I would have to agree with you on that one - there definitely IS a difference. I learnt High German for 6 years and also lived in Germany back in the 90s, so I thought I wouldn't have a problem understanding Swiss German. Nope! It has taken me over a year, but I am now able to speak SG and understand the locals where I live. Some grammar structure is different, word order, vocab - who knew Karotten would be Rübli?!