Viewing 32 posts - 1 through 32 (of 32 total)
  • Anyone on here live in Switzerland?!
  • colwyn58
    Free Member

    As above am thinking of moving there (from UK) and was after some “real world” pros and cons…

    Anyone else on here made the move?

    BoardinBob
    Full Member

    Pros: mountains

    Cons: the swiss

    snaps
    Free Member

    Spongingmachine off here lived in Zermatt for a while.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    colwyn58
    Free Member

    BoardinBob – think you’ve summed up my thoughts!

    alpinegirl
    Free Member

    I have a good friend that lives there and I think she found that in general the Swiss are quite hard to get to know, they don’t seem very patient with people learning German either (“hoch Deutsch” or Swiss-German). But obviously there are exceptions. It can be a good country to live/work in though and the mountains, public services etc. are wonderful.

    Richie_B
    Full Member

    Not done it myself but a mate has just gone. The downside seems to be the bureaucracy (can’t get somewhere to live without a bank account…can’t get a bank account without somewhere to live) but he went with a company that sorted out the worst of that for him.
    The upsides (as reported)
    – Everything works
    – Skiing, Climbing, Mountain biking etc fantastic and easy to get to.
    – The cities are pretty cosmopolitan with good social life (even if your not loaded)

    BoardinBob
    Full Member

    I have the misfortune of working with them (the swiss) extensively on a daily basis and my experiences of them on numerous visits have been less than good. Beautiful country though and a supposed fantastic quality of life.

    colwyn58
    Free Member

    Are they the french or German variety – does it make any difference?!

    Would possibly prefer Geneva but would prob be easier to find work in Zurich?

    grynch
    Free Member

    colwyn — I live over here.. as do a few others on STW

    I’m not a Brit so I can’t comment on changes of culture tooooo much but I think boardinBob has summed it up nicely.

    beautiful country side, easy to get around, shopping is a pain in the arse ( can I say arse? ) as shops close up for the night at 6.45 mostly and many of them close at lunch time.. I learned that lesson fast.. “I’m just going to pop over to the grocery at lunch time and “… ..oops.

    grynch
    Free Member

    colwyn.. I live in Geneva.. whats your field?

    .
    and hard to believe but french are generally more uptight than German ( in my experience.

    grynch
    Free Member

    cons — private sector — you can get hit with paying home country and swissie taxes.

    grynch
    Free Member

    pro — nice salary, and possible away from home allowance., or in some places a 13th month salary ( that is being done away with now tho )

    crouch_potato
    Free Member

    Used to live in Zuerich, and would jump at an opportunity to return.

    The swiss are fine, I dunno why people give them a bad rep- maybe if you’re stuck in the financial/service nonsense world that many ex-pats end up in Switzerland for, that would be pretty dull, but ordinary people are just like ordinary people everywhere else- some pretty cool, others not. Wherever you end up, learn to speak with locals in their local language (apologies if this is obvious, but most people I met complaining about the swiss were american or english, and had simply tired to transplant their life into swiss context). And if you’re single, Zuerich is full of pretty young things (although mainly the girls- guys not so hot seemingly).

    Pros- Great climate and landscape (ski/board/climb all winter, ride/climb swim all summer), clean cities, safe, cosmopolitan (european, SE asian, S American), good nightlife (well clubs, not so great for live music), excellent transport (ie go out, go home at 3, pick up skis, ride to station, get on train(s), sleep, get out of train, ski all day, train home…). Excellent academic stuff, if that’s relevant.

    Cons- officially is not so great for immigration, healthcare etc unless you’re loaded, or young free and single with no problems, in which case that doesn’t matter so much. Takes 10 years to get naturalised citizenship rights (correct me if I’m wrong).

    Other- living expenses worked out roughly the same as the UK a few years back, the CHF is pretty strong I’d imagine at the moment, so it might be expensive. Getting somewhere to stay can be reasonable or very expensive, but the quality of places is good or better.

    I got the impression that Zuerich was the most interesting city to live in though, Basel a bit to German, Bern a bit too small (both nice though) Luzern great location, but not too much happening, Geneve pretty decent, but never spent much time there.

    I’d go again.

    grynch
    Free Member

    p.s.. healhcare.. I’ve got great healthcare and great docs.

    another con — are you married?.. you may find out your partner is not entitledd to work

    children?… to be taught in english they would have to go to private school which can be expensive.

    grynch
    Free Member

    if you have specific questions email me..addy in my profile.

    colwyn58
    Free Member

    Not married or children but would go with (English) girlfriend.

    Am an accountant who qualified with Big 4 just over a year ago – no longer work for Big 4 now though but still working as a bean counter…!

    grynch
    Free Member

    ahhh.. english g.f…. that could be a problem… she would probably have to apply for residency on her own merit.. or get married.

    any links on jobs or is this at the just thinking stage?

    grynch
    Free Member

    before mrs. G and I got married I was a “non person” here… couldnt even hope of getting a work permit.

    colwyn58
    Free Member

    Grynch – just dropped you a mail….

    I thought that under “EU” rules the Brits were free to work there?

    davey_clayton
    Free Member

    We were thinking of moving to switzerland. In my preliminary research this was the best website I found….

    http://www.switzerland.isyours.com/e/immigration/relocation/index.html

    …all the important things taken care of then.

    steveh
    Full Member

    Surely not, as Switzerland isn’t part of the EU?

    grynch
    Free Member

    as steve said, no Switz is not EU

    andym
    Free Member

    Are they the french or German variety – does it make any difference?

    At risk of stating the obvious, (IME) the differences are similar to the differences between the Germans and the French.

    colwyn58
    Free Member

    ok – many thanks for the posts people, certainly not conclusive either way but not fully put me off!

    grynch
    Free Member

    colwyn, I’ll send you an email with some links ( ok ok.. when I get around to it ) but meantime you might want to check out another forum.. nothin to do with bikes this one.

    http://www.englishforum.ch

    as you might guess from the name it’s an english speaking forum here in switz., alot of Brit ex pats on there that could. Surprize surprize tho they can be a cranky lot ( what is it with forums ). Be sure to use search function for any questions before you post a new topic.

    really, no, I mean really.

    darrell
    Free Member

    i lived in Zurich for 5 years – 2002-2007 – before moving to Norway.

    I loved it. the best place i have ever lived. i met, and still have, some swiss friends. you have to try to learn the language (german).

    i would love to go back there but my missus is norwegian and wont leave viking land

    darrell
    Free Member

    and avoid the ex-pat community as much as possible. force yourself to integrate into the swiss culture and life and you’ll love it. the mtbiking in Zurich is excellent and your only 1 hour away from the big hills

    grynch
    Free Member

    darrell, good advice in general.. avoiding the expat community, but for someone like colwyn who is thinking about moving over they ( we? ) are a good source of info.

    after moving over tho.. yes… try to integrate into the community.. there was one guy I knew here ( since moved away ) that had lived here 16 years and never bothered to learn french… it was a regular fixture at the local english pub.

    freeridenick
    Free Member

    I also never understood this thing about the Swiss, there are just as many nobbers in this country….if not more.

    kimbers
    Full Member

    as i understand it dont bother trying to move there if you are non-white

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6992670.stm

    colwyn58
    Free Member

    stumbled on the http://www.englishforum.ch a while back and it seems to have a lot of useful info but as with all forums must be taken with a pinch of salt I guess?!

    Also seems in terms of job hunting success it very much depends on how employable you are in any country – there seem to be a lot of people on there that have moved to Switzerland and were struggling to find work in their own country anyway or want to do something very niche.

Viewing 32 posts - 1 through 32 (of 32 total)

The topic ‘Anyone on here live in Switzerland?!’ is closed to new replies.