Hi

esp. to expats

Did any one of you experience a cultural shock while being in Switzerland?

If yes, what did it mean to you..

thanks!

More reverse-culture-shock...

After being here 7 weeks we went to the UK for the weekend (we are Australian) and going into an English-speaking environment again felt really strange...

Went to India last week for a conference, same thing, I found it a bit overwhelming having to communicate with people ...although India is overwhelming at the best of times...

I agree with the reverse culture shock. I was in Zurich for 6 weeks and came back to the US and am missing German! The first couple of days was kind of fun though - I kept using a mix of German and English. But being back is causing me to loose what German I had learned.

yes, I too faced this.

I was in train in an english speaking country and realized that I am saying excuse me in german and the person looked as if I were from another planet.

anyone , who faced cultral shock whilst in Switzerland

when I was new here, i often wondered the way few people ( Pls no offense to anyone) talked with their hands and too much of expression

I tried that and my throat, face, hands started all paining...

common, pls share more and real "cultural" experiences here..I am trying to collect some notes on "cultural" shock

Yes, reverse cultural shock experienced here too. I find in restaurants its hard to block out conversations on the next table in english. Even though my German is very good I still have to "tune in" to the equivalent here, otherwise its just white noise. D

any one has interesting cultural shock

Culture shock for me is going stateside

No. I'm working in an English-speaking department, and even when going out in Zurich I hear plenty of English.
The shock is more to do with other things, e.g. when using public transport in England.

Here's one - we don't do people's homework over the internets here.

Howzat sound to you, cowboy?

i read that as suggesting all the above are spectacularly boring...please try harder to keep the OP entertained..

I was shocked when I found out that it is acceptable to have a goat as a girlfriend but sheep are taboo here in Switzerland. Anyone know why that is?

Being German, the differences between home and here are surely smaller than for most others on this forum. But I once said "Gruezi" in a shop in my hometown which got me looks that were surely "different planet" as well.


Really? May I ask where you are from, because I believe that Swiss much less doing so as neighboring countries as Italy or France. Let alone other "Club Med" countries or for example North Africa and the Middle East...

I did not reall have big "shocks" culturally, more lots of little stirs

I recognized for example that education is far less valued than in other countries. This has the upside that you do not necessary decide by your grades in high school to which university you can go and how much you will earn afterward - it is still possible to work yourself up even without university degrees (I once worked under a marketing manager who was really competent, but started his career as TV technician when he was 15 and never got a formal education above this- this would hardly be possible in Germany). However, the downside is that I have Swiss friends where the parents basically told them at the age of 16 or so to go and make money instead of "sitting around and learn more"...

In the last couple of days I have seen two posts like these from you. Something wrong?

I have always found you to be one of the most valuable contributors to he forum. So these rude posts are kind of an unpleasant surprise.

It also came as a big surprise that American cheese is not so popular here:


Also, I haven't been able to find Swiss cheese here; all the cheeses have funny sounding names like Emmentaler, Gruyere, etc.,...

Oh no, don't do this to him kops he just needs a bit of TLC, huh Shorrick

Shorrick is good at reading between the lines.

If it is true, then lets keep it on track so the OP can get their homework
done.

I get you Shorrick but, this is just a research method though surely, not like being completely cheeky and asking people to write your essay for you.

To respond to the original OP though. I had a hell of a culture shock actually. Being told when to do my washing, no shops open on Sundays, no noise at certain times, special bin bags, special name plates on your post box, personal liability insurance, bike insurance, health insurance, recycling time restrictions, driving on the right. I was terrified of not being clued up on things and breaking laws without realising it! IT's pretty tiring at first.

I also have the reverse shock people mentioned here, where on returning to England I can't shut out other opeople's conversation as I am used to the "white noise" of a language I don't understand so well!

yes,I agree with you...all these things really come as a surprise.

I got a cultural electrical shock.........................it bloody hurt.
Now, i never used to get that in England.

ha ha..ha .