Comments on Swisstory: Guest Post: How to Make Friends in Switzerland, Pa...

Thanks for these posts! My parents moved to Basel ...

2010-01-04T15:13:22.960+01:00

Thanks for these posts! My parents moved to Basel recently, and I've just found myself here for a two month stay in between jobs/homes. I've been pretty frustrated by what's become my overwhelmingly homebody experience, and it's good to know I'm not the only one.

This is oh so true! The Swiss tend to hang out wit...

2009-11-13T13:23:26.398+01:00

This is oh so true! The Swiss tend to hang out with people they have known for a long time - in my experience, it takes them a while to warm up, even when you'd think you'd have an "in" because your husband is a close friend (speaking from experience here ;-)).

Hi Wide Eyed Gypsy and Kathy, wow, those are both ...

2009-11-11T09:19:04.876+01:00

Hi Wide Eyed Gypsy and Kathy, wow, those are both great stories. I guess if you put in enough effort, you will get something out of it!

Thanks for posting on the topic. I was so interest...

2009-11-11T08:03:24.098+01:00

Thanks for posting on the topic. I was so interested to hear that Swiss people have a hard time meeting new people as well.

An expat friend of mine just had a party to introduce herself to her neighbors. Of the 30 invitations that went out, she got only three responses (2 were polite declines). The people who accepted said they lived in the building for 15 years and still didn't know anyone. They had been so excited that they would finally get the chance...

A friend who is 23, recenty moved into an apartmen...

2009-11-10T10:41:42.192+01:00

A friend who is 23, recenty moved into an apartment block in Geneva. He left a box of chocolates at all the doors in the building, introducing himself, and indicating that he would love to catch up for dinner.

A housewarming party that he threw a few weeks later had everyone attending, including the building concierge, and the bouncer fro the local pub!

Some out of the box thinking!

Yes, the new person pretty much has to do everythi...

2009-11-10T09:28:09.236+01:00

Yes, the new person pretty much has to do everything! It's totally foreign to us foreigners, who expect to be welcomed. That's great that you're meeting your Swiss neighbors though. That's how I started out with mine, although we didn't go to "du" for an entire year. But now we're going on a ski weekend together...I hope I can keep up...

For the second week in a row I am having Prosecco ...

2009-11-10T08:16:19.294+01:00

For the second week in a row I am having Prosecco with my upstairs Swiss neighbor and speaking Deutsch. We are already on the "du" and first name basis. I have also been invited by my other Swiss neighbor to have drinks and speak German. I think they are individuals like us that are at the same time governed by their social norms. Swiss social norms appear to be hard on the Swiss too as Chantal pointed out. My husband learned it was he who had to bring in his birthday cake so maybe they expect the new person to invite everyone out to lunch???