A few days ago marked 6 months that we’ve lived in Switzerland! And while every day hasn’t been perfect, it has been a good time so far. Living in another country has it’s fair share of ups and downs and there are several of moments of “culture shock,” of course. One thing that’s different than I expected this year has been the weather this winter. Although it’s snowing today as I write this, the winter has been quite mild so far. We’ve even had a few days up in the 60s, which is crazy! I admit, I expected it is be much colder with tons of snow all winter here.
I feel like when we moved here we given a ton of information about the cultural differences and what to expect, especially about the prices of everything! But, of course there’s no way to be 100% prepared and know how your day to day life will be different. Even some of the things we were warned about still come as a shock (like the price of chicken!). Here are a few things that stood out to me as being different than I expected!
1. Smoking. I really had no expectations going in about smoking, but I was nonetheless shocked at how many people smoke here! It seems way more common than in the United States. It’s just odd to me, that as many people here are into hiking and being outdoors and eating bio food (organic) that so many people still do such an unhealthy habit as smoking cigarettes.
2. Graffiti. Graffiti here is all over the place and to me, it just looks dirty. In the US graffiti is often associated with gang activity (“tagging”) and similar, so to me it makes it look like you are in a “bad area” of town when you see it. But, I see it all over here, and it seems to be just commonplace.
3. Litter. Before we moved here we heard a lot about how clean it is in Switzerland. I read so many articles talking about how obsessively clean everything is, that you could eat off the sidewalk! I thought wow, it must be really super clean for people to write that. In Zurich though, not so much. I see litter all the time, cigarette butts, food wrappers and even dog poo! Now of course it’s not to the level of say, Philadelphia litter, but still, it is present and this was totally unexpected to me!
4. Expensive. This one really wasn’t unexpected, but it still comes as a shock whenever I go to pay for something. Certain things are especially more expensive here such as meat, clothes, rent and certain other groceries. Going out to eat can be pricey too, as there aren’t many cheaper options for restaurants, and soda or water can cost as much as a beer. Like I said, this wasn’t unexpected but it’s still a surprise when you see the price tags for things you expect to be a certain (much cheaper) price! On the other hand, there are a few things that are definitely cheaper such as certain kinds of cheese, and in season fruits!
5. No checkbooks. Bank accounts and the system for paying bills is much different here and they do not use or know what checks are! We had a bit of an issue trying to get money from our US account to pay our rental deposit as the bank was super confused with what to do with our American check and how to deal with it. You also pay bills differently, which no one really explains, but thankfully after I figured out what the red and orange slips are for, it’s quite easy to do!
6. Opening times. There are very specific opening times for many places that are way different than the US. For example, the grocery stores often close at 8pm, and there are basically no 24/7 shops. This is usually fine, except if you have an emergency and need medicine for your child at 10pm! A lot of places also close for lunch, so if you arrive during that time you can be prepared to wait outside until 1:30 or 2:00. Last, all the shopping is closed on Sunday, so everyone needs to get their shopping done on Saturday. I have learned that there are grocery shops in the airport and main train station that are open Sundays, but basically everything else is closed. Even gas stations are closed, although you can pay with your card at the pump on Sundays!
Of course, these are just my observations and opinions, your experiences may differ from mine and I’d love to hear about them in the comments! Just because things are different, doesn’t necessarily make them bad, just different than I am used to!
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Interesting stuff! I've found that most of Europe shuts down on Sundays. Actually, even in my super Polish neighborhood in NYC, almost all the Polish-run shops close on Sunday, even the pharmacies.
People smoking these days still confounds me.
Good post!!
The smoking really shocked me the most about moving to Switzerland. We were in London last week and NO ONE was smoking. We lived in London for 2 years before Zurich and there was very little smoking. Hoping it's working its way east and will soon Switzerland will kick it in the butt.
There can be a bit of a steep learning curve with surprising things here for sure! I found getting used to the opening times and Sunday closing very tricky. As for the smoking – it's amazing how long the Swiss live considering their love of this habit.
Ooohh, you picked up on the recent thread on cultural shocks 😉
Up to 2008 people were actually allowed to smoke in RESTAURANTS! Sadly I'm not kidding. Very grateful we finally got rid of that annoying situation.
Where do you live? Usually there are many gas stations that are open on Sundays, and super busy, too!
If you need meds "after hours" there are emergency drugstores that need to be on call, you can find them here: http://www.sos-apotheke.ch/
Didn't know it was trend, but glad to know I'm being trendy I guess! Thank for the tip about the after hours apotheke!
There is quite some cultural difference between the Swiss german and French speaking side too! I was in for a shock when I had to pay Chf 9 for 3 glasses of tap water which is usually free where I live! Also in Zurich one has to pay to use most public toilets!
Completely agree with you about the smoking – horrible! When we first moved here it was still allowed in restaurants which was even more shocking to me then. I suppose it's not so surprising, given that one of the world's largest tobacco manufacturer is in Switzerland
I wrote a similar post about the differences I had observed in CH after our first month here (https://anamericaninbasel.wordpress.com/2015/02/24/a-strange-new-world/).
Some things I've gotten much more used to, but other things are still a surprise to me. I guess that's the life of an expat, though!
Zurich is shockingly expensive! Not sure if we'll be back to visit as there are so many other affordable European destinations. When we lived in Poland, it was difficult getting used to 99% of things closed on holiday weekends especially at Christmas time!