I have read many of the threads on negative views on Swiss this or that. I have never chimed in because I live a charmed Swiss life. I moved here last October from NYC to be with my fiancee (an American) and have nothing to say but postive things. We live in a small village outside of Lausanne in the vineyards, Aran-Villette, a town of maybe 300 people with 4 ex-pats on record. We have been greeted with such courtesy. We have been invited to peoples' homes to have dinner, we know everyone's name and they say "Bon Jour, Lisa" when we see them, they told us about the 'secret' beach' in Lutry only locals go to, they make wine so we get free bottles, just the other day we were at our local caveau and the serving lady told us a table next to us of locals speak English and we can join them. If we do anything 'wrong' no one reprimands us, only to say this is the way we do it....and I now know the quaint old man who walks his blind dog in the village every day and he sparks when he speak to me.

My French is just passable (my fiancee's is good), but most people in Lausanne are helpful as I stumble through. Taking my cat to the vet, getting traffic directions, holding a basic conversation. I have encountered a few 'looks' if I don't speak well, but my come back is, in French, "excuse me but I am trying to learn and to speak the language and know what is the right thing to do". This mostly disarms people with a grudge and they will be helpful.

I don't get the stares people say they get or the elevator problem, but the queing is a problem, but the best solution I found is get right in there with them. If someone cuts me off I say "you must be in a hurry, please go ahead of me" and most times they let me go first.

So all in all, I find this a great country, with people that are just like most place, you just have to understand their culture.

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happy to hear it is going well for you. every country I have been to I integrated like a local. Here however the country simply does not fit me so a move is in the future (to the USA....I love it there )

Lovely post Imerkel. Glad you are enjoying Switzerland. That is indeed a beautiful picture.

So secret that I don't know about it even though I live in Lutry

In Lutry, go down by the train station. It's under that pass. Should be good and let me know if you find it. Other great spot is in our village where the Lauvaux Express stop. In my pic, we picnic alot there. Cheers and ask for more dics if needed.

Lovely pic of the Lavaux.
It has been classified Patrimoine Mondial by UNESCO.

Giving away the location to the secret beach on a forum mainly for foreigners ?!

But seriously, it's nice to hear a positive story of someone else loving their new life in Switzerland

I'll go and have a look! My son (5) complains that the sand at the 'normal' beach is too dirty...

I'm curious. If I may ask, why did you decide to go to Switzerland in the first place? Just to try something new? Got a job there? Tax reasons? Or something else?

HTH

Like a parrot got genetically spliced with kudzu.

Some of us are Swiss

And not only are some of us Swiss, we can also spell "undue"!

Tom

In four weeks, I'll be having my "1/4 Century in CH" party at a top-secret location!

Tom

Imerkel, I love your attitude.
What a pity there’s no gratitude corner (à la Oprah Winfrey ) on the EF, where such lovely snippets of experience could be found.

Who told you to go to BULLE ?? I think, this is an area where I could never integrate. There are some other areas of that kind, but that is offtopic here.

Many congrats in advance.

Let me guess ... the "secret" beach in Lutry!

he he beat ya... try 40 years

But isn't it still a rather small place there ? My mother has been sometimes in such a beachplace in Lutry in either 1936 or 37 when on visit to an uncle in Lausanne. I by relatives always got recommended to the three beach-places of Nyon.


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Yes, sure, and my mother pressurized me for almost two decades to take her with me on visits to Geneva and on the return journey to have a break in the highway-restaurant overlooking the whole of the Lavaux-region Let's admit it, the views in the Lavaux are great


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There are many "secret" locations also in the Ticino, a region with a rather complicated geography




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its where my schools second campus is and the gf works in that school.......