After a year of living in Switzerland, I have to say that I am pretty sold. It is very beautiful here and I am really enjoying the lifestyle. It is definitely a lot slower-paced than crazy London-town was, but I am relishing the time spent in the outdoors, exercising, and exploring. I think the “Covid factor” also means it was a different year to what a typical year in Switzerland would have been like, as a lot of events were sadly cancelled, but hopefully we will get to experience some of those things in 2021.
There has definitely been a bit of culture shock, things are obviously done differently in different places, and you have to be pretty willing to adapt to enjoy living somewhere new. It is very easy to get used to things being done a certain way and finding anything different a struggle, but after multiple moves now I am learning to just roll with it and accept that there will be variability. Also, there are always pros and cons, no place has it all and does everything perfectly, so trade-offs are a big part of the moving experience. I enjoy certain things the most back in Canada, other things I preferred in London, and other things I like here. Vancouver I really miss sushi, the ocean, my life long friends, London I miss the big city feel, endless options for food, theatre, and events, and here in Switzerland I really love the lakes, mountains, outdoorsy things, plus the proximity to so many European countries for easy travel (even during COVID we still managed to do a fair bit this year all things considered).
I am also really glad that even though we have explored a fair bit of Switzerland now, there are still a lot of things on my Swiss list. I sort of assumed being a small, landlocked country that we would run out of things to do and see here, but we are actually not even close! And there are quite a few things I would happily do again/regularly, like some of our favourite lake days, mountains, and hikes. It is always nerve wracking moving somewhere new, unsure if you are making a good decision, but so far I think this has been a great decision and experience. I am super excited for more Swiss adventures to come!
Also, if we manage to get to Romania for December and Christmas (fingers crossed), then I will consider 2020 an overall success, in that we explored Switzerland, managed to travel to some new places and spend time with our families. I definitely cannot complain with that given how difficult 2020 has been. It is also quite funny thinking back to New Year’s Eve last year and thinking so positively that 2020 was the start of the new ‘roaring 20’s’, I could eat my words now….
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