I thought I would introduce myself as I have been reading your website and forum posts, which I have to say has helped me greatly settling in to Switzerland (for example where to buy brown sugar online and to take caution on Swiss trains ).
I have been living in Switzerland for almost 5 months now around the St Gallen area. Orginally from Sydney, I came to CH via a 4 year stint in the USA (Minneapolis and New York). I am still getting used to the expensive meat prices, expensive resturant prices, expensive wine prices for such a small glass (what is 1DL?) and not speaking a stitch of German other than danke, ein stuck bitte and hallo. Luckily I can read a a little bit of French, which has come in very handy when reading grocery items at Migro/Co-op. The plus side of Switzerland is that it is beautiful and so close to the rest of Europe! St Gallen is a little too peaceful for my liking, but thankful it is only 1 hr from Zurich.
Looking forward to being part of your Englishforum.ch community. I hope to meet some of you one day for a wine/beer and some great conversation.
Secondly, Are You comparing Sydney prices to here or American? cos Sydney in most cases is even more expensive than Zurich. Alcohol prices here are cheaper in the shops... Meat prices I agree with though, it's ridiculous... however, when i paid 18aud for a gnt I didn't know what to think...
Hi Jacqueline, and welcome to both Switzerland & the EF!
Glad to hear you're settling in, and getting a lot of use from the forum - there's a massive wealth of accumulated knowledge here!
Prices are not really so bad, compared to Sydney prices ... some things are a lot more expensive (like eating out or getting take-away!) but others are much cheaper (a lot of common groceries, alcohol) or about the same (rent ...). Add to that earning a larger salary, and I know I'm financially better off here ...
Keep checking out the Social Events section, and you'll have plenty of fun and chances to catch up with people!
I must admit, I am comparing CH prices to US prices in Minneapolis and NYC, not Sydney. I was in Sydney 2 months ago and tend to go back every year or so. On my last two trips I was thinking how expensive Sydney has gotten (I have been away for almost 5 years), especially in the Eastern suburbs and North shore. Even earning CHF, I found central Sydney Prices crazy and more expensive than CH.
And by the way, 1DL or 100ML is not a decent glass of wine - that is probably the amount I would get at a US or Hunter Valley taste testing!
well a standard serving in Australia is 125mls or 150mls depending on venue, so not that much different, fair enough if you go to a pub and they fill it to the brim... But standard sizes are generally slightly smaller here (2cl swiss, 3cl aussie spirits measure).
A standard drink of Wine in australian standards considering the wine is 14% is roughly 90mls... In switzerland the wines tend to be around 12% making a standard drink measure 100mls or 1dl...
Welcome to St. Gallen! I'm from the US (Pittsburgh) and have been here for a little over a year. And I totally understand about the prices - they're crazy compared to the US!
You can also find some pretty cheap stuff around St. Gallen, like....... Pizzeria Milano on Rorschacherstrasse. Evening menu has a half-page of 10chf pizzas! Great pizza too.
There's an Aussie lass setting up an Aussie get together for this Sat night if you're keen. I'm gonna pop along and have a couple of amber nectars. Pm if you're keen....
Ps just got back from Holidays in Melbs, just in time to escape the cold and pull the barbie out for some Zürisee action...
Hey there, nice to read about new people living in St Gallen area. My name is Gianluca, I'm 24. I'm quite new here (my 4th month here), I work close to Lichtenstein , so I really don't know anyone here. I come from Rome, how can I survive in a such peaceful place? If you wanna meet for a beer or a "small and expensive" wine glass, let me know.