I am an Australian who has moved to Switzerland to be with my Swiss love (now wife). I visited her here twice for one month in February and September last year and have now been living here since mid-December.
I have always lived on the coast, surfed all my life and have spent 15 years developing a career as a marine scientist so it is taking quite a bit of adjusting to live in cold, dark, non-salty Switzerland. I'm sure the the first two qualities will change with the season but am still trying to figure out how to deal with the third...
P.s. Not criticising about the cold and the dark - just a bit less warm and sunny than what I'm used to. Switzerland is a beautiful country and the crisp blue skies of the past couple of weeks have been amazing
Welcome to Switzerland ! I've always lived within 30 mins of an ocean, until now, so I completely understand your salty water problem. Just makes me appreciate my vacations to the beach a little more
I grew up on the ocean, then, when I left home as an adult, I found myself deep inland. Then I moved to the desert. Then I moved to the flat Midwest (talking U.S.). It was such a sad thing when I would hear a cable smack against a flagpole and for a brief moment I thought I was among boats again .
The easiest was oddly the desert- as there were mountains. And that's what does it for me here. Seems, for me at least, that as long as there are either mountains or ocean nearby I am OK. Hope the same is true for you .
__________________ Reach into pocket, spaghetti falls out, so humiliated I burst into treats
I think pretty well everyone has something about their homeland which they miss. The thought that one cannot go to the beach whenever you fancy it, for you. For Americans it's sometimes the lack of 24 hours a day shopping. Do a search for your favorite food on here and you'll doubtless find a couple of threads on the subject. Bingo, kindred spirits.
Hello fellow Aussie,
Like you, I've never been away from the coast - not for long...never more than a block away from the beach or harbour (Sydney).
I make do with a view of the lake here and the deep bath in my bathroom and surround myself with photos of Bondi Beach. It's been 8 months away from my Pacific Ocean.
Welcome, hope you settle in soon.
Cheers
Aussiegirl
I hear you brother. I uses to get paid good money o show people around my favorite parts of WA, coral bay, karijini, broome...
I woke up 4 years later in switzerland working part time in a factory, a wife,two kids and a mortgage paper I cant even read signed 7 times by myself for an eye watering amount of money...so you have got a way to go yet my friend.
Chin up, get ye up the mountains and try out snowboarding,those slopes are a whole lot more consistent than any wave.
I may even have a snowboard laying around that you can have if you are keen.good luck with it all.
The following 2 users would like to thank simonminissale for this useful post:
I know how you feel, I lived within 5 minutes of the ocean my entire life before I came here. The Zürisee is just a muddy pond in comparison. Maybe a better description is "just a wide section of the river". No offense to any Zürichers who love their lake!
You're not alone! We've been here for 2 1/2 years and used to live on the northern beaches. We've just returned from a month long trip hitting many of our favourite places (Noosa, Byron, Manly, Palm Beach etc). I think we left it too long to head back (this was our first in over two years) and as much as we love the European life; it took all our willpower to get back on the plane. We're desperately homesick for the life we had there at the moment. It'll pass, we just have to jump back into life here with both feet!
Hi Abudefduf welcome to the EF. I am still here after 14 years been back once. Still miss the way of life but I make my own way here. Hope you can as well.
I grew up on the ocean, then, when I left home as an adult, I found myself deep inland. Then I moved to the desert. Then I moved to the flat Midwest (talking U.S.). It was such a sad thing when I would hear a cable smack against a flagpole and for a brief moment I thought I was among boats again .
The easiest was oddly the desert- as there were mountains. And that's what does it for me here. Seems, for me at least, that as long as there are either mountains or ocean nearby I am OK. Hope the same is true for you .
Thanks for sharing such a personal story Mud. I reckon that the mountains certainly have the potential to give me that same fix of wildness and adrenaline. Might sound a bit of a strange thing for a guy to say but I'm really looking forward to the spring flowers of the mountains...
Welcome to the Forum.
I think pretty well everyone has something about their homeland which they miss. The thought that one cannot go to the beach whenever you fancy it, for you. For Americans it's sometimes the lack of 24 hours a day shopping. Do a search for your favorite food on here and you'll doubtless find a couple of threads on the subject. Bingo, kindred spirits.
Hello fellow Aussie,
Like you, I've never been away from the coast - not for long...never more than a block away from the beach or harbour (Sydney).
I make do with a view of the lake here and the deep bath in my bathroom and surround myself with photos of Bondi Beach. It's been 8 months away from my Pacific Ocean.
Welcome, hope you settle in soon.
Cheers
Aussiegirl
Thanks Aussiegirl - my sister lives in Bondi - I grew up on the Central Coast of NSW.
I wasnt sure whether putting pictures up would make it worse (remind me of what I'm missing) or better (remind me that these still exist in the world and are there for the exploring again one day). I reckon I'll put up a mix of photos of mountains and oceans.
The bath is a good option too. I didnt really appreciate them in Australia and so only have a shower at our current apartment but I think that it will be an essential feature for the selection of our next abode.
I hear you brother. I uses to get paid good money o show people around my favorite parts of WA, coral bay, karijini, broome...
I woke up 4 years later in switzerland working part time in a factory, a wife,two kids and a mortgage paper I cant even read signed 7 times by myself for an eye watering amount of money...so you have got a way to go yet my friend.
Chin up, get ye up the mountains and try out snowboarding,those slopes are a whole lot more consistent than any wave.
I may even have a snowboard laying around that you can have if you are keen.good luck with it all.
Thanks mate. I actually did a 2month dive-survey, camping, road-trip from Coral Bay up to Cape Leveque (then Lizard Island to Brisbane on the east) in 2010. It’s a wild and beautiful part of the world!
I had anticipated that snowboarding would be my main winter sport and finally made it out the weekend before last but at 200.- for the day, including transport, hire and lifts, I don’t think that I’ll be going too regularly. If you really had an old board lying around that you didnt need, that would be a big help. I have boarded a few times NSW but would certainly be happy with any kind of board until I build my skills beyond the basics.
This user would like to thank Abudefduf for this useful post:
Welcome mate. had the same situation as you - I grew up surfing and had to adjust when I got here. The 3 options available to you are 1) snowboarding - do it every weekend now and is just as good as surfing. 2) There is a river wave in Baden - definitely not as good as the real thing but.... 3) We sometimes go on a long drive to Bay of Biscay - leave Zurich early in the morning and just get a couple of hours in the same evening (September time when the big swells come in). Has to be a long weekend though!
Welcome mate. had the same situation as you - I grew up surfing and had to adjust when I got here. The 3 options available to you are 1) snowboarding - do it every weekend now and is just as good as surfing. 2) There is a river wave in Baden - definitely not as good as the real thing but.... 3) We sometimes go on a long drive to Bay of Biscay - leave Zurich early in the morning and just get a couple of hours in the same evening (September time when the big swells come in). Has to be a long weekend though!
Thanks Silversurfer.
Reckon I'll check out the stationary waves when things warm up a bit. I heard that there was also one near Thun.
And a road-trip or three could be fun - I didnt realise that you could make it to the coast in a day. Might put out the word in the sports section of the forum to get a crew together once I get a bit more settled. Might also contact you separately to get some tips on times of the year and surfspots if thats ok.
I also had a few afternoons bungee surfing on the Aare with these guys in October:
More like wakeboarding than surfing but still a nice mix of water and adrenaline.
I grew up in Perth and the Gold Coast and like most Aussies, I've lived on the coast my whole life. Just the absence of the salt air gets me. I have little nasal spray bottles of ocean water to try and compensate....
Four years on though and I'm now quite a competent snowboarder, though not sure my wife would agree after seeing my stack two weekends ago...
Yeah summer will definately set your mind at ease. Long, long days hanging out at the lake till 10 - 11. Swimming in evian water, well that's what it's like for me. Barbies n beer and none of that over priced XXXX either...
Just have to give it time mate. Learning the language certainly helped too. Just gives you the tools to be able to strike up a random convo when the opportunity arrives. It costs a bit god knows I've spent about 5 grand easy...
And looks like there's plenty of us here dude, I'm always keen for a beer n a chinwag....
Totally know what you're going through mate.
I grew up in Perth and the Gold Coast and like most Aussies, I've lived on the coast my whole life. Just the absence of the salt air gets me. I have little nasal spray bottles of ocean water to try and compensate....
Four years on though and I'm now quite a competent snowboarder, though not sure my wife would agree after seeing my stack two weekends ago...
Yeah summer will definately set your mind at ease. Long, long days hanging out at the lake till 10 - 11. Swimming in evian water, well that's what it's like for me. Barbies n beer and none of that over priced XXXX either...
Just have to give it time mate. Learning the language certainly helped too. Just gives you the tools to be able to strike up a random convo when the opportunity arrives. It costs a bit god knows I've spent about 5 grand easy...
And looks like there's plenty of us here dude, I'm always keen for a beer n a chinwag....
Thanks mate. I appreciate the support. Yeah, I'm working on the language - moving pretty slowly but chipping away at a bit each day and will get there in the end.
.
Linear Mode
