Welcome to Switzerland. You eventually will get used to it, or decide to move back.

I shall definately be coming to some events around Lausanne too

My boyfriend is Swiss so we practice German together. The problem is that I've only been here for 3 months so I'm still learning.
I really wanted to go to the Migro Klubshule to have a cooking class or art class but my boyfriend said that it would all be in German....not sure I'm quite ready for that.

I'd be more than open to cooking with a few people at my place (up on the hill), its definitely my favorite thing to do.

I like nature, but I'm not into mountain biking or hiking too much. I definitely did take up snowboarding in Lenzerheide and love it to death. I'm sad the the snow has disappeared.

I know what you mean, but I'd advise you to do it anyway. The chances are that the tutors will be decent and nice people, and may even speak English. Never decide against something on the say so of someone else - not even someone you love and trust (like your boyfriend). Try it anyway, decide for yourself: You'll either love it, have a great time and pick up some German; or decided that it was a mistake, but know that at least you gave it a go.

Even failure can have a sense of pride. Trust me - I know!

Good luck, anyway. And listen to the old buggers on this forum - they've all been there, and really can help you!

Hi,hey SoCalCoise from this native southern Californian!

Best ever advice here I've read in a while and it applies to both me and you too that I learned some while ago going back and forth from L.A. to Luzern;and it's totally true:

Use mountains for beaches.
Go climbing and do a lot of really fun,long mountain biking.

Look here as you're already doing to EF for tons of English speaking friends...even if you don't drink;just go to pubs and really start to talk to English speaking people your own age or even older.

Keep with it SoCalCoise !

Show our Californian friendly,cool & open minded + heart;and our positive Cali vibz to the Swiss always.(Like most of my Swiss friends.They need it!)

Check out,support the live local reggae bands-artists such as Dodo and Moonraisers (their 16th anniversary!).

Also,check out live a super amazing Luzern singer-artist-songwriter named Heidi Happy aka Priska Zemp.Many Californian women love her vibz in Switzerland I know too.

Gruß,lates and keep positive SoCalCoise!

Hello SoCalCoise

You'll be fine, you have a good job, a boyfriend and youth.

There are plenty of activites, partys, concerts, events among expats etc etc etc.

Most of them happen in the city, in Wollerau and thereabouts there is little to do for a foreigner.

I have lived there and this is the state of things. Now i live in the middle of the city and I am blissful happy with all the many things you can do in Zürich a great city in such a small size, with all you could wish to find on big cities but without the hassle of traffic, crime, noise and pollution.

One thing is for sure. Here the culture is closed and individualist in comparison with your experiences back home. Don't expect to have the same kind of social life you had there.

Here you can have a great social life if you are open and ready for it, but it will be the swiss way, not the SoCal way. So keep your chin up, understand the local culture and adapt to it.

Ask your boyfriend to help you socialize with hir circle. This could sound obvious, but it is not for many swiss, tell him that you need his help to get inside his circle. I know by many experiences of other foreign women with a swiss SO that this is not that easy. The swiss have their close circles and is an slow and many times frustrating the process to get inside if you ever can.

Again. Your life here will be great and fulfilling in the measure that you understand the local culture and are ready to adapt you to it.

Good luck !

You just copied from everyone else (such as friendly Kiwi)... not stoned again, are we?

Hi SoCalCoise,

It's a matter of mental attitude.

You are where you are - so make the best of it.

Instead of hankering for what was and what could be, make the best of what is. You have a new culture and new country and even continent to learn about and visit. You are young and still young enough to master High & Swiss German like a native. Of course the courses at Migros - and every other language school - are in the language you are learning. How do you think English-speakers teach English here? Get yourself enrolled.

So make a list of things you want to achieve, like learning German and which peaks to climb. It's been a long miserable winter, you won't believe it but in a couple of months you'll be able to swim in the lake when it reaches 24° - warmer than the waters off California!

Because of the winters, the summers are soooo wonderful.

By the way I'd drop the talking to random people on the train. If you really want to feel at home here you have to adapt, and striking up conversations with strangers is not a Swiss nor even a European thing...

It doesn't seem to stop many Swiss/French/Germans from starting conversations with me on trains or boats when I'm trying to mind my own business though...

Ah, there it is. You've ONLY been here for 3 months. And the winter months, at that. There's a cycle of life here that we never had in Cali. People here are like Jeckyl & Hyde - as soon as the weather gets sunny, so do people's disposition. You just need to flow with it and get the most of the coming summer; because when autumn comes, it's back to bundling up.

I think Sutter loves to cook as well.

Greg, you must be one helluva good-looking 'handyman', eh?

Anyone else surprised at how long it took everyone's favourite "native Southern Californian" to find this thread?

I noticed Dale is like a groan magnet. He seems to try to be positive, although his posts often make me feel limpy. He must have done something really awful. Anyone care to share the details (in a PM)?

Get out there. I have a surefire way to make friends. Besides really great EF events. Find whatever it is you like to do. And join a club that does it. Like cycling, join a velo club. Running? Hash house harriers are all over the world, and incredibly fun lighthearted (& English speaking) people. Speaking to random people is fine. But if your in something that forces you to meet up regularly, you will make more friends. Besides, there is always the common interest.

Worse case scenario, next time I pop up to Zurich, how about a cup of coffee?

I agree with Phos. It looks like a 'pile-on'.

Apart from a couple of past indiscretions, and a tendency to bang on rather relentlessly about being from California, I can't see what he has done to deserve all the negative attention. It's clear that his heart is in the right place.

And, in this particular thread, perhaps his words might actually provide some comfort for a fellow native of his part of the world? If I came across a homesick Midlander on the forum, I'd probably do exactly the same.

But I don't want to drag this thread any further off topic, so I'll shut up now.

I think the point was that "his" words were mainly friendlykiwi's words .

it's also the perception of some that, if the OP was male, there might not be the same warm advice.

Back on topic - there was some statement that people turning up to events might be old or married. Being both, I can still vouch for myself being a barrel of laughs

I am with Dougals Breakfast here, I see no offense or Kiwi copy on Dale's post.

His has conforting words and also some tips for a fellow SoCal.

I think he is just gathering more hate than deserved.

I can vouch for Lob he his a barrel of laughs, and old