Cultural Differences in Switzerland

Since we first arrived in Switzerland, I have been keeping a list of the cultural differences that we have noticed. Some of you may have received these via email over the past few years, but here is the compiled list:

• Breast feeding is done much more openly.
• Everyone cares about the World Cup, and no one cares about the NBA Finals.
• Cannot buy Rotel, vanilla extract, Velveeta, Ranch dressing, brown sugar, or green chilies.
• Dogs are allowed almost everywhere…stores, cafes, trains.
• At McDonald’s, a Big Mac value meal costs about 12 CHF, which is currently $12.
• A tall Starbucks caramel machiatto costs 6 CHF, which is currently $6.
• There are not as many people with their laptops out around town, even in Wi-Fi areas.
• After a World Cup win, fans drive around honking and waving their team’s flag out of their cars for at least 2 hours after the game ends (even if it’s midnight).
• There are no checks. Instead, you get these bills called “versements” which you can pay at your bank or online.
• In the grocery store, almost all of the milk is in cartons and is non-refrigerated.
• Meat is really expensive, especially beef and chicken.
• There are NO garbage disposals.
• When you move in somewhere, you have to buy and install your own light fixtures in the ceiling.
• Beds & sheets here are different. Instead of box springs, you put these boards across the frame of the bed, and people use duvets with duvet covers instead of comforters, with only a fitted sheet (no flat sheet). It makes buying a matching set of sheets more complicated (if you want to have both flat and fitted), because they don’t come together, and there are much less flat sheets available.
• The windows here are different (and awesome!). They have 2 “open” positions. You can either open them inward (like a door on a hinge) or you can open them from the top, where they are still closed at the bottom and leaning inward at an angle. This is great, because you can keep them open while you are gone and not have to worry about rain getting on the floor (which is much needed in the summer with no air conditioning).
• Ice is hard to come by. Most restaurants and cafes will not put it in your drinks, even in the summer. We have a huge tupperware in our freezer which we keep filled up with ice, so we will always have it on hand – Brandon’s idea.
• Refrigerators here are smaller in general than in the US. You cannot seem to find a “huge” refrigerator here, even for big families.
• All of the washing machines are the front-loading “energy efficient” ones that they have begun selling in the US. I don’t think you can get a top-loading machine here.
• The Swiss LOVE to iron – why? I don’t know. I think in general they could be stereotyped as very clean, very safe people. They have lots of insurance, most of which is mandatory for everyone (you can even get “helicopter insurance” in case you get hurt in the mountains or skiing and need a helicopter to transport you to the hospital). We have heard that the move-out inspection of an apartment could be compared to a white-glove test – we are already scared, especially because we had to put down a ~$4500 deposit on our apartment (which is commonplace here). The one exception to the stereotype we have discovered so far is that almost all Europeans (including the Swiss) smoke – which is definitely not clean or safe.
• The guys love to wear capri pants!
• In our opinion, we think the Swiss people walk really slow, but maybe it is just that we walk really fast.
• Since Switzerland has 4 official languages, almost all of the people here know at least 3.
• It is common to see "cheval" (horse) on the menu or at the grocery store.
• One of the traditional dishes here is called "rosti" and is basically a huge hash brown...Brandon loves it!
• Hiking is VERY common during the summer for people of all ages...on our mountain hikes, we often see people in their 70s on the trails, as well.
• Seasonal foods are common here; for example: fondue is only eaten in the winter, and you can only buy fruits when they are in season.
• In the canton where we live, when one is invited to someone’s house, it is common and polite to arrive 15 minutes late (and to arrive early is considered rude).
• They have door handles here, not door knobs.
• Instead of getting pulled over by a cop, they just have hidden cameras on the highway and will simply mail you a ticket for speeding a few weeks or even months after it has happened.
• You cannot buy chocolate chips here…instead they have these little chocolate squares, but they don’t melt as well.
• I heard (it may not be true) that one of the reasons Switzerland will not join the EU is because Europe’s chocolate standards are not as high as their own, and they do not want to have their official standards lowered.
• The Swiss eat dinner very late in my opinion: between 8 and 9. At a lot of restaurants, they don’t even start serving dinner until 7:30 pm.
• I had personally observed several differences between fork and knife use between Americans and Europeans…and then I looked it up on Wikipedia…so cool: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zigzag_method
• When you are served wine, you must all raise your glasses, say “Santé” (“good health”) and look each individual person in the eye before you take a drink.
• When someone sneezes, you are also supposed to say “Santé.”
• We have noticed that many young people play music from their cell phones (I guess the songs are just downloaded ring tunes) very loudly on the trains and the metros.
• Brandon has noticed recently that a lot of teenage guys here carry small “man purses” – kind of like large fancy wallets worn on thin straps around their arms.
• Almost everyone drives a manual (not automatic) transmission car.

Hope you find some of these interesting or humorous.