are you guys really ''happy'' living here and are some of you thinking of leaving?

I'm "happy".

what makes you happy then?

Friends, family and, of course, me. Money makes one happy for only so long. Once you have enough to cover your basic needs, you'll find money is not enough to make you really happy. That's where you have to decide whether you want to find good friends and stick around or go back to where you were most happy.

I don't think there's one "make me happy" answer. We all travel our own journeys.

How about introducing yourself 'real' - and welcome to the Forum.
Nobody is happy all the time, and no country can make everybody happy. It is sad that some people come to CH against their wishes, whether because of war or tragedy, or because of their business. At the end of the day, most people make informed choices, and the more positive you are, the more positive the outcome. Every country has pros and cons, + and - - it's up to you to work out the balance. Bonne chance.

What is your background and experience of CH. What brought you here, and what do you like or dislike. Warning, do remember that Switzerland is extremely varied despite its small size. Life in Zurich is very different to life in Lausanne, or Glarus. Just like life is very different in a small village in Yorkshire or Devon, or a town like Bristol, or Newcastle or London, etc.

I love it here, and the thought of leaving makes me break out in a cold sweat.

Indeed.

I doubt I'd be as happy if I lived on the north side of the Alps (and I did live there for four years), but here it's HEAVEN!

Tom

Uh! Tom .Check your pulse

st2lemans or Tom, i don't think you can compare switzerland to Heaven. impossible. a bit exaggerated you know. haven't you ever had problems here? ;-) i doubt so.

come on Real, what's your problem, tell us all...

Sure: finding brown sugar, and boot-cut jeans!

Tom

I could never return to the UK now. I love it here. The people are friendly and it's safe. I've made some great friends and my kids are happy. The scenery is amazing and the skiing is great. What more do you need from life?

I've been living in the village of Bussigny (near Lausanne) since 2009 and I honestly enjoy my life here.

I like living in a country that has so much natural beauty, with lakes, mountains, rivers and fields all only a very short drive away.

I love the diversity of Switzerland as a country, and the fact that I can drive for an hour or so from my house and find that everyone speaks an entirely different language (Swiss German), even though I'm still in the same country.

The Swiss people are generally friendly, although I think they are less open to change than people from England or other European countries.

All in all, Switzerland is a great place to live. Money does not buy happiness, that's for sure - I'm happy that I earn enough to cover my basic needs here.

I've being living near Nyon since 1993 and love it here. Before that Ireland, UK, and Belgium - best experiences here. Friendly people, and I like the dry sense of humour of the Vaudois. Took out Swiss nationality last year so I can vote (seems like every second Sunday since!)

Happiness is many different things to many different people.

Some people hate Switzerland for its water, while others love it for its water!

But it depends on what you need to be happy? Each person defines their quality of life differently. Personally I couldnt stand to be in Switzerland more than 3 to 6 months out of the year. I prefer the sun, and friendly neighbors. So I travel allot. Then when I come back to Switzerland its nice again, even if not as friendly or as sunny as other places.

It also depends on where you came from. If you came from a place that was rainy to begin with (England, or the Netherlands etc.) then you might not even notice the gray, depressing, weather. But if you came from the The Caymans, Perth, or some other sunny place, you would be seeking frequent vacations.

In my personal experience the happiness you feel in Switzerland has to do allot with who your neighbors are. It doesnt matter how nice the area you live in is, if you have bad nachbars in Switzerland you will hate this place. Out of the 5 place Ive live in CH I can trace my happiness to how horrid or friendly the neighbors were. Thats a crap-shoot sometimes.

If happiness for you is having good public transport, a great paying remedial job, skiing is a passion, and you have a real appreciation for privacy, then you could indeed be "Happy" here.

But if other things are more important, like variety, warm weather, politeness, the sun, in-expensive food, and personalized living (i.e. a nice Victorian home on the lake, rather than an apartment with shared parking garage), you will suffocate very quickly.

I do notice however that "real" hasn't responded or given us the slightest clue as to whether or not they're happy here. Or even introduced themselves. How rude!

This is so very true.

I loved Switzerland for the first 5 years we live here, counted myself truly lucky every day I woke up to see the mountains beyond the lake. I was blessed with a lovely neighbor who accepted us from the start, went out of her way to extend a hand of friendship and smooth over our introduction to Swiss life. We were very, very happy here.

I then moved, had even lovelier views of the lake and mountains, and although the new neighbors weren't particularly open and welcoming they were polite and friendly in a 'Sie terms' sort of way. 'Live and let live' was the order of the day. Still good, still quite happy here.

That all changed when a few new families moved into the Quartier. Suddenly there was strife at every Quartier meeting, constant inter-neighborhood bickering over silly things, escalating to orchestrated campaigns. I managed to stay outside of it all (sometimes being an Auslander has advantages ) until we became the focus of one of those campaigns.

The everyday environment can't help but color one's perceptions of the country as a whole. That's neither fair nor particularly useful, but it's a typical human reaction.

So - you either get lucky and live happily ever after, or you grow a thick skin and ignore unpleasantness when it arises, or you cut your losses and move on.

As Zuger says, it's a roll of the dice.

I guess I will be the first to say it: I am thinking of leaving and have days where I am unhappy. (I also think most of the people on here have probably had days like that).

Don't get me wrong, I do love Switzerland and it is easy to imagine an incredible life here. Some days my life DOES feel incredible here. I think if I was working in my profession, that would change a lot for me. And it's not that I can NEVER work in my profession here, it's more that I am not sure if I am patient enough to have the time I would need to become fluent, nor the emotional resources to get me there (when I know I could do what I love fairly quickly back home, where life is also pretty incredible.)

And ditto regarding the importance of neighbours!

Sure, I've had asshole neighbors here, but I've also had them in the US, so it doesn't bother me.

Same with my wife, she grew up and spent half her adult life in a detached villa in Gentillino with only one bordering neighbor, who was an asshole (even poisoned their dogs once), and both they and the neighbors are Swiss!

Tom

My unhappy days have nothing to do with where I live. They are just there.... However surroundings or people can make unhappy days worse