Do you like Swiss people?

Germans are last one to point fingers.

Australians are the only nationality that consistently disappoints me. They have the worst traits of Americans and Northern Europeans but with none of the good parts. I’ve yet to meet one who isn’t cold, nasty, and entitled.

On the flip side, I’ve never met a German National who I haven’t loved! (If we skip over the 1933-45 years.) They’re just as awful as Americans and Australians, but not eager to please like Americans and not rude like Australians. They’re terribly blunt but take the edge off by being so damn merry. Love them!

Maybe OP deserves all the contempt she gets?

If GGG dislikes them, that automatically means they can't be all bad!

No doubt Germans are more fun than Swiss Germans. Germans are better looking, too

My ancestors are from Switzerland, Anabaptists, they were persecuted there, but found refuge in the Palatine region of Germany. But that only lasted for awhile before being persecuted again. They negotiate a deal with William Penn and obtained land in what would become Lancaster county Pennsylvania, arriving about 1710.

What I find most interesting is the Pennsylvania Dutch really created a completely new culture in the new world, although obviously having European roots. To me this makes perfect sense, they were being persecuted by their country of origin so they made something completely new and rejected that. I always hated those school ancestry projects trancing roots back to the original country. My ancestors didn’t pine for this long ago “old country” they adapted and were creative about how they were living making new things and really flourishing in a way they couldn’t have in Europe.

There was little interest carrying on the traditions or ways they left behind, there was no nostalgia for the old country. Switzerland has nothing to do with my family’s past except as a geographic origin point and a country of persecution, why would we celebrate that? I’m not going to wear lederhosen, clutch a copy of Heidi and bring hot chocolate to school for everyone for enjoy as my treat from my home country. Not when there’s so much richness of what was created after they arrived here.

I don’t understand all these ethnic groups in the United States who escaped starvation, religious persecution, political unrest, economic disadvantages and then just basically tried to recreate what they left or pine to return someday. The United States was a land of opportunity, and I don’t know why more groups didn’t use that chance to wholesale recreate themselves and start anew keeping what worked and embracing all that they had access to once they arrived?

no, not at all. The french side at least has nice food. But as a whole they are suspicious and ingrown.

We used to call the Canton of Valais Land of the Big Heads because of all the inbreeding. Things have changed but still some of those mountain villages...

I found them to be nice.

I've never met any.

R6, I think it is human nature to not understand why you are unhappy. Introspection is a difficult skill and even if you master it, it can be unpleasant.

I've known plenty of people who are miserable, and although it's clear to me why they are unhappy (bad relationship, bad job, drug or alcohol problem, etc.) if you ask them, the cannot tell you what the problem is.

I think of all Europeans the Swiss have maintained a kind of innocence. Yes, there are many rules and regulations and complete strangers will point them out to you,, but people can be quite helpful in a touching and innocent kind of way as well .

R6 I have ancestors from that region of Switzerland too. They didn't stay in eastern PA with the PA Dutch and headed farther west, but the religious reasons were the same.

They’re the bossiest bottoms in all of Europe.

Say what you want but they created a society where the public transportation systems are interconnected precisely and efficiently, where cities and towns have extremely well built and complete infrastructures, where there is no universal health care yet no government health system, and where the economy can shrug off an 18 month pandemic with little effort but a fair amount of DEATH. Tradeoffs.

Was supposed to read: there IS universal health care but no government health system.

They have sensible, easy-to-assemble furniture, so there’s that.

I'm neutral.

R8, How are the Valaisiens any different from the Vaudois?

In general, the Swiss (behind closed doors) are a bit closed-minded because throughout their history they have benefited from the impenetrable border of the Alps. So at times, their mentality resembles that of an island nation; antagonistic to outsiders. They even look somewhat suspiciously at their own countrymen in other cantons, particularly the Italian speaking part.

Then let us not forget their long-standing private banking business, which has been a secret refuge for the pilfering of: (the original) Nazis, despots, and drug dealers from all over the world; including shoe-aholic Imelda Marcos.

But then again, there are those Teuscher Chocolates...

What furniture are the Swiss known for, r17?

Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, did live in Switzerland for decades until his death in 2018. Yet IKEA is a Swedish company. Many Americans don't realize Switzerland and Sweden are not the same country. They also think Switzerland is a cold country in the North of Europe.

Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. How do I delete that? This is so embarrassing.

R21 Biedermeier

They're so proud of themselves and smug, when their wealth is based on being insular, not allowing much immigration (unless you're wealthy - then you get a free pass), stealing money from Jewish families and destroying the papertrail, then serving as the finance and banking arm for crooks and criminals all over the world.

They're so rule-based and uptight (a friend parked slightly askew in a parking spot and a Swiss citizen sat on his car to make a citizen's arrest; you have to clean light bulbs before you vacate an apartment, etc.) but seem oblivious or willfully ignorant that their economy is based on being the slimiest, amoral people on the planet.

Fuck them.

[Quote]They have sensible, easy-to-assemble furniture, so there’s that.

You mean the Swedish, of course, but like most Americans you don't know the difference. Quite pathetic.

I like two cute skilled Swiss hockey players now in the NHL: 1st overall draft pick in 2018 Nico Hischer (New Jersey Devils), and Roman Josi (Nashville Predators).

Sorry, sorry, sorry, but don't know how to do links on my tablet.

But I think hockey fans here would find them attractive.

Press the link and a copy paste window should pop up.

I HATE to agree with the GGG troll on anything, but he's right. The Swiss are the least pleasant nation in Europe: petty, smug and insular, over-wealthy (thanks to other people's dirty money) and under-educated. There's lovely alpine scenery, but no real Culture with a capital C, no beautiful buildings -- a nation of clockmakers, that's all.

I wouldn't want to be buried there.

A lot of cute twinks in Switzerland.

I love Swiss ROLLS.

Very practical people. Don’t spend a lot of time wondering about the sources of all that money. Finders keepers.

Frau Merkel passes the Holidays in Switzerland each year.

Swiss tile is really weird. Their architecture is strange and wonky, too.

I know somebody with a Swiss personality and she's a big crybaby. Very dependent, too.

Says the guy from the country where literal nazis took the streets to protest a lockdown.

[quote]You mean the Swedish, of course, but like most Americans you don't know the difference. Quite pathetic.

Can you tell the difference between all Latin American nationals or Norther Afriacan ones, cause I bet you can't. You're just as smug and ignorant.

What’s up with those girls boarding schools, that sounds like some kind of racket. I think Princess Di went to one. Are they basically diploma mills or what?

R32 -correction: finders keepers and burn any evidence.

Switzerland has one of the most egalitarian political systems in the world. Also, its welfare system is as good as that of Norway or Denmark.I.

This Swiss also have a strong sense if civic pride. That dent in your car has to be fixed within 30 days.

Imagine being the world's most corrupt nation, laundering money for every dictator and plutocrat in the world and still keep a smug face of authenticity and trust on the transparency of the process?

Imagine a nation where you can lobby congress for the interest of corporations against the people freely and still keep a straight face of civic pride.

I like her hot chocolate.

R41 I prefer her milk shake.

Best standard of living in the world

I've ALWAYS heard the Swiss are cold, and arrogant. I've not met any myself, so I can't speak from experience. I had a lovely time during my limited travels in France though, and those folks are often unfairly judged/stereotyped by U.S. citizens.

R43 - easy to do when you don't let anyone in and you steal from others and money-launder for the biggest criminals and terrorist organizations in the world.

And the Scandinavians have just as good or better standard of living without being crooks or liars AND by letting plenty of people immigrate into their country.

Oh, do fuck off already. Was your C permit pulled?

Swiss beef.

R25 Switzerland has allowed immense immigration. It's one of the most multicultural countries in Europe, rich or poor. They imported working class populations for several generations.

r29 they are ruthlessly practical about burials too. Your skeleton stays in the ground 2 or 3 decades then gets trashed to make room for another! Only VIPs stick around forever.

OK, this is absolute minimum exposure, but I spent two nights in Zurich and was largely self-directed so there wasn't a lot of interaction. I was truly astounded by many people's inability or unwillingness to explain the tram system to me. I have been in many, many large cities and I have *always* found someone to help me if I ran into trouble about what ticket to buy or train to take. New York, Tokyo, Taiwan, Cairo? No problem. Zurich? Two people actually turned away from me. I was surprised but not bothered. People around the world always seem to be ready to help someone on public transportation. Just not my experience in Switzerland. Lovely country, though.

Cute Swiss twinks in French speaking Vaud.

The only fun thing about the Swiss is that they look down on Bavarians and other Germans (who are even lower than Bavarians to them), and complain how the Germans are slipshod, not organized, loud and imprecise.

This of course makes Germans crazy. Crazier.

Yes, I'm speaking of German Swiss. To them the other Swiss are like the Africans in Dubai.

R49, the Dutch do the same thing.

They make good cough drops.

When they cum they yell out RICOLA!

I've had layovers through Zurich a dozen times. It is one of the nicest, cleanest - and most expensive airports. FAs on Swiss Air are generally nice and there are a few hotties.

R48 - immense? Most of their foreign residents are from Western Europe and their border countries - France, Italy, Germany, Austria.

85% of them are Europeans and white. Only 4% from Africa, 6% from Asia. And presumably many of the POCs from these countries are wealthy elites.

Compare to the UK - with India, Poland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Nigeria all in the top 10 of foreign residents.

It is not the same - not even close.

Compare La Suisse to the UK? Oh, dear. Never.

Their fondue is divine.

Their cheese is OK, once you get over what a huge ripoff the holes are.

R60 most cheese is sold by weight you FAT WHORE

Smell me, bitches!

R61 Such a cunty use of FAT WHORE!

I'm so proud, it truly brings tears to my eyes!!! xoxo

OP, please die now.

Thank you!

My family heritage is a mix of Swiss (the German speaking part) on one side and German on the other. My Swiss grandmother had a thick German accent and I remember being a small child and wondering why she "talked so funny". People from these countries tend to be very durable, meaning no matter what life throws at them they stubbornly persevere and live into their 90s. At least that's the case in my family. I think there's some cultural aspect to it.

With salt and pepper.

BTW, I **LOVE** swiss cheese. I've never met anyone else who likes it. And as a child I was fascinated with clocks, I love chocolate, and spent much of my career in banking. It must be genetic.

Swiss people are assholes. I’ve been several times because the country is gorgeous, but the Swiss are just outright jerks for no reason. The nicest people I’ve dealt with there were all from other countries (Germany, Italy, The Netherlands).

I dislike the Dutch.

They're all just assholes.

Wasn't there a canton in which women could not vote until 1974?

And a saying I read somewhere: Swiss women: extremely hard to get one, and never worth the trouble.

Having lived in Fribourg, I can honestly say that the Swiss I worked worked with were the most private people ever.

The French, German, Brits and Italians in my office would regularly socialise after work, but not our Swiss co-workers.

The city is bilingual, so you'd would walk in one bar speaking French and another speaking German.

The gay clubs and bars are nice. I had a great Fuckbuddy in Zurich. Hi Jeff if you're reading.

R70 Yes, I think it was one of the Appenzells, inner or outer, I can't remember.

R52 Yes, however, Swiss German is not an official written language per se. German is the written language they use.

OK, so I'll go. I've known three Swiss people, and have been there twice, on short trips.

First guy was a college dorm mate who was in the US for a three-month English immersion course. Very kind to me, but also very inherently/culturally/linguistically arrogant. He was not an actual college student; he was avoiding mandatory military service and his vocation was as an apprentice "precision mechanic". Literally, a watchmaker! Oh, god, did we have a blast mis-communicating over wine and weed, both aged 20, in 1983, in San Francisco.

While talking politics (in as much as stoned, zit-faced boys can) he tried to tell me that "Amereeka eeze zee garbage pail ov zee vorld". I said, oh you mean a "multicultural melting-pot that attracts ingenuity and a variety of perspectives". No, that's not what he meant -- not at the time. He was one of the first people I came out to ("zere must be zmoething in zee SF Bay vater. for so much homosexuality.."). He insisted on following me to the Castro for gay bar hopping to observe this aberrant American behavior. Swiss Dude was straight (and from the "German" side/Zurich), but seeing this tall, skinny white boy cut loose on the dance floor at Cafe San Marcos was priceless. He told me that all Swiss households had to have a machine gun in the basement and that the murder rate was one per year, which was/is the daily rate in the Bay Area. I tried to explain to him that if it were the same in the US, there would be no living humans. I regret not maintaining contact, which is a flaky West Coat American thing, I know. I swear that his name was either Haans or Franz. I swear.

Second Swiss guy, Andreas. Like 7 feet tall with black curly hair (he had to have been part Italian but spoke the Germanic dialect of Swiss-speak) -- the same year and same English immersion program, but this was a shared house off campus that I was living in and he was bedding my tall, intellectual, gorgeous, black female housemate, and I'm sure that in his world, this was an exotic experience that would have been forbidden or inaccessible in Switzerland. She moved away for grad school during his last two weeks in SF and sort of turned him over to me. Everyone knew I was smitten. He chose to sleep with me in my bed instead of the living room floor because the universe knew it was the right thing to do. There was no sex, despite my attempts, but the cuddling was epic. We listened to Edith Piaf, Grace Jones, and Kate Bush 24/7. He was not on an academic tract and was an apprentice photographer. He just wanted to play American basketball, but that was against the apparent rules. His assignment was to drive (a delivery) a car from SF to the East Coast and snap a picture every 10 miles. I know that his "professor's" intent was to capture stereotypical, fat Americans eating fast food and cornfields of Iowa and parking lots. And the Grand Canyon. It was rigid. And Swiss?

Those dudes were basking in temporary freedom.

Josiette became my second mom (not necessarily by my choice) who lives down the block. She's from near Geneve (French side) but speaks in a commanding language that seems Germanic: must, should, mandatory, decent, proper, etc.. and yet she is so warm. Even as she removes the cigarette carton and jug of Vodka from my shopping cart at Safeway. We communicate, mostly in French (my late "real mom" taught jr. high school languages) but there's this sort of directive thing that doesn't seem French.

Impressions from my two short visits to Geneva/Laussane and Basel in Switzerland: sterile, overly manicured, colorless, rules and regulations obsessed, cold, close-minded, unimaginative, unapproachable people. Everything -- the architecture and urban planning (every square inch is planned and accounted for) is oppressive.

Being detained by military police in Guatemala City was more pleasant.

And when you take the train through the tunnel from Suisse into Italy.... how these two countries exist on the same planet is beyond me.

The Swiss slaughter and eat dogs and cats just like the Chinese and some other Asians. Disgusting vile cunts, and it's legal.

My dealings with the Swiss have been limited to certain clients of the consulting firm where I used to work. I can't say if those clients were representative of the nation at large, but they were the most stridently unpleasant people I ever had to deal with. We finally dissolved our contract with one of them when they refused to take a referral to an African-American colleague for what were pretty clearly racial reasons.

I had a coworker who I hated and I would complain about it. Another coworker said: "That's just how Austrians are."

I had another coworker (he was my manager, actually, and hired me) who was Swiss Italian. Really great person. Funny, spoke a ton of different languages, etc.

I used to think Swiss people were assholes then I visited Hungary, you can't top that, true masters of grump.

Yes, my Austrian coworker was always grouchy!

We all hate them, no?

The Swiss and the Dutch are the cuntiest cunts of Europe. The Portuguese on the other hand are sweethearts.

Swiss and dutch men are tall, hung and mostly good looking what is not to love?

Just as long as I can visit Audrey in Tolochenaz, R49.

I don't care how frauish it is, I'm paying my fucking respects. I'm sure it would be stolen, but I'd love to leave a brand new bottle of L’Interdit on her grave. I'll continue to travel to many destinations, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime situation. Who knows. Folks may be overly protective, and leave it alone.

Helen, still spreading your hate I see!

When I was a prosecutor, I worked on a white-collar case that involved Swiss, German, Japanese and American defendants. The Swiss defendants were intimidatingly well educated, brilliant and ruthless. They made the German defendants seem laid-back and fun loving. The Swiss were impeccable crooks. Had it not been for an American suspect who was cheating on his wife and was susceptible to intimidation, the conspiracy might never have been broken.

And with regards to defense attorneys, the Swiss defense attorneys guarded their clients' interests without any shame. If I had secrets that needed keeping, I would hire a Swiss lawyer.

You'd only need a Swiss lawyer if you were facing trial in Switzerland, r84. And as this thread has once again affirmed, if you're a white-collar crook -- especially a rich one -- you don't ever need to worry about that.

No, darling, they were facing trial in the United States. And they went to prison. And they paid a record-breaking fine.

I have a large branch of family in Australia, and have spent time there. Agree that many are aloof yet insecure and arrogant, chips on their shoulder, passive aggressive. Not the friendly shrimp on barby stereotypes.

I also have northern Italian family - very northern, near St moritz. I guess that’s not strictly Swiss but close, and they are lovely and elegant.

So, how soon is National Socialism coming back? Do you have things to say about we Brits or Americans? We have developed some very interesting weaponry just. For. You! (Boom!)

Swiss men are not like Dutch men at all. Dutch are often tall and often hung. Swiss men are all over the map on these counts.

Some of you are holding onto old generalizations about Switzerland. For example Obama gutted Swiss Bank Secrecy. It was a huge win for US and other fiscs, and the Swiss are mostly pissed off still because it was an historic change to a cherish cultural value. Nowadays the Swiss feds regularly freeze accounts of tax cheaters - including Americans and oligarchs and plutocrats and dictators. Also all Swiss banks routinely report everything about their American clients the IRS. Mandatory. Some banks didn't feel like doing that Swiss sin so they dumped their American clients.

As for ethnic diversity - the French Speaking part does the best. But the situation in Switzerland is unique in that it has a high percentage of "resident foreigners" so the population is very mixed but the Swiss Citizen mix, less so. Most foreign nationals keep their foreign citizenship and it's their children who become Swiss.

Yes the culture runs to the cold, discreet, and cunty, but also highly professional. Like a number of European nations, the Swiss consider many "working class" occupations to have high standards of professionalism and training required. This is changing but it hasn't been wiped out. And quality of life and services is better due to this. Everyone pays through the nose for all this of course.

I am too poor to live, be and exist in Switzerland.

I was once at a outlet village in German speaking Switzerland, looking very stylish in a green coat, skinny grey jeans and a yellow scarf. A young, Swiss couple walked past me and seemed to talk about me. After exiting the Lindt store, they passed me again by coincidence and the woman at least seemed to notice me more and I think she laughed to the man about me, who also chuckled a bit and I thought she said something to him like 'there he is again'. I never had anything like it happen to me in all the years afterwards, so I wonder what triggered it. Maybe I seemed gay to them?

What is your opinion on this? It still hurts a bit now that I remember it and it makes me dislike Swiss people. I think they stare a lot and it makes you think they judge you. I am German and we stare as well, but I felt really uncomfortable being stared at once by a couple in a Zurich restaurant. It feels so alienating being there.

The birthplace of Calvinism.

I have mentioned this on Datalounge before: the only place on Earth I have been mugged was in Switzerland. Then I had the indignity of spending 2 weeks in Lausanne (full of Saudis, FYI, and the locals treat them like shit) waiting for a new passport and credit cards. The food was generally expensive and bland (pork loin, fried potatoes) so I ate like a pig at the (very good) hotel breakfast and ate a pot of yoghurt for dinner. The lake is very pretty but I was attacked by insects during my one and only dip.

The Swiss-French have all Therese customer service and snideness that their actual French cousins are accused of.

The Swiss-Germans are nicer, but have the ugliest accents known to mankind - nasal, squealing and punctuated with giggles, even the men. Zurich is beautiful but it a coincidence that Dignitas is there? The suicide capital of the world for a reason.

[quote] The Swiss and the Dutch are the cuntiest cunts of Europe. The Portuguese on the other hand are sweethearts.

If you speak Portuguese or Spanish you'll find out quickly Portuguese people are anything but sweethearts, specially if you speak Brazilian Portuguese or any variation of Latin American Spanish.

Saudis in Lausanne? Must have been the 90s. Before COVID there were Saudis in Geneva of course and there is a layer of completely unimportant unknown "poor" Saudis (no titles, only multimillionaires) in residence in Montreux.

I only ever bumped into Saudis out shopping on the Bahnhofstraße in Zürich. I much preferred the Italian, Romanche and Italian speaking parts to the French part where I lived.

The comment early about the country being sterile is quite true. Nothing was ever untidy or anything out of place.

I always found the rules like no washing your car on Sunday or using your washing machine after 10pm, were bizarre.

I had Swiss neighbors. One of the sons definitely got super hot when he grew up.

The entire country is filled with people who wear brown shoes. Their food is equally dull.

My experience with Swiss people is that they're not particularly welcoming to non-white folks.

R96 in apartment buildings we can do nothing after 10 pm, still. When I moved here (90s) Sunday was DEAD - you had to go to a dark pharmacy and ring a bell if you had an emergency drug need. Nothing was open except restaurants. NOTHING. This has changed a little bit. I loved those Sundays. It felt like the USA in the USA 60s.

The food is simple but if you go to a good but not chic local restaurant, the preparation and ingredients are impeccable. In the last 15 years this has changed a little bit but not entirely. When all your meat and dairy and baked goods are local Swiss, it tastes great and does not need much. They even manage great tasting wine. There are a number of the worlds best restaurants who know how to punch this up into the stratosphere, such as l'Hôtel de Ville in Crissier. But it will always have that NOT TOO SHOWY Swiss character. The protestants managed to stamp out exuberance from even the Catholic cantons' cultures.

R99 I forgot about everything being closed on Sunday. I lived near the train station so at least I had some shops open. Otherwise, we just went to Gruyeres walking on a Sunday.

I do love gruyere cheese in my potatoes au gratin and mac n cheese. That is all.

Saudis come to Switzerland during the summer months to escape the scorching heat. Then they leave

I like traditional seasonal Swiss food. Fondue, raclette in winter, ham hock/beans/chard stew in autumn, dandelion or rampon salad in spring. J'adore boiled saucisson au choux.

Let's be clear that dog and cat are not served in restaurants. In fact this practice is limited to some ignorant farmers. The great majority of Swiss find this revolting.

In fact the Swiss take pet ownership seriously. The welfare of the pet is paramount. .

Why were the big on the chard? Where did that come from?

Swiss stabbing attack: a Swiss woman attacked two other women in a department store n the city of Lugano on Tuesday, regional police said, adding that "terrorist motives" could not be excluded

I have to say that I always felt safe in Switzerland, albeit that nine times out of ten, when you boarded a train, half the carriage would be soldiers returning to their barracks fully tooled up.

My perceived Swiss stereotype - efficient, bloodless, rules-observing, adhering to national traditions (like a family’s class position in society doesn’t change over centuries); not risk takers; don’t make waves or they'll report you to authorities; has a long gun, but the ammunition is locked up in a gun club; doesn’t get involved in the perceived morality or immorality of money/riches; very clean, antiseptic & orderly; predictable and expects predictability from others.

My stereotype of Swiss is not good or bad. It’s neutral

[quote] No, darling, they were facing trial in the United States. And they went to prison. And they paid a record-breaking fine.

This has to be many years ago. Prison doesn’t happen anymore to the very wealthy. Fines still happen, but they’re essentially a fee for money laundering. Launder $10M, pay $400,000 fine. Profit: $9.6M.

It was about 25 years ago, r108, but it didn't involve "very wealthy" individuals. These were executives for major corporations, well paid, but not hugely rich themselves. I read the assessments from the probation office, so I'm fairly sure. They didn't receive painfully long sentences: three months, a year and a day for a few. They knew they had to do some time in order for their corporations to be allowed to resume business in the U.S., which was their main market.

And since we're discussing national stereotypes, a French corporation was also involved, but it was "first in the door" to make a deal and its executives didn't do any time.

I lived and worked in Davos a number of years ago. I enjoyed my time there and had an opportunity to visit different areas of the country on weekends. I found the Swiss to be honest, dedicated to the family, and took their job with an understanding of responsibility. For instance, everyone arrived on time at 8 AM. At noon, everything stopped and went on a two-hour lunch break. During this time, they would pick up their children from school and have lunch with them. If not, they would ride bikes, hike, or ski all depending on the weather. What was amazing is their promptness on returning to work at exactly 2 PM. They would work from 2-6 PM and stop right on time. No long hours, no taking work home. On Saturdays, everyone shopped as the stores were closed on Sunday. You were expected to relax, enjoy time with your family, or engage in outside activities.

I think many Americans would be shocked to learn that most of the Swiss are not materialistic. They live in nice apartments that are not large. They don't have TVs in every room and usually have no more than two cars (if one at all). They use their trains to travel through much of the country and good public transportation systems in the larger cities. In fact, even Davos has excellent bus systems that I used every day.

Every home and apartment building must have a bomb shelter. Often guns or additional foods are kept in these quarters. Religion is not a high priority for most Swiss. However, they are very dogmatic with regards to rules and relish their style of democracy. The entire population vote on major items of interest such as purchasing new military planes or immigration policies. Becoming a Swiss citizen is difficult. Privacy is paramount to the Swiss and they guard it religiously.

Building construction including homes is meant to last for centuries. They are extremely well built with block, well insulated, and very energy efficient. Everything runs on electricity so gas ranges in homes are almost unheard of except in a few areas. Cleanliness and maintaining your property is almost like a religion. Your neighbors will turn you in for minor violations such as upkeep on your property or even noise. You cannot mow your lawn on Sunday!

The education system is very good with the requirement that English become the second language in school by age 8. Their health care system is very good, everyone is covered but the costs are high.

They value precision and expect everyone to follow that philosophy. If you are on a train and it is late more than 5 minutes, the conductor will apologize after each stop to the riders! Train doors are promptly closed within 30 seconds of the departure time...no exceptions.

Many Americans would not like to live there. Some of our sloppy habits are not tolerated. I felt extremely safe in Switzerland and had to adapt to some of their culture and rigid society. But there are benefits to this approach.

I like Swiss cheese.

In my apartment block we would practice emergency evacuation to our nuclear bomb shelter each year.

It was a nice way to meet neighbours, because I never saw or spoke to any. They're very private people.

I traveled everywhere by public transport. I had a season ticket for the whole country, for trains, buses, steamers and even some cable cars!

R61, air has mass and thus has weight. 32 pounds per square inch, to be exact.

R61 is denying reality.

R61, you seem both stupid and arrogant.

Are you Swiss?

Delicious Can't find it in USA.

I’m glad America has bad cheese. If we had good cheese I’d eat a lot of it and it’s too fattening.

Cheese with things-in-it.

Hard pass.

Too much cheese does make it hard to pass things, R118.

Cumin makes it pass.