We love to hear from you! Chat with us on Twitter @jofahy or @simonzryd. It can feel like there are a lot of rules governing life in Switzerland. They‘re often written on signs in public places or in the building where you live or work. But what about those…
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Simon Zryd
I was born and raised in a small village in Switzerland. I bring the Swiss perspective to the podcast.
"There's enough hay down there now" to "even his chopping block will calve": these are just a few everyday sayings that make perfect sense in Swiss German, but don't exactly translate into English. Whether you've heard some of them already, or just want to impress with a sentence or two…
What are the main shops in Switzerland and where do you go for specific items? In this episode we go through the big name shops, what they sell and where you can find them, plus we talk about some smaller, specialised shops or boutiques, and what you can buy online.…
Switzerland is a very diverse country with four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. The Swiss also share their border with five countries: Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. And out of all the people living in Switzerland, 25% don't have a Swiss passport. So how does this work?…
Becoming a Swiss citizen is a long and somewhat complicated path with a few hurdles to overcome along the way. A few weeks from now Jo will start the process of applying to become Swiss and with that, we are beginning a new series in our podcast: 'Becoming Swiss'. It'll…
Do you know how to respond in Switzerland to avoid an intercultural mishap? Once you've started picking up the language as an expat, you'll start to notice the mother-tongue speakers around you reply in certain ways to specific situations or questions. This can be from anything as simple as a…
You've taken a huge step: packed your bags, filled out all the forms and moved to a completely new place. But once the initial period of excitement wears off, living abroad can start to feel a little bit lonely, especially if your new life isn't fully set up yet, or…
As a Swiss, it is always interesting to hear the thoughts of tourists or expats, when they explore Switzerland — what do they want to see, what is surprising for them and what is boring. This does not only widen my horizon and lets me think about my home in a…