Are some people really having a hard time making friends or are they just joking? I find it rather easy to make friends in Switzerland.
You don’t, just like we don’t. We have classmates and colleagues, not friends.
swiss people are boring as f. And this is coming from a swiss person. Find foreign friends, much more fun to hang around with.
Not sure what outweighs the other… the effort or the truth in this meme 😅
People don’t want to admit it but it’s true. I see it everywhere, from my workplace, university and even in restaurants. Swiss group up with the Swiss and the rest on their own. It’s quite funny to see, especially at my job, there’s like 10% non-Swiss and in all gatherings, the Swiss are all over the room and the non-Swiss huddled up in a corner.
Sad to see and it’s kinda funny since all the new hires are German and still discrimination is a thing.
Sad but true
There is a simple set of rules to follow to make swiss friends:
You don‘t
Or you already have friends/job experience which helps you get friends/a job.. how to start? I dunnow
On a more serious note hobbies are the best one can do.
In Switzerland we do not break the ice. We cut it gently. Breaking is far too loud.
Evening beer and your good
Seeing posts like these make me feel glad that I have as many Swiss friends as I do
This often boils down to entitled people wanting to make friend while speaking only english in a country where it’s not the national language.
Now let’s imagine the average swiss person might have, I don’t know 5 friends he likes to spend time with most likely either coworkers or ex schoolmates, maybe in this group 2 are confident enough with their english to hold a conversation.
Now let’s say that some english speaking guy joins this group. Either someone is going to have a frustrating time playing translator, or someone is going to have a frustrating time not understanding most of what is said.
I know if I was to do a party with swiss friends in Geneva I would never invite someone that doesn’t speak french at least well enough to hold a conversation.
**TL;DR** : How to make swiss friends in two easy steps
1. Learn French if you’re in the French speaking part, learn German if you’re in the German speaking part, learn Italian if you’re in the Italian speaking part.
2. Have a hobby, join a group, club, etc linked to that hobby.
If you’re not willing to learn a new language, you can always hang out with other expats, you might make friend with some of their swiss friends but it’s going to be way more hit or miss.
The secret to finding friends in Switzerland is to find people who are not Swiss.
Well it kinda makes sense. I picked up one or two friends everywhere I went (school, gymnasium, uni, jobs, hobbies). I now have quite a few friends and not enough time as it is to see everyone frequently. While I enjoy getting to know new people, I have friends I’ve known since before Kindergarten. So if time is an issue, I’m not dropping people I’ve known forever for people I’m just getting to know, people who come here as expats and will most likely leave at some point again, etc.
So the new friends I gain are usually people I hang out with due to something rather frequently for a certain amount of time until they are friends, and I usually just don’t have time (or energy) to even bother with “friendship-dates” to get to know new people during dedicated time to do this. I’d rather be seeing my friends during that time.
(This also applies for dating, which is why I’m almost always single, but TBH it’s just usually not worth it).
Just go up to some on a train or bus and as loud as you can say “Howdy!! My name is so and so. What’s yours?”
Have you ever thought that it might be your problem? What I see is that Switzerlnad attracts a lot of IT people for exapmple. Would you consider that they are so open and cheerful, even if from Spain, Italy or from Greece (stereotipically countries where people arrive with open arms)?No,of course not. It has to be the swiss.
It s kind of tiring. At the beginning you think. Let s give useful tips to the expats. Then you start to think. Ok,these are not people who are coming for a minimal wage and have to cross the ocean. They are usually well educated, live in neighbourhoods like Seefeld, received a relocation package of which so many swiss would just dream of,but the only thing they complain after one week,is how to make friends. So,with your socioeconimic power,ever thought about learning the language,the culture? I have much more pitty for someone working at migros kasse,swiss or not,than another expat in IT getting 12k a month but complaining so much about Switzerland. You have the power. There,there is a mirror,look at it.
17 comments
“Colleagues”, not friends.
Classic!
Are some people really having a hard time making friends or are they just joking? I find it rather easy to make friends in Switzerland.
You don’t, just like we don’t. We have classmates and colleagues, not friends.
swiss people are boring as f. And this is coming from a swiss person. Find foreign friends, much more fun to hang around with.
Not sure what outweighs the other… the effort or the truth in this meme 😅
People don’t want to admit it but it’s true. I see it everywhere, from my workplace, university and even in restaurants. Swiss group up with the Swiss and the rest on their own. It’s quite funny to see, especially at my job, there’s like 10% non-Swiss and in all gatherings, the Swiss are all over the room and the non-Swiss huddled up in a corner.
Sad to see and it’s kinda funny since all the new hires are German and still discrimination is a thing.
Sad but true
There is a simple set of rules to follow to make swiss friends:
You don‘t
Or you already have friends/job experience which helps you get friends/a job.. how to start? I dunnow
On a more serious note hobbies are the best one can do.
In Switzerland we do not break the ice. We cut it gently. Breaking is far too loud.
Evening beer and your good
Seeing posts like these make me feel glad that I have as many Swiss friends as I do
This often boils down to entitled people wanting to make friend while speaking only english in a country where it’s not the national language.
Now let’s imagine the average swiss person might have, I don’t know 5 friends he likes to spend time with most likely either coworkers or ex schoolmates, maybe in this group 2 are confident enough with their english to hold a conversation.
Now let’s say that some english speaking guy joins this group. Either someone is going to have a frustrating time playing translator, or someone is going to have a frustrating time not understanding most of what is said.
I know if I was to do a party with swiss friends in Geneva I would never invite someone that doesn’t speak french at least well enough to hold a conversation.
**TL;DR** : How to make swiss friends in two easy steps
1. Learn French if you’re in the French speaking part, learn German if you’re in the German speaking part, learn Italian if you’re in the Italian speaking part.
2. Have a hobby, join a group, club, etc linked to that hobby.
If you’re not willing to learn a new language, you can always hang out with other expats, you might make friend with some of their swiss friends but it’s going to be way more hit or miss.
The secret to finding friends in Switzerland is to find people who are not Swiss.
Well it kinda makes sense. I picked up one or two friends everywhere I went (school, gymnasium, uni, jobs, hobbies). I now have quite a few friends and not enough time as it is to see everyone frequently. While I enjoy getting to know new people, I have friends I’ve known since before Kindergarten. So if time is an issue, I’m not dropping people I’ve known forever for people I’m just getting to know, people who come here as expats and will most likely leave at some point again, etc.
So the new friends I gain are usually people I hang out with due to something rather frequently for a certain amount of time until they are friends, and I usually just don’t have time (or energy) to even bother with “friendship-dates” to get to know new people during dedicated time to do this. I’d rather be seeing my friends during that time.
(This also applies for dating, which is why I’m almost always single, but TBH it’s just usually not worth it).
Just go up to some on a train or bus and as loud as you can say “Howdy!! My name is so and so. What’s yours?”
Have you ever thought that it might be your problem? What I see is that Switzerlnad attracts a lot of IT people for exapmple. Would you consider that they are so open and cheerful, even if from Spain, Italy or from Greece (stereotipically countries where people arrive with open arms)?No,of course not. It has to be the swiss.
It s kind of tiring. At the beginning you think. Let s give useful tips to the expats. Then you start to think. Ok,these are not people who are coming for a minimal wage and have to cross the ocean. They are usually well educated, live in neighbourhoods like Seefeld, received a relocation package of which so many swiss would just dream of,but the only thing they complain after one week,is how to make friends. So,with your socioeconimic power,ever thought about learning the language,the culture? I have much more pitty for someone working at migros kasse,swiss or not,than another expat in IT getting 12k a month but complaining so much about Switzerland. You have the power. There,there is a mirror,look at it.