Yes, I would love to hear what your thoughts are on the no-so-thrilling parts of living in Switzerland. I'm planning on a 50th b-day trip to Switzerland because of your videos out and about in the countryside. It is breathtaking and I want to experience that personally. The beauty is obvious, the downside of living there would be interesting to hear from someone who's been there for a long time now.
Switzelrnads choice to be a neutral nation is a strategic one not out of simple good heartedness. Don't forget all the Italian and German Jews they threw out when they tried to come for asylum
So close,so different... My country (Italy) should learn a lot from yours to restore and preserve the beautiful environment we have and to improve Italians' quality of life.
the fact is also that Ticino Kanton has the lowest salaries in Switzerland but is as expensive as German Kantones. A lot of people working in Ticino (about 60.000 persons) are frontaliers, living in North of Italy and every day going to Ticino to work.
the linguistic factor is probably the last problem. I don't think is a problem of italian culture, for exemple in Germany a lot of people speaks only German.
@AlexNOSAM that is not very fair, and to be honest I don't think the Ticinese need to be "contained", this was either poorly worded or downright offensive. As we speak four languages in this country, learning at least one of them besides your native is mandatory starting at the very latest at secondary level. The Ticinese learn French with incredible ease, because it is closer to Italian than German. Many who study at Uni level move to the Romandie, Fribourg is very popular with Ticinese law students. I also found, that many of them are very willing to learn even a third language - German in this case, to be able to work jobs that require them to work all over the country. This is a particularly tough nut to crack in Switzerland, since the written German is the same as in Germany, whereas the spoken language is very different and the dialects vary heavily in all cantons. Thought I'd share my two cents on this.
As an American expat living and working in CH I really respect the Swiss for their transparency of taxes, respect for workers, active civil society, public transit and the natural beauty. I feel very privileged to live here. The infrastructure is AMAZING ;)
I would like to see the negatives too, because I think about moving out of my country a lot and it is usefull to know some downsides to places as well.
switzerland is very expensive, you have to work hard here. the humans are very angry and unfriendly... it's boring if you live here for a long time (like me, i was born in switzerland)...
ventrue87 I agree with you! I'm originally from Germany and I came to Switzerland when I was only 5 years old ( now i'm 31), so I would say Swiss is my "home country" but nowhere else but here i feel more foreign. It's sad cause I perfectly speak the language and I'm absolutely integrated. But probably not Swissthinking and behaving enough. She said Swiss are straight and direct.... well thats absolutely not true, they never tell u what they actually think in your face. It's always behind your back! But maybe that's only my experience.
I totally agree with most of what you said, except for one thing - the bank account. We aren't even part of the European Union so one most definitely does not need to own a house there to open a swiss bank account! Otherwise 99% of the swiss population could not have one 😉
Not everybody here in Switzerland has such a high income that he can buy what he wants. There are lots of people who have problems to just buy food for there families because its so expensive. Its really hard to live here with a bad payed job.
Love Love Love! I've been thinking lately about moving to CH as I work for a Swiss company in the UK and this video was really helpful. Please do one about the negative points as well. Many thanks :)
Switzerland sounds like a european version of Japan in some ways lol. I would love to live in a country were the trains are right on time, and the people are true. I'm French and sometimes I'm tired of certain manners here
true! in fact I also speak italian, spanish and english , so very practical indeed!. but the thing is: mountains give me terrible anxiety. for as nice and beautiful a landscape can be in winter or summer, to me, being in the mountains = risk of death. don't ask. I guess I would have to live in a city, then.. lol
In 2004 I moved to Aix-en Provence to attend college. last April I moved West in another region (thank god). Reality is far from the "Provence" postcard clichés. It was horrible, I couldn't stand the people anymore at the end. Everywhere you look in the city there is trash trash, trash all over the streets, cans and bottles and so on in the parks.. etc. When you take the highway, it's like following a garbage line on the side. The closer you live to Marseilles, the worse it gets. In some places, people would take a random spot and turn it into a dumpster, for no reason, and it stays like this for ages. It's disgusting and everybody is shrugging their shoulders like it's no big deal. I'm tending to zero waste so everything combined made it very difficult for me to live a normal life.And when you try to talk about the problem , you get answers like "we're in the south, what did you expect?" It's just revolting...
I've only been to Lugano for a couple of days and I have to say, the beauty is truly remarkable! I would love to go again! you definitely got the work hours wrong though. Greece is 4th worldwide.
I really agree with you! Switzerland is such a nice country and has that natural beauty that is just mesmerising. Also it has some similarities with Belgium. I have lived in belgium for 6 years now, but I really have to agree with you on the chocolate part. Swiss chocolate is the absolute best! Even the cheap one as you said. I don't want to be rude but belgium chocolate and fries are a bit overrated in my opinion. Very nice video, I'm looking forward to the next one!
I'm Swiss - born and raised - and I feel the same way about our chocolate as you do about the belgium - overrated 😂 My favorite is actually Belgium, to be specific Godiva
Winona Reitzer i guess it goes down to personal preference. I like Swiss because it has more of a chocolate, cocoa taste. I feel the Belgium ones taste more like butter and for me it's not good because I can't consume a lot of butter or oil, it makes me nauseous. So yeah, this can be a whole discussion but in the end everybody will choose whichever they like best. ❤️
OMG I miss Switzerland sooo much! I've been in England for nearly 10 months for a gap year and I just can't wait to go back home to our beautiful country
I live almost 5 years now in Bern and I am quite happy here. I agree that the positives outweigh the negatives and with the points you listed: It is incredibly safe, so clean, never needed a car etc. I am actually happier that people here are more reserved at first and not super chatty. I think they are very direct (to the point US or UK expats find them impolite) in comparison to some countries but they are still more politely direct than eg. the Germans. However it is a country for few and well valued friendly relationships. People who come here used to a large circle of "friendly" acquaintances have some difficulties in the beginning.
I love Switzerland as well! I would love to live there it's my dream country to live in Europe ❤️ yes definitely make also the 10 down sides go Switzerland 🇨🇭
you don't wanna come here... 1st of all the only reason you dont collapse from stress is cause you don't have time, 2nd of all it is boring compared to like the us or uk considering brands, shops, concerts, celebrities... but If you really wanna come, come and you'll be welcomed (by most)
I agree with everything you said. I've been living here for 12 years and I can't imagine leaving all these good things behind. They're mostly small things and you could be considered picky by valuing them, but when you're used to an "easy" Life then it's difficult to leave that behind. Something that I really appreciate too is the Post. They do their job amazingly well, very professional and I really appreciate how ok it is to import stuff from other countries mostly without paying additional taxes. I know that in Portugal it's normal to wait up to 2 months to actually receive your package, especially if they need any invoices and such. Switzerland is just not complicated when it comes to that and I LOVE it. Amazing video; thank you Julia for uploading this 💖
I can only speak for the laws in Texas, but you are not entitled to *any* vacation time here, paid or otherwise, unless it qualifies under one of the very few medical exceptions listed under FMLA. That said, my travels to Europe really highlighted the extreme difference in the cost of living; I can get waaaaaaay more for my money here in the U.S., particularly when it comes to dining, groceries, and other household consumables. Gasoline is also very inexpensive - right now, here in Texas, it's .58 Euros/liter.
I am portuguese and am in Zürich its going to make 8 years. i totally agree you. I love how clean and organize the country is. And lets not forget the chocolate, i am a chocohalic 🤣 Love you Videos and how true you are about everything.
I live in Norway and 30% of my salary goes to taxes. I'm very happy to pay that, as we are a small country and I want people to be able to have affordable health care, child care, tuition-free university and so on. I don't think high taxes are a bad thing at all, it's a sign of us all contributing to the kind of society we want. I also think it's great that there is parental leave here, (not just maternity) so if it's a same-sex couple they can take the same amount of leave if they wish. The amount of tax you pay in Norway is based on your income, of course, the people who earn very large amount of money probably pay closer to 50%, but that's not the case for most people.
I never said paying taxes is bad. In fact, countries with higher tax rates usually have a better functioning society as a whole. I just said that in general, tax rates are a bit lower here than other comparable countries. :)
Yes, I'm just echoing what you said. I find a lot of people don't seem to understand why high taxes aren't seen as a bad thing in a lot of countries with very high taxes. When I say I'm from Norway a lot of people first comment on the taxes.
Keyholder I always use Norway as am example of why taxes aren't a bad thing. In Brazil we pay a lot of taxes but the probably here is that is used poorly and we don't see the results we would expect. But people always demand two things: lower taxes and more and better free public services. They don't understand that the taxes are necessary to have public services.
Julia! Amazing video. I've visited Switzerland thrice and it's safe to say that I've completely fallen in love with this wonderful country. The people, the culture, and everything you've discussed in this video. I'm a pretty young college student looking to live there after I get my degree. Would you possibly consider a video with advice/your experience?
You would have to have a very high salary to have to pay half of it in taxes in Norway, but 35 % is common. That gives us free education (including university) and universal health care, a year of parental leave which the parents may split between them, and sick pay for every day you're home from work because of being ill, among other things. Loved your video, and would absolutely be interested in seeing the flip side one as well! :)
And yet, Switzerland, with all the taxes, does not offer any healthcare even close to free :) education is definitely not free either, I always say Switzerland could definitely learn A LOT from Scandinavian countries on how to better use taxes...
well norway is a really good country and should not be used as an "bad example" for sure. but telling education is not free in switzerland is just stupid. having to pay 800 for a semester to study is kinda free compared to what it would cost. and the cost is mainly to only have real students enrolled that will attend classes and not ppl that did just sign up because its free and they have the certificate needed.
Maren-Anne Melvik I love how progressive Norway is. I pay high taxes in the U.S. and I am not rich, just middle class. To pay for a good university for my daughter, I will have to take on debt similar to a second mortgage.
Bianca Näpflin well actually education is nearly free and if you are not able to pay the state lays it for you. Well health care is not covered by the state but you have to be insured so the cost are equally divided which is actually really fair as everybody can get ill everybidy has to pay the same share
taxes in switzerland are quite similar as far as i see in your post. but that depends on what you compare (earnings & belongings) i guess. norways value-added tax (VAT / MwSt) is very high at 25%, in switzerland it's 8%. oil gives norway financial power, switzerland has no ressources at all - expect water and reliable people! :)
Me and my husband have been throwing around the idea of moving overseas from the state's. He holds a degree in computer science and I'm A preschool teacher . I do have citizenship in Turkey but we have been looking into Germany and Denmark. Also it has to be kid friendly.
Do you speak german? Teachers are well paid in Switzerland (much better than Germany). And if your husbands finds a computer science job in zurich (all the tech companies like google etc. are located there) but live outside from Zurich you'd live in great welfare. Or teaching at the ETH makes also a good salary for a computer scientist. From the two mentioned Denmark is better.
I'm a teacher in Switzerland. There are private schools where you could teach in English (for children of diplomats). Or you could be a English teacher in High School or for adults.
The quality of life will be 100% better in Switzerland. Also, almost everyone here speaks English so it’ll be a little easier for you to integrate! It’s save and very sporty and nature driven (perfect for raising healthy happy kids) I recommend it for a family 👍🏻👍🏻
I teach German & I think I would not want to live in Germany because of my kid(s), I think ... I do not think Germany is very kid friendly in regard to our family ... also it seems homeschooling as an option is basically forbidden since Hitler times, etc. ... Austria or Switzerland I would expect to be more family friendly in regard to our family.
I'm also Swiss from Ticino, you should definitely come and visit here, especially Lugano *-* I love our country, overtime I'm away I miss it! But my favourite city will always be Zurich
Sarah's Life Ticino is the most beautiful part of Switzerland.You are so open and warm, just another then swiss german people..mentality is a big different. I am always happy to be in Ticino ☺...saluti☺
Hello Julia. Thank you for your comments, they're very much appreciated. Concerning your comment about political system, it's called direct democracy. Switzerland has a direct democracy and politically speaking that is a privilege. Few countries in the world have one. 🙏
Omg I can’t believe that all the things you like there , me and Mexicans don’t have, it is really insecure, sometimes I feel afraid going outside after 6. O’clock obviously in the city. The rich places are clean but when you go to the outsides it is really dirty or in poor places, it may not be that dirty but you are always going to find a bit of garbage. Jobs bad paid. We also pay a lot of taxes buuuut we Mexicans don’t even know were the money goes. I am Mexican and I love my country for all the diversity, culture we have and some people are really kind , that doesn’t take the fact that we are doing things wrong as society.
OK i have something totally stupid and irrelevant to say. You look transparent in this video. I mean literally transparent, the background kind of match with your skin and its all blending in. P.S - Please ignore this :-D
Hey Julia! I am an incomings master student at UZH this fall semester. After watching this video, I really feel I made the right decision to live in Switzerland for next two years!
In Slovakia we also have 4 weeks paid holiday (5 if you are 33 or older), + 17 days state holidays. Also 3 years fo maternity leave. But the other things you mentioned... terrible. very low salaries, bad quality of roads... by the way, please more videos like this. I am still your subscriber because of them. I used to watch beauty gurus some time ago, but only you I still watch. I am not interested anymore about make up, but you make videos with other topics that are very interesting
I agree what you say about the Swiss people with a disclaimer. I think where you live matters a lot, as well. Where do you live @Julia's Life ?? I live in Bern and I feel like I will never belong here, they are quite reserved and stiff, which seems different to what I perceived in ZH.
On my layover into Zurich International my eyes were wowed by the awesomeness of The Alps. The train from one terminal to my next terminal was very fast but smooth. I personally am a big hockey fan so Switzerland is very appealing to me. Plus I love the government of Switzerland, and the neutrality.
That's the thing, here it is not open as an option, it's the law. Every employer must pay for 4 weeks vacation, regardless if you work at McDonald's or at a bank. Many employers give more than 4 weeks, my husband for example gets 5. :)
Julia's Life I think that's great that it is the law. Is there also paid maternity and paternity leave? I know some countries are very generous in this regard which I think is great. A parent can spend the first 2 years with their child without fear of losing their job. Loved this video so much, very interesting. Switzerland is my favorite country out of all that I have visited ❤
So happy for Swiss people to have such a heaven on the earth, because my country is total opposite. Except the only thing - Ukraine is very beautiful, people in western part are mostly so open and friendly, but the government and all they do with financial, national and natural resources is an absolute suck.
I totally agree, but our system is not familyfriendly and we haven't a lot of money at the end of the month if you have a child and can'T work fulltime, resp if only the husband work 100%. The montly cost for the statutory health insurance are extremly high
My great grandfather came from Switzerland he was in the Swiss army I still have an old picture of him somewhere in his Swiss army uniform. I'd like to visit it someday
I love this! I've lived in Lugano for three years and can't imagine being in any other country. You should definitely do the negative side too, I'm so curious what your thoughts are :)
@Aline Delfino Well if you don't adapt yourself to the culture here...then that might be true (but that's the case in every country :/). I'm also Swiss/Mexican and I've never had any problems (well, kay....I was born here). But if people were so annoyed with foreigners, then please tell me why the population in Kreuzlingen consists of 54% foreigners and 46% Swiss? (and I've never heard anybody complain about it). Or look at Zurich! There are a lot of foreigners and you mostly hear people speak English instead of Swissgerman :/ (at the ETH or University of Zurich there are so many foreign students or professors....so please inform yourself before saying stuff like that). There will always be people who don't accept foreigners because they are afraid that Switzerland and its culture will disappear someday (sometimes I'm also super afraid of it). But that's normal and as long as nobody tries to harm anyone etc. it's okay. Let's just get along everybody and behave :)
I love Switzerland. Her description of governance is identical to the US. It has a federal government, independent states (like cantons) with their own laws and initiatives. Is she unaware of this in the US and I bet Canada is the same? Mmmm
This video is sooo cool. I love that you talked about political and social issues. I'd love to see the otherside 10 least fav. things- and tho I'd understand if you didn't feel comfortable discussing political or social downsides, it'd be really interesting to hear. I love all your videos Julia!!! Keep it up!
Holy cow this seriously made me want to move to Switzerland. You better do a negatives video so I don't just pack up and leave! Haha! If I move there can we be friends?? 😄
4 weeks is the minimum vacation by law. all people i know get 5 and if you get older you get 6 weeks per year... you will also collect your over-time and spend on additional holidays. and we have 7 bundesräte, not 6. i moved to bangkok for work and getting max. 2 weeks of combined holiday is a joke :(
I like that someone would write a video about Switzerland. And also we have things in common because I am Swiss, I grew up in Neuchâtel, but I now live in Canada and have dual citizenship. We are the opposite. I miss Swiss food though
Yes, do the negative video, please. would love to compare. I want to visit Switzerland. I'm from PR. living in the USA for 12 years. Switzerland is on the bucket list. Now I understand why you are never concern of safety on the fit Friday videos. 😃👍when you run the wood's trails. 🗻🌍
I would so love to live in Switzerland in the future. I have been there, and that country totally amazed me. How respectful people are, how clean the streets are, oh god.. Currently studying engineering, hopefully some swiss company is gonna hire me in the future lol
Hey guys, thanks for asking. I am about to finish my studies here in Argentina and working on the oil and gas industry, and I may move to Germany (if covid restriccions allow me) to work on an Machine Learning project in Frankfurt, and probably stay after it. Switzerland is still my dream but by far is Germany "easier going" with immigration.
Just come back from a visit to the beautiful country of Switzerland, we loved the holiday there - i've made a video dedicated to Switzerland from my gopro, titled a Swiss visit, hope you enjoy it!
all of those things you say... they are so beautiful! they sound like poetry :D especially about the people making the decisions and no a few ones in the government. Great example!!
Ich komm mir grade komisch vor🙈 ich würde sagen ich reise nicht grade wenig, aber viele der sachen, die du grade aufgezählt hast sind für mich so selbstverständlich, dass ich nicht wusste, dass sie in anderen ländern gar nicht vorhanden sind🙈
Oh I LOVE this video. Lifestyle videos are always my favorites. Yes, please do a video on the negatives of living in Switzerland. I agree with what you said about people in North America. I live in the USA, and it is common to have to deal with people who don't do what they say they are going to do. When I invite people over for dinner, I expect them to be on time. I will allow for being a few minutes late because you never know if you will run into traffic. That is why I always give myself extra time to get someplace. Once when I had people over for dinner, 2 of them were over 2 hours late. One of them lives just around the corner from me, and it takes 5 minutes to walk over to my house. The other one lives only about a mile away. I did not wait for them. I started dinner with those who came on time and we ate. When the two late ones arrived we were not only finished eating dinner, but also dessert, and I was ready to put away the left overs and start cleaning up. Sometimes I arrange to meet a person someplace. I get there on time, but then end up waiting nearly an hour for that person. Being late and not respecting other people's time is rampant in North America. Well, at least in the USA. I cannot speak for Canada. Another thing I experience a lot is people saying they will call you right back and then they don't. Or people will often say they want to keep in touch with you when you leave a job. So you call or email them, but they never respond. Insincerity is an awful trait in many people here.
That's so interesting and I can understand how infuriating that can be at times. I guess I go into it thinking, well they probably don't mean in anyway...lol!
I agree, I'm in North America and people are always late. What upsets me most is that people do not RSVP for parties until the very last minute, if they even bother to RSVP at all. I find many people are nice to my face but talk behind my back. I'm married and prefer the company of my husband rather than so many people who are not genuine or only become friends for reasons beyond friendship... such as business contacts I might be able to provide. I'm not angry, but I usually keep these thoughts to myself and you touched on a very important thing that is a problem in North America.
Hey Julia! This was awesome. I'm Canadian, and headed back to Switzerland for the second time. Totally relate to so much you've shared here, and think you're spot on about the Swiss people: They seemed standoffish but sincere, which didn't bother me a bit! Thanks for sharing this from an insider's perspective.
On Point! :-) I am and live in Switzerland and I know that some people here don't apprichiate what they have and it's sometimes really annoying. It is beautiful to live here and of course there are also some negative sites. But all in one, if you work and take care of the responibilities you have while living here, you have a good life.
Thanks for sharing I would love to visit Switzerland all the places I've seen only and heard its more than enough for me to fall in love with the country
Agree with you about friendship... In Canada, I feel that the friendship is superficial in comparaison to Europe un general! Hope to live in Switzerland one day... :3
Very interesting ! I would like to see the negatives too :) I have often been to Switzerland (the surroundings of St Moritz and Appenzell are probably my favorite places), and I agree with you. It's expensive (I will never eat a pizza in Lausanne again!), and it's beautiful, I've done my best hikes in your country. I'm French, so I can find excellent cheeses at home, but yours are pretty good too :p
cool video! I just dont agree with the reliability of the swiss, in suisse romande people are always late and laid backed haha maybe because im from geneva :)
I would love to see the negatives too. I am currently in the process of getting my Swiss citizenship, as my grandparents are and my mother should be soon, and would like to one day move there with my wife and two children. I have been to Switzerland several times but would love to get a fully rounded idea of what it's like to live there.
You cannot "get a Swiss citizenship" if you don't live in the country. You need to live there for 10 years for a citizenship. Are you referring to a "temporary resident permit?
I really love to watch your videos about Switzerland! It's so interesting when you show the Nature, the cities, it's everything so beautiful! If you want to make a video about the negative things, I think it will be very interesting too.
