But really just wanted to call out that not all " naive, childish, loud-mouthed" people from North America are from the US...
fduvall
Well...I am happy to accept Canada as the 51st state! Especially with all of the gas and oil that they are finding in Alberta.
A few humorous quotes from the mountain of literary nods to the boring Swiss:
Q. How do you make a Swiss person laugh?*
A. Hold a gun to his head and say, 'Laugh'.*
Q. What do you call a great lover in Switzerland?*
A. An immigrant.*
Q. What do you call a gathering of boring people in Switzerland?*
A. Zurich.*
*Bill Bryson , 'Neither Here Nor There', p246, 1991.
It's a national trait, like the Brits being violent and in need of a dentist, Americans being loud and in need of an education and French being cowards and in need of a wash. It's not always true, although if you could recommend an orthodontist........
I recently attended an extremely tedious dinner party in Wandsworth where the main topics of conversation were house prices, school catchment areas, Volvos, second homes in France and the general trustworthiness of the working classes e.g. "I'm sure my cleaner is stealing from us". Granted the chattering classes are not indicative of all of Gt Britain, but they are the ones who work in politics, media, PR, marketing, the Beeb etc.
My impression of the swiss is they are civilisied, polite, and reserved, a combination my culture could benefit from copying...
I agree totally with the summary of ex-pats, but not all ex-pats are from Bolton or Smethwick and I've yet to hear one in the bar tell me what a fantastic bunch they think the Swiss are. But on-line it seems that our hosts are more popular than religion. Why do you suppose that is? Peer pressure down the pub? Wanting to fit in with the rest of the crowd maybe? Or maybe I just associate with the ones that are likely to slag of the locals?
Or maybe, just maybe, there's a bit of double standards going on here
If you come to Spain, the spanish will say the british are boring, loud, ugly and rough but at least they spend loads of cash in Spain and that seems to be a good enoug reason to put up with them. If you go to France the french will say everyone apart from themselves are dumb, fat and never will be as classy. If you go to Germany, they will call the dutch 'cheesehead' and if you call the dutch german and say their language sound like a bastardized form of german, they will probably try to kill you.
What I mean is, you can't please everyone and I'll reserve my comments on the swiss for another ocassion.
Sorry, but your accents are so similar to me...
I don't know about the other two, but I can provide sure proof that this one is 100% true
Love the new take on the thread "The Swiss are boring in Saudi". Real problem in English grammar.
Glory --- call me the eternal optimist.... but guys.....!!!!
So the Swiss are boring.... the women aren’t bad looking ..... 1+1=.....errrr....
Nice work Dale..... What an opportunity to snag up a few good looking girls who are sick of their Swiss boyfriends..... yeehhaaa..... Excellent -- I hope nothing changes and they stay boring. I land in Jan.
I disagree actually... maybe they party more, but as for friendliness on the street and towards foreigners, the Swiss french are super rude.... at least that was our experince... Zurich is top compared to Geneva in this regard!
Well, it looks like the "boring" lifestyle provides some comfort. I agree. Switzerland is not the most rock and roll environment which is why a lot of us stay.
Once you take the trouble to get to know the Swiss, you'll generally find a quality person, often lacking in places such as the UK and the States.
Not sure about the comment that the Swiss-Romand region appears to be friendlier. On my first visit to Zurich some years ago, my colleague (German), told me that everyone would great me as we passed by in the street and that I should reply to them. He was right and that, I have never seen in Geneva. And try Ticino, not exactly a stuffy place.
But what a great place to live. My wife can go anywhere, anytime, in safety. If I make a mistake and leave something unlocked or on a table in a restaurant, it doesn't disappear in the next thirty seconds.
Boring, maybe a little but providing quality has some price.
Will
I feel your pain. Similiar situation here.
You two should go out together. It would be one hellofa night...
dave
I am banging this bored housewife. Loves her husband, who is a good man but he is a boring Swiss mountain troll. Me, I am more of a cavalino rampante type, wear a Borat swim thong while walking downtown Ibiza kinda guy.
What on earth does this mean ?
Are they ISO9001 ? We should be told.
dave
No, I think you have met the most desperate , of all desperate housewives. In fact her desperation must be legendary across the canton.
dave
Not the expats in Kiev, Moscow and Rio.
I think the perception of the Swiss, depends on the nationality of the expat. Being Russian, I expect frienships to be something akin to a marriage, i.e. a soul mate. Even though the Russians are very reserved and surly upon first encounter, frienship bonds tend to be very strong and Russian tend to be very, melodramatic, the whole drinking vodka together, brotherly love etc. So Russians tend to fit in badly in many societies, especialy Switzerland, but pretty well in more Southern ones, like South America, despite being from a Northern country.
The Brits, despite their alleged snobism and stiff upper lip are actually pretty good to hang out with and most are total nutters like the Russians, we also share a segment of population called the "chavs".
has this ever happened to anyone ever in any developed western county, who isnt extremely abnormal looking?