Thinking about moving to Zurich!

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
1
Hello everyone!

I'm a dual citizen and I'm about to marry my lovely Wife, her dream always was to move to Europe and she loves Zurich so do I. We're both students and I'm originally from Munich, Germany. Since we have an opportunity of living in Zurich because of my German Passport we're thinking about it, I absolutely love Zurich as well and certainly wouldn't mind living there, however I do remember it being quite a tad more expensive than Munich.

I mainly want to move back to Europe because education in the U.S is ridiculously expensive for international students and I can go to school in Munich and pretty much all of the EU almost for free. So I have a few questions:

1) I was wondering if I would be getting the same benefits in Zurich (free good colleges, student housing etc.) that I get in Germany.

2) Is Swiss German very different from German German(?), I remember I used to communicate just fine when I went there as a tourist but I do know there is a difference.

3) Another one of my objectives is earning some money, since the minimum wage in Zurich is incredibly high, I thought it would be a great idea to save up some money by waiting tables or other similar jobs whilst studying.

4) Is it a smart idea to live in Germany close to the Swiss border and live there but work/study in Zurich or is it a better idea to live a bit further away from downtown Zurich (about 30 mins) in Switzerland since I probably won't be able to afford living in expensive areas.

5) How much would someone with a pretty stay-at-home lifestyle spend monthly, living in an average studio or 1 bedroom apartment and how much would that someone earn working full-time earning minimum wage waiting tables.

Thank you! : )

2
Don't want to burst your bubble but it's best to be a tad realistic:

1) I was wondering if I would be getting the same benefits in Zurich (free good colleges, student housing etc.) that I get in Germany.

Germany has an excellent social structure. There's help for health insurance, housing etc. Switzerland does too but it's really different. University is practically free true, but student housing is expensive and hard to find.

2) Is Swiss German very different from German German(?), I remember I used to communicate just fine when I went there as a tourist but I do know there is a difference .

Yes very different. Swiss German is not a written language, it's a low German dialect. You will do fine as your native language is German, but your wife will have a tougher time due to the fact that you learn High German, but you speak Swiss German everyday. On the other hand you can easily get by in Zurich with English, though it's next to impossible to work there without a good command of German.

3) Another one of my objectives is earning some money, since the minimum wage in Zurich is incredibly high, I thought it would be a great idea to save up some money by waiting tables or other similar jobs whilst studying.

You are dreaming (sorry no offense, I really mean this) The minimum wage may seem high outside of Switzerland, but in a city such as Zurich where you can easily spend 1000 USD for a tiny 1 room flat, where minimal health insurance costs a minimum of 300 to 400 USD per month per person, a minimum wage 100 % is difficult to live on for 2 people, let alone part-time. A trip to the supermarket on a tight budget would be 100 USD minimum per week for 2 people.

4) Is it a smart idea to live in Germany close to the Swiss border and live there but work/study in Zurich or is it a better idea to live a bit further away from downtown Zurich (about 30 mins) in Switzerland since I probably won't be able to afford living in expensive areas.

Check with the Swiss authorities what is allowed/possible for a German national wanting to study in Switzerland

5) How much would someone with a pretty stay-at-home lifestyle spend monthly, living in an average studio or 1 bedroom apartment and how much would that someone earn working full-time earning minimum wage waiting tables .

see above

3
University courses are in German or English (some post graduate).

Ability to understand Swiss dialect would be useful if you want to wait tables. Swiss dialect is like the same barrier a Hanoverian grappling with Bavarian dialect.

If you live in Waldshut (DE), it is approx 55 minute train ride to Zurich. From Jestetten (DE) it is 45 minutes.

4
Well obviously I wouldn't be supporting the both of us, she has some money saved up as well and is willing to work too, not sure how hard it is to find a job as a nanny or something else that doesn't require speaking fluent German. She is taking German lessons but they will only help her so much.

5
I'm sorry, I did disappoint you

But if you want to survive as a student here, 2 people, you've got to really think it through.

Being a nanny is a good idea, but you should check out her possibilities of obtaining a work permit as she's not an EU national.

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1) I was wondering if I would be getting the same benefits in Zurich (free good colleges, student housing etc.) that I get in Germany.

2) Is Swiss German very different from German German(?), I remember I used to communicate just fine when I went there as a tourist but I do know there is a difference.

3) Another one of my objectives is earning some money, since the minimum wage in Zurich is incredibly high, I thought it would be a great idea to save up some money by waiting tables or other similar jobs whilst studying.

4) Is it a smart idea to live in Germany close to the Swiss border and live there but work/study in Zurich or is it a better idea to live a bit further away from downtown Zurich (about 30 mins) in Switzerland since I probably won't be able to afford living in expensive areas.

5) How much would someone with a pretty stay-at-home lifestyle spend monthly, living in an average studio or 1 bedroom apartment and how much would that someone earn working full-time earning minimum wage waiting tables.

1) system-wise it is similar to Germany, but of course not the same

2) most of Swiss German dialects are fairly close to those in Baden-Württemberg and in Bavaria, but some ARE difficult. I would say that those of the Zürich area are easy for you as a Bavarian while those in Berne or Basel will be more of a difference. While Baaaslerisch is a kind of Baaaaden Mundart in a way

3) jobs ARE around. But please simply realize that much of the statistics around is utter rubbish !

4) to live in the area of Jettstetten etc or the Waldshut area while studying in Zurich might be a good idea might be an interesting idea. My mother while living in Schaffhausen daily went by train to Zurich for work for some years (1942-44... she had her own lodgings in Zch-Paradeplatz/Bärengasse 44to 46)

5) you mentioned Munich, so that you might say it is Munich plus 5%

7
Wow, the Swiss - German border in 42 to 44, that must have been an interesting, very different set of issues.

Wasn't it difficult ??

*for the unfamiliar reader* Geography: most travellers cut across a short stretch of Germany (Waldshut) to go from Schaffhausen to Zurich

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The route was open throughout WWII, many Germans from Jestetten and Lottstetten even worked in Schaffhausen. In case of Konstanz, Swiss people even could freely walk from west to east on a transit path right through Konstanz. Büsingen (surrounded by Schaffhausen) always was in touch with their mainland. These were the reasons why Schaffhausen in the war-years was full of Jewish refugees. There of course was a lot of spying. The Swiss Abwehr used the services of men above military age who suddenly mutated into ardent admirers of wildlife and local architecture in neighbouring Germany. The usually open borders to the north of Schaffhausen however were guarded by German troops. And on parts of the Rhine, at times, patrol boats of the Gestapo were active.

The rail-route between SH and ZH inside German territory only became special when the area was taken over by French troops who sealed every single Swiss train entering German territory and no longer allowed Germans to get onto these trains, had their guns pointed at the trains on the German stations (showing their idea about the Swiss passengers ! ). That however got dropped when Maréchal Lattre de Tassigny was replaced per order of CDG by Maréchal König who moved things back to normal

PS: NOT through Waldshut (town) but through Jestetten and Lottstetten, in the Landkreis Waldshut

You can see it on THIS map

www.zvv.ch/export/sites/default/common-images/content-image-gallery/linien-zonen-pdfs/SBahn_09.pdf

with the S-Bahn lines S22 (all trains) and S5 (every 2nd train) also serving Jestetten and Lottstetten enroute to Schaffhausen

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Your knowledge is impressive Thank you for the history lesson, I really enjoy them !

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After spending 2 years in Munich and 4 months in Zurich I'd rather say this is 150%. My personal opinion is that you can have a better quality of life on the same sort of budget in Munich than in Zurich (even if you multiply by 150%) because of cheaper housing, but mostly cheaper food & entertainment options - especially for students that are entitled to lots of discounts. Although I earn twice what I did in Munich now, I cannot keep up the same lifestyle that I had there (eating out, going to concerts & pubs several times per week). Just my two cents

11
Q2: Were you from Flensburg, I would tell you that the difference is tremendous, but for somebody from Munich the dialects of Zurich, Schaffhausen, Thurgau, St. Gallen must sound fairly familiar and should not be a problem, and while locals detest that sound from the "Waterkant", Münchnerisch is generally liked.

Q4: Living in Zurich means to stay either in the inner or outer suburbs or "indirect suburbs" like Schaffhausen/SH, Neuhausen/SH, Winterthur+surroundings, Jestetten/D, Lottstetten/D etc . Jestetten has some very nice restaurants, and the S-Bahn gives you good connections to both Schaffhausen and Zurich, so that it might be a real option