Hey all!
Glad to be on the forum. Hope to get to meet some of you guys in the coming years that I will be living in CH. I'm here with my Swiss husband while he studies at ETH. We are both new to Zurich (he's a Baseler) so we'd love to meet up and hang out with people wanting to explore the city or know some great places to go. We'll make a party outta it!

See ya soon!
Ash.

Hi Ashlee
Nice to see you on the forum.
I'm in Zurich half the year (new as well) as my boyfriend is working over here!
would be great to meet you both for exploring,drinks etc.
definitely up for a party!

Chloe x

heya, hope all is well, just explore explore and more explore, i came here 3 weeks ago and got pretty much all of it sorted, apartment, figuring out the transport, and been a few hotspots.

going to OXA club next week, trance night, but because of work and shifts i dont always get the best social life, but when i do i like to party hard.

currently looking for a gym.

my cousin is from LA, havent been there for ages, but miss the warm heat, ladies feel free to PM me about this drink, or party, cheers

raj

Welcome to the forum and to Switzerland . Have a wonderful stay!

One of my friends comes from California too. He said he missed the weather there as well as the food. He hated the cloudy winter here

Hi! I moved here from SoCal in December 2009. (I hate to say LA because I'm not actually from the city--but it's too much trouble to explain the county, etc.)

Was doing okay and wondering why all my European friends here b*tch about the lack of sun during the winter... except it's been REALLY cold the last few days, and no matter what I wear, I just can't seem to get warm enough.

Anyway, welcome and hope you enjoy it here!

I am still wondering how people stand the European weather. I really really like so many things about CH, but the weather I just can't except. No reason to be down though. As we've all talked about, there are plenty of other great things to do. Maybe I am just saying that because I am optimistic that spring/summer really is coming.

I-Lin, did you find a good way to stay warm? I am always battling with staying warm and would love some tips! Maybe I need to do a little shopping too... Ha ha.

Hm... long underwear, lots of layers, winter boots, a long, heavy wool or down coat, and hat, scarf, and mittens seemed to help a bit. (Plus staying indoors with heating as much as possible. )

But it's definitely springtime now... and way too warm to go snowboarding...

Spring time came and went, and so did summer! Ha ha. Time to bust out those winter boots, layers, heavy wool coats, scarves and hats. Not sure if I am ready yet... Ha ha.

Welcome to Switzerland and to EF, Ashlee. Wish you a great time !!!

We live in NorCal currently, in wine country, where the weather by my reckoning is 2nd to no place on earth. European weather - CH, UK, whatever - simply blows. Humid when it's hot; rainy and damp all the time, it just sucks. That being said, of the things that terrify me about possibly moving here, weather doesn't even make the first page of the list...

Good luck, in any case!

Does your screen name mean that you live near the Russian River? I went down that river once with my family. Very nice and fun. Yeah, I HATE the weather. As much as I try to deal with it. I just think, "these poor people have no idea how good the weather can be in other places." Ha ha.

Does this mean you will be moving to Europe some time soon? Wanna trade places?

In all seriousness - you're just the person to ask this of - if you don't mind, would you PM me w/ your list of reasons why you would want to go back? I know there are great things about being here; but I'd love to know the worst bits to expect!

And just HOW bad IS the weather? Days like today down by the lake, well, kind of false advertising!

Ha ha. No prob. I'll answer any question you have.

My two cents...I moved here from Northern California but there are some aspects of the weather here that I really like. For example, summer days with daylight past 10pm, and lovely summer nights where you can sit outside in shorts. Usually it's too cool for that in Northern CA. Also swimming in the lakes and badis is great in the summer. I think I went in the Bay, or the Pacific, about twice in 8 years of living there. Too cold. Now winter, well that's another story but still not nearly as bad as some other places.

Dan

I am also a (Northern) Californian in Zurich...been here over 20 years, ask me anything, I have been around the block here a few times.

I do agree that the Swiss summers are amazing (when they actually happen, not like this year). But I still miss my So Cal sunshine.

I guess I would ask what are your 3-5 top reasons for NOT going back to CA? Cuz all I have are reasons why I don't wanna stay in CH.

Well, Ashlee, you really wanna know?
OK, here goes:

- Here I have 6 weeks paid vacation (vs. 2-3 in the US, and God forbid you take them together, or someone will be gunning for your job)
- Skiing: awesome slopes within 1.5 hours here. In California, 4-5 hours driving up to Tahoe, and usually up on Friday night, back on Sunday night.
- Proximity to Italy, France, Germany, Austria...heck even within Switzerland you have Valais, Ticino, Engadine...the closest cultural equivalent in California would be a cheesy theme park.
- Opportunity to really learn a 2nd language: priceless
- Awesome mountain biking and hiking very near by...also hang gliding, parasailing, ballooning
- Great public transport...awesome tastey clean water flowing out of street corner fountains and your own tap
- Safe
- Excellent career opps: my diploma together with English and basic German puts me in an awesome niche for high paying jobs
- Family: absolutely great place to raise children
- Chocolate and cheese
- Stunning scenery
- Stable investment opps: Swiss Franc and Swiss realestate...I know of no other investment in the world more reliable than that
- Tax: here I pay a bit over 20 percent in tax and other deductions...in the US it was 35 percent.
- Direct democracy...here you really vote for people and initiatives...in the US you vote for people who vote for you, and guess who they are really looking out for

Oh, sorry, you said 3-5. I could go on....what's your reasons? Lemme guess, Mexican food?

Agreed. Spent 10 years in SF prior to coming here and eh... definitely not convinced to stay. I'm even taking the German BF back with me.