H there,
I have two children aged 6and 3. I am swiss and British and we are contemplating moving over here but my husband is worried about racism and integration in the country. I have not lived the for many years and I am not how well we would be received being a multi racial family.
Has anyone else been affected by this? I can understand Geneva being more forward on these issues but not sure about here in Fribourg....
Charlotte
Fribourg is now pretty multi-racial, and from what I see, and am aware of, without any major problems.
I would imagine they may be occasional issues, here and there, but certainly no more so, than in England.
Ive seen some bad stuff in Switzerland, but Geneva isnt that bad. As far as Fribourg goes, it has the youngest population in CH and is very multi-racial. Its pretty accepting and I cant see you having too many problems there.....
But will your husband find friends he can relate to? Like he might already have in LDN? Probably not as likely. But both these places you have mentioned are comparatively diverse to the rest of CH.
Forget the multi-racial issues for just a moment.
You have a choice between living in Reading or living in Fribourg...?
I would put up with an awful lot here to make that transition.
Thank you for your comments, they are really helpful. Do you know of any good places for intense French lessons?
Many people use Migros Klubschule, as it's one of the least expensive. I don't know if there is a specific intensive course, but I would imagine there are full time courses. From what I read, quality is (as is any schooling) very much dependent on the teacher.
There is one, relatively central in Fribourg.
http://www.klubschule.ch/
The whole time I was trying to work out what you've been reading (in thread title), but obviously you mean Reading (Berks). Fribourg certainly isn't going to be any worse .... and just swap Courage for Cardinal.
Fribourg is a bit of a university town and 1/3 people living here are foreigners, so we are a pretty accepting bunch
Also, not sure what mix your family is, but my husband and I are a mixed race couple (euro-asian) and have never had any problems.
But as far as integration goes - that bit is up to you, integrate as and when you wish, there won't be anyone standing in your way. Make an effort and it will pay off in bucketloads.
Good luck with the decision-making.
Inlingua
http://www.inlingua-fribourg.ch/ could be a good choice for an intensive French course. Oh and BTW Fribourg is genuinely bi-lingual, both German and French are widely spoken, and one can get by with either one.
We, as a fmily from India, have found Fribourg very accepting.
Thank you for all replies they are really helpful. Yes it is Reading. Sorry for the typos as well. Was not paying attention..... I will look into inilingua.
I moved to Fribourg from the UK in August and so far I really like it. It's much more racially diverse than I expected and I presume there aren't any issues with integration. Good luck with the move and everything.
I currently take a weekly french course at inlingua. I'm really happy with my teacher there, but she doesn't speak any English so I'm not sure if that would suit your level or not. If you're interested I can PM you her details.
Ditto to most of the above. Fribourg is a very cosmopolitan town, and the canton has the 2nd fastest growing population in Switzerland. I have never seen or experienced any overtly racial issues in my 17.5 years here, and see plenty of racially-mixed couples in the town. On top of that, it is a great place to live and the question between Reading and Fribourg is a no-brainer; I should know, I went to Reading Uni in the 80s .
There has also been an influx of english speakers into the area in recent years, so there is a wealth of recent experiences you can tap into, if needed.
All these comments are really encouraging, thank you so much. X
Welcome to Fribourg! In no time you'll go from 'scared' to 'lovin it' !