Hi

After over 10 years of living in the german speaking part of Switzerland and 7 years abroad I moved back to Ticino last summer.

The transition has not been as easy as I expected it to be. I am still very familiar with this beautiful area and I still know pepole here, but somehow most of my old friends have moved on with their lives, and I realized that quite often we don't have a lot in common anymore

I miss the international feeling I had while living abroad, meeting new interesting people and of course, last but not least, I miss speaking English socially on a daily basis.

I was very lucky to find a job immediatelly but unfortunatelly I don't really get to use my languages very often

Last year, while still living in Asia, I found this web page and was amazed by how large the English speaking comunity in Switzerland is. I am of course aware of the fact, that especially around Locarno/Ascona the English speaking comunity much smaller is than in other parts of Switzerland.

I am hoping through this forum to meet new people.

Greetings from sunny Ticino
nic

Ciao from Mendrisio...
there's a number of expatriates down here, so you should be able to find at least someone for a chat and a [beer/tea/coffe/...].

On the other hand it would pay off to try to learn italian - -your social life will expand considerably
And if you are familiar with the northern german dialects, well, Locarno and Ascona are locally famous for the number of northerners who will stubbornly hang on to their guttural languages, giving you yet another chance of having some conversation with your neighbors

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

Paul

Ciao Paolo

Thanks for your reply.

Sono ticinese e parlo italiano , and I grew up here bilingual italian-swiss german... Typical for the "locarnese" region LOL!!!!! I just wish to find some expatriates here to go out for a drink and have a chat from time to time in English.

I know there is an expatriate community in "sottoceneri" but there seems to be less english speaking people around here.

What brought you to Mendrisio?

Cheers

I'm actually "local" - from the Mendrisiotto - who as a child grew up in an international, multi-lingual environment...

We'll definitely organize some other get-togethers somewhere "here" or "up there". Whilst I am indipendent from public transportation (good or bad, as that may be) many Ef-fers do depend on train/bus to get around so it isn't that easy to get everyone together.

So let's keep in touch, and keep this ball rolling!

Ciao...!

Paul