Every time I say I am from Switzerland, it’s ALWASY the same. People tell me that they want to come and live here.
They ask about salary, money, how much you earn, bla-bla-bla.
They ask ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the culture, never.
And after they come and they complain that they can’t integrate and they don’t know why.
I met RARELY people who arrived in Switzerland and ask me about hiking, ski, mountain, typical parties, food and something else.
I am tired. We are not only a economical wealthy country, we have our own culture (and each canton has is typical things) and it’s a beautiful one.
https://i.redd.it/u4xt2jjnjk3g1.jpeg
Posted by Nyliew
30 Comments
Sir this is a Wendy’s
easy to say when you grow up here. of course people ask about financials when they are from a country earning only 30% of the salary. a spanish guy maybe doesn’t really care a lot about hiking, skiing and fondue and is more career focused. thats completely normal
It probably depends on who you talk with? People I talk to about Switzerland tend to ask about salary and prices, but as a comparison to what they’re used to, not because they want to come here. (Had many fun conversations with people going “wait this is a *small* salary?” and right after that “health insurance is *how much*?!”)
And they also tend to ask about typical food, what we respectively do for fun, how annoying the neighbours are allowed to be, etc.
let’s get u to bed, big guy
A Starbucks barista in Zurich working 40hrs per week makes more than a manager at Deloitte working 55hrs per week in Madrid. That’s why they focus on that.
I know it’s annoying but the culture is also amazing in a lot of other places. The opportunity for creating financial stability is the key difference.
people search for a better live and ask for ways to get it? no way.
sure peoples from switzerland are not a moving wallet, but this is the plattform for this kind of questions nothing to wonder about. just enjoy life and eat some aromat chips and chill with a fonue in the warm overexpensive flat.
Even if you speak the language, integration is still extremely hard, bc the culture is very isolating
As an immigrant, the only thing I can tell you is that it’s human to want a better life.
And you are correct to say people should care about their destination land and immigration suggest that there are some part of yourself you may have to abandon. You can’t expect to be the same with just more money.
Nevertheless what you feel is not a Swiss specifity. Have immigrants thought about German work culture before moving there ? Have immigrants cared about French secularism before moving there ?
No and no.
Your frustration is rightfull, nevertheless you somehow frustrated because you are on the lucky side of the story.
Internet is full of advertising saying how much CH is awesome (payed by employers corporations) in order to attract workforce. We cannot expect anything else unfortunately.
I married a swiss and am now father of swiss children, i am active association, I know very well history of the country and my Canton etc… Nevertheless I still have difficulties to make friends, this isnot only Switzerland but the world we are living in at the moment.
” Im tired of people wanting to come to switzerland ” …. proceeds to post a highly edited photo of a gorgeous swiss landscape with UV-Filter usw. Sure buddy. Look at you showing off you’re from a beautiful country. (p.s. i live here too.. stop complaining)
Do you prefer getting back to being a poor rural country on the outskirt of Europe in early 1900x?
Literally every country experiences this. Germans are equated with the Oktoberfest, French with food.
People understandably only have stereotypes to go by if they’ve never spent time in your country. What else should they ask about? How the traffic is in Switzerland, or if trash pickup comes once a week or twice?
What culture, eating stinky cheese and speaking incomprehensible dialects?
French here.
When I traveled to Morocco with my parents a guy came to my dad saying “hi my friend *chit chat* and now that we’re friends you’ll help me go to France with you*.
This is everywhere. I’m pretty sure a Malian could ask something similar to a Moroccan, and so on.
Switzerland is not so far from the top of this disposable income pyramid (more important that revenue imo).
Yet I make sure to not get onto this topic meeting Swiss folks (happened a couple times, got a friend living in Mulhouse near Basel and I visited him).
I absolute get how annoying it can be, so instead of chatting about how much they make we chat about food, that raclette and fondue are French and not Swiss, about nice landscapes, beautiful cities and lakes, F35 street runways and how many 3rd pillars they have (/s).
People know that Switzerland is beautiful and expensive. So there is no need to ask how beautiful Switzerland is. The question really is if you can afford to move here. So kind of makes sense to ask how much you earn.
*”I’m tired of people wanting a better life. Cant they stay miserable in their own land?”*
>hiking, ski, mountain, typical parties, food and something else
Yeah that’s culture for you? Totally irrelevant for the hundreds of thousands of us that live in the flachland. Be real, the greatest thing about this country are the salaries, which becomes pointless real quick because everything else is becoming stupidly expensive.
Whatever you consider culture is much more regional than it is national. Or do you play your Alphorn in the morning after hiking up to work and have some Älplermagrone for Lunch?
Come on grandpa, please take your meds
to be honest Swiss culture isn’t that much compared to Spanish, Italian or other cultures….. and with an isolated culture you can’t do mich integration but work your ass off when in Switzerland….
and the last main point: you need those people to come to Switzerland.
Fête de la chataine!
I just came to Geneva from Ireland to work at CERN.
I’m incredibly excited to meet Swiss people and get to know some Swiss culture. I also come from a country where our seasons are much milder, so I’m excited for snow in the Winter, and some good heat in the Summer.
I’m an outdoor lover, coming from a country where the highest mountain is 1000m high. Already, I find myself mesmerized by the view of Mont Blanc and the Swiss Alps as I walk to work. I’m excited to do some skiing this winter, and to go hiking and rock climbing in the Summer, while being close to a beautiful city on the edge of an amazing lake.
Your country is also incredibly located in one of the most amazing places on Earth. Coming from an island nation, it feels incredible to be at the ‘heart’ of Europe, and have such easy access to so many incredible cities and locations.
For integrating, I speak mediocre German and French, but have begun taking French classes. I want to immerse myself in this incredible country.
I have two questions OP:
– Do you ask the same from the 10% of Swiss people who live abroad, that they get interested in more than what serves their personal lives in their welcoming countries?
– Can you define “the Swiss culture” that you want everyone to integrate into? Food and outdoorsyness don’t count because they boil down to personal preferences, I’m talking about the values and the mindset that color everyday life.
Really, nobody has ever reacted like that to me
This is the world “village”. People don’t care where they go when they’re just trying to leave a shithole country.
What’s the culture of your salary like?
“OUR CULTURE IS SO SPECIAL AND UNIQUE!!!!”
the culture: hiking, skiing, mountains, food
hot damn bro, you’re really selling this unique and special swiss culture thing, very special place with people who are SO OPEN and SO FRIENDLY, Switzerland is known the world over for how WARM and KIND the native people are
LOL
Swiss German culture and social networks outside of work, to be frank, are pretty closed and not the most inviting to outsiders. So it’s not high on most expats lists of things to consider. I lived and worked in Switzerland for over 10 years and almost all my friends were expats/immigrants.
If you encounter such questions, it could be because they don’t have that kind of luxury and are looking for better opportunity to make their life better. Their priority is to make sure they can live the life they want, which they can’t achieve in their own country for whatever reasons.
About culture, it comes naturally and sometimes slowly, as people who emigrate to other countries will also learn during their first months, or years. It is a lifelong work and sometimes comes to an expense, where they might have to move again after experiencing living in your country. People come and go and that’s a natural process.
Of course an immigrant has to make an effort to integrate to the society, regardless their backgorund. But it is a two-way street, it is not just, “I give you this culture, you have to follow it letter by letter”, but rather it is an introduction, that sometimes has to come from the native themselves. Then the people can actually learn about your culture and even reciprocate back by introducing to their culture as well.
I can sense the frustration in the question you encounter probably almost daily, as I tend to be asked why I emigrate to Europe instead of living in a sunny and vibrant Southeast Asia.
I always try to learn the culture and the customs of the country I visit, whenever I travel. I hope you understand my POV as an immigrant as well.
It really depends who you are talking to and in what context. Switzerland stands out mainly in two ways:
1. economically – because salaries are significantly higher than in neighboring already-wealthy countries and taxes are clearly lower, and
2. through scenery and mountain-related sports.
That’s simply what most people abroad actually know about, so that’s what they talk about. If you talk to a skier, climber, mountaineer, or just someone who loves traveling, the first topic will always be how beautiful Switzerland is and how great the Alps are. If you talk to someone thinking about moving here, the first questions will be salary and taxes (or mountains if you are talking to mountain nerds). This is not some mystery, this is what Switzerland is globally known for.
Everything else you mention – in my view, Switzerland is not particularly special in that sense. The traditional cuisine is rather simple and honestly a bit bland, sorry, except for some great cheeses (but Italy, France, or the UK also have great cheeses). Typical parties and events? Sure, they exist, but they are not that unique on a global scale – compare cows going down from the mountains with something like Austrian Krampus.
In the end, Switzerland is a well-organized, calm country with polite people who make a lot of fuss about being quiet and considerate. But other European countries are also organized and calm, so this alone doesn’t make Switzerland stand out dramatically.
So yes, people ask about money because money, low taxes, stability are what Switzerland is famous for internationally, not because Swiss culture does not exist.
And honestly? Switzerland is a great country for boring people who like to work hard and love sport, and I say this as one of those people myself.
You can’t deny that the first and foremost attraction factor of Switzerland for majority of people is the wealth and stability.
If the culture was welcoming, people would ask more about it.
Think about Thailand, Colombia, Costa Rica, Irlande… these cultures are warm, welcoming. Now compare it to Swiss culture.