Hi all,

Well, at the end of the month, we'll have been here 6 months!

What have I seen?

Money:
There's never enough. Im on a good/high average salary, and we're still going through it at a rate of knots. Maybe things will settle down next year when we're no longer "moving in", but right now, every month's pennies are accounted for!

Prices:
Some stuff is reasonable, some are "optimistic", some are just taking the ****. Shop cleverly, and you can feed a family of 3 for 100-150 a week. However, add a 4th member and his Anti-Reflux Formula and that figure changes...it costs as much to feed him per month, as it does to feed the rest of us for 2 weeks!

Driving:
Either the swiss have improved in the last 6 months, or we've tuned in a bit more, but the amount of mad moves has dropped. Maybe it's the nicer weather - people become more considerate and chilled. That and their antique merc convertible would cost a FORTUNE if they pranged it doing something stupid...

Activities:
We're struggling a wee bit with finding activities and location suitable for a hyper 2 year old. Especially in rainy weather, and especially something that doesn't cost a fortune. But it's early days yet...

The wife and I are losing weight, since we at least can now rely on the excellent local area (Unterageri) for our fitness needs, which is important with a 2 year old and 2 month old taking up 90% of our time!

The Swiss:
Are pleasant, polite and respectful in the main. There are some inconsiderate muppets though, but the children especially are far more respectful and not aggressive compared to back home

The best bits:
Having a zumbach on the doorstep (though my waistline isn't thanking me for it), a local cheese place with excellent cheese and proper cream-on-top fresh milk, the chocolate, the excellent Wanderweg network, THE SUN!, the views (Agerisee has the fountain on again), the roads (motorbiking and cycling), the low tax, the coffee, the cafe at the top of that steep long hill, the balcony on the flat (once we can use it a bit more), the swimming pool, the bilingual kinderplace, the millions of other cyclists, EF , the medical care...

Good post!

I've been here one year now and agree with all of the 'best bits' you listed. I would also add learning German and really using it when out and about, I love it. Also, going to some great EF events, meeting cool people and realising some of them may actually want to be my friend!

Ah, the six months threshold. This is when the novelty starts wearing off and it's no longer exotic.

Also, anticipate your friends from your previous home to reduce their contact with you. FB doesn't count. Soon you'll discover a friend has had a baby but er, neglected to inform you.

Billag will make their presence known.

Nebenkosten are around the corner.

Church fees, too.

And so it goes on, on and on, and on, in perpetuity.

The English Forum improves, though. Something to look forward to...

Of course I missed a sections off:

Things we're looking forward to doing:

- Not worrying about money (as much)
- Cycling in the alps proper, on all-day rides, filling memory card after memory card with photos
- Chilling at the open air pool in Zug
- Taking our 2 yrs old to the 3+ activities when she's old enough
- Having proper picnics as a family, without worrying about the weather
- Doing some tourist stuff; the boat tour, the dinner tram in Zurich, coffee in Rapperswill etc
- Being able to understand the locals more (ie german language)
- having a glass of wine on the balcony in the sun, once the kids are down
- learning to ski as a family!

etc....

Not to worry, they were out the blocks bloody sharpish. We got our "demand" 3 weeks after moving in...

re: the others?

old friend: Yeah - there is a tinge of jealousy there which does mean a bit less contact than normal. Stuff like the weather for example.

Church fees: Only for the bashers. I twigged onto that racket from a very early age.

I think the two main gripes we have are:

- smoking. So many smokers...
- will the bills never end..?

That will never go away, I've been here 6 years and I am still scared to open the mailbox sometimes !

Baby food and nappies (and various other baby-related stuff, including washing powder) are some of the biggest rip-offs in Switzerland. This is really worth going to Germany for (a "dm" or "Rossmann" store, often conveniently located in a retail park just across the border). "Aptamil", "Hipp" (German organic brand) and "Nestle BEBA" Anti-reflux formulas are all around the EUR 13 mark for a 600g pack at Rossmann and usually the same or slightly cheaper at dm. They tend to be close to CHF 25 in Switzerland.

Our bills started settling down after the first year. The rent was the biggest outgoing and getting our own place has meant substantial saving, especially in the last 2-3 years with low interest rates.

Having kids we were actually financially better off as there were less evenings out , but we do pay in daycare fees near to what we used to pay in rent.

You will always worry about the weather for those family picnics, you just have to grab the good days when they come. We usually do impromptu things according to the weather. The Zugerbadi should be open now in Zug and we were swimming outdoors in Baar last Wednesday.

Welcome to Kanton Zug! We came here almost 10 years ago and even after a few long trips back home (Sydney) I am still in love with the place. My 5 year old son learned to ski (his first full week of full day ski school) last winter in the same place we learned to ski 9 years ago.

Understanding the locals is something I wish I could just tune out now

My family hit the 10 month mark this month and I would also agree with OP. Although billag has not yet made their presence known. Maybe because our village is very small.

Still love going to sleep with the chirping of crickets and the tinkling of cowbells. Even though it irks some folks, I always enjoy the sound of the church bells (though the Sunday 8 am one could be done away with).

I have gotten used to the prices. So much so, that when I go back to the states or on holiday, I just start pilling groceries in my cart because they are just so CHEAP.

Have finally excepted that it is okay to do 70% percent of my grocery shopping at Aldi and not feel like a poor deadbeat

I eat at Ikea for the inexpensive meal and the free childcare at Smalland.

I get really shocked at the dirty state of anyplace outside Switzerland now. Pieces of garbage on the ground is just not acceptable anymore.

I've just passed the 8 month mark. The first 2 months were a wave of excitement and hanging in there in temporary accommodation. Next 2 months homesickness along with winter kicked in. New Year brought new beginnings and great new friends. I have to say I absolutely love it here. I'm trying hard to learn German and can mostly converse in shops, restaurants, bars and have now started proper lessons. I've made so many great friends. I obviously miss my family and close friends but I'm on a wonderful adventure and drinking every moment. Yes there are darker days, usually hit me on a Sunday, but mostly it's just great.

I'm finding that things being so expensive make me think about what I'm buying, I just buy what I'll actually eat and don't come out with a trolley load when I went for a pint of milk and I get really mad if anything goes out of date now.

We're so lucky to be here, it's pretty pants in most of the rest of the world right now.

Get a prescription for this, your health insurance should cover this!

good post for summing up the stuff

We just passed the two-month mark, so I'm still looking forward to some of these milestones. I have days when I think that if my husband came home and said, "Oops, the company goofed and they want us to move back to the US," I'd start packing. But I have more days of sitting on my terrace and being grateful for my life here. I struggle with the language (I'm in the French region), and have started lessons, but I am impatient. I have experienced blatantly rude shop keepers (one turned the light off in the WC while I was in there--very clearly intentional). But I have also experienced quite the opposite, like the baker who helps me with my French. And like most people, I still worry about the money situation. I have a feeling I will not get over the sticker shock, no matter how long I am here. Have not bought one thing for myself since I arrived, except for one nail polish. Just can't bring myself to do it.

Wondering, though, how long does it typically take to get past the initial homesickness? I'm not curling up in the fetal position and spending my days sobbing, but I miss my friends and family, and it is hard not to think about that when I don't have a replacement support system yet.

P.S. What is "billag"?

Just keep it like that. It's better that way.

Billag is a private company that collect TV and radio fees for the state. this fee is to finance local TV & radio which for some reason cannot be financed by advertising. it is basically another form of fees/taxes that are imposed on anyone instead on just the people that watch tv and radio...

back in the day one could solder the wall sockets for TV and write politely to billag to stop sending invoices because one does not have access to TV. this doen't fly anymore because of the possibility to go to sf.tv or wilmaa.com or zatoo.com and watch local TV.

the bill is 462.40 a year for private households (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billag)

by the way nobody likes billag and there are petitions to shut it down.

Wow... so many "newbies" in CH.
Welcome welcome.

I passed my 11th year....and I am still not really used to the life here.
I agree with many of the comments here and would like to add one more.

Exercise our tolerance in CH. See things half full, rather than half empty.
It is afterall, a "traditional-minded" host to us (globetrotters) guests here.

Have fun. If you ever need a listening ear or some help, PM me.

wow!! really?? I passed 11 months and feel much much better when I compare with the initial 6months... German is still yet to practice but when u get used and have something to do...Life is good here except for sundays...as I donno what to do on Sundays....except for eating out!

People still are not very friendly on trams/trains or streets... But could make some friends at work... not really those hanging out types but still.. at least to have lunch with ....

Hope it changes as I complete another year ! GOod Luck to me and you all!!

Loved this post! Havent hit the six month mark yet but i think with each passing month its getting better rather than the other way round. I wanted to run away the first month Learning the language is helping loads.

Cant agree with you more on the 'there is not enough money'. That is something i wish would get better as the stay progresses.

Great posts, enjoyed reading them.

Just a quick reminder though, that Unterageri (which we visited last year) may be very different in so many ways to other areas of CH. In my many years in the UK, in several very different locations, + intensive travelling - it took me a long time to realise I shouldn't make generalisations based on one area, one town, one school, one hospital, etc.

Onwards and forwards