Well, by the math....my husband isn't a US citizen, hence he is unencumbered by the added IRS penalty. Me, however, would have to pay tax to the US since the US and CH do not have a tax agreement like other countries I have lived in where I would not be obligated to pay tax to the US. Given the kind of job and pay level that I would be in line for, yes, the taxation would be significant not only from the US, but also from the Swiss due to the dual income. My point was merely that when it hits the point where my pay goes more to the state(s) and to child care, the lustre is lost on busting my butt in either finding a job and child care to match. Sure, it's doable, but there's a point where the financial return becomes mostly pointless....though I suppose it may reach a point to where I'd work for free just to get out of the house.
LOL - no super organised I've never been- chaos more like! But I'm glad you are saying that blaming the Swiss system would not be fair. Our daughters were 5 and 7 when I went back to Uni- however my daughter has 1 five year old at school and a 2 year old at home - and she commutes to work. I just don't know how she does it - but being in CH would be no more difficult. Anyway- let's stick to OP's topic perhaps.
Even though i received most of my groans for bashing switzerland, i have to agree. Never heard about anyone complaining (other than on EF... but they also only complain about the RULE, not about neigbours who sent polizei on them...), also i can grill on my balcony all day and nobody complains neither....
See, that sounds like me and I worry that I'll wind up bad mommy of the year because my kid is always the one sitting on the kerb at school wondering what happened to whomever was supposed to take her home, etc. because mom screwed up and forgot about the 1/2 day or holiday. I'm great at pulling 48-hour marathons on a complex program/computer issue, but ask me to remember a dinner date and, well, epic fail most of the time. This is why I need a system that will save my ass from forgetting such things by covering all the bases, even if I have to pay through the nose for it.
One can be bored anywhere, and one can entertain oneself anywhere.
The latter may be demonstrated by a new member who calls himself 'nuisance', writes a single post on a recurring subject (one that is guaranteed to divide the regulars of EF), then buggers off for the rest of the day while the rest of us fight over his bone until moonrise.
Will we never learn?
Although I will not move to Switzerland until next month, I am very much looking forward to a less hectic lifestyle than I have experienced in the US. I believe that a way of life that some might deem boring will translate for me personally into more time to spend with my husband and kids, either at home together or enjoying the outdoors. While the lack of shopping opportunities is seen by some as a huge inconvenience, I am planning on looking at it as a vacation from obligation to "get stuff done."
I think that it all boils down to finding the upside as opposed to the downside, or being "glass-half-full" instead of "glass-half-empty."
Boredom is a choice! Don't choose it!
It relieves the boredom.
Really depends on where exactly you lived in the US and where you'll be staying in Switzerland. I used to live in Minnesota - never seen a more relaxed place anywhere on the planet, so far :-) Compared to that, even Thurgau is hectic. Zurich may not offer as much as other bigger cities, but life and work is very fast-paced there. Same goes for Basel. You also might find it hard to get used to the general "push and shove" mentality in Europe.
I always found life in the US much more relaxed than here, to be honest.
Switzerland is boring, and I'm comparing to places like inner Michigan, Mons and Gent...
Why couldn't we all just live in London or New York, Tokyo or Rio de Janeiro?
Only time will tell. In particular, I will not be sorry to leave behind the busy schedules related to kids' activities and their tendency to take time from late weeknights and weekends. I am definitely trying not to be unrealistic about the changes at hand, though. Just attempting to put on the rose-colored glasses ahead of time.
It would be a hell of a commute for me.
I love Basel especially in the morning when I open my windows and breathe Roche & Novartis airr hmmmmm I feel so relaxed but I doubt it is natural. When I swim in the Rhine, I can taste the all sorts of delicious chemicals that have been dumped there that day...yummmmmmmmm
I found Roche & Novartis air creating a chemical balance in my otherwise unbalanced brain...it is an indescribable sentiment.
Oops, I'm now craving Ethylenediaminetetra Acetic Acid Powder!
yes but Swiss trains are known for being punctual...
From Tokyo?
just get your halbtax card ready
Why don't you? It's a free world- if you don't like it, then I'd say go.
But what exactly do people miss who find Switzerland boring? Never got that. Maybe the whole thing is some kind of a disease of affluence.
Difficult to make friends, very (too) quiet atmosphere, lack of spirit of aggregation... everything is very... swiss. As most people already said, it all boils down to your own tastes, to where you come from, to what do you want from life. Certainly somebody coming from a village of fishermen in Norway might find Zürich exciting, while somebody from Rome, London or New York not so much...
See, most of the problems you describe are language problems. What exactly do you do in Rome, London and New York in your spare time? It seems that people run around 24/7 doing exciting things. The good thing is that I can jump in a plane and fly to this places in a few hours and have fun. Then I come back to Switzerland and have fun too. If you are bored in any place you are doing something wrong.
I assume that you know that the world isn't as simple as that -you don't like it then go etc we all have commitments and those commitments are the reason we live in places we don't desire, the reason we work in jobs to which we don't aspire, the reason we work with people we don't admire. Now all said was true but with a little touch of satire
I think that all sensible people would find some reasoning behind this.