Thanks for the tag, @Dan_Defender!
Yeah, Switzerland is expensive, for Swiss people too. Granted, wages are higher than in neighbouring European countries, but it has been calculated that for an average family with two kids to live comfortably, the minimal wage should be around the equivalent of $4,000 a month (there isn’t currently a federal minimal wage; some states have one, some don’t).
I am told most people can never afford a house there, but rent forever.
Yep. We’ll probably never be able to buy a house here, although if we keep saving as we do we’ll be able to afford a nice one in France when we retire. That’s the same for most people.
It has its upsides too. A lot of people around me radically downsize when they retire, get rid of accumulated useless things, rent a much smaller place with a cheaper rent, and use the money they save to travel a lot while their health still allows it.
As a proud Frenchwoman I’ll say that French cheese has no rival, but Switzerland isn’t too bad
There is chocolate too.
Are they open for tourist?
Yes. If you come from a country which is on the Federal “red list”, you’ll have to be quarantined for ten days though.
all the rules one has to follow about keeping your apartment super duper clean, not making any noise during certain hours, not showering during certain hours, having a very limited time window to do laundry
Absolutely true, although the rules are probably worse in German-speaking Switzerland than for us Latins (French and Italian-speaking Switzerland). You still can’t shower after 10pm, have to juggle five different trash cans and pay crazily expensive taxes on non-recyclable waste, and most apartment buildings have a shared laundry room in the basement where you are attributed a weekly two-hour slot. When my husband got his first parish and the accompanying rectory, we were positively elated about being able to have our own washing machine.
