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| Hello all,
I'm from California where we have beautiful sun for more than half the year, beaches everywhere and always something to do. I'm currently living here in Switzerland and finding it extremely hard not to be depressed. I've made a couple friends (an American and a German) which I hang out with, but coming from a culture where you always have at least 10 people to call for fun, I feel really lonely. I live in Wollerau, about 30 minutes from Zürich, so there's really no social scene in my area or opportunity for me to meet new people. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to get more familiar with fun things around here and meet fun people around my age?
Here's a list of things I've tried already and a little personal information to help.
* I'm 24 and just finishing college
* I work full time (probably changing to a 60-70% schedule soon)
* I live with my boyfriend who's Swiss
* I'm in the process of learning the language
* I've attended the Professional Women's Group in Zürich (older people)
* I've gone to the Toast Master's meeting (older people)
* I've talked to random people on the train 
* I've thought about going to events posted on the calendar, but people
seem a lot older than me or married.
Thanks in advance for all your help. | |
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I've been here for 5.5 years, and I still feel homesick. I think that's normal since Swiss culture is very different from American culture (and Asian's -- which is true in my case). We just have to adapt to the Swiss way.
Maybe if you have some more free time in the near future (i.e. once you have a 60 or 70 percent work schedule), you can enroll in a German course. Not only does it help you with learning one of the national Swiss languages so you can communicate with the locals; it's also a good way to meet lots of foreigners who are in the same boat as you are (it worked for me). I've met lots of nice people in my French and German classes who have become good friends.
Alternatively, you can create an expat blog on
http://blogger.com or
http://wordpress.com, and blog your angst away. Blogging is highly therapeutic (in my humble opinion). You may want to read some expat blogs here:
http://www.expat-blog.com/en/directo...e/switzerland/ (I know for a fact that some of the bloggers listed there have become friends with their blog readers and/or co-bloggers.)
Hope this helps. All the best.