I blame societies feeling to current world affairs, the ever rising popularity of 'Gangsta' music, Political correctness and being forced to accept other peoples cultures, religion, sexual preferences ... otherwise you'll be branded ' no no thats wrong to talk or think like that'.

The post where someone says 'a bloke on a tram says 'Auslander <expletive deleted>off' .... that is the perfect example of societies ignorance, frustration and lack of understanding. I feel this guy is so frustrated with the way things are now, he voiced his objection to people speaking english. good effort on not hitting him as that would have only justified to him that his 'feelings' were right. Takes the bigger man to ignore it.

I always have a good chuckle when I see the gangs of youths walking around in their outragious fashions and this 'hey we is hard' body language.

but then again, I look back at my childhood, wasnt i the same ?, with my Gothic dress sense, loud music, piercings and ' I know the answer to the world problems, but first lets get a six pack and some tabs ..... ' attitude?

My girlfriend and I were just [nearly] mugged an hour ago about 1:30am on my way up the hill from Central... Four late teen guys followed us for a while, we sensed very early on something was funny, but unfortunately neither of us had the good sense to actually turn around or jump in a cab passing by. They followed us up the main road for 5+ minutes, and at one point they stopped talking, were right behind us, so we slowed to let us pass... About 20m later, I acted confused how to get where we were going, took a couple steps up a stairway, then turned around and went back down. One guy followed me while the others waited to see what happened... He said something to me in german, I replied "nein" as we walked away back towards central, he replied "Nein was?" Thankfully they did not follow or take any action (maybe because we were still on a main road), and we grabbed a cab around the corner.

Lesson learned this weekend: Zurich has the same risks as any other major city.

Well Patrick, I'm glad nothing actually happened! But also glad that this incident has raised your awareness...

patrickrd's story reminded me of a portrait of a police officer of the city police, which was printed in this month's NZZ Folio. Its subject was security.

I'd like to translate the last part of this portrait because it presents a valid point in my opinion.

"A safety tip how to behave in the city? The most important thing is self-confidence. Afraid people more often become victims of crimes than self-confident people. It's possible to excercise this, courses exist for this purpose, which to me are more reasonable than self defense courses. It's crucial to avoid that a critical situation escalates. If one has an ungood feeling about somebody, one should determinedly walk past him, avoid eye contact and not signal willingness to communicate. If one gets approached nonetheless it is required to set boundaries: 'I do not want to talk with you!' or 'Stop!'. And if this has no effect, one should call for help."

This quote has a lot of truth in it! I'm certain, that having exercised those rules in the UK for the past 5 years has kept me out of trouble (although there are always exceptions, where even the best rules don't help)... That would also explain why I had more problems in Switzerland as for one, I did feel insecure, not just about being attacked, but about myself in general and once something has happened, I was obviously always on the look out for more trouble, which must have attracted it as well...

Thanks for that post!

Now lets be honest ladies and gents. The UK is a complete dump. In no way does it compare to Switzerland. I have lived in the States, UK and now Switzerland.

UK CONS
Yobs throwing up in broad daylight on the street
12 year olds girls slashing their classmates faces
Government is insane and backward
NHS is no better then healthcare in Russia
Trains are never on time
No such thing as customer services
Town centers over populated with underage mothers smoking cigrettes while holding their babies
The most foul langauge known to man
Cops getting their arse kicked by 14 years olds in school uniforms
Very High Taxes
Criminals have more rights then normal citizens
No one seems to be able to handle their alcohol
No such things as morals



Switzerland CONS
Poor food choices
Nil nightlife
Bad weather
Small Apartments
Inconvient business hours


What's great about the UK?
Well the Women
Football
Luxury Property
Shopping
Resturants


Whats great about Switzerland?
Lump-Sum Tax program
Privacy
True Democracy
Outstanding Standard of living
Prompt transport services
Low crime
Amazing Health Care
World's best Banking


When I was living aboard I had to pay 40% of my income in taxes a year. Now since I'm exiled in Switzerland it works out that I pay less then 1% of my total yearly income in taxes due to Lump-sum Tax program.

Fantastic

Hi

Whats this lump sum tax?

The cons on UK you forgot

Schools not very good
ever widening gap between rich and poor
general dumbing down of everything

Pros for Switzerland
proper seasons - nearly time to get out the skis!

Hi Sharon,

Yes I forgot about those other cons sorry. The list of UK cons is like a never ending story it would take up the whole forum.

Lump-Sum tax well you don't know what you have been missing my dear.

Here's the all the information: www.altenburger.ch/pdf/dbu_taxation.pdf
If you are a Swiss citizen your out of luck. You must be an xpat.

Suicide statistics are probably some of the least comparable after rape statistics.

In a lot of the stricter catholic countries, suicides may not be registred at such not to bring shame on the family. In England, it was not unheard of (may have changed) that someone found hanged with a tipped over chair had "heart failure" on the death certificate, as suicide would prevent payment of life insurance.

At the other hand, I can believe that the combination of a protestant background ("you are a sinner") and secularism (taboo lifted) may well give higher suicide rates.

Even for non-religious people, the regligious/cultural background is very important.

__________________
- Clarity of writing is usually preceded by clarity of thought.

I have never felt so safe/happy as I do in Switzerland.

The UK just does not compare or even come close to the standard of living on offer in Switzerland.

I hope the place get's flooded under 25 ft of water nationwide. Perhaps then they maybe able to start again. Obviously my house still there is +50ft above sea level

There is no respect between ages, adults offer no guidance to children, it's dirty, crime ridden in every town/city. Public transport is a lottery. London is full of money grabbers in the city.

The schools are poor (unless you can afford it,) police non-existant and the politicians are becoming more in it for themselves than the voters, regardless of which way you excercise your vote.

So to sum up after living all over the UK, if you live in a town/city you are F'd, elsewhere in the UK/Outer Hebrides/Isle of Man/CI you may have a chance.

I have lived in Denmark, UK, Germany and now Switzerland, and I don't quite get you.

Weather? Perhaps it is unfair to compare Liverpool to Basel, but honestly! (Anything but weeks of drizzle, please)

Women? I never managed to even flirt with an English girl. Irish, French, Scot, Hungarian, Danish, and then the Portuguese I ended up marrying. And the women here mostly seem very nice and smily, almost a shame not to be on the market

As to governement: I was in England during the last 5 Tory years (92-97), not a pretty sight. Had a good time anyway, Liverpool was a great place as a young foreigner.

__________________
- Clarity of writing is usually preceded by clarity of thought.

I couldn't have put it any better myself. Well said Cata1yst! However as a "semi" retired money grabber myself Switzerland takes the cake for money grabbing and I must say I love it.

A guilty pleasure nothing better then having people falling out the sky to make you money.

I don't know if it's going downhill, I've only been in Zürich for 2 months now, and before that in Stein am Rhein, where things are more or less the same since 1648. But what I can say is that Switzerland is by far the safest and most secure country I've been to. I've lived in Brussels for 4 years prior to moving here, over there you have entire neighborhoods where it's unsafe to go day or night, man or woman. Most of my friends/colleagues have been robbed, pick-pocketed, indecently groped, verbally assaulted or burglarized, and the police seems too unwilling or too uncaring to tackle crime. No sir, Switzerland is great and I'm here to stay. OK, OK, the nightlife / clubbing scene is a bit on the boring side (is it me, or do the Swiss dance less enthusiastically in clubs?!) but that's something I can live with... besides with great friends great times are guaranteed.

Can anything this dead go downhill? I feel I have aged 40 years since I moved here.

My brother visited and said everyone behaves like pensioners.

Have to say I agree but maybe that is simply life in Zug.

Why not head along on Friday and meet some people?

Zug Meet Up!

Or failing that, there's also regular events in Zurich which is literally a 10Fr / 25 minute train ride from Zug.

whats the price of a taxi ride home these days Terry ?

Last time I checked, it was about 150fr....

Ouch !!

Tell me about it. However there is no such thing as free lunch. You either live somewhere that is fun but can be dangerous or you live in a golden cage.

I think I must be in some other Switzerland

What's the old saying again, "It's not where you are, it's who you're with..?"