 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Within 2 hours by train...? Engelberg... maybe Junfrau..
All should easily be within a 2 hr drive
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I lived and work in central Zurich in the Eighties. I had a great time with everything from rowing on the lake to the Opera (honest!) and everthing in between, Zurich has a veneer of a staid business and banking city but underneath there is a real buzz, as an example, there is a red light district in the old town, being Swiss its all organised and legal! I certainly never expected that 
A lot of folk leave town at weekends and go up to the mountains which is quite esay because there aregood motorway links.
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We've been here 6 years now and love it so much we've put down roots. By car, a 2 hour radius gives you a huge choice - Klosters (Davos is prob another half hour on), Flims/Laax, Lech/St Anton, Engelberg, Grindelwald, possibly even Verbier or St Moritz - all depending, of course, on where you actually live (in the city, or which direction out). The two main local resorts that Zurich folk go to are Hoch-Ybrig (www.hoch-ybrig.ch) if you have a car or Flumserberg (www.flumserberg.ch) if you're reliant on public transport. The latter does get very busy at weekends, though, because many city residents don't keep a car. But you can get a Snow 'n' Rail ticket to most resorts which combines the rail travel there and the lift pass with slight discount on both.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Sounds like the place to be...I'm not looking at staying there forever but if I like it you never know!
Thanks for the replies so far
boredsurfin, eng_ch, smolo, I forgot to ask this before: Is it easy to get by with just English ? I only know a few German phrases but would be keen to learn properly. Our German friends speak excellent English, so I never tried that hard before.
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pokemon, I did have a problem in that most people wanted to practice their English on me and I probably left speaking less German and French than when I arrived. Be aware tho in Zurich they speak their own version of German sometimes called Zurideutsch. I was a breath of fresh air when someone spoke proper German to me 
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There's also a very lively expat scene for which English is the working language. Personally I avoid "expat" stuff and only get involved in business stuff, which is more "emigres" if you like, i.e. foreigners who are here more or less permanently, rather than transients  In fact, even that I avoided for the first 4 years. So the answer is yes you can get by without German, but I wouldn't advise it - probably best to sign up for Swiss German classes when you get here because it is almost a different language (and that's another thread altogether!)
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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pokemon, where did you find details about IT work near Zurich, you've got me interested now 
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IanS, www.monster.co.uk and www.jobup.ch both have search facilities for Zurich specifically but for all other Swiss cantons as well. There are also IT job agencies (e.g. www.swisslinx.com) that deal with Switzerland. Going through an agency means that they usually sort out the work permit for you. A lot of the major UK agencies have a European office that deals with Switzerland.
Just need to find the job now !
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks for that pokemon, unfortunately I can't look just now (I'm at work!).
I wonder what the wife will think about my latest scheme...
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I'm at work as well
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IanS, www.it.jobserve.com: all the jobs we have here get advertised there.
pokemon, It is entirely possible to work in IT here for years and never learn any German at all.
I live 20 mins SE of the city and by car I have a t-bar at 20 minutes. Small family area (Hochstuckli) at 30 minutes. Hoch-Ybrig and Flumserberg are 35 minutes. Engelberg is around an hour and Klosters/Davos and Flims/Laax are a bit further. There are a couple of small lifts doing night skiing but I've never tried them.
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You know it makes sense.
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Another smaller resort that would be well worth a visit is Braunwald. It was 2 hours by train when I did it a couple of years ago, would be much less by road. A smallish, quiet (even at half term), car free family resort.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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nessy,
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pokemon, It is entirely possible to work in IT here for years and never learn any German at all.
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I know its possible but why not learn German or Swiss German, its not that difficult if you try.
I,ve worked all over Europe inc Switzerland on a number of occasions and wherever I find myself I learn as much of the local language as possible.
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Poster: A snowHead
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pokemon, check out the railway station at the airport if you're going over. There's a booklet listing loads of rail/ski options, unfortunately threw the one away I picked up. You can get your ski passes with station with your rail tickets so no messing around and everything runs with the expected efficiency. The info is probably online somewhere.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rich, yes, it's called Snow'n'Rail which I mentioned earlier
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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rich, I think it's called SnowRail (and you won't see SchneeBahn) and www.sbb.ch normally has details, but I think that as it's seasonal it's not there any more. Posters normally start appearing autumn I think. I had two years of on and off in Zurich and loved it. Cracking place and would move back if I could.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Yippee! I have Harry Potter's invisibility cloak
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| eng_ch wrote: |
| probably best to sign up for Swiss German classes when you get here because it is almost a different language (and that's another thread altogether!) |
Arf, a joke surely. When I lived in Davos I didn't find the people of Zurich had any trouble with my slightly southern accented Hochdeutsch and I didn't find the Swiss too hard to understand except for the Ueberyokels in the valleys who spoke some kind of Bauerdeutsch - but I would probably have trouble understanding people in deepest Zommerzet. Written Swiss is almost the same as German with a couple of simplifications.
According to last week's Economist Zurich is the best city in the world to work in.
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boredsurfin, what are you laughing at, eng_ch hasn't posted on this thread 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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eng_ch, sorry, I had that post ready to submit for a while.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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skanky, no worries, it was just that you were the second person not to have read my first post!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| davidof wrote: |
| Arf, a joke surely. When I lived in Davos I didn't find the people of Zurich had any trouble with my slightly southern accented Hochdeutsch and I didn't find the Swiss too hard to understand except for the Ueberyokels in the valleys who spoke some kind of Bauerdeutsch - but I would probably have trouble understanding people in deepest Zommerzet. Written Swiss is almost the same as German with a couple of simplifications |
davidof, are you absolutely sure you really, positively want to open that can of worms?
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| According to last week's Economist Zurich is the best city in the world to work in |
I wouldn't argue much with that - not that I work in the city, although Mr Eng does. Certainly Zurich is regularly the number 1 or 2 city in the world in which to live (usually alternates with Vancouver)
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| eng_ch wrote: |
| skanky, no worries, it was just that you were the second person not to have read my first post! |
Well I only skim-read the whole thread so I would have read parts of it...
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You know it makes sense.
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stanton, just answering pokemon's question. He even said he wanted to learn.
Personally I am here for the duration and have learnt High German. Tuning into Swiss German is a matter of practice but personally I still find High German easier to understand. Learning Swiss German from scratch would be easier since it is quite simplified gramatically compared to High German but wouldn't be so useful in other German speaking countries.
BTW the Snow'nRail is a great way of getting to the mountains: http://www.railaway.ch/Deutsch/snowandrail/index.html 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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nessy, we're here for the duration too. I'm a translator with a degree in German and lived in Germany for a year and it still took me six months before I ceased to have any problems understanding Zurideutsch. I was 90% there after 3 months but I still got caught out with odd words such as "Chundechaertli"
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Poster: A snowHead
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And then of course Zurideutsch is very different to Swiss German in other areas.
I'm surprised no one's mentioned Snow'n'Rail yet, though.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| eng_ch wrote: |
| rich, yes, it's called Snow'n'Rail which I mentioned earlier |
DOH! 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks for all the banter
I think I understand the concept of snow and rail now
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Which reminds me, don't SBB offer some special skiing deals? You could look into those.
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If your working in Switzerland (residency) , you can get half price travel on the Public Transport Network.
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Or the GA card which means that for just over £100 a month (CHF275 or CHF2'990 a year) you get unlimited travel on trains, buses, trams, some boats and cable cars and reduced price tickets on many private systems. That's the one I'd be going for. Compare that to it costing £70 a month for travel between Hertford & Stevenage when I was doing it recently.
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FAQ
