The fire brigade is definitely a good idea. My stepfather joined them (although there was some initial mumblings as, shocker, he is of Indian descent and it is a smaaaall village) almost as soon as he arrived where he still lives now and has been granted Swiss nationality since, despite being audibly, visually and behaviourally very un-Swiss. It's all the more significant as it was done the old-fashioned way, he applied and it was voted on by a show of hand during a village meeting. Others who didn't make such an effort were rejected.

As a half Swiss I can say we tend to get freaked out when people are "too friendly". It feels like an obligation and we tend to wonder why you are being that way. The thing about making friends as an adult is true, I left CH when I was 17 to go to school in England and only returned 3 years later to find that I missed out on an important moment of when long-term friendships are made.

Dropping in unexpected, yes, my workmate is a perfect example, she and her friends synchronise agendas months in advance and she gets very upset when people expect to turn up at a moment's notice. I reckon it's because there is this battle for perfectionism, when pure Swiss people visit, I'm always worried they'll notice what a rubbish housewife I am and they do look very closely everywhere. You know the look people from Zurich give you on the street? Well the same goes for the home. I suppose catching a Swiss person with an untidy home is a bit like losing face for the Asians...

But there are exceptions who love spontaneous people. Usually these folk have been abroad a lot or hate the stuffy rules that we all seem to adhere to silently. And really, I have nothing against a bit of planned spontaneity, as long as it's not too unexpected.

I'd like to plug the book "Beyond Chocolate" again, if I may, as a wonderful source of insight into Swiss culture. While I agree that if you try to get along with the Swiss, you generally will, I think there's a difference between that and becoming friends. I felt that book did a wonderful job of explaining how freindships are generally formed/maintained in Switzerland and that is important, in my opinion, to keep in mind as a newcomer, because it helps explain why it can take longer to form friendships with "locals."

www.fasc.ch
is the link to the Federation of all ANGLO_SWISS clubs in CH, in Basel it's the second oldest club of CH and there is also the British Circle in Basel.Currently they are looking at introducing the various AWCs and other non-british -basedassociations and clubs on the website,but that's in the planning stage yet.

Cheers

EE

Hello at first
Well, acctually I agree with you upon not showing up anywhere until you call to your friends and get it confirmed that it will make no trouble for them to welcome you. I feel its normal and polite towards them no matter in which country lets say in Europe you live...

On the other hand our lives are so busy every day that sometimes to go out and meet friends over coffee just for chitchat is very nice, although we have plenty work at home.

And well, even if Swissies are in many cases quite closed up and reserved... we are still trying to teach our Swiss business partners to relax a bit and enjoy the time spent with us over a glass of good wine and dinner and to look at the world little bit from the point that we do in Czech... friendly surrounding and warm hearted people can melt the ices sooner I believe..

Any comments?

Good luck with that!

regarding people dropping in unannounced, Mr. Bartholemew has a close Swiss friend, his old college roommate actually, who is considered impetuous and a bit zany (but in a good way) by his circle of friends. Every so often this friend rings up late in the afternoon and basically asks to be asked over for dinner - which in my experience translates into spontaneously dropping in for Switzerland. I suspect this is as close as your average Swiss Joe would get to an unannounced visit.

Mr. Bartholemew and I started to do the same, or this friend sometimes asks us over with little advance warning, and we're happy to join or not depending on our plans. I've grown to value this as a nice gesture of "planned spontaneity."

So far, my experience says it's possible. I go to the restaurant and go sit on a stammtisch if we knew anyone sitting there. I'd drop by a friend's house Saturday's for lunch if I feel like it (according to the rule of "planned spontaneity" since Saturday lunch at a friend's house is declared as open house day), Swiss friends drop by the house for apero. After such a "surprise visit" (still on the "planned spontaneity" rule since polite friends visit after work, sunday brunch time etc.) with an empty fridge, I've made sure I've stocked up on drinks and party snacks. Basically we run on a semi-open house mode.

Perhaps all these are possible because:

• My partner is Swiss and it does not hurt that he owns a local shop and his family was active in local politics

• I learned the language (6 months intensive private lessons and Schweizer deutsch in daily conversation)

• I patronized local shops (metzgerei, cheese shop, deli, etc.) and am now on "Hoi" level with some of them.

• I live in a small town. City and town people are different.

Of course I don't have it easy as it sounds, I'm Asian living in one of the most traditional/conservative communities than most [think landsgemeinde and the last canton to allow women voting rights].

The suggestions of joining local clubs is an excellent idea. A friend's parents (Italian immigrants) joined a lot of local clubs and were well integrated. To feel part of the community, one has to participate.

Cheers,

E.

Have you contacted your embassy or local town hall for information? Here is a link (haven´t checked it out as I´m not moving to Basel) I got from mine:

www.baselexpats.com

Knew a guy who was offered a research here plus phd..etc...etc he was from Ceylon...quite an intellect, made a joke one morning to start the day on the right track...nobody laughed!!!

And they 3 were his research partners.....go figure...

I'm a member of the auxiliary fire brigade in Zürich and I must say that it's a good way to socialise in urban regions, too! Because of the professional fire brigade, we have not many emergencies (0-3/year). Basically we are mobilised when the professionals want to leave (fire control), or when the sh*t really hits the fan (dozens of flooded cellars), and for big happenings (Euro 2008, concerts). The traffic regulators and the medics in the auxiliary fire brigade have many more hours/year, so if you want a more time consuming hobby or aren't that much in shape, these formations are an alternative. You don't have to make a final decision upon entry.

We train on 10 evenings per year, participate on two local festivals and celebrate the end of the firefighter year together (hoping that no christmas tree goes up in flames afterwards )

But things might be differently organised in Zug...

@ryan_britton: Ugh... I hope it wasn't a practical joke! I guess we Swiss are a bit on the slow side when it comes to humor! Your friend's coworkers cared more about how he copes with his new job and and if he is friendly than about humor, but it was impolite that they didn't smile! But it would be wrong if your friend never again would make a joke. He just has to wait until he know the coworkers better and they will make the first move (joke). It's possible that they have no sense of humor, though.

And this brings me to my advice for socialising with the Swiss. Many unwittingly demand a certain frequency or familiarity in a relationship to call it a real friendship, so the suggestion to join a club (and regularly go to club meetings) is a good idea. It hasn't to be a sport club, there are many alternatives.

Contact with neighbors is sometimes easy and sometimes not - I assume it's easier in an appartment building but it really depends on the neighborhood. Make small steps and you'll figure out soon if they're interested in spending time together or not.

Coworkers... I think potential friends are easier to make in the same age group and on similar positions in the company's hierarchy, the time elapsed since making the acquitanceship might be a smaller factor. Your mileage may vary.

I appear to be getting on quite well here - we've got a mixed group of all different nationalities, but the Swiss members are really friendly. OK, so I haven't rolled in at the front door gone midnight after a night on the lash with them, but I've been having a good chinwag with them (albeit in English...). I'm happy!
One good point about not going for drinks after work is I don't feel antisocial for not going as I quite like to see my wife and baby after work. There is an 'English' pub just up the road, so after a few months (especially when it's a Friday and it's really hot), I may broach the subject...