All the misconceptions I had were generously fulfilled, except this: have never believed the Swiss are natural queue jumpers..

But did the Heidi-train between terminals not give you a nice welcome

Yes, I thought they would have been worse than the Brits for queueing (all that orderliness) but queuing must be the exception for the rule. Zurich is worse than Paris for shoving. Other cities less so, I think.

The point my dear wolli is that this is a misconception thread. This is simply what we thought it would be like in Switzerland before we came here.

Of course the things written in this thread are incorrect...otherwise they wouldn't be misconceptions. We don't need you to tell us why what we thought before we came here is wrong.

Well having read EF, I thought you couldn't find all sorts of different brown sugar in CH and I am happy to say that is defo not true.

I think you misunderstand the topic...it's about misconception that people had about Switzerland before arriving here...sigh

SO which place to pick ?


B.

Wolli, this is not the Jokes section of EF.

I'd like to add not expecting to be so "Switzerlanded" when dealing with local service providers.

Some of the fees are particularly creative. I'll certainly consult with some if I ever become self-employed. My favorite is the "check" fee when purchasing prescriptions at the chemist. I'm sorry but don't you have sufficient margin to sell me what I need rather than something else!?

I guess it's instrumental in ensuring that anyone can have a really good standard of living here if they can both work and charge for it to a high standard.

I don't know what I thought.... as I can not compare
This is perhaps, the only thread where a native would have difficulty constructing an opinion.

I thought people would be as friendly and as well-mannered as where I grew up - I was in for a bit of a shock... (move to Geneva)

then the culture shock between Geneva and Zurich

I do not think there is a "Swiss culture" - it is more regional than that. Even the Baslers are different to the Zürchers in many subtle ways.

It's not that subtle.

You've never been to Italy, France or Germany, have you (or anywhere else in the EU).

Tom

I thought a country that prides itself on being one of the most medically 'developed' in the world would not recommend TEA as a possible solution to everything from labour pains to arthritis. Give me a break (and some pethadine). Is this seriously what my health insurance company is destroying my life for?

ok - obvious then

can you name a few obvious ones? (try to be fair - I know you live in Basle)

How does the country pride itself on being one of the most medically 'developed' in the world? Does the government do that? Or a general assembly of the people? Or a vote on federal level? Or the Illuminati majority of the parliament?

How does the country recommend TEA as a possible solution for everything from labour pains to arthritis? Does the government do that? Or a general assembly of the people? Or a vote on federla level? Or the Illuminati majority of the parliament?

You are on the right thread, though. Thinking some people or publications in a country stand for the entire country sure IS a misconception.

__________________

"This is AMAZING! I have the exact amount of money Joe Biden has cost us playing golf in my sweatpants pocket!" — Kona Lowell

...for that matter, in reality, a "country" is an intellectual human invention not recognized by anything natural whatsoever..

Unless they've lived abroad for most of their adult life, perhaps?

I have to agree...

Because while I do appreciate "natural remedies" when they actually work, I have also found that medicines here seem to be a bit old school -- and that the selection is poor. And I really don't like having to explain my symptoms, etc. to someone at the Apotheke rather than just being able to grab it off a shelf and read the box myself.

Not to mention the fact that the Swiss seem to be ALL about the suppositories!

A subjective list of surprises:
- cows and sheep graze in the heart of the city (ETH Hönggerberg);
- Swiss German: quite pleasing to the ear, often hilarious;
- Zurich is not a concrete desert: one can live near HB and near a forest;
- social life so hard to come by: lots of planning, little spontaneity;
- everything takes forever: Switzerland runs on a different time dimension and nobody is ever in a hurry.
Generally, I was very surprised how quickly I started to feel that this is the right place for me to be.