The dilemma of not knowing where life will take you

[tallandsweet]

I've known that I'll apply to Swiss universities for almost a year now.
My almost-boyfriend is from Switzerland, but this has nothing to do with my plan to do my Master's degree or PhD there.

Bern

Switzerland is one big mystery to me

Given that I'm from Austria and Switzerland is our neighbouring country, one would assume that I've studied Swiss politics, culture and history at school right? I didn't. In 12 years worth of education, nobody's ever mentioned Switzerland in a positive context. Ever. The only way I've been in touch with one of the three German-speaking countries (main language) in Europe (I'm neglecting Brasil and Namibia here, sorry) is through comedy sketches where my teacher would mock their dialect. He didn't do a good job and our dialect is at least as interesting/ridiculous.

Switzerland, Germany, Austria

Therefore, I feel like I have the obligation to find out as much as I possibly can about Swiss culture during the next three years.

And yeah, I haven't even graduated high school yet, but I still don't understand people from e.g. Luzern and St. Gallen, their dialect is much stronger than ours and they have unique words for things. There's a lot of work that still needs to be done by myself in this matter. I'll also apply to two German universities but so far, I'd prefer an Austrian or Swiss university, simply because this is a smaller culture shock (the same would apply if I moved to the Southern part of Germany (Bavaria in particular)).

Siri doesn't understand Austrian German (and probably also doesn't understand Swiss German)

Yay Switzerland

Maybe you remember that in this myTake, a guy asked me whether I spoke German despite him overhearing me speaking German. This was probably because he didn't understand my dialect. I remember listening to the Swiss duo Lo & Leduc and thinking "Why is there Spanish music in my playlist?" to myself. Swiss German is hard to understand and quite different.

Just wow, I love the train

Where my efforts have gotten me so far

My parents are very confused by my fascination for Switzerland. Their mountains are higher, their cars more overpowered than ours (mean PS=179), their cheese better, their boys shorter, their landscape different.

Basically my life already so that would only be elevated by a few hundred meters ;)

I've found out so much about their political system and history and I'm amazed at this country. I love how different they are and how they're still the same, for example their last nuclear power station was just switched off, and they plan on completely dismanteling it until 2034. In the meantime, Zwentendorf, a nuclear power station in Austria that never produced power (heavy protests, even before the Tschernobyl Supergau) still hasn't been dismanteled, more than 40 years later.

I don't know whether they'll ever accept me if I ever move there, but I know that I've got to try.

And I'm a little sad that my parents feel threatened by me wanting to move literally 500km away (that's 310miles, not far at all). The train connection is great and while life is way more expensive in Switzerland, I'd be able to afford it without their help.

So, what do you think about Switzerland?

Should my parents feel threatened?

Will I be accepted as a part of society?

[Rapidash]

Hehe don’t stress so much! I moved to a different country for Uni, and honestly great decision (except for some slight political problems but hey whatever). It’s a good experience HOWEVER don’t try to predict what will happen because you won’t know until it does. And when it does... well our minds love to see the worst case scenario, but reality is usually far less complicated and harsh ♥️ Good luck! I know your parents will understand!

[tallandsweet]

Thank you so much this is such a genuinely sweet comment haha

[Rapidash]

Ahaha thank you! Honestly the best parts of my life so far have been all the things and opportunities I’ve followed. One will only regret not doing something ❤️ also Switzerland is beautiful 😍

[Gunnar1978]

I'm German but grew up close to the border of both Switzerland and Austria (Lake Constance). During my childhood I had the opportunity to watch swiss TV what helped to better understand the dialect. My experience with Switzerland is that it is even a bit more German than Germany (or Austria) in the sense that the streets are cleaner, the people are more wealthy and they have a high sense for perfection. On the other hand I think that Switzerland is a conservative country and that it is difficult to become a real Swiss person that is not taken to be a foreigner. But this shouldn't matter much for studying there.

[tallandsweet]

Thanks for sharing your experience with me!
I absolutely love cleanliness, perfection and precision. I don't care about wealth, which is the only thing currently holding me back - given that I meet someone in Switzerland who I'd like to have a deeper relationship wiht (=get married), how will he know I love him for being him and not for his money (given that he's wealthy)? I'd rather marry a poor guy for this reason tbh.
My parents keep saying that I'll never fit in and I can see where they're coming from because I grew up in an area with tons of Germans visiting and moving here each year. Sometimes, they meet people, they get married and have kids etc, but they never fit in, and I think it's because of their lack of appreciation for Austria.
This sounds bad, but if there's one thing Austrians hate it's when people belittle them, and Germans somehow always make you feel like that (my experience). I have a deep appreciation for Switzerland, but the second barrier, namely the language, is one that will remain an obstacle for me. I won't even try speaking Swiss German because it would sound stupid.

Then again, no matter what Germans do here, it's wrong. "Apfelschorle"? Too German, why isn't he saying "gspritzter Apfelsaft"? "Backhendel"? What's wrong with him, that's supposed to be pronounced "Backhendl"!
This could be applied to several situations I grew up with - whatever they say is wrong.
And I've experienced this myself when I dated a guy from the Northern part of Germany who lived in Munich - whenever he said "Fleischpflanzerl" (Austrian: ERRRRL) it sounded more like "Fleiiissscchhffflanzel" and it made me extremely angry. I wanted to hit him for not being able to pronounce things the way they should be and still trying.

That's why I'm so worried about not fitting in, I hope this made sense :)

[Gunnar1978]

I see two perspectives here. On one hand, it is obvious that the different regions of German, Austria and Switzerland have some differences in culture, language and temper. And it is often seen that people from one region mock about people from the other region (s). Most of the time this is done in a friendly way but not always.

On the other hand, the differences between the three countries are not too big. So I don't really see a problem in a relationship between partners of different of these countries. Of course the two need to be a bit tolerant with each other but this should be a natural thing between partners. If you are concerned about the social environment not accepting you in Switzerland, you might want to move into a larger city where the tolerance level towards foreigners typically is higher.

[tallandsweet]

Yeah I'll study in a city anyways :) If I do meet someone, it'll be fine, I really love Swiss & Austrian German. I agree with you that the culture isn't that different, I'd have a much harder time adjusting to the US for example.

[Lynx122]

Of course you'll be accepted there's a ton of german and also some austrian people here. I'm glad you like Switzerland so much and I hope it lives up to your expectations when you come here :). Your mytake is very sweet.

[tallandsweet]

I think it also depends on the area, especially in cities this may be true but not in rural areas... I'm just worried I won't be accepted because I know how tough it is for Germans to fit in in Austria :I

[Lynx122]

It always depends on the people you meet some people are just nice and some aren't but don't give up hope :) Often rural areas have a much closer bond between people and are very welcoming so I hope you'll be welcomed as well. I just moved from Zürich to a small place in Argau and the people have been so nice to me even though they don't really like Zürich XD.

[tallandsweet]

Nobody likes Zürich and people from Zürich don't like Bern lol. I remember literally fighting with a friend of mine over how every Swiss city is fine and he was convinced Zürich was the most awful lol

[Lynx122]

Zürih is actually a great place. You should visit Letten it's my favorite place. I play beach volleyball there in the summer and you can swim in the river it's so nice :).
www.instagram.com/.../?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
There's a lot of great things about Zürich but I do also understand why some people don't like it or the people who live there.

[tallandsweet]

I think it's more an arrogance thing than something actually about Zürich - it's similar to Vienna - people living there love Vienna but some people from other provinces despise everything remotely viennese.

[Lynx122]

Yeah it's kinda like that ^^ But I don't really get into that whole pride of where you live thing I just try and enjoy the place that I'm living and make the best of it. That's why I just moved without thinking about it much. I don't see myself as someone who's from Zürich or from Bremgarten where I live now. I'm just me in a different place than I was before :). There's too many nice places to tie yourself to one in my opinion.

[Robertcw]

One step at a time. Going into college and trying classes is not a bad move.

You'll either graduate fast or hit roadblocks and change plans. You'll never know if you're going to change a plan until after it's too late to have possibly seen it coming.

Part of higher education is failing fast to narrow down possibilities. You'll be forced down a path that works for you. And then you run with it and go for a career.

[Jjpayne]

Thank you for sharing about switzerland! I hope your friend turns into your boyfriend. I can really relate to your title because that's where my life is at right now

[Anonymous]

The simplest way to know how where life takes you, just do the same thing everyday. The only thing that will change is aging. Boring, yes but you can live a long time by simply not giving two cents about stuff that doesn't matter and try not to get killed by the hands of someone else's stupidity in daily traveling.

[Avicenna]

I had a Swiss girlfriend in my 20s and spent a lot of time there. Very nice country that has done a great job of preserving its local and varied cultural identities.

[ProfessionalMusician]

Have you had any response from your applications yet.
it might determine your final decision which would make your parents less worried

[Gedaria]

I thought France was going to be my new home , but with the death of the wife. Put a end to that...

[esotericstory]

I'm Flemish, I live in Belgium, and let me tell you, I don't know much about the Netherlands either and they are also speaking the same language as me.

[tallandsweet]

Great example actually, thanks for sharing. Interesting.

[Chase7777]

I'm also Austrian and don't understand what the fuck you want in Switzerland. It's like austria only more expensive. Also Swiss cheese is gross.
Shit makes no sense but funny anyways.

[tallandsweet]

Beautiful country
Sexy dialect
Everything I like about Austria, more intense
Some things I don't like about Austria, gone :)
Small country
Beautiful mountains
Beautiful cities that weren't planned and have lovely old buildings.

I knew fellow Austrians wouldn't understand though, but thats because sayings like "Tirol isch lei oans" actually describe the mindset pretty well. Bissl über den eigenen Tellerrand schauen ;)

[Chase7777]

Ja über den eigenen Tellerrand um den Kulturschock Schweiz zu erleben.

Was ist denn weg was du nicht magst?

Wenn du dort studierst wirst du sicher nicht in einem Bergdorf wohnen können.

[tallandsweet]

Die Rechtspopulisten, die auf die FPÖ stehen. Dort ist die SVP nicht so rechts wie die FPÖ bei uns, das ist für mich von Vorteil.
Die ignoranten Leute, die sich im eigenen Land nicht auskennen.

[Chase7777]

Die Schweiz gilt in der Regel als konservativer als Österreich.

[tallandsweet]

Yup, aber das Land ändert sich anders als Österreich, bzw ist der Rechtsruck nicht so deutlich zu spüren, was mir besser gefällt als die politische Lage bei uns. Kommt natürlich auch auf die Region drauf an.

[NerdInDenial]

As long as your respectful to people, then there should be no issues.

[zagor]

How hard is it to get a permit to live there, as it isn't in the EU?

[tallandsweet]

As an EU citizen, it's not too difficult when you study there. If I get married to a Swiss guy (not an actual plan of mine) before finishing my studies, I could probably stay in the country, and if I get a job there, I could probably stay too.

[JesseTheMan]

Nuclear power is good.
Switzerland is expensive and overly capitalistic.
Looks pretty though.

[tallandsweet]

I almost laughed my lung out at your comment.
You're from Finland, right? Do you have any idea at all what's going on with the nuclear power plant in Olkiluoto that was planned to start producing power in 2009? I'm also not against nuclear power, but I'm against people who don't see the disadvantages of it and the huge problems with new nuclear power plants.

Also, I'd love to marry you.

[JesseTheMan]

The only problem with Olkiluoto is that the whole project was badly planned out and executed and they went over budget and the original schedule.

[JesseTheMan]

Also, awww.

[Plitty-Tank]

Nobody knows from 1 day to the next, what will happen.

[J2ohhhhh]

What is an almost boyfriend?

[tallandsweet]

Here are my takes/questions on this guy if you want to find out more/comment on any of them:
Guys, what does „I will only bring pain and disappointment into your life“ mean from a guy who has feelings for you? ↗
How to move on when you know he/she is The One That Got Away [Bob I] ↗
Why doesn't he want a relationship [Bob II]? ↗

It's difficult to explain but he doesn't want to be with me and we don't have any type of relationship/friendship atm

[SecretGardenBlood65]

Good take

[username4h]

Nice one