10 THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE MOVING TO SWITZERLAND

Hi Famollie! Join me today for a reflective chat as I share about 10 things I wish I knew before moving to Switzerland in February 2019. It's since been 5 long years, and i'm proud that I'd assimilated and learnt so much about life in Switzerland, and I'm excited to share all that I've learned with you. If you too are thinking move abroad, whether to Switzerland or somewhere in Europe, I hope this video will help you out with your planning and inspire you to take that leap of faith.

(Sorry guys for the darker lighting this time round... I was using a different DSLR for this video and the setting went wonky!)

GET MY BRAND NEW SWISS TRAVEL GUIDE!

☁︎ T I M E S T A M P S ☁︎

00:00 Introduction
00:45 1. Do not settle (or make rushed decisions)
02:53 2. Get second-hand furniture
03:51 3. Sort out the bureaucracy first
04:51 4. Language
08:12 5. Job-search
09:39 My BRAND NEW Swiss Travel Guide!
10:07 6. Healthcare
10:53 7. Geographical location + cantons
13:06 8. Public holidays
14:19 9. Eating out/cooking at home
15:56 10. Friendships

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TOP SWITZERLAND ACTIVITIES:🇨🇭

1. *Jungfraujoch: Top of Europe Tour* 🏔️
2. *Mount Titlis Day Tour from Zurich* 🏔️
3. *Lucerne: Swiss Transport Museum 🚂*
4. *Lucerne: Day Trip from Zurich with Cruise* 🏞️
5. *Jungfrau Region: Paragliding Diving in Interlaken* 🪂
6. *Lauterbrunnen and 72 waterfalls: E-Bike Rental* 🚴‍♂️
7. *Rhine Falls Half-Day Tour from Zurich* 🌊
8. *Zurich: City Tour, Cruise, and Lindt Home of Chocolate Visit* 🏙️
9. *Bern: 2-Hour Guided Walking Tour* 🐻
10. *Zermatt: Gornergrat Railway Day Trip* 🚂
11. *Basel: 2-Hour Historical Walking Tour* 🏛️
12. *Geneva: Chocolate Tasting Tour* 🍫
13. *Lausanne: Olympic Museum Entrance Ticket* 🏅
14. *Lausanne: Lavaux Vineyards Tour, Chillon Castle, Chaplin’s World* 🍇
15. *Bernina Express: Full-Day Rail Tour from Milan* 🚂

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THIS VIDEO IS NOT SPONSORED. All opinions are my own.

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Sub count at upload: 11,755

[gannaglobina]

I like you and your channel ❤
I'm 45, a Ukrainian war refugee in Switzerland. I was able to learn German from 0 and prove my level with telc test to level B2 in two years. I took sooo long because you can't hear German on the streets of Bern, only Bärndütsch 😂
I hope to find a job in the office. And I'm so tired to work on the farm because I'm not used to it. All my life I was a lawyer...

[stevenhoang]

Switzerland's social system is very complex, especially for foreigners freshly arriving. Choose wisely your healthcare insurance (mandatory) + complementary insurance (non mandatory but very important). Very complex social system but very safe for anyone living in Switzerland :)

[bewree]

Great video ! Im a canadian citizen with dual citizenship for switzerland, and im considering moving there permanently as canada is really going downhill fast. Thanks for all the information !!

[MFYouTube]

You’re most welcome here, even if not everybody reflects it in your everyday life. They don’t know better. And I’m sorry. Keep up the good work. You’re doing fabulously

[isalutfi]

Hi Olivia. Am your new subscriber. This content help me a lot. Swiss 🇨🇭 is one of my dream countries to work or study. Thank you for sharing this great video. Keep up! 🍵

[neimadc]

Thanks for sharing! Every point is spot on and anyone who plans to move here (especially from SEA) should take note. And yea, I miss the hawker centers!

[chandansharma]

I have been to German side and Lugano, Bellinzona and so on, so far I love the Italian swiss

[anthonymartinez]

This video was for sure informative! I’m considering the move to Züri in about 2 years. So this helps me weigh out the pros and cons. 😊 ❤

[veryv]

This video was so helpful! I moved to Geneva a few weeks ago and am currently apartment hunting. I will definitely keep in mind about French intensive classes ❤ merci

[BernhardSchwarz-xskp]

What a novelty. A young beautiful intelligent person moving to Switzerland and talking about "how to integrate" to fit into this new environment. The far majority of such videos accuse the Swiss of not being tolerant of them being "different" and of course - blaming gender, race, nationality, and any other reason other than themselves.

[seanvic]

Very informative. Clear and straight to the points. Definitely will be a useful video from time to time. Thanks Olivia

[ltldxy]

Helpful info. My great great grandfather, Gabriel, immigrated from Switzerland to the US at 16 yo with his parents and 9 younger siblings. They were from Canton Uri (German). I laughed when you said the French side is laid back and the German side is “uptight” 😂😂😂. I am starting a German class in a couple weeks. Luckily, my state has tons of German folks that settled here and it’s still spoken.

[martinz]

All depends what you look for in Switzerland. There are always advantages and inconveniences. For a lot of people, Switzerland offers far more advantages than inconveniences. Given the high living standards, everything is pricy.

[Oom_in_Switzerland]

We brought over all our furniture because it was part of the relocation package😄 Without that we would have just bought 2nd hand items like you suggested.

[youSupaflyy]

While I generally agree with your points, it's absolutely worth mentioning that while there are definitely differences between German, French, and Italian speaking Switzerland, they are more similar to each other than Deutschschweiz is to Germany, Romandie/Welschland is to France, and especially Tessin to Italy (they really don't like being associated with Italy). There are of course jokes about how everyone in Welschland hates Geneva and says it's basically France and everyone in Deutschschweiz hates Zürich, but that's a different conversation

[marcmonnerat]

_Jeûne fédéral_ is a holiday in some protestant Cantons like Vaud, but not Bern, and Geneva, which has its own version of it _jeûne genevois_

[alexanderalexandrov]

Mostly spot on, but to add my bits (been in Geneva for several months now) -
1) The conclusion about appts might be wrong depending on how much money you have to spend. Short term rent, both Airbnb and 3month+ appartments are quite expensive and not all the airbnb can allow you to apply for a permit. Plus, if you are with kids, they need to go to School ASAP, so its tight.

Also, its worth spending some time exploring doctors before making a decision, best way is to find smb that your friends know, and then decide. But you will likely not have friends yet. So again, difficult.

[pacomecai]

Thanks for your prompt presentation. I have been in Singapore a few times. It seems there is no further affinity to me.

[Yeaaaah_z]

New subscriber! Thank you for the helpful information. I plan to visit Zurich soon. Austria is another country I really enjoyed so knowing that learning German will help me in both places is a win! Thank you 🫶🏽

[pacomecai]

Très bien, Je me souviens vaguement le bâtiment de l'alliance française à Singapour possède plusieurs étages dont un étage entire dédié intégralement à une galerie d'art.