Have been here 5 months now and will be here for at least a year working for a Swiss subsidiary of my US company. I came over by myself, no family. By now I know my way around, love the trains and the hiking trails. My German is pretty minimal. My co-workers are all Swiss, so they are teaching me basic Swiss German pleasantries and essential phrases for shopping, going to restaurants, and getting my heating fixed. I have made my first visit to a dentist (successfully) and am sooo proud of it. Other than that I often feel like I've landed on the moon, I haven't had my hair styled or colored since I've been here ... I have a hard enough time at home getting what I need from a stylist that speaks my native US English! The most basic everyday things can be quite challenging. Take "official Zug garbage bags," for example ... took me 3 weeks to figure out where to buy them (behind the electronics counter at Migros - go figure). My perspective on life has changed a great deal with this experience. Everyone oughtta do the expat thing once in their lives, and Switzerland seems like a pretty benign place to start.