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Disclaimer - I am a foreigner in Switzerland. It's a bit distorted - it is a country with by far the highest immigration population in whole europe, if not who
by saiya-jin 9y ago
Disclaimer - I am a foreigner in Switzerland.
It's a bit distorted - it is a country with by far the highest immigration population in whole europe, if not whole world.
If they simply didn't want foreigners in their country, they can tweak working/residence permit situation so that most wouldn't qualify. They do and welcome them/us, BUT - you have to adapt and learn the language(s). Many, especially english-speaking expats, do have serious issues with this.
If you just roll in arrogantly and expect that your english will be enough and people will be coming to you in crowds to be your friends, then it it might not (or it might, depends). Simply because most of the country is full of similar people. Don't expect magic in some remote tiny valley, like anywhere.
That said, I am one living in french part who doesn't speak French properly, and I am just fine. It will help me a lot to learn it properly, my biggest TODO for near future. If I would be almost anywhere in France for example, I would be properly screwed without +-good level of french.
- m_mueller 9y agoAs a Swiss - thank you for seeing it like this! I do think that Switzerland in general should be more welcoming to immigrants, but at the same time I'd say that the somewhat more forceful stance towards integration has proven more successful compared to what's happening in neighbouring countries. Being treated with the same harshness as Swiss treat other Swiss can be quite shocking at first, especially compared to the warm welcome extended in many other cultures, the US included - but at some point you start appreciating it. I've also been in Japan now for years and I'm well aware of the fact that I could never fully integrate here, while vice versa this is luckily not true for my Japanese wife in Switzerland.