I moved to northern Germany in 2001, and found it a pretty frigid social place to be. My response was to ignore that, josh and joke with people, try to lighten them up (yes, I'm from California too: we do that kind of thing...). At the beginning, when I'd do so, it was like watching a light-switch be flipped on, painfully, as though my conversation partners had this (moderately ponderous...) revelation that said: Ah, time to be funny! Light-hearted!! Play along!!! But it also gave them a chance to relax, not take the interaction too seriously: it was being marked as light-hearted --- and then they too would make jokes or laugh ruefully.

But it's also a personality thing: you may or may not always feel like being light-hearted and seeing the humor in things, or want to share that joking manner. People certainly DO have a sense of humor in Germany and Switzerland - one look at the small theater/cabaret scene or the number of comedians running around is enough - but everyday life is (or can be) harrassing, harried, stressed, and serious.

Granted: I don't face the language barrier. But try joking around a bit in English with the neighbor(s) the mailman, the clerks. A lot of people here have very good passive understanding of English, including jokes, even if they are hesitant about speaking. I think you might be surprised at the warmth of the response. And at the very least, it could make *you* feel better!

Hang in there,
J.