switzerland - moving from london

[Nanou1]

hello. my husband has just accepted a position in switzerland - in zug. any british families out there?! any advice you could give me? esp accommodation and school? dh starts there next month and dd (3) and i should move by september once his position is confirmed. am french (38) and dh british (42). have been in london 17 years and feeling a bit nervous about moving tbh. excited but nervous!
would love to hear from either french or british people out there. thank you.

Mainly German but with a bit of Swiss German thrown in, I learnt by speaking ifswim, so inevitably some swiss words crept in, but nobady says Guten Tag. I know a couple of people who set up their own business. I'm not that brave (or is it too lazy?). Do you know any German? I used to live in Basel, and there the Baslerdeutsch had a lot of French in it. Here it doesn't.

It varies a lot from region to region. My boys speak Swiss German, and are learning high German now at school (well, the eldest is)

i attended german classes at school.... 25 years ago and i was far more interested in doing my english homework... the german teacher told my parents there was no hope for me to ever speak german . ah ah ah

I've just had my first german lesson (long time since GCSE) and have found that, in the city, most people speak OK or excellent English. Quite a lot of French is spoken as well that I've seen. Unfortunately the telephone engineer only spoke Swiss-German and so I spent 20 minutes miming a bad phone call.........

Lots of people seem to see me as a good opportunity to practise their english (which said German teacher disapproves of strongly!)

yes, you'll find most professionals speak English but many workmen don't. Also, many people prefer to speak English over German, not just to practice their English, but some perceiver German to be a 'foreign' language which they're rather not speak, and others don't want to speak German in case they show themselves up by making mistakes (not that I'd ever notice) so actually, learning German can be hard as many people either can't or don't want to speak it. In the 1st years many people switched to English which I found frustrating, and only when my German had got to a good level did people stop switching.

DOn't worry, if you want to learn it you will - your commitment and mentality will be slightly different now to your German lessons 20 years ago.

And we^re always here to help.

Who wants to organise a Swiss mumsnet meet????

Grüezi everyone! a swiss mumsnet meet sounds like a great idea to me . From personal experience, Germans always reply in English when one tries to put 3 words together in their language... I am looking forward to learning German again to be honest and regard it as an opportunity. Also since i have now pretty much mastered English i think it will probably be easier to learn a third language.
ernest - are you writing your CV in English or Swiss or German
We are looking for some short term accommodation for dh in Zug ; any idea whom we should approach? many thanks

Have a look at those websites we emntioned previously, you get a lot of movement over the next few months before the next offical notice/removal dates and existing tenants are obliged to find someone to take it over or pay up themselves until the expiry. You may find short term ones on Immo.ch or Homegate.ch but short terms are more often sublets which are advertised by existing tenants, rather than landlords, in local press, word of mout or on those expat sites, Migros or Coop supermarket notice boards or on Xpat Xchnage. Does the company your dh is working for provide relocation help and /or pay for an agent - you could employ someone to research for you but it is ££££.

hi Lizs. thanks. will a look later.

Immo
Homegate
hth

hello everyone! hope you all had a lovely weekend. we went camping in the new forest near bournemouth for a dear friend's 40th and it was hell; very cold, very windy. we were so in touch with nature so we decided to go bowling since we were so cold and wet... we'd arranged long walks etc and ended up bowling!!! still, it was fun - looking back on it.
was wondering... i read somewhere there was no point in bringing our tv over to switzerland. can any of you confirm that?
dh going for a few meetings this week. we've decided he would take a small flat and we are only going to start looking mid july onwards even if it means we all live in a small flat for a while. i want to go and get a proper feel of zug and surrounding villages before we concentrate on a specific area. quite keen on the montessori in Baar. do you know of it? good or bad? apparently Baar is quite nice too. i'd really like dd to use her french outside home as she is only just starting talking in french without me having to prompt her!
definitely on for a swiss mumsnet gathering but probably not before october for me.

Your tv won't work on Swiss connections(usually cable is provided unless you install Satellite) but will standalone with a video/dvd and a plug adapter. Heard mixed things about that Montessori tbh but my info is several years old and the childcare and staff could change a lot in that time.

oh and a quick word of warning that many expat families desert CH for the summer as school breaks up mid June/early July and resumes towards the end of August. Consequently you may find Playgroups and activity groups follow the same making it a bit harder to find playmates initially.

thanks liz! we are thinking of only moving for good in september as dh wants to get a few months under his belt to make sure it's the right job for him. i am sure he'll find out pretty quickly whether he is made for it or not but that way it gives us time to sort out a few bits before we leave london. re montessori... do you know if french is taught in public schools there? really looking at the option of going local (apart from the financial aspect of it) to make the most of our experience there.

iirc in Canton Zurich they are going to introduce English as the standard 2nd language in schools starting in the next few years (2008 rings a bell but could be wrong), not so sure if Canton Zug is planning to do the same . You will find so much varies by Canton and even by Gemeinde. They are also changing the cut off dates for school entry , currently many use April 30th and are changing it to June or July but again this doesn't seem to be consistent. (ie your dc would turn 4 before this date to start Kindergarten in August of that same year). International schools use August 31st to confuse the issue further!

well... all this must keep expats wives busy then . dh's new firm said they would help us settle and offer advice etc. will work out a list with dh for thur when he goes.
do you miss switzerland at all?

Often they only do half days for Kindergarten and even "full time" school in practice means coming home for lunch between 11.30(or earlier sometimes) and 1.30ish, making it very difficult for women to work unless you happen to find a Tagesmutter or Mittagstische to fill in those hours. Then there is the situation where if a teacher is sick school gets cancelled at short notice !!

Do get the company to get you a Relocation Consultant , preferably one who not only finds a suitable apartment for you but also deals with the phone company, helps you fill in all the official forms etc and someone to do your taxes.

Also check that you and ds will get a residence permits easily. I think EU citizens are more accommodated now than when we went but even so don't assume that because they get dh a permit you can stay indefinitely too. There are different categories each with limitations affecting property ownership, taxes and status.

Yes we still miss it , mainly the friends we made and the fresh air, but the kids love their school here in a way ds didn't his there.