Swiss Living

Travel Thursday

Guest Post

by Krystal from Village


Krystal is a good blog friend who lives in Lucerne, Switzerland and runs a stylish blog called Village. She also shares her photography on Sunday Photo, and sells her photos on her online shop, Sunday Photo shop. I'm so honored to have her guest post for me today!

Hello to Colette's readers, I'm happy to be a guest at her blog while she's whirling around Europe :) She sent these interview questions about my move from the US to Switzerland my way and I was only too happy to answer them! (We bonded over our mutual love of Switzerland and have been blog friends ever since).

1. Why did you move to Switzerland? For a job? Life change? Mark and I moving to Switzerland was a combination of things - but mainly, we had lived in Iowa for 5 years and we were definitely ready for a change! I was finishing grad school so he decided to casually apply for some random jobs in cities around the US - and for fun, Switzerland, which we never thought would happen. But, it did! It felt like a whirlwind making the decision to leave the US - but - there was no way we could live with the regret of not trying it. So here we are=)

2. Was it easy to make the transition with job/ belongings/ pets? Um...no. The transition was not easy, but it was worth it and we survived. The hardest part about moving was figuring out all of the rules, paperwork, flight stuff that involved getting Bama (our dog) here!! It was insane and I could go on and on about it - but it's over. But if you ever need to do that...start on it early. That pretty much overshadowed everything else, so the rest seemed fine, haha!! We did have to wait 3 months for our stuff to get here which was kind of annoying - but on the other hand, we learned how to live minimally so that when all of our stuff came we were kind of disappointed. =)

3. What is one thing you miss about the U.S? The thing I miss about the US is English, hands down. I don't realize how closed off I am here not knowing German fluently until I visit an english speaking country and feel all kinds of amazed at how I feel more confident, a part of things and heard.

4. What is one thing that is better in Switzerland than the U.S. to you?
There are a lot of things that are better in Switzerland. The US is like a beautiful mess compared to here - but this is just beautiful - both are alluring. My friend and I always say that Switzerland is like Disneyland (minus all the pink happiness) because it's so clean, everything works efficiently, people follow rules, etc.  It's just a totally different lifestyle here - the way we eat, socialize and exercise has totally changed.

5. Do you plan on returning to the U.S. to live or is life too good in Switzerland now?
When we moved here we said we'd be here at least 3 years and then just play it by ear. We are loving it so far and right now, the thought of leaving makes us sad. So I don't have a definite answer, but I can also say that I'm excited about living in the midst of my native language again. And a new city is always fun (Montreal, I'm looking at you).

Thanks for the interview Krystal!