Switzerland compared to Australia

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
21
Hahaha, well apparently Sydney is in a 'man drought'. But for the 23 years i lived there i saw limited evidence of that! Girls in Aus maybe a bit more forward tho, just watch out for the ones drinking rum!

22
Similar to pretty much what other people have said -

We came here so our kids could learn German and French, and my husband wanted to do more German because he did it at school...

Also, the salary is quite different, especially since the Australian dollar was buying 0.9 chf when we moved 6 months ago, and is now buying .75!

We can live in Switzerland and afford to travel to Australia (5 x round the world airfares !) - maybe every 2-3 years if we want, but there's no way we could afford to come to Europe every 2-3 years in Australia...

We came also to experience Europe, and to travel with our children while they still want to spend time with us!

Australia is a diverse place - you can't really categorise it - and you really need to go there and travel around for a few weeks at least (or months!) to really understand the diversity...to drive 'highway one' around the edge of Australia is 24,000 kms...by comparison, the border of Switzerland is just under 2,000 kms. - we drive 14 hours from Sydney to Adelaide to visit our family, and that is roughly halfway across the continent...

23
Just reading your 3rd paragraph made me fell so homesick especially the part about not having a house and sitting in your own backyard and driving around. A good summary of pros and cons. We are also planning to going back to Oz sometime, for me I think its a great place to raise kids so they can run around outdoors and to enjoy the sunshine and the beach.

24
The nice ones you mean? All the tossers stay at home..... and there are millions of them!!

25
Yep, that's pretty close to what I mean, although I don't think they're *all* tossers - just more than I like. :O)

It's so nice to get away from the "Aussie version of foreplay" ("Oy, are you awake?") and various other chauvinistic aspects of *some* Aussie blokes. I do miss my friends though. They're obviously some of the nice people who do stay in Aus.

26
Australia the good:

1. Sound economy in the current economic climate, still earning a good quid here.

2. The beach

3. Warm weather and close to tropical getaways

4. Great food

5. Great social life

The Bad

1. Getting expensive to live

2. Traffic is hell most of the time

3. Long work hours

4. Idiots everywhere

5. Can get too hot (unbearably so on bad days)

6. Million miles from anywhere important (europe)

Switzerland the Good

1. Amazing weather (apart from winter)

2. Close to everything

3. Great culture

4. Can earn good money

5. People are wonderful, truly diverse

6. Immersiing oneself in a foreign country and getting lost in translation

7. Low taxes

Switzerland The bad:

1. Expensive meat

2. Sometimes hard to get work if you dont speak German (very competitive)

3. Shops closed on Sundays

4. Can be a bit quiet

5. WINTER is hell

Thats all I can think of right now.

27
From the fabulous list below of AnAustralian, to the insightful MarieZug re the Jones and 'what suburb do you live in?' it seems that there are similarities between the two cultures. Also it depends on where you live in either nation, as there are vast differences on every front.

Being honest with yourself about the amount of your being able to be flexible to deal with your circumstances and the people you meet...... would go a long way to helping you to select a country. As well your length of stay; for work, for life, for love, for retirement - all have different implications.

Good luck

28
Australia has Australian football and more English speakers.

Other than that, Switzerland wins hands down.

29
I only know Australia from visiting a close friend who has been living there for the last 8 years (about as long as I've been in CH). I personally find Sydney to be the most beautiful city I've ever visited (and I've been to a few), the beaches are gorgeous, night live is cool, and people seem quite relaxed. Also the weather is pretty close to perfect (if you don't mind hot) which adds a lot to general quality of life.

On the downsides (compared to CH), cost of living in Sydney seemed fairly high while salaries are much lower than in Zurich (also taxes are high). A nice house somewhere close to the beach with sea view and everything is close to Zurich prices - but even more difficult to afford than here (mortgage interest rates in AUD and more than twice those in CHF!). Also, cars are extremely expensive (50-100% more than in Europe).

Zurich is definitely less exciting if you move here from Germany (same language, etc.), the weather is pretty horrible most of the time (its cold all year round and the sky is grey 70% of the time), there's no beach, and life seems somewhat tense and stressful (the average Swiss person works 25% more than the average German!). On the upside, salaries are good, taxes are low, the economy is very open, its easy to have your own business, etc. Another plus might be that you can take a 45min flight if you feel like visiting your friends and family on the weekend. Also, the job market is much better than in Australia (its just too remote - there are virtually no HQs of international companies in Australia).

So overall, I feel that CH scores higher on career options, money, and closeness to home while Australia might be the more exciting location with a much cooler lifestyle overall.

You need to decide what's more important to you....

30
Aussies working world's longest hours:

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/aussies...0109-7da3.html

No thanks!

31
Blah - it's just that lots of Aussies choose not to use their leave, and the tourism promoters know that if they don't take holidays, they don't spend!

If you had accrued four month's leave, would you take it as a holiday, or have it paid to you cash and put it into your mortgage ?

I worked for someone who had more than 40 days accrued annual leave - she was 'saving' it for her 'retirement' - She NEEDED a holiday!!!!!!

32
My dad had a few hundred days accrued when he retired. No holidays in 10 years. He felt too pressured to take holiday and was watching things from home when he wasn't working through the PC. This had huge impact on us kids who had to suffer his moods. The two ladies during his working years left him long ago

If I had 4 months leave saved up - I would choose the holiday!

33
Same here!

But the 'safety-net' of superannuation, wealthy parents, social security does help, I think.

My parents are both work-a-holics too - but they do also travel...I have friends who have never been outside Sydney, let-alone Australia!

34
I'm having a very difficult time believing this - just take the US for comparison, most people there get only 2 weeks vacation to start with - and then don't take it. So 4 weeks is pretty good. And generally I don't get it how people can complain about working 9-5 every day???? If you work in financial services in Zurich you can consider yourself lucky if you're doing 8am-8pm - I - at least - have rarely worked less than 12-13h days since moving to Switzerland.

35
In Australia you have to drive everywhere - here we can *shock horror* walk or ride a bike.

We came to CH via UK 12 years ago tomorrow and hell we came to both countries for 1 maybe 2 years... 9.5yrs later we're happily settled in CH.

Sure I miss having a house with a backyard and the more adhoc lifestyle of Oz.

But here we do a lot more sport, I find the Swiss much more sporty than Australians, and we can travel around Europe and the world easier and for cheaper.

Great summers and great winters (for skiing)... I hated Melbourne winters - rain and wind - bloody horrible!

I don't think we'll ever go back - but never say never right

36
There is something awkward in being squeezed in into a small country like Switzerland.

Everything is just so small, of course it does have its charm, but I do find it extremely suffocating at times. It seems to keep people's brains squeezed in too.

Ever so often I need to get out of here, just go over to France and enjoy a big space to move around and breathe ...

I think this is one reason why so many Swiss people I'd called it flee to Australia and settle down there. Space for living and more open mindedness too.

37
I think it is a bilateral trend. Those of us who were grown up in Europe, yearn for space and new adventures and given opportunity we like to explore vast "prairies" offered by other continents. Similarly people from overseas desire to see their "ancestors land of origin" and trace their roots with plethora of classical architecture, museums and cultural events. In the past I had a girlfriend from Down Under whom I met in South Africa, and she always wanted to move to Europe. Another example, my cousins from the US always wished to visit or live in Europe. Myself, I have always been attracted to live in remote places e.g. Down Under & Africa.

38
wise words and i must say people sometimes mention aussies relaxed lifestyle and stuff but i find switzerland so peacefull and stress free compared to england i dont think i'd want a more chilled or people free place

39
Absolutely!!

40
Sydney was more upbeat and socialable so its suits those who want that, i probably would of had a difficult time settling in if i was on my own. but having a young family CH seems great it does feel alot safer, convenient public transport and calmer slower pace to life. just a few more political games at work tho!