Goods and Bads of Life in Switzerland, 2.5 Years Later

There were times during The Frau’s visit to Switzerland last month (mostly when she was in the city relishing that EVERY car actually stopped for EVERY pedestrian) when she really wanted to move back. Like really, really wanted to move back. Especially when she saw Swiss children as young as her daughter confidently walking alone to school. Or when she sat on a bus seat without any disgust at its level of cleanliness.

And then there were moments, mainly when The Frau was sweating in small shared spaces or listening to her friends’ neighbor’s televisions through shared walls, where The Frau just sighed and said to Mr. Frau: ”Wow. I really, really do not miss this.”

The take away? There are goods and bads in every country. It’s up to you to decide what goods and bads are best for you.

Back in Switzerland, 2.5 years after leaving.

But The Frau admits: she couldn’t help but feel envious of her American friends who moved to Switzerland when she did who are now in the process of applying for their Swiss passports. This is mainly because another passport represents a level of freedom to move between countries that would be wonderful. Relying on varying whims of employers and governments is not so wonderful. In any case, The Frau would love to have more options in her life rather than fewer. But her nationality options are what they are right now.

In any case, her trip proved she wants to be living abroad again, or at the very least, spending her summers in Europe. After all, what’s the point of working remotely like The Frau does now if you don’t take advantage of a little country hopping—even if it has to be limited by tourist visas?

In any case, here is an Unscientific Summary of Swiss Life, 2.5 years after living there:

GOODS

Cities built for pedestrians instead of cars (pedestrian bridges, pedestrian tunnels, and crosswalks that cars actually respect). All seem so amazing now.

Swimming in Lake Zurich

Transport that works (except when the power goes out during a storm!)

Cleanliness, both on the ground and in the air

Nature integrated in cities

The coffee

The bread

The cheese

The chocolate

Produce that’s just produce and not a sci-fi experiment (i.e. not on steroids)

The pure beauty of the landscapes

SlowUp bike rides that close roads to cars almost every Sunday from April through September for pure (and free) biking pleasure (In Chicago, they do this once a year on Lake Shore Drive, but they make bikers PAY for the priviledge of riding on roads normally reserved for cars. Sad.)

BADS

Small apartments

Hot apartments

Hot public transport

Crowded public transport

Pushy, rude people who aren’t at all “sorry” for crashing into you

People cutting in line

Living with neighbors/Shared walls

Shared laundry/Laundry days/Small washers

Swiss German

That foreign feeling

Here’s the big thing: after being back in the U.S. for 2.5 years now, The Frau knows that you cannot truly be integrated into a culture and society unless you’re born into it. She admits—she feels very alive in the U.S. right now. When you understand the culture and the language because, well, it’s yours, the way you live and experience things is on a much different level.

Also: While The Frau sees the goods and bads of Switzerland and the U.S. at heightened levels—as horrible as it is sometimes when looking at the bads of a place with a 360 view—she will always be grateful for such a wide lens of the world. (Every American leader should be required to have lived the real deal abroad—but that’s another topic.)

In any case, The Frau had to unexpectedly digest a tear when taking off from Zurich a few days ago. But Chicago greeted her 12 hours later with a rainbow as if to say, “Welcome home—remember—there are beautiful things here too.”

Dear Frau: Compare U.S. and Swiss Health Insurance

Welcome to another edition of Dear Frau. It’s kind of like Dear Abby, except with an international twist. Remember, if you have a question about moving to Switzerland or living in Switzerland, don’t hesitate to contact the Frau.

Dear Frau,

Did you visit Switzerland often before moving there? And how does health insurance in Switzerland compare to the U.S.?

Thanks,

Interested in Switzerland

Dear Interested in Switzerland,

Whew. Short questions. Long answers…

Visiting Switzerland

The Frau had been to Switzerland three times before she moved there. She did the whirlwind, “Everything you need to know about Switzerland is in Lucerne” Globus bus tour of Europe in 2001. She never imagined living in Switzerland at that point. All she did during that trip was swim with the swans in Lake Lucerne and run around the Alpine meadows singing, “The hills are alive…” (Never mind that The Sound of Music takes place in Austria. To the Frau at that point, Switzerland and Austria were one in the same).

The Frau did another tour of Switzerland in 2005 when Mr. Frau came to Switzerland for a business trip. This visit was slightly more serious, since at that point the Frau and Mr. Frau knew a couple that had moved to Switzerland with the company Mr. Frau worked for. Mr. and Mrs. Frau met this couple for dinner. It got them thinking.

Finally, in May 2006, the Frau sealed her Swiss fate with a trip to Switzerland to (gulp) find an apartment. The Frau was really going to move there. And she was really going to become a (gulp, gulp, gulp) trailing spouse for the next three years.

Anyway, let’s fast-forward six + years (yes, the Frau has greatly overstayed her welcome) and answer the next part of the question. The answer, as you can imagine when dealing with health insurance, is somewhat complicated. The Frau is no expert, but she’ll try her best to explain the main differences.

Health Insurance in Switzerland

First of all, healthcare costs in Switzerland are typically less than in the United States. When traveling outside of Switzerland, regular Swiss insurers will pay up to two times the cost that the same procedure would have cost in Switzerland. BUT…and here’s the amazing thing…the United States as seen as so extreme when it comes to healthcare costs, that unbelievably, two times the Swiss cost is not seen as adequate. So the Frau and her family also have “World insurance” in addition to their regular Swiss insurance so they are fully covered in the United States since they do visit home at least once a year.

Here are some basic differences between the two systems:

One: Swiss health insurance is not tied to employment. This means you must take on all costs of health insurance yourself. The employer pays nothing (except usually they pay for accident insurance, which is also a mandatory part of Swiss health insurance). Regular health insurance costs can vary widely depending on your plan. You are free to choose both your insurer and your plan. In general, basic health insurance in Switzerland with a CHF 2,500 deductible will probably cost between CHF 150-225 per adult, per month. Swiss salaries are typically higher than U.S. salaries though, so in this sense, they help you pay for things like health insurance. The good part about having insurance not tied to a job is that when you lose a job or want to work part-time, you always have your health insurance. It allows employees much more freedom and flexibility, even though paying it from your own pocket can feel much more painful.

Two: Swiss health insurance is mandatory. You can’t decide you don’t want it. If you don’t sign yourself up for Swiss insurance within three months of moving here (or prove you have international insurance through an expatriate company program), the Swiss government will sign you up. Now before you scream socialism, think about it: it’s actually a good thing for health insurance to be mandatory. Everyone needs healthcare. And if everyone has it, then the insured won’t also be paying for the uninsured.

Three: Dental and eye insurance is pretty non-existent in Switzerland. You can pay extra to have it, but most plans are really, really bad. This is one area the Frau thinks Switzerland could do better in. Because in the U.S., she always had good dental and eye care which at least covered yearly or bi-yearly check-ups. In Switzerland, these kinds of visits are paid completely out of pocket.

Four: Standards of healthcare are as high or higher than in the United States. Appointments are typically easy to obtain in Switzerland. During visits, patients sit at a desk with their doctors and discuss problems before anyone undresses. It feels like a more human approach to the Frau and she also finds that Swiss doctors listen more than American doctors and order fewer pointless medical tests as a result.

Five: Like in the United States, healthcare costs are rising fast in Switzerland. The Frau’s premiums will go up by about 10% next year…and there’s nothing she can do about it.

How much will you pay for Swiss insurance? In general, you should expect to pay at least CHF 5,000 per person per year on healthcare in Switzerland. (Note that costs for children are much lower).

Anyone else want to chime in on healthcare differences/similarities between the U.S. and Switzerland? 

Readers in Switzerland: Has the Frau given a good estimate of healthcare costs in Switzerland?

Dear Frau: What to do in Zurich?

Welcome to the sixth edition of Dear Frau. It’s kind of like Dear Abby, except with an international twist. If you have a question, be sure to contact the Frau and maybe your little Frage will be in next week’s Dear Frau Column.

Dear Frau,

I'm gonna be in Zurich on the 18th, en route to Amsterdam. I managed to get a 12-hour layover. Since you're practically a local, what would you recommend? I'd love to get some tips. I want to make the best of my 12 hours in der Schweiz.

Thanks,

Pimp My Layover

Dear Pimp My Layover,

Good for you. If you’re going to do the layover thing you might as well go all out and get as jetlagged as possible. Twelve hours is plenty of time to see most of the highlights in Zurich—even in your delirious state.

Number one: put your stuff in a locker. There are lockers right above the train station at the airport.

Number two: buy a Zurich Card (see below) and take the train to Zurich HB. The HB means “main train station”. It should only take 10 minutes from the airport. Don’t get off in Oerlikon unless you want to go bowling.

Number three to infinity: Walk down the main shopping street, the Bahnhofstrasse. Smile at some Swiss people and see what happens (not for the faint at heart).

Eat at Hiltl, Europe's best and first vegetarian restaurant. While you’re eating you can grab some food for thought in the form of a Hiltl cookbook, or Swiss News, a magazine The Frau writes for.

Stop in Sprüngli, a chocolate store and café, for dessert or an edible souvenir. The Swiss eat 12 kilos of chocolate a year without getting fat. Now’s your chance to try it and see what happens.

Look at the Marc Chagall windows in the Fraumünster church. Just don’t ask The Frau to come with you. She's seen these windows about fifty times now and is going through withdrawal.

Walk to the lake and enjoy the views. Take a boat ride if the season allows.

Explore Niederdorf, a section of Zurich’s old town. It’s less stuffy than the Bahnhofstrasse and has lots of cool shops and bars.

If you're interested in museums or the weather sucks, you could check out Zurich's Kunsthaus, its art museum, or the Landesmuseum, a history museum.

Another alternative if the weather is nice is to go up to Uetliberg, nicknamed "the top of Zurich". It's the highest point in Zurich and you can get there in about 20 minutes from Zurich's main train station. There are lots of good hiking trails up there as well. If it’s foggy or raining though, you won’t see much.

Tip: If you plan to take public transport and visit a museum or two (or go up to Uetliberg), buy a Zurich Card for CHF 19. It’s valid for 24 hours and includes free entrance to most museums and free public transport within Zurich, including to and from the airport, and including a boat ride on the lake. Buy it at the airport and that’s all you’ll need all day. It’s one of the best deals in Zurich. Trust The Frau, after you see the prices here, you’ll know what she means.

Ok, the Frau has run out of ideas. Come on, all of you Zurich locals out there, what’s great to do in this city? The Frau wants to know what she forgot. Let’s help Pimp A Layover. And Happy Easter to all.