Hello all-

My name is Mac and my husband and I will be moving to the Zurich area in August of this year. We are from the US (midwest) and are excited to be moving near the Zurich area.

Looking forward to learning about Switzerland, getting tips for the move, and meeting some new people!

Cheers-
Mac

Welcome to the Forum! I will also be moving to Switzerland at the beginning of August with my family.

This forum has been extremely helpful and has provided me with so much information

Maybe we can meet up when we get there.

Barb

Please think seriously about not coming here
The sole exception is if you will have a ton of money and I mean really a ton - not a ton by us standards- and you can live about an hour away (south not north) while husband
lives in apartment
Of course if you are absolutely impervious to noise from slow never ending construction, kids not in school much and their screaming their heads off even in museums and librairies considered norm...etc ad nauseum
Opening hours are horrible & yet still 24/7 noise
Also expect things to cost 2 to 5 times what in US
If you love breathing cigarette smoke everywhere you walk..
Want to live where unwelcomed because too many foreigners & they don't want more

I wished that someone would have warned me
Coming here 5 plus years ago is the worst mistake I ever made
I am so tired and beat down from screaming neighbor kids, all night trains etc don't have energy to pack and go home
Please think again & be warned unless where you now live is horrible
I have lived in Paris, Copenhagen,Montreal, Mississippi, Arkansas and more and nothing has combined horrors and difficulties of living here
I tried hard to integrate when first came but hard to when you are unwanted and can't study due to loud neighbors
Plus you arent taught Swiss in language school but German which no one speaks
I should have left my husband then
I will probably have to still leave him for must get out of here soon
I hear that it has degerated here & likely true

Im sure the Swiss tourist board would love to have you as an advertising executive

Um, Zuerich is pretty bad-ass in my opinion. Also, it's really beautiful, safe, easy to get around, and easy to get anywhere in Europe. The lifestyle is different from the US. That's all.

Welcome!

TOS -- not meaning this to be rude or anything, but I hope that you have someone to talk with because it sounds like you are in a serious depression. Good luck with it.

Ignore cheerful Charlie (tos) you'll have a fab time, life is what you make it. Welcome to the forum

Good luck with the move.

Search the forum and you will find just about every bit of info you could need including what to bring from the US...

....please bring a Chipotle franchise to Zurich if you have room in your bags

i wouldn't ignore TOS. lots of truth in what she has to say. it's not all raindrops on roses here.

For some of us it is.

Tom

hmm.. i havent figured out if that means its good or bad

raindrops would help the roses grow so good
but raining is bad

This is the very first time I've ever heard anyone complain about noise & children in Switzerland. Most people think it's too quiet and that there aren't any children. If you don't want noise and can't tolerate children don't come to Buenos Aires.

I agree with whoever said it's not all "raindrops on roses", nowhere is. However, it seems to me that TOS is severly depressed and on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. Clearly it's time she leave here and the husband too if he can't figure out that she's this miserable.

Anyhow, it's really not fair to MacButterbee to derail her intro thread with TOS's baggage.

Welcome MacButterbee to EF!! Stick around and read some of the daily life threads. Don't ignore the bad. But remember most people come to EF to solve problems. The don't come over often to stay "Hey, I just had a normal day".

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Before bowing out at least until I feel like being stressed again, I would recommend to this person and anyone else to leave their things in storage back home for as long as possible until and if they find a nice place to live. That makes leaving much easier.
I was lied to about this place and moved everything except car as permanent move and that makes leaving more difficult.

Also many are not aware of the concept of culture shock and should study it.
In theory it takes 1 year if you will ever ajust.

People have different tastes but I think the average person from middle america will find this an unhappy move unless it is to Appenzell or the original cantons as retirees. The average southern will find the weather dreary and lack of ac intolerable when it is hot and sunny.

well, i live in schaffhausen and don't find it noisy. although i haven't managed to find a museum or library, so maybe i haven't been to the noisy places

We are not "dissing" your experience. We are just giving our experiences which I'm sure you would agree are just as valid as yours.

It seems you have a lot of insight into things to watch out for. A good tip is to research culture shock, think about whether to bring all your stuff, etc. Those tips are great. You clearly are very unhappy here due to your very specific circumstances. But I don't think it's really appropriate to have your melt down on this girl's intro thread.

PS, I didn't really mean you should come to BA.

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Just FYI - Toronto is actually in Canada and if that runs a close 2nd for the worst place you've lived I think I will like Switzerland very much. Toronto is brilliant!

Life is what you make it.

I came from the UK a year or so ago, and don't regret a single moment. My experience is very different from TOS's. Where I am (outer Zurich), I have no noise. great neighbours and lovely scenery. There are indeed plenty of new things to get used to, like shops being closed on Sundays, but hey, that's not a life-threatening condition. It just means I have to settle for doing something more enjoyable instead, like getting into the beautiful countryside or socialising.

Works for me, and for most. But as TOS illustrates, your mileage may vary.

Welcome. You will find that the majority of expats actually stay longer than intended in Switzerland, it's not all doom and gloom really.

Everyone is different and everyone's mileage varies, but the great thing about these forums is everyone gets a chance to post without conversation deteriorating into a series of insults.

About 30 years ago family circumstances meant I had to go and work in Saudi Arabia for a couple of years to make some money. I was dreading it and, being rather naive, went out and expected tents in a desert and not much else. As a result the place was a pleasant surprise and I really enjoyed myself. Three Canadians I worked with hated the place. They'd complain about cracked pavements, lack of specific products in Safeway etc. So much of your experience in a different culture depends on your flexibility and expectations.

I got off to a bad start with Switzerland. I only considered Switzerland because an agency promised me a pay rise over my UK daily rate as a contractor. Anger grew as I discovered the reality via these forums and a quick reccie trip for a couple of days. I'd say I'm probably going to have a third of the disposable income I had in the UK. But I'm sure I'll have some great memories ( as well as some negative ones) I wouldn't have had otherwise.

BUT I tend to let my heart rule my head and made the move anyway. I've only been here 2 days but am already enjoying it much more than on my previous trip - before I'd made the commitment to move here and try and make it work.

The culture is different, but that's what makes it such an adventure. The lying agencies and the high prices are a huge negative, but there seem to be many positives too. And it's ALWAYS better to give something different a go and say "Well that wasn't the greatest experience" than to be there in later life constantly thinking "I wonder what would have happened if..." with no possible answers.

Good luck on your trip and when you've been here a few months, post about your experience so other newbies can read about it and hopefully learn.

How so, exactly?

Tom

OK, but you live in Ticino.