06.Aug.2011 A German in Switzerland – one year recap

Since I am now a little over one year in Switzerland it’s time for some reminiscing.

When I got to know that Credit Suisse wanted me as their employee I was very excited. An international marketing department, global marketing projects and a diverse team, made out of Swiss, Indian, Russian, Italien and other culturally interesting people awaited me and I was in heaven. Zurich being a cosmopolitan and beautiful city located close to ski slopes and Italy at a lake was just the cherry on my cake.

Traveling the world I had bumbed into quite my share of Swiss people, if it was at 4.30 am at a hot spring on the tiny Green Island in Taiwan or the fanciest club in Shanghai. They not only knew were the great places are, they also were great company. How they felt about Germans coming to their country I did not quite grasp when a Swiss friend of an old friend said: “You are going to feel just like home in Zurich, there are as many Germans as it Germany”

Not being oblivious to his hostile tone and an interculturally trained person I asked another Swiss friend from university if she could recommend any books on swiss culture and so I started reading “Gebrauchsanweisung für die Schweiz” (Manual for Switzerland) by Thomas Küng (born in Zurich). It sure was fascinating: you should not use the Swiss hello “Gruetzi” until a Swiss person signed off on it and understanding the Swiss German with its many terms which originate in the French language were things to be learned.

After one year here I could add few things to the list of what I had to learn living in Switzerland:

• When calling someone and you say your name, wait until the person at the other line could say something like “Hallo Frau Rogge” before explaining your matter
• If you don’t have a German dialect at all (Bavarian or such) like me and speak a very clear German, it’s hard for Swiss people to speak in Swiss German to you, they tend to switch to high German
• Swiss soccer is just as serious as German soccer
• When coming back from Germany I realized that I had missed Swiss German
• It’s hard to make Swiss friends, patience is needed

Sure I could list a few more, but let’s stop here. I am convinced that every foreigner in Switzerland has a different list and only a few things may be the same. Truth is, that I never felt as much as a foreigner as in Switzerland. Maybe it’s the differences in the similarities of Germany and Switzerland, maybe it’s the Germans I meet on the street who are of the kind I also would not like to have in my country (I guess every country has countrymen they would rather not know of.) It’s hard to say.

What I can say is: I made friends, even if the percentage of Swiss amongst them is still small, but I am working on it. I also learn a lot at work being responsible for online marketing and Switzerland’s stunning nature is what I enjoy every day. That being said, it’s not so bad when a colleague is trying to make a joke pointing at a political poster with the slogan “Stop mass immigration” and then points at me saying “See.. mind that!”.