Switzerland

bb123

New member
Hello,
I recently moved to Switzerland from the US to take a job at a research institute between Basel and Zurick. Are there others from Switzerland on here? Any chance of getting together with like-minded people? I'm not far from South Germany and the Schwarzwald, as well as the Alsace-Lorraine region.

I'm having difficulty adjusting to the language, culture and expectations. Where I live is extremely conservative. I've never had to register to live in a place before in my life, and the Gemeinde (I guess it is like a village or a town, but I'm not really sure) asked a lot of questions about my family life and religion that I thought were completely inappropriate. How was I supposed to answer? They actually held up my work permit because I did not have my divorce decree with me and I had to get a certified copy. Apparently they are very uptight here about polygamy.

Have others had similar experiences?

All the best,
bb123
 
Hey bb, so THAT'S where you landed!

I take it (from the "Gemeinde" comment) that you are in the german-speaking part of the country.

I lived in Germany for 5 years and the culture is wayyy different, for sure. If you thought things were little tight in Upstate New York, then I think you are definitely going to have some adjusting to do! If your Switzerland is like Germany then there is a lot that goes on "behind closed doors" that folks don't really think about. The student population tends to be far more liberal than the general populace, as well.

Good luck!
 
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