Things I realized after moving to Switzerland: 3 years of expat life

It’s been three years since I moved from Heidelberg,Germany to Basel,Switzerland  and 5 years since I moved from India to Europe! Talk about time seeming to fly!  Since then, I have received a lot of questions and curious comments about living in Switzerland. Just to clarify some of the most common things I’m asked, not everyone is super rich or obsessed with expensive Swiss watches ; nor are people on ‘a perpetual holiday’ or a ‘year-long vacation’. Switzerland is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful countries in the world, but just like anywhere else, life in Switzerland can have its own advantages and challenges. So, here are some personal and light-hearted observations about  life in Switzerland – some things I learnt and some habits that changed.

What I realized after moving to Switzerland :

 

1. That there are 4 national languages in Switzerland and Swiss-German is quite different from German.
   

So, German, French, Italian and Rumantsch are the four languages spoken in Switzerland, depending on the region you are staying in.  If you visit Zurich,Basel,Bern, you would most likely hear Swiss-German all around. Geneva and Lausanne are located in the French-speaking parts and you could practice some Italian while visiting Lugano,Ticino in the South of the country. Romansch is only spoken by a small group of people now. However, after a few months of my stay in Basel, I realized that a lot of the words I was hearing in my daily life did not seem like the German I learnt before coming here. And that’s when I found out about Swiss-German. To top it, there are even different  dialects in Swiss-German (Basel,Bern,etc). If you’d like a heads up before visiting the region, feel free to check out this list of common Swiss-German words. The good thing  is  that you can get away with English or French quite easily too, especially as Basel is located very close to both, the French and German borders (literally a tram ride away).

 

You can also check out other things you can get away with if you live in Basel.

 

     2. That  Switzerland is a democracy in the true sense.

 Switzerland is said to be one of the ‘rare examples of direct democracy.‘ People can bring up issues they care about and if a certain number of  people sign the petition(atleast 50,000 or so), a referendum is carried out. The voice of the people is vital and this system also facilitates a lot of debates and discussions about the pros and cons of each issue. Also, power is not vested in one person alone as a seven member ‘Federal Council of Switzerland’ acts as the head of the state.

 

    3.That there’s more to Switzerland than chocolate and cheese ..and more to Swiss chocolate than Lindt!

Most people would probably associate with Lindt with Swiss chocolates, but there are quite a lot of other brands making great chocolates and desserts too. For instance, try walking into a ‘Sprungli‘ store to  sample their macaroons and chocolates , or other confectionaries like Läderach and Beschle. In the supermarkets, you can easily get Frey and Cailler too.

Switzerland is popular for cheese and chocolate, but that’s not all they have to offer.

 

    4.  Education and research  par excellence.

If you are considering moving to Switzerland for education or research, expect  great infrastructure, several opportunities, international exposure, support for attending summer schools, conferences and general support, career advice from the University. Institutions like ETH Zurich, University of Basel, EPFL Laussane, HSG St.Gallen  and many others are quite old and renowned universities that strive for excellence. If you are interested in finding out about research at University of Basel, consider following their new blog- Sci Five. And if you are enrolled as a student or researcher, do make use of the skill development workshops and other such opportunities organized free of charge.

 

    5. That you can drink water from any fountain or tap in the city.

If there’s one thing you won’t have to worry about at all while visiting Switzerland, is getting drinkable water. Basel itself has about 200 fountains (1200 in Zurich apparently) and you are free to refill your bottles whenever you like.  And when you are home, there’s no problem at all with water from any of the taps. (So, in theory, you could also have a sip of water if you are thirsty in the shower 😛  )

The Basilisk-a mythical creature that can be spotted throughout the city of #Basel in sculptures and architecture! If you have watched/read #harrypotterandthechamberofsecrets ,you might remember the #basilisk from there! #mythology #sculpture #inlovewithswitzerland #basellife #baselbuzz #mythicalbeast

A post shared by Menorca@EuropeDiaries (@menorca_c) on Apr 21, 2016 at 1:42pm PDT

 

  6. That most Swiss people are extremely fond of hiking….and also Ovamaltine.

Right from early childhood to adulthood, hiking seems be such a natural way of life for so many people here! So much so that some people have called it the real national sport of Switzerland. 44% of the current Swiss population apparently goes for about 20 hikes a year. I have just gone for a couple of times in the past three years (Eee I wouldn’t be amongst the 44% ever  ), but have seen people well equipped with some of these items:  good hiking boots , a bag pack filled with ample water, fruits,cheese,bread, snacks, a wind jacket, mint/candy, camera and Swiss Army Knife depending on your choice. Check out this hilarious account of boots and hikes that I came across recently. Oh, and try mentioning Ovamaltine to apply as a spread on bread or getting the cookies/chocolate to see their eyes brighten up!

Did you know you can hike from Germany to Switzerland while admiring art along the way?

 

  7. That playing indoor games is cool, no matter what age you are.

As kids, we all play a lot of indoor and outdoor games, but after moving to Switzerland, I was thrilled to see adults passionate about them too. While many of my friends like playing Sedler for hours, I love participating in a round of  ‘Werewolf’ or ‘Who am I’ or some of the other word and picture games like ‘Dixit’ and ‘Time’s up‘. And on nights when we are tired, I don’t mind screaming ‘Pizza machen’ while playing a card game involving making pizzas!

 

  8.That everything is super-organized,

    even garbage segregation and collection from different areas of a city.

We received a huge chart by post, detailing all dates for all types of garbage disposal in our area. There are two days per week for leaving general trash outside your house in a specific garbage bag (Bebbisack), 1 or 2 days per month for all paper disposal, a day for leaving old furniture outside and glass /tin need to be disposed at particular locations only (glass needs to be seggregated based on its colour). It’s impressive how everything works so smooth!

 

9. That house-hunting can be similar to the strenuous process of job-hunting!

I went through the complete ordeal of house hunting with friends and it wasn’t a lot different from the stress that comes with job hunting. The three of us put in immense time and effort for 1-2 months to shortlist places, ask for an appointment to visit the place, collect and fill out forms, arrange for ALL possible documents including references, work contracts, salary statements, passport copies , cover letter, clearance letter and anything else that was needed (some people wanted financial documents of my friends’ parents for security and proof).  Then, IF we were shortlisted by the agency, we would be called for a meeting (or interview) and then we would await the results patiently. To give you a rough idea, we completed and sent about 8 dossiers, each time getting a proof of mail from the post office, got shortlisted for 2 flats and finally got 1. Phew! It might be easier for families to look for flats though as many agencies seemed to prefer renting out flats to families for long-term instead of a trio of friends. Once we signed the contract, more adventures awaited us including finalizing the house insurance, looking for, transporting and assembling all furniture, buying and fitting all lamps ourselves, drilling nails/ shelves to the wall, measuring windows and buying curtains, etc. For me, it was the first time that I needed to deal with all of this as I had never moved into a completely unfurnished flat earlier. I am so glad I got to learn all of this from my Swiss friends who had grown up helping out their parents with such things and were pretty good with drilling as well as assembling furniture. I realized how essential it is to learn to do things by yourself and feel it would be a great idea to teach kids some of this stuff at school, irrespective of where they are located.

 

10. That there’s a lot of awareness and encouragement  to be more environmentally conscious in your daily life.

Remember the garbage collection chart we received by post? Well, we were also sent a bunch of tips about how to reduce energy consumption in daily life and simple suggestions that can be kept in mind while working in the kitchen. Also,  I suppose twice a year, the authorities evaluate the energy consumption and then transfer a small amount of money to you if lesser energy was consumed than expected and paid for. In fact, now that I think of the time I stayed in a student dorm (which had excellent standards by the way), we were also given a workshop on how to make our own compost for the organic waste produced in the kitchen. I feel little things incorporated in the regular lifestyle do have a lasting impact on one’s mind and contribute to the betterment of the environment.

 

11.That patience is the key when it comes to bureaucratic procedures.

This is a crucial point. There’s a lot of bureaucracy in Switzerland and you may be asked for a lot of papers, details while applying for visas, permissions, etc. Be patient as it can often take a long time. Make sure you submit all required documents (attested as required), and then wait patiently. I’ve had to follow up and get in touch with the authorities a few times as I was panicking because of my visa delay.

 

12.Needless to say, everything is indeed expensive -even attestation of documents and getting clearance letters.

But, cheaper alternatives are possible too.

You cannot avoid the expenses that come with living in Switzerland. But in some cases, you can look for cheaper alternatives. Once you settle down in your city, walk around, talk to people and you’ll find out places where you could eat, shop without going overboard. Basel is really easy to walk around and we are also located very close to Germany and France. So, it is quite common for people to drive/bike or take a tram to either of the bordering countries to shop. Plus, if you get all your bills stamped at the customs while getting back, you can also get some VAT refund based on your bills. Even if you do not want to venture out of the borders,you’ll realize that some supermarkets (like Migros,Denner) are cheaper than the others (like Coop,Manor,Globus etc). While it may not be the best idea to eat out everyday (unless you have lunch at reasonable rates in your cafetaria or so), it is certainly easy to buy all groceries you need and cook at home.

 

 Swiss banks

Opening and maintaining an account in a Swiss bank will incur extra charges too, depending on your profession and salary. For instance, I had initially come to Switzerland on a short-term visa (L-permit) for my thesis work and had to pay 200 CHF as a deposit for opening my account in a private bank. Not really the most convenient thing to do when you are not getting paid yourself. Anyhow, if you are a student or aged below 30 and have a B-permit , then you can get more benefits ofcourse. However, you cannot get a post-paid credit card if you do not earn more than a certain amount.  You can still have a pre-paid credit card which can be topped up instantly via online banking. Some things I experienced: getting charged an additional 5 CHF for withdrawing money without your debit card (atleast with Post Finance) , being able to pay for a lot of bills online (and also Swiss Air tickets) using the Post finance debit card, but not being able to use this debit card outside Switzerland. So, you’ve got to weigh your pros and cons.

 

Good Transport System

Some ways I changed in these 3 years

I didn’t realize it earlier but now I definitely appreciate the sunlight more. This is just a personal observation. After spending 4 years in a city that almost always had high temperatures, let’s just say I wasn’t that enthusiastic about sun bathing or hanging out in the sunlight when the temperatures soared above 30 degrees Celcius. Summer can get quite intense here (upto 39 degrees Celcius max), but it only lasts for about 3-4 months on the whole.

I  started cooking a lot more at home and learnt a lot of new recipes from my Swiss friends. Simple things like making themed cakes for friends (like the cat themed cake), baking Christmas cookies and making Fondue or Raclette at home are a lot of fun and also a great ways to spend some quality time with friends. By the way, I love Fondue so much that I might just be an unofficial ambassador for this delicious treat. Wait till you see my Fondue love T-shirt soon:)

#Fondue night! !Made and tried fondue for the first time . Thanks to the awesome ppl involved:-) #Switzerland #Food

A post shared by Menorca@EuropeDiaries (@menorca_c) on Mar 17, 2015 at 2:58am PDT

 

I am also glad to get introduced to the world of art in the Cultural Capital of Switzerland . Basel is home to 40 museums, a number of art galleries, the world’s biggest art event and most importantly, numerous creative people and art lovers. I found out there’s a lot of different ways in which artists perform to communicate their thoughts. There’s more to art than museums alone and the people make a strong difference in the way you understand and perceive art.

An art installation inside the Town Hall of Basel,open for all.#Basel is currently hosting @artbasel , one of the biggest art fairs in the world and is hosting thousands of people from different countries currently.Yesterday,I also visited the Art Book Fair called @ineverreadartbookfairbasel and loved the creativity all around! My friend got a book scroll about a story related to the Little Red Riding Hood but with a very different twist and we stayed up so late reading it and then rolling it back into a scroll. There are so many people doing cool things and more people should get to know about their work! Do you like attending exhibitions and book fairs? #artbasel #art_spotlight #bookstagram #bookfair #lovebasel #inlovewithswitzerland #culture

A post shared by Menorca@EuropeDiaries (@menorca_c) on Jun 18, 2016 at 5:33am PDT

Moving over my fear of not being able to hike well due to lack of fitness and being left behind if I go with a group (which did happen the first time) , I managed to complete another short hike, thanks to my friend who was extremely encouraging and supportive and did not mind the slower pace despite being a pro hiker. Getting support from friends in a foreign country and doing something new definitely boosts your morale and gives you a happy high. This summer, I also tried to keep another fear aside and tried to swim in the river, just like the locals. Though I didn’t ace it yet, but getting into the river itself was a small first step for me. Now, need to finally learn to ski this winter and then swim better next summer. Not sure if I’ll retry sledging anytime soon though,since I had a terrible experience the first time.

Trying new things and getting out of your comfort zone brings in such happiness and a sense of liberation at times! Be it hiking,singing,dancing or just about any activity that you are apprehensive of. This moment was captured while hiking in the Swiss mountains and I was quite worried about going for it. But,at the end,it was pure bliss! Have you had such an experience too? I want to know your story! #sharetravellerstales #goforyourdreams – – – – #tellmeyourstory #followyourheart #trynewthings #mountaingirls #hikingadventures #outdoors #girlswhotravel #glt #chooseyouradventure #igerseurope #switzerland #femaletravelbloggers #inlovewithswitzerland #wearetravelgirls

A post shared by Menorca@EuropeDiaries (@menorca_c) on Sep 14, 2016 at 7:52am PDT

 

And for the times when you are not surrounded by people, I figured out that there’s magic in being alone and happy.

 

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Please do leave your thoughts in the comment section below and share the post on the social media of your choice. You can also save it on Pinterest and refer to it later.

 

Sending out love and positivity

XO

 

 

 

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