I need some advice from any wise men and women from the East (well, most of you are east of where I am in Yorkshire).

I am newly single again (seperated 3 months ago but marriage problems stretching back a couple of years).

I move to a place near Rapperswil next week to start a new job in CH . (following my own little star)

It's looks a bit far from Zurich to engage in the regular social scene (I guess?) and it's a bit rural. Naturally I am worried about being isolated socially, although I may get to know some people through work.

I'd really like to do some dating but I'm a bit rusty after 10 years off the 'scene' (not that I was ever on the scene!!) and a bit wary of the dating websites having never done that before.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm a bit concerned about the frequency at which i might meet attractive, intelligent, humorous women! Will it be frequently or seldom? Will I have to endure dozens of internet-generated dates with mutually incompatible people? If they are Swiss will they find some of the sames things funny and will they tolerate my lack of either swiss german of high german (for now)?


I just don't have a feel for how difficult or easy it will be for me compared to the UK - and I don't even know how that rates as I haven't really been out and about here for a while (just working in a company with 270 men and 14 women!)

So, if you have any advice can you let me know??

Diggdog

forget about dating if you're coming over here

anything that will come will be a bonus in that sense...

or maybe you can try dogging diggidog (ok only messing)

Welcoem to CH and the forum. You'll find that Rapperwil is fairly close to Zurich for going out.
As for dating, in my personal experience it a matter of meeting any women it very tough, let alone attractive, intelligent and humorous ones.
All my female friends say the same thing. All the women want here is a Really hot, Really Rich, Male partner. It's just that simple. If you don't fall in that catagory, it won't be the easiest feat in the world.

But good luck eitherway

hmm sounds a bit daunting. Surely they're not all goldiggers?

This forum may be your best hope, at least it will keep you engaged and so not that desperate looking for company. Look out for meet-ups, you will probably need to get on the train to Zurich occasionally, to meet a wider variety. Many Swiss love the opportunity to practice speaking English so you may be a hot commodity.

Good Luck!

p.s A good start might be to change your avatar and advertising yourself as a dog- digger.

I guess it's swiss standard. They just want to be gold-holders.

not all gold diggers of course... if you spend anytime on the forum in the near future you will realise the following:

• There are (kind of) social / cultural barriers dictated or influenced by the local spoken language specially in the german speaking part, that makes day to day interactions let alone dating not very straight forward to say the least.
• The swiss are nice (generally) noone can say much against that but unfortunately the relationships for most expats never develop further than colleagual / neighbourly which is unfortunate...
• In the end there is lots to do, and lots of expats to keep you busy... and it's easier to just hang around with other expats than make a lot o effort to meet natively swiss people. One more note on the swiss thing, there are people from everywhere here, mixed from german, austrian, italian, french, balkan, american, south african backgrounds ... etc so it's very difficult to actually define what a swiss person actually looks like and culturally it's very difficult to say how they behave and so on, apart from the stereotypes (like being anal about rules etc).

So you see your journey has just started my friend... and once you get here I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun, go to one of the forum meet ups... (I hear they're good) and go from there, other than that it's like everywhere else....

Same game... slightly different rules

try doing a forum search for "dating", there have been plenty of recent large threads on the matter.

Mmm, didn't think of it like that. My avatar choice was solely because I think James Hunt's chauvinism was so overt as to be comical, so it's a bit of irony really....That and it's motorsport, which is what I do.

and the diggdog thing: where I come from a dog isn't generally a derogatory term for a man. I think that's an americanism that's caught on, although I can see how it can be misconstrued in this context. I like cats anyway so perhaps I'll become diggcat. I've never behaved like a dog although I do like fetching and catching balls .


Thanks for the advice. Watch this space.....

EF Social events are a good way to meet new friends.

I am sure that Grumpygrapefruit will be arranging another of his, now infamous, Ploughman's Lunches at some time at the Rappi Brewery.

Thursday evenings at the Viaduct market seems to be the upcoming meeting spot.

Don't be a opportunist, decide first. Whether you want new friends or you want a date, i'll be totally pissed if you become my friend just to get a date through me to with playgirls.

Hef.

Yep, of course I did that in the first instance. No harm in starting another thread that's a variation on the theme though is there?

It seems to be a popular topic judging by the number of posts on this topic in the forum, so either it's a vibrant part of the social culture in CH or it's a source of frustration to many EF'ers!

It's not very efficient!
This is Switzerland, aiming for efficiency is part of integration!

Now we don't wanna upset the SVP fanatics do we...

I would imagine it's daunting to get back to dating after you've been married for many years. It's quite a trek into the unknown and I can see you have loads of questions.

I'm still new-ish to Zurich, so don't know if I can really offer any real advice from a girlie perspective. But as unoriginal as it sounds, you have to just be yourself and if someone isn't okay with your language (or lack of it) and jokes, then they aren't for you.

Wishing you happy dating escapades! =)

I want new friends and I want a date. They're not mutually exclusive are they?

Don't worry old boy, I'm not desperate, just interested in how i might develop relationships in CH.

I meant nothing by it, I was only saying because normally people don't search, and 90% of your questions concerning methods of putting yourself out there are answered in the existing threads. As for "the frequency which you will meet attractive, intelligent and humorous women", well that depends on you and how much you put yourself out there I guess. "Will you be going on loads of dates with mutually incompatible people", well how are we to know who you're compatible with. And lastly, with regards to the Swiss "tolerating your lack of German" that one is easier to answer... generally no, unless you really hit it off, or they speak fluent English and hang around English-speaking people a lot, they won't be especially tolerant. Good luck.

Love Doctor,

That's exactly the kind of advice I was looking for so thanks for taking it seriously and not being flippant or dismissive!

Diggdog

You should be able to do both. I am a here one year and have made many friends and have been asked out a few times. I am not actually looking but it was nice to be asked, even if some were a "little" bit older or younger than me. Whatever you do don't get sick here. I much prefered the system at home, you told the doctor what was wrong with you, he gave you a prescription and you went back to work. Anyway that is for another thread. Best of luck.

Hi, I have lived here for 12 years, alone for 2 years now and if you don't have a large house, prestige job and an excotic car.. forget it. I know alot of people but haven't met or been on a date. I have no house, land or fancy car. It's just way too hard to find a woman here, plus it's very costly to go out. The women here first look at what you have and prefer you speak German. As for the dog part it goes both ways if its a date and he/she doesn't meet your expetations then he/she just as well be a dog for your date, it's why they say he/she was a dog. The Country is nice but it's really hard to meet people, other than a hello. Good Luck

Richdog is puffing his chest out- turned Swiss Grynch, protecting his turf.
Switzerland just isn't big enough for the both of you!