Yep, the Samichlous is 6th December. He brings Lebkuchen, a spicy ginger-bread type of thing (dip it in hot chocolate!). He'll leave stuff in boots outside your front door. Santa does NOT, however, come at Christmas, and does not fill stockings.
Many places have stopped the 'no electricity to washing machines at lunchtime' thing meanwhile. I grew up in Switzerland and this year was the first time I heard of it - in the context of it being phased out in the village I was staying at ...
Yes, most flats have shared laundry facilities. However nowhere I lived was it ever a problem. We always had first come first serve, not allocated days, and it was always fine. There are certain advantages: You often get to use a top-notch machine, don't use up space in your flat, don't get the noise, don't have to worry about broken machines - your 'Abwart' will be taking care of that.
Easter means lots of yummy chocolate rabbits. I miss chocolate rabbits!
Basel people hate/make fun of Zurich people. And vice versa.
Dentists are ridiculously expensive.
Health insurance is expensive and obligatory. However, you will never be prescribed anything less than the most expensive treatment in existence and it will be nearly free. No capping, no cost-benefit considerations, no 'there is a better option but it is not available on the NHS'. If anything, you will have to fight against getting treatment, ask if something is really necessary - doctors' income is determined by what treatments they prescribe. They WANT you to have the most expensive. The downside is, next year your (and everybody's) health insurance will be even more expensive.
Swiss people think you must be from abroad, or your kids must be a bit stupid, if you send them to a private school. Only those who can't make it in state schools are sent to private schools by ambitious parents who just won't admit that their kids can't hack it.
Your DC's teacher might send them home from school in the middle of the day, alone, without checking if anyone will be at home, if they are sick or if they 'forgot their homework'.
School curricula vary from village to village. If you move into a different commune, you might find that your kids' new classmates have already done a year more of French but haven't started English yet or something.
Another problem about moving: If you are thinking about maybe perhaps being naturalised, eventually, you need to live in the same commune for the duration.
They say over half of the worlds' votings are held in Switzerland.
I'm not sure about Basle as it is a bit more international than other Swiss German places, but expect office times to be 8-12, 1-5.
I was once queuing at the immigration police office, long queues at about 9am, overheard an officer telling an applicant: 'Well next time you'd better be here at 8, that's when work starts, you'd better start assimilating to how things are here if you really want to live here.'
So yeah, rushhour is before 8, after 8 the only people you'll see on the streets are lazy students, retirees, and SAHMs.
The last place to grant women the right to vote was actually 1994, I think, not 1984. On the national level it was introduced 1972. People would gather on a public square to vote. They would vote by holding their rifle up. Naturally, women couldn't as they weren't in the military, no?
Maternity leave was introduced in hmmm... about 2005 I think. It's 14 weeks. Paternity leave is... one day. The day of birth.
There is an anti-racism law which makes it illegal to publicly claim that the holocaust didn't happen.
Switzerland has no prime minister or president. There are seven 'ministers', one of whom is 'first among equals' and represents the country abroad - for a year, then it's someone else's turn. Currently, 4 of these 7 are women.
Switzerland has the highest incidence of skin cancer within Europe. Be careful. (Due to the elevation - less atmosphere to filter the sunlight)
There is an excellent network of national and regional bicycle routes. Cycling in town is probably lots safer than in England too.
Hmm going to stop now... am obviously procrastinating ;)