Hi all, first time poster in this forum from Australia.

I have lived in Australia (Brisbane and Sunshine Coast) all my life, which are beautiful places, but to be honest i'm getting fed up with the Australian culture of constant boozing and stupidity. It seems that most people here think the best idea of "fun" is to get as drunk as possible on a frequent basis. I find this really unattractive, and believe it is also getting worse (especially with the women). Australia used to be a laid back place where people created their own fun, but now I feel everything must involve alcohol and being intoxicated. The number of "bogans" also keeps increasing.

I am wondering what the swiss culture is like in this regard? Is it as boozy/boganish as australia, or do they prefer to do other things for fun? I am a lover of nature and scenery (especially mountains and countryside), so this is my idea of enjoyment over getting wasted in some club.

My grandparents are swiss, so I have citizenship with the swiss consolidate. It is my understanding that all i'd need to do is obtain a swiss passport and I can move over there to live?

As a quiet and reserved person, am I likely to enjoy switzerland? I generally find most Australian's to be too loud and "in your face", especially due to the drinking culture. On the down side, I hear the swiss aren't too friendly with foreigners, so is it even more difficult to make friends there? I am a person who prefers structure and routine, and I hear the swiss are also like this.

I am visiting europe in august/september this year, and will probably have time to spend about 5 days in switzerland. Which areas should I visit to get a taste of whether or not i'd like the place? I was thinking a city (eg geneva) and the alps such as Grindelwald. Are there any other places you would suggest?

I work in the IT industry but only speak english, what are the job opportunities like in Switzerland with IT compared to Australia? Would I find it difficult obtaining work there? Also is it better to move there first then look for work, or apply for jobs while in Australia first? Australia is a bit funny in that most experience gained overseas doesn't count here for some reason. Is this also the case for Switzerland? Will I have to start from scratch again with my career?

The Swiss are not such a drinking/pub culture. They are much more
into the outdoors and nature.

If you are a Swiss citizen, I would think your opportunities here
would be quite good, but your language skills limits you to
companies where English is the official language. There
are plenty of them: SwissRe, Credit Suisse, UBS, Novartis,
Nestlé,etc.

Personally, I think the German speaking side has a bit more
to offer all around and jobwise.. If I were you, I would start working on either French or German.

Considering what you say, I think you would very much enjoy Switzerland me too I love the countryside and mountains, and trust me, I love Australia too, but this is paradise for me. Generally speaking there's a great culture of enjoying nature with diverse sports such as hiking or skiing and therefore there's plenty of opportunities to do it and it's very easy to meet people willing to go with you! and there's the Alps! with lots of beautiful lakes!

Same goes for the rest. As for the drinking culture, it's definitely not as bad as in the UK or Australia, but I think it's also getting worse... globalization I guess. Oh and yes, other people might better tell you about it, but I think there's plenty of jobs in the IT sector, in fact there's lots of these guys in the forum.

I don't recommend you going to Geneva to get a first glimpse of the country though. If you've got 5 days I would better go to Lausanne and sorroundings (Lavaux vineyards, Vevey, Montreux....) to see lake Geneva and the french side, then a couple of days in the Bernese oberland (thun, interlaken...) and possibly do a hiking around there, Zurich city... that way you would get to see the nature, but also the two places where you would most probably find a job in an international company (lake Geneva and canton Zurich)

Come over mate. I met my Swiss wife five years ago whilst living in Spring Hill. Been here here four years now and I'm probably here for good...

Another reason I want to leave here is the climate. I cannot stand the heat and humidity of Brisbane and pretty much spend all summer in aircon. I would LOVE the cooler climate of Switzerland, it would be heaven for me. What is the hottest it normally gets in summer? Is it a dry heat?

Good to hear that switzerland doesn't have such binge drinking culture. In australia its actually becoming an epidemic - any nurse/doctor/paramedic that works on a fri/sat night will tell you this. There is far too much violence and antisocial behaviour, not to mention the stupidity. Sometimes I just don't feel like I don't belong in this country.

In regards to employment, do most people move there first then look for work, or do they try and gain employment before they arrive? I guess if you arrive there first without a job then you are taking a bigger risk. However given that i'd be a citizen, i'd be entitled to welfare while I look for a job right? What is their welfare system like compared to Australia?

I was quite shocked to see that the biggest city (Zurich) only has a population of 380 000. Does it ever get boring or is there enough to do?

One more thing I was wondering about, what is the broadband like over there? I am currently on a 20mbit ADSL connection, but within another 5 years australia will have fibre to most homes.

How did you meet your wife? Was she travelling over here?

What are swiss women like anyway? I dislike most of the women here, as most of them are into the drinking/clubbing culture (as mentioned previously). They also aren't very feminine, have no class, and dress in very skimpy clothing. Of course there are a few gems, but unfortunately I've found most of them to be like this.

They are also very stand offish, and seem to have this invisible shield over them saying "get away from me loser", before they have even spoken to you. Many of them have this anti-male attitude and think that all men are "creeps" or evil in some way.

Are swiss women any better?

Mate I think this goes for a lot of women around the world in general. But yeah I don't think you can generalise the opposite sex like that...

Yeah I met my wife in Brissy. She went there to study English, we met the day she arrived.

What I really like about European women in general, and I think Swiss women are more so, is that they are very career orientated and unlike the few Aussie shielas I went out with back home they don't just want to have babies and meet the girls for coffee every day while the hubby slogs it out bringing home the bacon. Don't get me wrong, they love to party but do it sensibly and don't drink to get completely wasted whilst maintaining some sort of composure and self dignity.

Mate I know what you mean about the weather. I work in construction and have lived 8 years in Airlie Beach where it can reach 36 degrees by 8 in the morning. Yeah it is refreshing to live in a cold climate. Once more you get to wear winter clothing like cool jackets and scarfs and god I love my ugg boots.

As it's been said before, here is a lot about the outdoors. Skiing/snowboarding in winter. Hiking in spring and autumn and hanging out at the lake in summer. (which I must say is like swimming in EVIAN)

Convinced ???? Well ya bloody should be !!!!

True, but from what i've heard the best women are from eastern europe and russia. Take a look at this site www.happierabroad.com

Great! this suits me perfectly. I have chosen not to have kids and would like to find a woman who doesn't either. In australia most of them just want to pop out babies and don't care so much about a career. Unfortunately there aren't many women in australia who don't want kids, so it does make meeting the right person difficult. Given that swiss women are more career orientated, i'm guessing there would be more of them that don't want kids?

1) All the cities are so close together and compact here, they're almost like suburbs of each other. If you get bored you can hop on a plane, and within a couple of hours you can be anywhere in Europe. I find everything small and compact, and that's coming from NZ. You'll find it even more so coming from Oz.

2) You can get ADSL2+ (up to 18Mbit) everywhere I've looked. Swisscom is rolling out fibre, but that's a work in progress (much like the NBN). Cablecom offers cable up to 100Mbit in a lot of places.

I wouldn't say Swiss women are any more likely to not want kids than typically in other countries.
From my (limited) observations, Swiss women seem career orientated until early to mid thirties then start popping out kids. There are some who have kids and continue to work (part-time at least).
There are a lot of other nationalities than Swiss in Switzerland so don't judge only on Swiss women.

.

Any chance you are bringing a container and could fit a small amount of furniture in it?

We have a very small amount at my in laws in Bribie island and would like to try and get it over here.

Thks

Cheeky...

Where abouts in Brisbane are you?

I am from Brisbane (southside) and have been here for just over 2 years.

The first thing you MUST do is get yourself into a German course. I landed here with no German and it was very hard. We had just a couple of months notice. Not enough to learn a new language and uproot a family of 4.

You have time to prepare so start learning now.

After 2 years people expect you to speak the local language. I try but I am terrible. And, swiss german and german are absolutely nothing alike when you listen to it.

Oh, and you might read that it is 'super expensive' living in Switzerland, but given the price increases you have had back home, I think you might be pleasantly surprised.

This might surprise many but on average everything you consume is cheaper here with the exception of red meat. Eat local fresh fruit and vegies (I have not found any food that comes from China), the quality is better and the price is lower.

Housing is more expensive though (but that goes with the territory of minimal land) and health insurance is your own responsibility - the cost is not hidden by the government in your taxes. So decrease the amount of tax you pay and increase the cost of your health insurance and you will find you are not out of pocket.

In general I have found that so long as you look local and act local... people won't know until you open your mouth. The checkout chicks have been a good experiment base for me.

As for racism, or any form of discrimination, it is as alive and kicking here just as in Australia.

Enjoy your preparations.

Wow, this thread is just one big generalisation about Australian women and women in general!

AND about Australians, alcohol and lifestyle...
People tend to generalize, it's in our genes.

And there is a little truth in all of them...
Brisbanians drink like crazy, although the booze is so bloody expensive, a lot of my swiss girlfriends don't want kids, Australians are outgowing and sometimes too friendly, whereas Swiss are sometimes too offstandish...
But still, LOVE both places and will never make my mind up wich of the two places it would be better to live in...

Most foreigners can't get into Switzerland without having a work/live permit which comes with a job, but as you've got Swiss citizenship you should be okay. Don't count on getting unemployment money though while you look for a job, I think the Swiss are unlikely to pay out until you've paid some in so make sure you've got money to live on until you can find a job here. It might be different with Swiss citizenship, but you'd need to check before making any firm commitments.

Temperatures can get up into the mid 30s in the summer depending on where you live and there's very little air conditioning as such so bear this in mind.

A book that I found quite useful when we were getting ready to move from UK to Switzerland is one called "Living and Working in Switzerland". It tells you all sorts of things about taking up life here, some of it tongue in cheek, but helped us to understand the differences/difficulties/benefits we might face. It should be available through Amazon, either the Australian or UK shops should be able to get it.

Jobwise, sites like jobs.ch, jobup.ch and qual.ch are good places to start looking. If you can get a job lined up before the move it'll ease any money worries you may have.

wow - not sure if you know what you're getting yourself into.... in Zurich the sky is cloudy around 70% of the time, and not just ordinary clouds - low hanging, dark, suffocating clouds. It rains virtually 2 out of 3 days and feels damp and humid. Summers are rather cool (often below 15°C), winters are rather warm (hardly any snow). I can't understand how anyone could prefer this over warm and sunny weather

Summers often below 15 degrees ????

Where, In the basement under the storage closet ???

2011 saw plenty of warm days from March right through into Autumn. Hottest year on record actually !!!

Having moved from Brisbane to Basel two years ago I must say that weatherwise Switzerland is not too bad at all. In Basel the summers are long, temperate and mostly sunny. Those low-hanging clouds you just described are typical in the winter, but one can escape them any time by riding a cable car above them. At the top of the mountain the sun is shining much more often than not. Switzerland is seldom if ever overly humid, while Brisbane climate is simply suffocating 5-6 months every year.

I don't know if there are two Zurich's in the world, but you must be living in a different one from the one I lived in, the one in canton Zurich, Switzerland, that is.

maybe you haven't been here long enough to have lived through the full cycle....

Ahhhhh I've been here over 4 years and I'm thinking you also live in a different Zurich as to the one I live in.

That or you really do live in the basement.... under the storage closet....