Good Things about Switzerland
- Dan has a good job here, and it pays better than the same job in the US, with almost certainly a far better commute
- one parent at home means (when and if that parent manages to stay sane) less housework stress and more quality family time
- we use our car maybe twice a month
- renting means no yard work
- our apartment has so many nice windows and skylights that we don't have to turn on lights during the day, even in the middle of winter
- you can't walk a mile around here without tripping over six cool historical things
- Germany, France, and Italy are mere hours away on the train
- ...and it's hardly necessary to visit them because Switzerland speaks all their languages and then some
- so many beautiful mountains
- the kids walk to school
- ...and get to be bilingual
- the chocolate is fabulous
- the rights of workers and renters are taken seriously
- the health insurance system is not a disaster
- 6,500 km of hiking trails
- not nearly as much corporate bullshit
Crappy things about Switzerland
- there's no popular concept of a naturalized citizen. Sure, you can get a passport, but if you weren't born Swiss with Swiss great-grandparents on both sides, you ain't never gonna be "really Swiss." There wasn't ever going to be hope for Dan or me, but I'm sorry that the kids have to fight this.
- coffee shops, apart from Starbucks, are never open late
- a woman's place is in the home
- customer service is not a thing
- valuing diversity is not a thing
- nepotism is absolutely a thing
- racism and xenophobia are widespread and rarely questioned
- communication can be bewilderingly indirect
- change is to be feared and avoided
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