First Year in Switzerland

Already more than a year since I’m living in Switzerland, so it is definitely post worthy to note and to share my thoughts about how is it going here.

The adaptation period in the beginning wasn’t easy at all and it is still not easy as I have to put it as a side note, it’s definitely not a soon ending phase or probably ever ending period, let’s just say, Swiss German is not German and not something easy to learn. Living in Bern means that speaking Swiss German is definitely should top of my list, but must admit, I’m not there yet, wouldn’t say I have a language barrier as the large majority of people here are speaking a very high level of English, so it’s not that I’m lost or anything of that sort, but I know I need to do better to fit in. Currently taking German classes at work once a week which is a good refresh and time to time watching short videos on German on Youtube or watching football with German commentators.

Waste management, it is 100% something, that I won’t be able to understand let alone get to used to it, they take the rubbish twice a week only and you are allowed to place it downstairs next to the road, this is so old school and not hygienic, Switzerland should do better than this. I understand that the infrastructure is old, city planning wasn’t a thing back then, but still, there are ways to improve.

Never thought I will say this, but kind of got used to the shops are closing early, I mean 5PM on Saturdays and closed on Sundays and even weekdays, the opening times are 7PM latest here. This requires a bit of planning and discipline in the day to day life, it was a huge change to me, people who know me, they also know I’m a big night owl so getting shopping and things done at night are definitely something I was doing in the past, well this has changed dramatically which lead to a more normal daily life, having a proper routine and not being awake all night nowadays.

Another aspect is getting closer to nature, it’s normal in general, living in the concrete jungle of London also meant that nature was pretty much equal to visiting parks, here in Switzerland literally you’re surrounded by lakes, mountains, rivers, forests and in the city it’s almost like a national sport to plant, that’s what we do also here in our balcony, yeah really doing our best to fit in.

My favourite time of the year is already arrived, I just had my first swim in the local river the Aare, its the biggest fun ever, when you jump into the river, the current takes you pretty fast, and there are free public baths are also available in the city which is also a great addition, it’s easy here to do sports and get in shape, that’s almost just a side effect.

Some folks took the chilling to a next level

I mean look at that, isn’t it fun to do that?

Down the river you go…

Insurance costs are also something I must talk about, so here in Switzerland everyone has to pay for their own health insurance, which is not cheap roughly 312 CHF I pay currently, was around 300 CHF a year ago, but can be higher depending on your needs and apart of that paying for supplementary insurance, which is beneficial as you can use this to write off expenses for gym, glasses, swimming pool, health checkups etc… this way you can save also a bit.

In overall in Switzerland you can have opportunities to better your life, the work life balance is important to the people here and companies are really accommodating in general, this was a sweet surprise and the overall flexibility, people in general are pretty chilled and compared to the UK it’s visible how care free the people are.

Looking forward to the coming year here in Switzerland and if you thought about moving to somewhere I can wholeheartedly recommend this beautiful country.

Yours sincerely

To/Minimal