-In which country and city are you living now?
Switzerland, in a little village near Zurich

-Are you living alone or with your family?
I live with my husband and three sons.

-How long have you been living in Switzerland?
3 & ½ years

-What is your age?
36

-When did you come up with the idea of living in Switzerland?
I have lived as a British expat in Australia since 1991 but in 2002 we were given the opportunity, through my husband’s work, to relocate our family to Switzerland and moved in January 2003. The chance to be nearer to my family after 12 years away from the UK was a major factor in deciding to move to Europe. Another major factor was the fact that our children would grow up bilingual. The opportunity seemed too good to pass up.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
Our opportunity to relocate came with a job offer from a Swiss company. A friend recommended my husband for a job and the company took care of our permits and visas for living and working in Switzerland. Holding a British passport made it easy for me to move to Europe but my husband required a visa for work, and the children a visa for residence. After 3 years we now have residence which needs to be renewed in another five years.

-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?
It’s wasn’t too difficult to find health insurance. There are plenty of insurance companies willing to insure you for all sorts of insurance. But, you must be careful, ask around friends and colleagues to avoid paying more than you should for insurance, be it automotive, home & contents or health insurance. The website comparis.ch has been invaluable to us in the search for all sorts of insurances.

-How do you make your living in Switzerland? Do you have any type of income generated?
My husband works for a defence contractor, a job he was offered while we still lived in Australia. I don’t work outside the home. Being a mother and living in a small village in Switzerland is not conducive to working. The children’s school hours are very different from those in Australia, with the children coming home for lunch every day and having every Wednesday afternoon free from school. Also, my youngest did not start school until he was seven years old and even when he did, the hours were sparse. To make matters even more difficult, in our village there are no relief teachers and the children are sent home from school at a moment’s notice and have frequent days off. So you can imagine scheduling a career or even a working day around the children’s schooling is very difficult if you have no support network of good friends and/or family to help.

-Do you speak the local language and do you think it’s important for expats to speak the local language?
The local language is Swiss German, which is a dialect of High German (the German spoken in Germany). Many Swiss have told me that they feel that Swiss German is a completely different language from High German and there are many words and phrases used in Swiss German not used in High German. Swiss German is not really a written language either, with many, many differences from region to region (Zurideutsch, Baslerdeutsch, etc.) which makes it harder to learn.

I do, however, speak High German (I admit, poorly) and am able to make myself understood and am slowly learning to understand more and more Swiss German as I hear it. The children speak German and Swiss German extremely well, our youngest child having been told by several locals that you would not be able to tell he is an Australian child when he speaks Swiss German. We speak English in the home but we always try to speak German (and even a teeny bit of Swiss German) when out and about in Switzerland. There are many Swiss who speak extremely good English, although they are very modest about their abilities but I feel to try and fit in, you really should learn to speak the local language of wherever you’re living.

-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
I did miss home and family, really quite badly for the first three years; it’s only been in the past six months (since a quick trip back to Australia) that I have started to feel more at home in Switzerland.

I enjoy walking around the hills that I live in, a vast difference to the flat area of Melbourne I used to call home. I also enjoy swimming. But the thing I enjoy best about living in Switzerland is travelling and discovering new places. Switzerland is only a couple of hours at most away from France, Italy, Austria and Germany, which means that there are many different cultural experiences to choose from when planning a day trip or even a weekend away. For example, we spent this Easter in Venice, one of the most amazing places I have ever visited. We’ve also spent some time in Paris, Munich, a beautiful border town in Austria called Feldkirch and made loads of day trips through the Swiss Alps. There is always something new to see.

-Do you have other plans for the future?
At this stage we have no firm plans for the future, our stay in Switzerland is indefinite. The plan is to stay until the children have finished schooling. We do feel, however, that we will not retire in Switzerland.

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
Housing in Switzerland is extremely expensive. We have no plans to buy our own home. We pay quite a high rent even though we live in the country as we have quite a large apartment (no garden) for the boys and also our own laundry facilities (washer and dryer in the apartment -- most Swiss apartments have communal laundry facilities) which we considered necessary for the children. Our rent is approximately €1500 per month not including electricity or excess water, which is billed once a year, and it was a bit of a shock when we received the first bill. After living here for a couple of years we were more aware of how much utilities cost. We have learned to take advantage of off-peak times and the communal laundry drying room.

-What is the cost of living in Switzerland?
Switzerland is notoriously expensive and for good reason. Filling a trolley with groceries in even the cheapest of supermarkets can be a very costly exercise. Of course, the wages are higher than in other European countries but it takes a while to get used to. The introduction of discount supermarkets is a help, although unpopular with the Swiss, on the whole.

There is no government health service, which means that paying the cost of health insurance is required by law for every person living here. You have to be careful to get the most appropriate cover for you and your family or you could end up paying way more than you need. Income tax is low and services are paid for as you use them (rubbish collection for example. I have to buy a sheet of stickers costing CHF20 for 12. I am required to put a sticker on every 35l garbage bag I put out for collection. Paying in such a way for your rubbish collection certainly makes you learn how to recycle!)

-What do you think about the Swiss people?
This is a very tricky question. I have not found the Swiss to be overly friendly. For the first time in my life I have found it difficult to make friends as the Swiss are very reserved and family-oriented. I have heard that once you crack the shell of a Swiss and are welcomed as a friend, you have a loyal friend for life. I have yet to crack a shell. Sadly, there is definitely a feeling that as a foreigner, I will never fit in although I am slowly beginning to feel like one of the neighbours in our building and not just “The Australian” as I have been known.

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Switzerland?
Living in Switzerland makes you feel safe. The Swiss are a very honest and law-abiding nation. I can let the children play for hours and feel that they’re safe. You can leave the house and rest assured that you’re probably not going to have been burgled by the time you get home.

On the other hand, the isolation from community is a negative aspect which I have to deal with by creating my own community and enjoying the company of myself and my family more than I would have, had I still been in Australia. I have heard many stories though of expats in Switzerland who took upwards of 5 years before they felt “at home” here. So I live in hope.

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Switzerland?
Learn German and use it as much as you can. While there are many, many opportunities to speak English with the Swiss on a day to day basis, being able to read your mail is a bonus. Many banks and service providers will write to you in English but the school, for example, only writes in German with a whole different vocabulary than you would use in everyday conversation. Learning the local language (it could also be French or Italian, remember!) is the best thing you do to settle in. Keep on smiling too.

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Switzerland?
swissinfo
Switzerland portal
The xPat Xchange