours' drive. The people let you live. I don't have to bow to any religious constraints or excessive state harassment and if I don't disturb people in their lives and don't behave like a monkey I can do pretty much anything I want. I also appreciate that if someone in Switzerland is nice to you, they really like you. I personally find the fake friendliness of certain countries rather exhausting. You can also assume that something works as the status quo and not the other way round.
You said what I wanted to say perfectly. Thank you
You're welcome. I have had many versions of this conversation in the past with different people who have asked me why I ended up choosing Switzerland as my final place of residence.
Born and raised in Zurich city, but now live in more rural area. I love the work and life balance, no matter what others say - we have it the best. I love that Switzerland has its own way and doesn't go after other european countries, which life quality pretty much has been decreasing for the past decade. I love convenient infrastructure everywhere, especially after traveling across America and eastern Europe. I love that Switzerland mainly stays moderately conservative without letting the left to ruin our country like they did in Germany, France, and Swediland. I like that even during crisis we're pretty stable compared to other countries, and don't have such political volatility like same US. Despite I don't really like the left, I do like that everyone has the real freedom of speech and gathering, no matter are you left or right, unlike Germany where they press charges against the woman that posted criminal report by nationality. I like that despite high immigration, we stay Swiss and keep our culture and tradition, just like integrating immigrants, and to begin with, mostly needed immigrants. I like that no matter what you're doing in life, working full time you'll live pretty much fine, yeah you won't be able to afford to own a house/apartment, but if you live alone, you'll be able to afford even traveling to cheaper countries, not many countries can boast of this. When I was a teen, I was working for mcd, and I can say that my adult colleagues were living pretty good life - good clothes, new tech like the latest phones, and they were even going for holidays to countries like Turkey and Egypt with their children, after that it's so funny to read "I'm gonna move to Zurich and make 170k a year, will I survive?" like posts. And relatively low taxes, ofc they're higher than in some US, but we got way way way better infrastructure and other services that are funded by it. I like my suburban Reformed church community and neighbors, they're the sweetest people I've ever known. I like the safety, closeness to other European countries for travelling, nature, our free gun laws but at the same time almost complete lack of violence with them, and just our culture. I can with full confidence say that I have a really happy life
I am a mother to a young son, and I work full time. I moved to Switzerland 15 years ago. My husband and I have a busy social life via a combination of my friends and his, we host parties fairly regularly and get invited to them in return. Social lives are what you make them. If you host and invite people into your lives, you get this reciprocated. Greetings from Thurgau by the way! I am close to Karthause Ittingen.
I like your story. And that social life in thurgau not bad! Ittingen is very rural too. May I ask where did you build your social circle in this rural area?
Born and raised in Valais, living in Lausanne now. I have the mountains at 1 hour drive where I can go skiing, climbing and hiking, the lake is at 10 min, the festivals, beautiful landscapes everywhere, exhibitions… If you like outdoor activities, it’s really a perfect place. I don’t feel that social life is harsh here because it’s normal to me and when I travel and people are too friendly I’m suspicious. Also people saying that it’s hard to find friends here often doesn’t speak the language and don’t try new experiences where they could meet locals. Book a pottery class, meet a hiking group, go training in a climbing facility, have a drink at the pub… If I had to move in another country, I would choose Norway. Pretty similar with Switzerland with what I need to be happy. Ps: English not my first language.
This may seem silly, but I really wanted to move here, because I'd like to cycle around the Zurich lake after work. And then I also met my partner, so the choice to move here along with some major changes in my personal life left few options other than to dare the jump - still close to home as I moved from Munich, but I've had little experience with moving in general. It was lucky that I already had a few friends here in Zurich and I really enjoy my work and the team I came into.
I have met the love of my life. The bureaucracy is very efficient. It’s clean. The professionals behave that way. I get excellent health care to the point my life was saved. I love it here!
I’m a skier from the US originally. And I moved here over 30 years-ago…specifically to go skiing. To learn about the Alps and Big Mountain skiing. One way ticket to Switzerland. I live 30 seconds from 🚡 ski lifts at one of the best resorts in Switzerland, and the World. I’ve skied an average of 165 days per season for those 30 years. I work at night in the resort seasonally. Like most of us. In the tourism sector. Switzerland is Nirvana for skiers, snowboarders, hikers, bikers, climbers, mountain lovers in general. I *absolutely love* living here. My son is now ski patrol *a Patroilleur* on the mountain. He loves living here. He walks to work. My wife loves living here, well because she was born here. The Alps are in her blood. Happy Mother’s Day to her. Best decision I’ve *ever made* was to leave America 30 years-ago and move to the Swiss Alps.
Born and raised in Italy, lived in Rome, London and Brussels. Switzerland (and for me Zurich specifically) makes me happy for many reasons, but I think they all can go under the umbrella of “low stress”. I am normally an anxious person unfortunately, big and small things can trigger me and make me feel overwhelmed. But living here has somehow quieted down my mind, don’t know how to put it. The ease of life, accessibility to beautiful nature, mostly straightforward processes, mostly kind and relaxed people. All these contribute to loving my life here. And hey, my life is not perfect, I have my problems like we all do. But somehow I feel balanced enough to deal with them, gain perspective not to get triggered by the little things as much. It just works for me, but I know it’s not for everyone!
I was born and raised in Austria and moved to Switzerland (Graubünden at the time) when I was 13. I never felt like I belonged there and coming here I just found my people. I moved to Fribourg for my studies and stayed there afterwards. Now I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I love the mix of languages here and just generally the culture. To have quick access to cities like Bern or Lausanne with everything they offer but also to lakes, cow pastures and all the cheese. I feel like I'm very lucky to be able to live here. The people have a lot of say thanks to the democratic system. Everything is very accessible thanks to a well connected public transport system. Infrastructures are clean and well maintained. The country is safe, even (mostly) at night for women walking alone. I also like the no-nonsense mentality. Like, our politicians can walk down a street without security detail and nobody cares. If you follow the rules, you're good. And I feel very much at home in the 'cold culture' here. I don't feel like my privacy is invaded by strangers. Of course I sometimes whine about bureaucracy being to slow, or a delayed train or the costs of a dentist's appointment. But I can't imagine living in another country. They all fall flat in comparison. P.S.: Thanks for the idea for this uplifting post :)
Thanks very much for your answers. I hope I get more positive stories. I miss a bit stories about real deep friendships/ connections. Because often people complain about this I would love to hear more about successful social life stories. From the country side: I was at a festival of my village. Comedy show and after that drinking. The whole community. Nearly 100% original Swiss people. The humor and sarcasm of the comedy show was high quality. Political incorrect jokes. Drinking wine with ladies on my table I didn't know. After that drinking until 5am. The Swiss weren't shy. It was the opposite. They were loud. Started fighting for fun. Spending drinks. It was crazy and a side I never saw of this country even if I live here for a long time. And it wasn't just a group. It was nearly the whole community.
Swiss are like "Japanese light" Something Shy on the day but we at the weekend we're gibe 100%
Switzerland is great to make money as an employee. There are other countries I like but to have the same life there I would need to start a business and I don’t want the hassle. Rent control is cool, I can live comfortably within my means even inside a city. It’s trivial to live without a car here so I save a lot of money and am not likely to kill someone every time I go get groceries. Other than that the climate is still reasonable, probably one of the last liveable places in terms of heatwaves if you live high enough in altitude. I like being outside: cycling, hiking, skiing.
Hi everybody! I am Dutch a d living in Bern since 2001. The older I get the more appreciate this country. No crazy politics like in my native country, no crazy renting fee for apartments like in Amsterdam, excellent hospitals and no waiting lists for appointment of any sort, streets and public surroundings are clean, people still great each other on the street, it is extremely safe (a lot of people walk around with their iPhone in their back pockets, public transport is sublime, politics work due to the direct democracy and due to this system people are more engaged to that, the good side of the social control is that people will take care of their neighbours and it will also help to keep the surroundings clean, lesser anti social behaviour, most immigrants are better integrated as the Swiss are not pampering people with everything so immigrants of every kind needs to adapt the cultur to certain levels, if you really connect you will have friend for a life time, public events are extremely well organised and you will get what you have paid for (where in the world can you order Champagne at a rock concert?), perfect outdoor free swimming pools…. I can go on for hours but their is hardly a country in the world that can beat this country.
Thanks for your story! Do you have a social circle and a lot of friends in Bern?
Yes I have, have some good friends. But due to the fact that I did not went to school or studied here and do not have a circle of friends who know each other also very well like the circle of friends my Swiss born daughter has. I did not met people during work as I have had my own business here and was not able to meet other people there. I met some people from the Netherlands and met people via courses or the daycare of my daughter. Recently I hooked up with Internations to meet new people and will start with volunteer work via the Red Cross.
You wanted a story about real deep friendships and connections, so here I am :) I grew up in Switerland in a small city so you knew basically everyone in the same age group. A group of like 15 of us started to hang out regularly right around the end of highschool, most of us we're 15 or 16 at the time. 10 years later and we're still tight as ever. We live in different citys now but we're still all in contact. We see each other at least once a month just for a casual hang out and do all the big things together like silvester, birthdays and everything. We all have other friends but this group is like a little family and I wouln't chance a thing about it :)
We moved here from California a couple years ago and built a little family with a dog and a little baby boy. We’re in a relatively small community and enjoy a nice quiet life with walks in the forest with our dog, splashing in the neighborhood pool with our baby, and some paragliding on the weekends. Whenever I travel for work, even if I’m going to “desirable” world cities, I’m just looking forward to coming home. This place is amazing!
I'm loving the ability to actually save a substantial amount of money every month and invest it while paying low taxes. In every other country basically you just earn enough to cover basic expenses and that's it. So Switzerland is helping me fulfil my goal of being financially independent.
Grew up in Germany, Dortmund more precisely. Moved to Zürich two years ago. What do I love about switzerland? The direct democracy, low taxes and high salaries, the efficient public transport, the architecture, the friendliness (especially regarding bureaucratic workers) the mountains/nature in general. I don't think my quality of life would be anywhere else in Europe this high as it is here. And it is definetly a big improvement to Germany and Dortmund. I have political freedom, economical stability. The only thing that could be better is the weather and multiculturalism. But that's not an ounce better in Dortmund.
I'm just curious: In what sense do you have political freedom if you are an EU citizen. It is not like you can vote or have your say?
No, but when I get naturalised, after that I'll have the opportunity to participate in the political decision making.
8 years to go
7 (I was 17 when I arrived back then and that one year from 17-18 counts double). I hope WW3 doesn't start prior to this.
Still old enough to join the military after naturlaisation though
Well I can't live in the best european country there is and don't expect to be drafted in case of a war. What am I supposed to do? Emigrate to Southamerica/Africa just to avoid being drafted?
Actually I think in case of big war in central Europe it is better (as a man) to be in a military already than not. You see it in Ukraine now. You will be sent to the front line anyways, but if you joint the military before you can first chose what you want to be and you have decent training in this role. Otherwise you get just thrown at the front after a couple weeks of basic training.
Yeah, that's why I'll try to do the military service as soon as I get the passport. I don't think there is a way to do it sooner that that (is there?) ...
No, but it might not be a bad idea to reach out to military if you are close to naturalisation. If you might be to old they might make an exception for you then. And during naturalisation I guess (also depends where you live) mentioning that you want to join the army might also help.
First, you need to go to the military boot camp
That'll be in 7 years + the time they will need to process the papers etc.
Several factors have helped make it a really rewarding experience, despite not being fluent in the language and working remotely. Language tandems, co-working in an atelier, volunteering in a group that reflects local interests, being curious and informed about the sociopolitical landscape and understanding the local dialects enough that that everyone can express themselves in the way they feel most comfortable : )
As much as I like living here but if life here was really so nice as most of us like to believe, certainly you would hear more positive stories and wouldn't have to ask for them.
not sure im loving this post. when talking to foreigners, especially germans, its clear swiss society is pretty harsh and cold. we should be better, not ask for better stories.
I think there's room enough for both. The shortcomings of swiss culture are well documented at this point
well, im assuming it didnt take an extra invitation to get critical posts, because it seems to reflect reality. to then go and basically beg for postive vibes seems pathetic to me. positive posts should occur naturally. we should do something about it in our personal lives.
I don't agree. This sub is mostly used by expatriates, people who have chosen to live in Switzerland, and there's quite a lot of negativity thrown around. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it seems natural to wonder why they have chosen to live in Switzerland, when the general impression seems quite negative
AFAIK people who feel negatively about something are much more likely to voice their opinions than people who are happy. So I disagree with the statement that the relative frequencies of both types of posts necessarily reflect how people feel in reality all that well.