My boyfriend and I moved here close to 2 years ago and at least once a week we comment on how lucky we are to live in Switzerland. In the summer we get a REAL summer - months of hot weather with BBQs in the parks, exploring the surrounding areas by bike or on foot, all the bars in town set up outside, mutiple festivals and fairs. And in the winter we get SNOW!! We're 2 hours by train from a bunch of very decent ski areas and even if you don't ski they are stunning to stay in. And this country isn't crippled by 2cm of snow like the UK.

Besides the weather - the salaries are not to be sniffed at, we live 10 mins from the border of 2 other countries, I'm learning to speak a new language, we have a bigger, smarter apartment (ok, it costs more, but then we earn more), a 15 minute commute to work in the morning (compared with the 45 minute drive I used to have in the UK), we have a huge group of international friends and a generally stress-free life.

Every time I look at the British news with all its doom, gloom and insanity (benefit claimers living in 1.5 million pound houses???!!!) I'm thankful that I live here.

Combination of things, better standard of living, people I've met, job and the mountains all make me realise I'm much better off here than I could be in the UK. I do miss the UK sometimes, but it wouldn't be easy to match my life here.

You are a sellout.

Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for you country.

why on earth would they
all coins have two sides and if heads come up each time you flip then the coin is a fake !

just thought you should hear the other side of the story !!!¨

My experience is different, I enjoy it for the most part, but I do sympathize with people who don't. What I don't understand is why people who don't like it stay here? You said it yourself, money isn't everything, so move to where you want to be. Life is waaay too short to spend somewhere you don't want to be. Even though I like it here and have a good job, if my wife hated it, I would pick up and leave without a second thought. Now deciding where to move to, that would be a little tougher.

Well i stay in Switzerland because my job is here and the money is soooooo much better. Being single i can also save some and anw i like it here. Ok i miss my family but they want me to be happy. So as long as im happy here i will stay.

Plus in my country its very difficult if not impossible to get a job relevant to what i studied. Being a girl and an engineer is unheard of (almost)

Cost: Nothing more and nothing less.

I have given up enough already by moving here. If I had to sell all my possessions to move to Cyprus or Greece, I'd be left with nothing, and I can't afford the removal fees without selling everything.

I'm sure some people might respond with 'possessions aren't everything', but I'd guess that those people have never had no possessions.

I don't like Switzerland very much, but to move would leave me even worse off.

I just wish I'd never bothered in the first place.

The question should not be "what makes you stay" but more "have you had any regrets".

My personal take is that it's changed me as a person for the better and it is invaluable to kids (languages, experience). I lived abroad as I kid and enjoyed it.

Ape Island's not far away. You can try it and go back if it really sucks.

I heard from a fellow moderator that there was one upside to your move here ...

Well, there is that, I suppose...

(And she's a jolly good reason to stay, since she has no more desire to live in England than I have to live in the New World)

Switzerland has its pluses and minuses but for a mum of two kids (2.5 yeas and 13 months) who has lived in both Switzerland and the UK here is my opinion of Switzerland:

In Switzerland, i have the opportunity to raise them in a safer environment, access to good/decent schools without the hassle of moving/competition, a chance for them to learn foreign languages, learn to be more independent....

Switzerland wins hands down in my opinion. I can discipline them in public without fear of being reported by the PC brigade. And the Swiss seem more accepting of kids than people in the UK. My children can scream & misbehave in public and there is always someone them to make them smile/laugh again or distract them. I love how adults interact with kids in public here - without fear and there is still some sense of community. Children in Zurich greet me when I am walking on the street and shake my hand if i am introduced to them. Children here are free to play on the streets without fear....there is still some decency left here.

All in all I have had a positive experience here so far. I've made a lot of friends and I am enjoying each day as it comes. I left my career in the UK for my hubby and kids - but work can be overrated anyway. I plan to start my own business when my kids are a little older but for now, I am happy to play homemaker. The key is to make as many friends as you can and like me, keep busy doing stuff most days of the week.

QUALITY OF LIFE

Our children have a degree of freedom & opportunity that they would NEVER experience in the UK (until they are about 18plus). I think my kids would list me on eBay if I told them we were going back to the UK. They attend local school/kindergarten, they are bilingual & do a range of activities that are not strangulated by Health & Safety issues

The proximity of so many other countries & cultures (& food!)

An amazing healthcare system (but don't mention the Dentist)

Spontaneous holidays that do not involve being held to ransom over the means of escape.

Stunning countryside on the doorstep

Peace & quiet

A real summer & a real winter

Clean & punctual public transport (works well in the snow too!)

& as no ones mentioned it - CHOCOLATE!

I too have had a torrid time in settling down here - I gave up my business to come here (- my qualifications are not recognised here & my german is not good enough to work -yet) & wondered how on earth I would fill all those hours, a rather large house & local school has solved most of the problem for me, but I still feel I should be gainfully employed - as that is what I have spent my life to date doing, but you discover hobbies that you'd forgotten about & join classes & generally have a bit of 'me' time. I have found that my stress level has plummeted. Also working mums in Switz tends to be a bit of an oxymoron. There are quite a few interesting threads on this forum about people who have come to Switz as a trailing spouse (with & without kids)

Despite being really homesick at times it really is a great place to be. Every time I go back to Blighty I see things now that irritate me - the traffic, the number of people, the filth, rudeness & attitude, the jobsworths, the general lack of care & pride in the place & I'm not keen to repeat the experience.

But ooh I do miss the coast, being blown along the front & the smell of the sea, if only Switz was on the coast - then it could be perfection!

Hx

I've been here over ten years now, and have gone through the love-it-hate-it-love-it-hate-it cycle more times than I can count. There are things about Switzerland that continue to thrill me (the mountains) and things I find extremely difficult (the pressure of living under a microscope); depending on the day you ask me, my response to the love-it-or-hate-it question will change.

I am going through another round of stay-or-go soul searching now, prompted by a couple of things:

My husband loves his job, but he could do it from a number of other countries. However, his social life - camaraderie, activities, etc. - all come from work connections. Not surprising, as work is an area where foreigners are more easily accepted. In all other interactions, we are still on 'Sie' terms with the Swiss, even after 10 years, and always will be. So what happens when my husband retires? His connections will be severed - and the prospect of growing old as disconnected outsiders terrifies me.

If we go now, we still have time to re-establish ourselves in our home country, or perhaps in another more open culture.

I had to give up my career when we moved here. No worries, I soon found an outlet for my energies (rescuing dogs), which has become my life's leading passion. However, Switzerland has changed. The intolerance I see today, the increasingly restrictive laws coming into force - things are likely to get worse. I have come to believe that at some point it will no longer be possible to give a dog a decent life here, let alone to do the thing that is most important to me: to help traumatized dogs recover and bloom. I take my responsibilities to the critters in my care very seriously; I made a commitment to their welfare when I took them on - and I am starting to think that for their sake we should go.

It's been a nice 10 year adventure, but maybe it's time to move on.

Then again, I'm going up to the mountains this weekend. Ask me again on Monday.

Why I am here? Hey I come from Blackburn.

That place is called Australia.

@Ethelreda

Well Switzerland has nice chocolate thats for sure.

On the other hand UK has cadburys!!!

First my husband, now I love it and all its convenient & reliable transportation options. I call Basel my home!

I'm relatively new to Switzerland, but I've lived around the world, and you learn how to live in a new place.

I guess most people go through the 5 stages of expat moods: Honeymoon Stage, Culture Shock, Initial Adjustment Stage, Mental Isolation, Acceptance and Integration. There are ups and there are downs.

You love it, you're surprised by it, you deal with it, you cry over it, and then you live with it.

Switzerland is a very nice place that has it's faults. You just have to figure out what is better or worse for you. Do you value safety and quality of life, but don't mind paying for it? Then Switzerland is good. If you like adventure and cheap life styles, then maybe someplace else might be better. But you might not know what you like really, until you've tried it.

I'm here for at least another 1.5 years, but right now I think I'll stay here, at least for a bit longer. My life circumstances may change, but that's the plan, and I like it.

There are plenty of opportunities for cheap adventure in Switzerland after all the Alps are on our doorsteps. Once you have reached them hiking all day long is free, biking costs nothing (if you already have a bike). There are many places to swim for free at the lakes. Skiiing can be done at not too great a cost if you go to the smaller ski places and avoid the tourist traps. Adventure in Switzerland is there for the taking and it need to cost much money.