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Verizon and Sprint phones use CDMA, so they won't work in Europe. GSM phones from AT&T and T-Mobile should work if you insert a card from a Swiss carrier. However, you need to make sure that the phones aren't locked to a specific carrier. Any phones purchased on a subsidized contract in the US are generally locked to that carrier, although you can generally have the carrier unlock them after the contract is up or you could use a phone unlocking site. You also need to check which 3G bands they support if you want data-service to work as some phones might support all the worldwide bands for voice service, but not all of the the necessary bands for 3G service. A phone made for the international market like the Nexus 4 is guaranteed to be unlocked and supports all of the worldwide 3G bands. Also, consider porting your current US number to Google Voice before you leave so that you can make free calls to family and friends in the states from Europe and they can continue to reach you on your old number.
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Jul 19, 2013 22:06
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Postpaid phones don't have simlocks anymore, only prepaid ones do. Also Swisscom now offers a combination Internet/Mobile Phone subscription now. It should have happened automatically, you probably have to complain if it didn't though. vv peak debt fucked around with this message at 10:32 on Jul 20, 2013 |
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Jul 19, 2013 22:27
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peak debt posted:Postpaid phones don't have simlocks anymore, only prepaid ones do. Also Swisscom now offers a combination Internet/Mobile Phone subscription now. Yeah I was wondering about this. It was supposed to switch over on July 1st, but as far as I can tell my iPhone is still locked, even after restoring and updating. Do I have to go do something at SwissCom to unlock it, or does it only apply for contracts made after 1 July? Sorry, thread hijack.
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Jul 20, 2013 09:48
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You won't be able to get a contract with a phone company until you have your residence permit and probably your first months salary in your account. You can get a pre-paid phone though before you have all that. Swisscon's service is poo poo but the coverage of Orange is skethy and Sunrise are just plain bad. Check the deals out that they all offer, they are pretty competitive.
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Jul 22, 2013 11:00
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Yeah, Sunrise has terrible network coverage. I'm often looking for a signal and my colleagues on Orange have 5 bars. We're thinking about switching to them. The worst thing about all the phone contracts (not the pre-paid service) is the 12 month automatically renewing contract. And you have to announce 60 days in advance if you want to break it. So put a reminder in your calendar when you sign your contracts and check the alteration dates! Bureaucracy aside (and really, it's nothing more than an annoyance), the standard of living in Switzerland is superb. Things take a little longer and you won't be able to find everything you're used to at home but it's really a great place to live, IMHO.
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Jul 22, 2013 12:09
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greazeball posted:Things take a little longer Recent weird Swiss experience: buying stuff from Ikea. I wanted to buy a bunch of furniture and get it delivered to my new flat. All the items were in stock, but expected delivery time to my flat was 6-8 weeks. So I rented a van, drove there (15 minute drive), loaded up the stuff and drove it home. Had it the same day. Why does Ikea need 6-8 weeks to do the same? No idea.
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Jul 22, 2013 13:30
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Zurich can get pretty expensive, especially for living there. If you can afford it, that's great! But even so a lot of people I know live outside Zurich and catch the train/drive there most days. The good thing about Switzerland is that it's quite small and has great public transport. I have family who live near Baden, which is a lovely town 20 minutes or so from Zurich by train. If you don't mind that commute then I'd definitely recommend considering living in a place like that as an option! If you and your wife would prefer to live in a town than a busy city then it's worth looking into the various places outside the city. On the other hand Zurich is beautiful and if I could afford to I'd love to live there myself. But seriously, I'm very jealous!  I can't wait to go to Switzerland again. You need to make sure you try all the swiss food, like Rösti (don't get it in Germany though, they don't know how to make it properly), Gschnetzlets, Cervelat-Salat and Wegglis!
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Jul 22, 2013 13:53
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AbDomen posted:Recent weird Swiss experience: buying stuff from Ikea. I wanted to buy a bunch of furniture and get it delivered to my new flat. All the items were in stock, but expected delivery time to my flat was 6-8 weeks. So I rented a van, drove there (15 minute drive), loaded up the stuff and drove it home. Had it the same day. Why does Ikea need 6-8 weeks to do the same? No idea. Well, do you want it in a month or do you want it to be PERFECT?!?!
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Jul 22, 2013 13:56
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So another random question. My wife keeps hearing (from whom I have no idea) that certain Swiss institutions will want to keep copies of our marriage certificate/birth certificate. That is to say, that we we'll need multiple copies of these documents beyond the single set we keep with us in our safe. Is this true? Which government institutions will we need these from, and how many copies should my wife and I request ahead of time?
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Jul 22, 2013 21:29
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Anonymous Zebra posted:So another random question. My wife keeps hearing (from whom I have no idea) that certain Swiss institutions will want to keep copies of our marriage certificate/birth certificate. That is to say, that we we'll need multiple copies of these documents beyond the single set we keep with us in our safe. Is this true? Which government institutions will we need these from, and how many copies should my wife and I request ahead of time? I needed one copy of my birth certificate. I did not need a notarized copy; I just had a black and white printout of a scan of the original one. English is fine. If you or your wife were born in non English/French/Italian/German speaking countries, you'll need an official translation though (or you can try your luck with a Spanish one or whatever). E: I looked into it more carefully, and actually what I did was email a scanned copy of my birth certificate to the controle des habitants (same thing as the Gemeinde). Maybe some cantons / districts will be more strict than others though. Since my original birth certificate was notarized, the non-notarized copy was OK. ... Or possibly they thought I planned things decades in advance and got my notarized copy REALLY early, as the notarized date is 3 months after my birthday. Saladman fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Jul 23, 2013 |
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Jul 22, 2013 21:40
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Anonymous Zebra posted:So another random question. My wife keeps hearing (from whom I have no idea) that certain Swiss institutions will want to keep copies of our marriage certificate/birth certificate. That is to say, that we we'll need multiple copies of these documents beyond the single set we keep with us in our safe. Is this true? Which government institutions will we need these from, and how many copies should my wife and I request ahead of time? Yeah this is true and annoying. When we got married I paid for a couple of extra copies of our marriage certificate. I kept the original and gave out the other official copies. Your local Gemeinde will definitely want a copy. I don't remember having to give any one else an official copy though.
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Jul 23, 2013 10:34
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I'm also moving to Zurich in a few weeks. I just read through the thread and am getting a bit worried. I have a 2 year contract with UZH and they filed my visa application for me(which was accepted yesterday) and say I just have to mail my passport to the consulate to get the visa stamp - does that sound right? From reading other peoples' stories here and elsewhere I thought I'd have to go in person, which is a 7-8 hour drive so I'm hoping I don't need to do that. I'm lazy and don't care about the agency fee so I lined up a decent looking apartment for the 2 years (65 m^2, ~1700 chf/month) in Höngg through ums.ch. I explained the situation and that I won't have my permits until after I arrive but they don't seem to care and we are at the final steps now (signing the lease, paying the agency and my deposit). I don't really know much about the area but it seems nice. It all seems to be very easy/simple so far compared to most stories I've seen (according to the personnel lady, all I have left to do is go pick up my residence/work permit within 2 weeks of my arrival), which is making me worried that once I get over there I'll find out I, or the university, did something wrong/neglected to do something.
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Aug 2, 2013 17:34
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As it has been mentioned, Swiss clerks are never cruel and only occasionally annoying. If you do make an error you might have to pay additional fees for creating your documents a second time, but as long as you have a somewhat straight story you're not going to end up in any real trouble for it. The passport mailing thing sounds a bit weird, I would've thought too that a work visa requires a visit in person, but if the consulate says it's ok, they probably know better than you or me...
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Aug 2, 2013 18:11
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Murphy Brownback posted:I'm also moving to Zurich in a few weeks. I just read through the thread and am getting a bit worried. I have a 2 year contract with UZH and they filed my visa application for me(which was accepted yesterday) and say I just have to mail my passport to the consulate to get the visa stamp - does that sound right? From reading other peoples' stories here and elsewhere I thought I'd have to go in person, which is a 7-8 hour drive so I'm hoping I don't need to do that. I ended up getting my visa in person, but my first plan was to mail it to Atlanta and then get it mailed back. They tell you to mail it when your visa is ready, which I guess is right now -- it's not like they keep your visa for weeks, it'll be sent back the day after they get it. Just send it with signature required and you're fine. If you got a visa, then you won't have any problems getting your B permit. The paperwork is a little different but I've never heard of anyone getting rejected. However you absolutely won't get it within 2 weeks of your arrival -- more like 2 months if you're lucky. You should apply for it within 2 weeks of arrival, but it's not a fast turnaround*. Edit: However, since you already have an apartment, this wait won't impact anything as long as you get your residence permit before the residence visa in your passport expires; it just means you should carry your passport when you drive to Chamonix or wherever. *Getting a Swiss DRIVER'S license is a quick turnaround, on the other hand (it's immediate). You should absolutely do it even if you don't plan on getting a car in Switzerland; it's 40 CHF and it's valid forever and then you have a Swiss license. I use it whenever I travel anywhere outside the US. Saladman fucked around with this message at 09:24 on Aug 3, 2013 |
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Aug 2, 2013 18:14
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I'm kind of an anxious person, so if you are having an easier time than me, don't think that you are suddenly missing something that I noticed. However, it is cool to have someone else in the thread who is going through all this at the same time. Feel free to keep us updated on how things are going for you. As for my own update. We end up not getting to NYC to get our visas this week, since the only day we would be in town was August 1st, which apparently was a Swiss holiday! So we're planning on trying again later this month.
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Aug 2, 2013 21:52
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Hey guys. Sorry to be asking the same question again, but neither my wife or I are actually that experienced with cell phones since I've been using the same cruddy one for close to 5 years and she has a basic Android smartphone under a Verizon contract. I've never actually dealt with anything more advanced than that, so I'm not sure how all these "unlocked", etc. smartphones work. Should I be buying a phone in the US before I go? Or should I just buy one once I get to Zurich? I am also seeing some indication on the Swiss English Forum that it might be hard for me to get a contract for a cell phone with a Swiss cell company because I am not in fact Swiss. What is up with this?
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Aug 3, 2013 04:44
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Anonymous Zebra posted:Hey guys. Sorry to be asking the same question again, but neither my wife or I are actually that experienced with cell phones since I've been using the same cruddy one for close to 5 years and she has a basic Android smartphone under a Verizon contract. I've never actually dealt with anything more advanced than that, so I'm not sure how all these "unlocked", etc. smartphones work. Should I be buying a phone in the US before I go? Or should I just buy one once I get to Zurich? There are two problems: - There's CDMA and GSM phones. The first type will only work in the USA and very few other countries, while the second type will work everywhere. This is a physical property of your phone and cannot be changed, so you need to check that you have a GSM phone. - Some phones are SIM locked. If the carrier subsidies your phone they want you to spend your subscription money on them, and not run off to the competition, so you cannot switch phone providers. Phones that are initially simlocked can be changed afterwards, usually with an unlock code given by the subsidizing carrier after you've been with them long enough, paying an early contract termination fee, or using a hack (talking about which is against the rules on the SA forums). The least risk of error would probably be to buy an unlocked phone in Switzerland https://www.digitec.ch/ is the usual go-to place for carrier-independant phones. Just be sure not to choose any provider offered discounts, that will SIM lock the phone. As to the contract, phone companies will not do post-paid contracts for you while they aren't sure whether you'll actually pay your bills or just run away after a few months. Until you can provide them with that certainty (usually by having a job and an apartment contract) you're limited to pre-paid. But this isn't actually a downside, unless you spend ridiculous amounts of time on the phone (and you should be doing your international calls over Skype if you're frugal) the pre-paid rates are usually cheaper anyway. And GSM phones don't charge for incoming calls in any case.
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Aug 3, 2013 12:36
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So it's been awhile since I last posted in here, but I just wanted to say that my wife and I are about to make the move. We leave our current house this coming week and after a short time with family we'll be flying out to Zurich on the 23rd. Hopefully, we've covered all our bases, but I suppose my next post will be from beautiful Swiss Land. Thanks for all the advice you guys gave when I first started this thread, it was immensely helpful.
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Sep 14, 2013 05:12
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Bit late, but I'm Swiss and I work at the ETH. If you ever want to grab lunch at the Mensa or if you just have questions that need to be answered, you can PM me anytime 
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Oct 15, 2013 11:27
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I can vouch for Wengy, he's a sound bloke, good to hang out with and gave me a ton of great advice when I moved to Bern. But now he's ~working~ all the time. JK, bud. 
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Oct 15, 2013 13:26
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I know, FML  *posts from work*
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Oct 15, 2013 15:31
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Thanks guys. My wife and I made it here safely and after a bumpy first week (we couldn't set up internet without calling a number, and obviously our cell phones didn't work so we had no way to get online or call anyone for several days), I think we are starting to settle in. I think the only major thing that is bugging me right now is the grocery stores. It seems like there is so little selection and a lot of the foods I'm used to eating aren't anywhere to be found (no cheerios?!). It's certainly an interesting country, and I'm loving the public transport system. Now I just need ETH to give me my first paycheck so I can see if I can actually afford all this expensive [insert all items in Switzerland here]. EDIT: I was totally unprepared for all the cigarette smoke.
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Oct 15, 2013 18:00
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Anonymous Zebra posted:Thanks guys. My wife and I made it here safely and after a bumpy first week (we couldn't set up internet without calling a number, and obviously our cell phones didn't work so we had no way to get online or call anyone for several days), I think we are starting to settle in. I think the only major thing that is bugging me right now is the grocery stores. It seems like there is so little selection and a lot of the foods I'm used to eating aren't anywhere to be found (no cheerios?!). It's certainly an interesting country, and I'm loving the public transport system. Now I just need ETH to give me my first paycheck so I can see if I can actually afford all this expensive [insert all items in Switzerland here]. Grocery store note: Lidl, Aldi: The same store (basically). Do not sell real food that can be made into dishes, but sell lots of low quality fruits/veggies, cheap meat (decent quality), and tons of condiments and other weird things. Very cheap by Swiss standards. Migros/Coop: Sell more or less the same stuff except for a few odds and ends (e.g. no greek yogurt in Coop, no alcohol of any kind in Migros). Denner: Sells alcohol and cigarettes. Maybe other stuff??? Pretty much just go to Migros for anything else. Globus: Sells 'high end' expensive stuff. Similar to Aldi and Lidl (do not sell food you can actually make into dishes) but the exact opposite in terms of quality and price. Asian stores: Everywhere. Some differences vs. east Asian vs. Indian grocers, but also often cross-stock the same stuff. North African stores: Everywhere, but don't usually have much variety, and probably will be weird to shop in unless you are familiar with North African cuisine. "Gas station" stores like Coop Pronto or Migrolino or Aperto: No point going to unless you're driving or it's after 7pm / or on Sunday. Same products as Coop / Migros, but everything is more expensive and the selection is more limited. "Foreign" European stores (primarily Carrefour, Casino, Spar): Probably you won't come across these unless you specifically look, there aren't that many in Switzerland. They carry a fairly different selection of foods than the Swiss stores, at least as far as speciality-ish items (e.g. Macadamia Nut Butter == Spar only; Belgian chocolates == primarily at Casino/Carrefour). Asian and North African stores are nice since they're usually open until 10pm and open on Sundays. I'm just right now back in the US for a week and have access to a kitchen (for the first time back in years), and I went to Whole Foods and had the damnedest time finding the ingredients I wanted to make a quiche and a pizza. PS: If you get really desperate there are American food import stores in Zurich / Geneva / many other major cities. Cheerios is a bummer but now that I'm back here I miss good-tasting breakfast muesli. Your Kelloggs stuff will be impossible to find... but at least everything by Nestle will still be there and familiar, even if they misspell "Ovaltine". PPS: I totally stopped eating cereal after being in Switzerland, due to similar Cheerios-induced withdrawal, although sometimes I break down and buy Cinnamon Toast Crunch as a substitute because, goddammit. Then I eat the entire box as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Saladman fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Oct 16, 2013 |
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Oct 16, 2013 02:13
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Great post! Just to add a few observations: Aldi and Lidl are pretty lovely employers, so I personally wouldn't shop there on principle. Migros and Coop aren't brilliant either, but at least they're local cooperatives. As far as I know, Globus will be perfectly happy to sell you (expensive) ingredients from which you can make tasty dishes. Since the price difference compared to the "normal" stuff is negligible (i. e. everything is expensive as gently caress), you might as well shop ethically, i. e. as many locally sourced products as possible, "bio" meat/milk/eggs etc. I'm not American and I have no idea whether it would stand the test of your discerning palates, but Coop sell "Stubb's" barbecue sauces which they import from Texas and which I consider to be tasty as gently caress. This probably goes without saying, but if you do get the chance, explore the country a bit. Zürich is great, but it's a pretty crazy place; there's quite a few other cities worth visiting, not to mention the beautiful countryside. Also, we invented Ovomaltine 
Wengy fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Oct 16, 2013 |
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Oct 16, 2013 07:32
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I can't help thinking of this every time I see Ovomaltine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1kLxLdtIiE To add to supermarket chat, your shopping habits are going to have to change. It just takes longer to do your shopping because the one place that has everything you need (Coop) is 10-20% more expensive than the place that has just about everything for that lower price. I got the 10-20% figure from my wife who claims she read it there so I don't have a study or anything, but it feels about right. They do the typical retailer thing of marking some things down and having some things more expensive and changing the layout of the store so it's hard to keep track of what costs what. The main difference between them though is brands. Migros just doesn't put a lot of major brands on their shelves unless they go through some partnership/vetting process or something. They only started selling Coke in Migros in the last 5 years, I think? I know they were exclusively Pepsi for a long time. So in addition to having more of the brands that you want (like delicious Stubbs BBQ sauce), Coop has also been doing their Naturaplan line for 20 years now and they're way ahead of Migros in that regard, especially for free range meat (although Migros is adequate). So my shopping goes like this: buy all the fruit, veg, milk, pasta, rice, canned goods, etc. at Migros and then look for whatever I couldn't find at Coop (BBQ sauces, special ingredients for baking or desserts, etc.). All booze is bought at Denner (which is owned by Migros, you didn't really think they would really let their principles stand in the way of that liquor gravy train, did you?). It takes longer and more planning but it is what it is. Manor hasn't been mentioned yet either, and they have a pretty sweet food section there. Their restaurant is actually pretty good, especially considering the price (quite cheap for Switzerland), but their food department is really good (and expensive!) for a wide variety of vegetables, and imported meats and cheeses. They have a good wine selection and if you like nice liquors they're a good place to visit before you go to a specialty importer. Seconding the call to get out of the city and see some of the country (especially before the winter grey sets in). This site has all the info you need for hiking/biking/outdoor whatevering: http://www.wanderland.ch/en/wanderland.html All of the Wanderwegs (hiking trails) are really clearly marked throughout the country, it's really easy to go out and find your way around. The same company has an app (but last I checked you couldn't download your maps so you needed to have mobile coverage on your hike which um, can be problematic if you're on Sunrise like I am; and it's pretty slow to use anyway), but their books are really good. You can also download the Peak Finder app, which will use your GPS coordinates to tell you which mountains you are looking at, which will help you talk about your walks with your colleagues.
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Oct 16, 2013 08:34
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I'm in Geneva on Sunday for a week. Any events going down? Have theSunday to myself, so anything to see would be nice.
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Dec 4, 2013 14:48
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kru posted:I'm in Geneva on Sunday for a week. Any events going down? Have theSunday to myself, so anything to see would be nice. Congrats, you're there on literally the most fun day of the entire year in Geneva. http://www.1602.ch/images/PDF/Flyer%202013GBSite.pdf
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Dec 4, 2013 15:05
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Also Cirque du Soleil is currently in Geneva, and they have a Tutankhamun exhibition in Palexpo that's apparently pretty tight (I haven't been there yet) http://toutankhamon.ch/fr/?lang=en
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Dec 4, 2013 15:14
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Oh jesus I was not aware we had so many goons in Switzerland! I'm from Neuchatel myself. Can't really add anything to the discussion since apparently your moving went fine. I'd just say that don't worry too much about German speaking honestly. I'm from the French part and my German is abysmal and I have no problem getting around in the German part. The Swiss German people from my experience are very open and I always talk to them in English when I go there to party and stuff. Actually German is being replaced by English more and more in schools, in part because the Swiss Germans do not actually speak German but Switzerdütsch which is 
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Jan 14, 2014 11:09
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Yeah, we've been here for about 4 months now and everything is going pretty smoothly. I've figured out which products are what at the stores, and the language thing has really not been a huge issue. Hilariously enough, some woman was begging for change on the S3 a few days ago and when she saw that my wife and I only spoke English, she switched right over to English without an issue or accent. I'm really not sure how I should feel about a beggar knowing more languages than me....We are taking online German classes though, because I figure I need to at least try and speak a mangled sentence or two before switching back to English. I'm finding it relatively easier to read German, pretty hard to speak it, and impossible to understand it because of the aforementioned schweizerdeutsch, so I'm not sure how much useful progress I'm going to make. In any case, we are kind of bored out of our skulls right now because we can't quite figure out how to break into the social scene here. We aren't big clubbers, and our lab only consists of us right now (until we start importing more post-docs/students), so if anyone wants to hang out with two dorky science goons in Zuri, let us know.
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Jan 14, 2014 23:05
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Check out Meetup and/or Glocals, there might be some activities/outings you're interested in on there and afaik most are English speaking. Also, get PMs! Or post your email and I'll invite you down to Bern.
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Jan 15, 2014 00:05
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I've been meaning to buy PMs for awhile, so I went ahead and did it. PM away.
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Jan 15, 2014 00:26
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Haha, just popping in to say: "Holy poo poo, Swiss English forum is full of the shittiest advice/people on Earth." I'm busy at work, so I don't have time to get into lots of detail, but after 4 months of reading threads there, I can confirm that I have found exactly two posts that have been either helpful or true. The first was the British woman that gave me her furnished apartment when she left, and the second was a woman at ETH who confirmed that Swiss Care is indeed a good health insurance. Everything else is a mix of Bitcoins (Ron Paul endthefed), "Being stateless is better than being American", [insert racist thing about Indians here], [insert completely incorrect information here]. The pinnacle was still the woman that wrote up an excellent thread about how to organize trash for collection in Zurich (since the megathreads are absolute poo poo for explaining anything), and she got shouted down and her thread deleted because it was her first post and she hadn't properly "established" herself on the forum.
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Jan 28, 2014 13:38
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Anonymous Zebra posted:Haha, just popping in to say: "Holy poo poo, Swiss English forum is full of the shittiest advice/people on Earth." I agree, when I first found it I was like "wow great this is a lot of useful information", but the deeper you dig you realize how weird of a community it is. The general advice threads, like dealing with landlords on things like mold, or getting your residence permit or which phone company to pick, etc are great, but the rest is just a bunch of apparently extremely angry opinionated people. I haven't even tried posting there after seeing how they treat new people. I'm also on my fourth month here in Zurich. Despite still being very awful at speaking and understanding German, it has been a great experience so far. I still get nervous and spend way too much time at Coop waiting for lines to thin out before trying to check out (and using coop@home a lot more than I should), though. I finally got furniture after procrastinating it for 4 months, so no more sleeping on the floor on a terrible foam twin mattress with chairs I wouldn't even pay a dollar for. One thing I was looking into recently is getting that half-price transportation card (halbtax or something) - englishforum and other places have stories about getting it as a US citizen if you have a residence permit, but when I go to the SBB website it seems like you need a Swiss (or other European) passport or ID card, which all require you to be citizens. Have they changed the rules recently or something? I'm trying to plan a 2 week "vacation" and see the rest of Switzerland in a few months, and that would be a very useful thing to have.
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Jan 28, 2014 18:06
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Murphy Brownback posted:I'm also on my fourth month here in Zurich. Despite still being very awful at speaking and understanding German, it has been a great experience so far. I still get nervous and spend way too much time at Coop waiting for lines to thin out before trying to check out (and using coop@home a lot more than I should), though. I finally got furniture after procrastinating it for 4 months, so no more sleeping on the floor on a terrible foam twin mattress with chairs I wouldn't even pay a dollar for. Yeah, the EnglishForumSwitzerland people are pretty much huge dicks. I'm surprised that wasn't already stated in this thread (or maybe it was and I just missed it). I made some posts there when I was trying to get my car shipped over here, but it was mostly all useless info, and asking a couple people in person I knew who did it was much more useful. Not sure why you're intimidated about waiting in lines, Murphy. Why don't you just wait in line and then check out like normal? If you don't have some terrible crippling social anxiety then this should be exactly the same as buying groceries in the US. The halbtax is definitely worth getting, even if you basically just take trains in order to go to the airport and back. You don't need a Swiss passport or ID card to get it, nor do you even need your passport on you, or any documentation at all really. I probably showed a US driver's license the first time I got mine. You get a temporarily valid card immediately, and then the real one comes in the mail a week or so later. It is also valid on ALL transport in Switzerland, even non-SBB travel (weird mountain trains like Jungfrau, CGN, Poste Buses, local city buses in ALL cities, etc).
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Jan 28, 2014 18:45
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Saladman posted:Yeah, the EnglishForumSwitzerland people are pretty much huge dicks. I'm surprised that wasn't already stated in this thread (or maybe it was and I just missed it). I made some posts there when I was trying to get my car shipped over here, but it was mostly all useless info, and asking a couple people in person I knew who did it was much more useful. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the lines are always a huge rush and I'm not used to packing my own groceries in the bag (at least, in a logical way). (e: Also, just the not being able to understand the majority of what is being said to you bothers me, and I always feel like an rear end asking if they speak English.) I guess for the halbtax card I need to apply in person? I only really checked the website, so I guess I should head down to the HB and get one. yeah I eat ass fucked around with this message at 19:04 on Jan 28, 2014 |
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Jan 28, 2014 19:01
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Murphy Brownback posted:Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the lines are always a huge rush and I'm not used to packing my own groceries in the bag (at least, in a logical way). (e: Also, just the not being able to understand the majority of what is being said to you bothers me, and I always feel like an rear end asking if they speak English.) I guess for the halbtax card I need to apply in person? I only really checked the website, so I guess I should head down to the HB and get one. The only 'trick' compared to US grocery stores is (A) bring your own bags and (B) scan the vegetables before you get to the cashier. Also unless you're in some weird tiny Coop, they always have two 'areas' at the end of the checkout so that you can finish packing your groceries while the next person goes through the checkout. Even if they speak Romansch you can figure out what they're saying and they'd never know you weren't Swiss. Here's every dialog ever: 0) Hello 1) Do you have your Coop customer loyalty card 2) The final price is [some number] Rare alternatives: 3) [When alcohol is being scanned and you look young] Can I see your ID? 4) [When a promotion is going on, though normally you ask to opt in and they do not] Do you want these stupid stickers? I literally do not think a cashier has ever said anything else to me. All of these except #3 can be easily answered by "nein". For not knowing how to pack your own groceries logically,  . Everywhere I went growing up this was done reasonably well by people with honest-to-God Down's Syndrome. Bring two bags and then you don't have to worry about packing stuff well, unless you're clinically spatially retarded and put your avocados and eggs underneath your cat litter and lead bricks.E: Halbtax: Yeah go in person, it'll be way easier. The people behind the counters all speak English and are very accustomed to people speaking to them in English. Saladman fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Jan 28, 2014 |
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Jan 28, 2014 22:50
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Saladman basically nailed all the main suggestions I was going to make. The only thing that trips me up is when it's a slow day and the cashier randomly decides to make small talk and I freeze up like a deer in headlights...also when they ask if I want a receipt, I haven't quite mastered WTF the Swiss German sentence is for that, so they'll ask and I will have no clue what they just said (99% of the time they just hand me the receipt by default). But I've actually only encountered on cashier that didn't speak any English for when I get in a jam, and that was literally the first cashier ever when I went to a Denners to buy some bread and my Visa Travel Card got rejected (Denners, doesn't accept Visa). I didn't realize that every any other place in the city would have happily processed the card/spoken English and I thought I was doomed. Grocery shopping is awesome immersion language training though. If I can pull off a 15 second cashier conversation then it makes me feel like I'm making progress. EDIT: Also, all the big businesses are used to people speaking English, so I've found that I prefer going places in person (like SBB HQ at the station), because they are totally ready for you to start spouting Anglish. EDIT2: I just checked Swiss English Forum (because I hate myself), and another person is asking about English in Zurich, and of course there are several sarcastic remarks about English not being an official language, one guy (with 5 posts, so obviously not a regular) saying that he has never run into a problem with people not knowing English, followed up immediately by this gem: quote:Those guys with red bull in one hand and smoke in the other might not be exactly best example of someone to run into. That's one of their forum veterans right there. Anonymous Zebra fucked around with this message at 23:17 on Jan 28, 2014 |
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Jan 28, 2014 23:11
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Alright geez, I was mostly exaggerating about the groceries, I'm really not that helpless, it is just not something I enjoy doing. As I said the main thing that bothers me is when they deviate from the typical script and end up saying something I don't understand. I usually only use coop@home for big/heavy stuff I don't want to lug around on the trams anyway. I know most big shops and places like the post office and banks typically have English speakers there, and while that is convenient, my goal by the time I have to leave is to not have to rely on that. I really should take some lessons because learning it on my own isn't working out too well. I also learned the hard way that Denner doesn't take Visa - fortunately I had enough cash on me to bail me out of that. After that I always make sure to carry around a decent amount of cash in case they start shaking their head when I hand them whatever card (I've mostly only had problems with the maestro card UBS gave me, and even that is rare). e: One other question, if you guys have any experience with it - what's the best way to dispose of large quantities of cardboard? The bed I got came in enormous boxes (8+ ft long), and I don't know what to do with them. I'd imagine I can't just leave them on the sidewalk like most people leave their small recyclables (or can I?), so is the only option somehow taking it to one of those recycling centers? yeah I eat ass fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Jan 29, 2014 |
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Jan 29, 2014 07:37
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So it's tax season and I have a brand new question. Do any of you Americans living here in Switzerland have any advice on how you get your US taxes done while you're here?
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Jan 30, 2014 11:08
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