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| Hi everyone. I presently live in Hermanus. I am a swiss citizen so i understand the swiss lifestyle & money & all that. I've been in SA since 2004, but things are getting worse fast & have been thinking about relocating to Switzerland again.
Thought I would ask u guys, wud u do it again? ( not job or carrier wise) but space, life style. Are u glad to be living in CH or if u had the choice wud you come back to sa ( if the problems here were different)
The thing that really bugs me about CH is space, everything is so small. My house here is 240 s & in CH a good size is 100 sm, which costs a fortune.
Not sure what to do.... Help... greetings from za | |
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Hi Diane_D,
Heard about your post and thought to send you a reply.
I was born and raised in SA and do understand your reluctance to give up the large living spaces. To tell the truth, 240sqm is usually considered a large very comfortable home. Way above the average for most areas. My Townhouse in Paulshof (Close to Fourways in Sandton ) was only 87sqm but plenty big enough for me.
My road to Switzerland was a relatively complicated one so please bear with me. I left SA in 2006 and moved to New Zealand of around six months. From there, I moved to the UK and after two years landed a two year contract working in Zurich.
I really had a great time and found that during the summer months the natural light and temperature were often comparable to SA. The winters we will not mention! ;-)
At the end of the contract, I returned to the UK but after about a year, I found that I wanted to return to Switzerland. About four years ago I landed another opportunity to return to Switzerland and grabbed at it with both hands. A decision I have never regretted.
I am well aware to the slow and relentless decline to living, service, and safety standards in SA and admit those were the very reasons I chose to leave in the first place. I am stunned that this has also reached beautiful areas like Hermanus too. I'm sure you have spent time on the beach just whale watching.
I for one could not envisage ever returning to SA unless very drastic changes were made first.
In your shoes, I would consider whether the trade-off of a few square meters of living space for the freedom to walk down the street without fear of being robbed, raped, molested or shot was worth it?
If I were in your situation, I would not hesitate to return to Switzerland. Sure the living accommodation is small by comparison but then again most houses in SA's suburbs are hidden behind six foot walls, topped with electrified fences and razor wire for backup. All the windows have burglar bars across them and the alarm system that has a radio link to the an armed security service is more sophisticated than what I have seen in most UK banks that I had visited.
That was the norm for Johannesburg and it sounds like it was getting or is also that way in Hermanus too. You will have to decide if you want to carry on living like a prisoner in your own home or not?
I live in a 60 sqm apartment on the shores of Lake Zurich and have a view of the mountains and know that in a few hours, I can be in a rural Location almost anywhere is Switzerland or Europe.
It pleases me greatly to see ladies walking down the street almost all hours of the day secure in the knowledge that they are safe.
Oops.. this was meant to be a quick reply..
Es tut mir leid!
Viele Grüße