Comparison Canada/NorthAmerica vs. Switzerland!

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
1
Hi all!

After being a silent reader in this forum for a while, I have some old, unpleasant feelings creeping up again, and I have to ask you all for you opinion.

To explain a bit, I kind of escaped-left Switzerland 6,5 years ago, because opportunity arised and I was so fed up with many things, feeling unhappy and not understood, not comfortable in the society.

Now, not saying everything is perfect in Canada (by far not!), we have the opportunity to come back to Switzerland for a year as a sabbatical. Family pressure, kids can be closer to grand parents, husband wants to go back ect.

I have been reading some comments and questions about things that are not nice in Switzerland, mentality, not nice towards kids, complaining, telling others off ect.

I would like to ask you guys, how do you feel about living in Switzerland, for those of you that have experienced living in North America and now in Switzerland. What are the main pros and cons of living there? How do you deal with the unpleasant characters? Would you do it again if you could choose?

I know it's a lot to answer, but maybe you could just give me keywords.

Thanks a lot! I have to prepare myself mentally for that trip!

2
Maple syrup is more expensive here.

3
All the whinging expats live here.

4
I think the problem is that with a Forum there is a stream of people arriving and soon suffering a culture shock, as Switzerland is very different to the UK or the USA.

Have you noticed that very few Germans or French complain? They are used to rules and living in apartments, and the workings of Napolean law.

I lived 12 years in Munich before coming here in 1989, and since 1989 I have been mainly living in the west, French speaking Romandie. So I have been exposed to quite a bit of cultural change, and have come out OK. I have raised two children here, mainly in Bern, and at times it has been difficult, but I can now relax as they are both happily working in proper jobs in Bern.

I am very happy to return to southern Britain for my holidays, but over 35 years I have seen my country lurch from crisis to crisis. I am not 100% happy here, some things could be improved, but on balance I am very glad I left Dover on 18th March 1977!

.

5
Only been here a week but so far.....

- People stare on buses and the street for some reason.

- When shopping, people tend to walk through you like bulldozers.

- When your walking around, no one says hello (as we all do in the Prairies)

- Not as many smiling faces here.

- Living in an apartment rather than a house for the first time in my life. Odd but alright.

- Prices are insanely high for many things (beef), and very cheap for others (cheese)

- I like having more choices in regards to bread/cheese/yoghurt/food varieties.

- Public transportation is amazingly efficient so far. Having never used it in Canada due to its uselessness in Manitoba, it's so far pleasent to see that normal people ride the bus here other then all the "fun" folks back in Winnipeg .

- The GA card offers unlimited travel and that's something that really excites me. Even having lived with a car for all my life, there doesn't seem to be much need for one here.

- People complain about the cold here. The week before I left, we had a week of -40 - -45 weather without a peep from the locals, seeing that this year will come out being one of the warmest winters on record.

- The amount of people that speak English well here seems to trump the amount of Canadians that speak equally well in French.

- Youth/Young Adults drinking at the Bahnhof is weird to see, as well as on the buses.

- The light switches here are buttons. So I'm constantly feeling up the walls but getting nothing back.

- The water tastes calcified, so my tea doesn't taste as good. (And I come from the land where the water could be used as a supplement for Iron.)

- My knowledge of French has proven practically worthless in Bern.

All in all, it really seems to depend on the type of people your surrounded with. If you come here and every neighbor is threatening you with sticks because you flushed the toilet at 22:01 or your garbage keeps showing up at your doorstep each day because you forgot to recycle some Braunglas, then yeah it'll be shitty. If you come here open minded and find a good group of people to be with, as I have, I think the experience becomes much more satisfying and enjoyable.

6
See, I never get this one. It's the exact opposite in my experience. It's one of the things my husband and I frequently comment on because it's such a selling point here - people are so friendly. Maybe this varies a lot depending on where you live in Switzerland?

Again, as per above. Exact opposite in my experience.

Hehe. I think it clearly depends on what part of Canada you're from in this case. Around BC, people whinge when it hits 10 degrees.

But well said on your other points!

7
I don't even notice that anymore... but it really creeped me out when I first arrived.

That one still bugs the sh!! out of me. Just last night at the Coop a lady wheeled her pram into my shins like I wasn't even there and didn't even say "Entschuldigung". Just gave me a look like, "Well... that's what you get for being animate!"

I have to say this is also the opposite for me. I come from a part of the US where nobody says "hello" unless they know you, so for me, being in CH where everyone says "Grüezi" and then throws you to the ground and brow beats you with their glares of disgust if you don't say "Grüezi" back is just beyond belief, and something I cannot get used to.

Especially in the winter

8
I have just plagiarised your post ...

It is all a matter of perspective...

After 6 years of change I hope you are a lot happier with yourself. I am. And I am ready to go home with a new spirit. I doubt the things that got me down before will have the same effect.

Just do it!

9
I think if you still feel like you "escaped" then it might be a bit soon to come back. That said, it's hard when you and your partner have different ideas about you want the future to look like.

There will be pros and cons of each choice...make a list for each option and see where you end up. It might be useful to think about what you are putting at risk, and what you can gain.

Might also be good to put some boundaries around whatever decision you make with your partner. I seem to meet a lot of people who came with their partner for a year or two, and are still here, years later, and not entirely happy about it.

And as a Canadian here for just over a year, I am ready to come back to Canada. If I was working here in my profession I might feel differently.

10
The staring issues is definitely strange at first, but you get used to it, unless you're in a bad mood on public transit-then the urge to say 'what the fk are you looking at' gets tempting!

As for saying hi--that is maybe more of a small town Prairies thing. When I was younger, in my neighborhood it was the same--but that dissapeared with urban sprawl. That being said, in smaller villages in CH and especially in the mountains-while hiking- you say greuzi to each person you pass or you might get a strange look.

The lack of smiling and crowd dynamics (shoving etc) still blow me away. Always a shocker landing in Pearson with at least twice the crowds and everyone moves in their direction smoothly and quickly.

Having adopted the 'staring' attribute, it's always nice when back in Canada when caught staring, you get a smile in return, an invite for a coffee and a drink and a new friend.

Anothing thing to watch for is queuing--not the worst situation, but you will experience the pushing, budding in front, and the physical race from the end of the line when a new register opens up. Not all the time, but once a month or so, you will just think "seriously"??!! I have also experienced a few times the "oh you have only a couple items-go in front of me' -so not entirely uncivilized :P

11
As a prairie girl (Edmonton) who lived in Vancouver for 15 years before coming to Zurich, there's probably nothing I can say that you don't already know since you lived here before. Food choices, language challenges (although you may not have those?) and lack of family here (seems to be opposite for you) are our big ones. Everything else is just switzerland. For every funny stare or banged shin there is an equal in any place you live - just chalk it up to being a different place. The bigger concern for me is that you and your other half don't seem to be in agreement, which means someone is going to have to compromise. That is not going to be easy and whoever does it has to do it willingly - so if it looks like it might be you, then maybe you need to start remembering all the good things about switzerland so you can come back with good thoughts in your head rather than remembering all the bad things and guarantee you will be miserable! home is where you and your family sleep at night - what you make of that home is up to you. And trust me, the thought of going back to Canada or even the US is a strong one for us, but while we are here, the only thing we can do is try to find something every day that we enjoy.

12
I don't see a huge difference between living in North America and living in Lausanne. Our home-made vegetarian spaghetti sauce tastes the same whether we make it here or there. Jogging along Lac Léman is not much different from jogging along the St-Laurence river. Watching a movie here is not much different from watching a movie there (except that here it is legal to download it from the Internet ).

There are some subtle differences in people's mentality but it isn't clear to me what it is exactly and I am not sure I can explain it well. I feel that people here are more introverted, more polite, more reserved, more conservative, less outgoing. It makes it difficult to make friends. I have been here for 6 months and all my significant human contacts have been with non-Swiss; they have almost all been with people from the USA, from the UK and from France. I suppose it is to be expected since we share the "not-being-Swiss" feature.

I also see a difference with my son at his school. There are times when I would have liked to strangle his teacher (but my wife told me not to do it). But then again, I have had similar thoughts about my kid's teachers in every other place where we have lived.

I am from Quebec. I have lived in Vancouver and I made lots of friends there. I have lived in California and I made lots of friends there. I have lived in Michigan and I made lots of friends there. I have lived in New Zealand and I have... oups. Shit. My friends in New Zealand were not from New Zealand. This comparison business is too complicated for me...

13
Thanks to all for your replies. It left me smiling at some points and wondering, and I did learn a few new words (as for me, english is a second language)

Brow beating... that's a good word to remember.

Actually, I remember when we were in Switzerland for a visit in summer, and I was trying to calm my son who was about to have a tantrum, and we were, excuse me, blocking an isle in the Migros, and old, wealthy lady was ramming her cart right into my husband who was with me, and then not even excusing herself, but giving us the "brow beating" look...

brrr. so, I will have to get used to that again. One thing that would be good to reply to such adversity would be: "Ich wuensch Ihne au e ganz schoene Tag!" in a friendly passive aggressive way. But so far, I can't do that yet.

I think, Swiss are in general suspicious about anything and anyone new, so very critical and stuff. but when you were doing all the hard work in gaining their heart, you have a friend forever. It is the same Swiss in Switzerland and Swiss living abroad.

Thanks, I will keep on reading, so I can prepare myself mentally!

PS: i dont' like Maple sirup, sorry. Won't miss that. Maybe the pancake sirup, but not the maple sirup. SO they have Pancake sirup now in Migros or Coop? ;-)

14
Like Aunt Jemima's? Leider nit, but I'll continue my search for it. Last night I found a store with a whole variety of Twinnings Tea. If I can find Aunt Jemima's here, I don't I have any real reason to go home anymore!

Edit: I have been informed that you can get it here! So long Canada !

15
there is a motorway stop between Wadenswil and Pfaffikon outside of Zurich that sells Aunt Jemima / Log Cabin. you can load up on corn syrup to your heart's content.

we stick to the maple syrup, especially the stuff from home that we require visitors to smuggle in with them.

16
It's here. There's a big English bookstore that's quite central. Can't remember the street name though so maybe someone else can help? If you go upstairs, they have a table of English and American foods. Dear Auntie Jemima rests happily there!

17
If you go back to Switzerland ,make sure you have the Canadian citizenship nobody will ever get me back to CH

18
how come?

we wanted to apply for so long an keep procrastinating it. I am sure it only takes one evening to fill out the forms.

we are permanent residents though.

19
This says it all.

A year is a very short time. If you approach your sabbatical year as an adventure, as a holiday, you will likely not run into (m)any of the things that worry you.

IME, the first year is paradise; travel the country, travel Europe, throw caution to the winds.

It's when you switch your mindset to 'settling in' that culture shock starts to set in - but you aren't here for the long term. So keep your thinking in holiday mode, and enjoy the experience.

Sounds like it would be a great opportunity for the family - good luck to you all.

20
Keep in mind that you need a total of 3 years of residence in Canada (NET of any trips outside of the country) before you can apply. You will need to list all of the trips/time outside of Canada (including just vacations to USA etc.) on the application form.

Since you need to keep your contacts with Canada (i.e. pay Canadian tax while in CH etc.) be sure that you research how you plan to do this. It would be a shame to lose the time you have already invested in the process.