Apr

18

Happy Foreigners

Filed Under Career, In the News, Society & Culture, Swissness | 10 Comments


The free Swiss tabloid 20 Minuten ran an article yesterday titled “Umzug in die Schweiz: Geld is nicht in her Hauptgrund (Moving to Switzerland: Money is not the Main Reason)” published on page 11.

Here’s the English translation of the article, courtesy of my translator-husband:

BERN. The beautiful country, better job prospects and the nice people are the most important reasons for moving to Switzerland. The high salary comes only after these three, based on a survey ranking.

Every third foreigner, who moved to Switzerland last year, now earns 1,600 Swiss francs more than before. Hardly anybody earns less than what they had been earning in their home country. This is the conclusion of a survey made among 490 foreigners by the internet price and service comparison portal Comparis.ch.

Yet money is not the main motive for moving to Switzerland. The beautiful country turns out to be a crucial factor, along with better job prospects and nice people. “Higher salaries,” “better chances to climb the career ladder” and “lower taxes” follow lower in ranking. Less bureaucracy is a decisive factor for 22 percent of the participants – this is the case for nearly every second Italian.

The Germans voted for the same order of ranking. “It is not just the material expectations which are met here but also the country in itself — and the people turn out to be better than expected,” as interpreted by Richard Eisler, CEO of Comparis.

Nearly 25 percent of the people questioned want to stay here for good. Only seven percent plan to return within one year.

Okay, I was not able to relate to this article. It has been a long time since I last used the word “‘career.” But I digress.

While Switzerland is indeed a beautiful country (and I’m using Italics here for emphasis) inhabited by generally nice people, I must say that the only reason I’m still here — the only thing that keeps me from flying back to my homeland and embrace the comfort of familiarity — is, my love for my Swiss husband. Call it a romantic gesture that requires a lot of gumption.

Mar

20

Shrink Suggestion

Filed Under Career, Faith & Values, General, Life & Leisure, Migrant Life, Society & Culture | 12 Comments


A couple of people I know had said that I could make a living in Switzerland as some sort of “pseudo-therapist” because I’m a very good listener (or so they say).

“You may not have the formal training to work as a therapist, but you do have the gift to make people better simply by listening to their stories of personal struggles.”

“Do you know that therapists in Switzerland are all booked up? What would happen to those who need to unburden themselves to someone else, in their personal quest for that sense of peace, serenity, or even sanity? They need someone like YOU!”

“You seem to be a great listener. Why not make money out of it?”

Look, guys. I’m not a shrink, and I don’t have a couch. But thanks for your affirmations. Your ideas are crazy, though. Besides, I’m not the type who would charge money for something that I would glady give to someone in need, emotionally or even spiritually: my time and my ears. (This whole work-as-a-listener idea was all brought up in jest anyway.)

Funny, even before these wacky suggestions from my friends cropped up, I saw this rather unique ad posted on an expat website. The ad read something like this: “I charge 50 Swiss francs an hour to listen to you.” I thought that was very enterprising of the person who wrote it.

Well, if we go by this hourly rate, I could have charged 50 Swiss francs to the jobless Moroccan guy who ranted about his perennial unemployment in Switzerland, another 50 Swiss francs to the bohemian Swiss teacher who confessed that he didn’t have a happy childhood, and yet another 50 Swiss francs to a Bosnian guy who talked about “an empty life despite a 10K monthly salary” (in Swiss francs, of course), and then a whopping 150 Swiss francs to a Swiss graduate student who confided about his love life gone awry.

They were all strangers to me, these people. I met the Moroccan guy and Swiss teacher at the local outdoor market downtown; the Bosnian lad, aboard the SBB train; and the Swiss economist, in my blog comments box.

And there was this elderly Swiss lady, probably in her eighties, from whom we asked for directions when we got lost during our biking sojourn last year. Our chat with her on the street could have ended with a simple “Thank you for your help” line. But when we were getting ready to leave, she suddenly blurted out that she was lonely. She had no family and no friends to talk to. I thought that was sad. So we stayed on and listened to her story, out there on the street…on a very hot and humid summer day.

I firmly believe that people just need to be listened to in an atmosphere of trust and understanding. A pair of willing ears is all it takes to help someone who’s bursting with feelings of pain and suffering or what-have-you deep inside. We don’t have to shove pieces of advice down people’s throats all the time; we just need to listen — well, unless advice is solicited and that’s a different story.

Maybe it’s time I buy a couch. But not for my “future clients.” For me. I need one as I dump all my unprocessed feelings of expat angst unto my very own pseudo-therapist: my husband.

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