Switzerland — A Useful Country

DOs & DON'Ts

The main thing to remember about Switzerland is that their Red Tape makes all others look pink.
On the other hand, that's how they make everything work so well. I remember chatting with a visitor from one of the regional offices who lived in an under-developed country. He said at home nothing worked reliably and wished fervently he could contrive so that his career would bring him to work and live in Switzerland with his family.

There already exists a website that spells out the major DOs & DON'Ts for Switzerland.
DOs & DON'Ts for Switzerland

Here are some of the comments I've made about living in Switzerland in the class discussions (see link to ABOUT).
— I worked for thirteen years as a secretary at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Part of my duty was to try to ease the culture shock for those professionals who came there without being prepared for anything other than their own culture's ways. One doctor in our unit nearly had a nervous breakdown (anxiety attacks) and, finally, he and his family went home. In Geneva and Paris (and probably other cities where there are congregations of international organizations), the families of those newly posted abroad are also offered classes and counseling.
— Heh. Strong perfume odors were always a problem in the elevators when I worked at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Some of those French women pour it over their heads, and on a train once I had to change seats because I was allergic to a perfume stink. For a while there was a fad for perfumes containing pheromones; I hope not anymore. For me, having owned a horse farm, they strongly smelled like mare urine. Wouldn't surprise me if that was an ingredient, since mare urine is already collected for pharmaceutical use.
— Business — Switzerland — things you need to know
— When I was there, the famous Swiss knives were price-regulated; my cousins visited and wouldn't believe me, and so left without one, having toured the whole country expecting they would be cheaper somewhere.
— Heirs to even modest estates are forced to wait for years for distribution and pay exorbitant attorney fees. Grr...

Further Comments
— Tipping. In the north of Switzerland, a tip may be refused indignantly. In the South, it may be demanded. Watch what others do. The Swiss generally are fanatic about having things correct and will go to great lengths to make it so.
— Cleanliness. Never mind Typhoid Mary, the Swiss nowadays are clean to a fault. Once, I was moving out of an apartment and had slaved to make it clean once emptied. The new tenants and I inspected it with the real estate agent, and she went on and on about this and that until the new tenants cried: "It's clean, it's clean! Enough, already!"