Expat's 5-4-3-2-1 Meme

Here’s a meme I stole from Canadienne dans les Alpes a couple of weeks ago and translated it from French into English.

5) Name five things you love in your new country:
· Cleanliness and safety
· The effectiveness of public transportation
· The variety of delicious breads, cheeses and fresh meat selection (I grew up in a small town, and it's very difficult to get fresh, non-frozen, lamb, there.)
· The fact that there are so many different countries and cultures to discover within such short distances.
· The diversity of languages and cultures (German, French, Italian and Romansch) within the country, low taxes (compared to Canada), quality of healthcare and the Alps

4) Name four things that you miss from your native country:
· My family and friends
· Food: Canadian beef, poutine, big breakfasts and home delivery
· The natural openness and sincere, friendly smiles of people. (The Swiss are very polite, but in general quite distant.)
· The vastness and endless beauty of the country in four REAL seasons. I miss the Indian Summer so much and the snow (believe it or not!). There are many more reasons. It's home.

3) Name three things that annoy you a bit (or much) in your new country:
· The Swiss tend to stare… a lot (Note: I have now learned to stare back without blinking. Try it. It works)
· The lack of spontaneity in people
· The Swiss don’t take your taxes off your pay (I’m also Swiss, remember? They don’t consider me as an expat). You have to save up for it.

2)Name two things that surprise you (or have surprised you in the beginning) in your new country:
· Not being allowed to mow the lawn, do the laundry, -in some villages- hang up wet clothes to dry on the line, etc. on Sundays and in most apartments, you have one day to wash during the week (some even every 2 weeks! Eeek!!). Miss it? Tough! I mean, what if you have an ill child at home and he throws up in bed and you have to wait until your wash day?? Come ON!
· The space, or lack of it. Although I knew that Switzerland is expensive and very small (by almost any standard), most people live in apartments or in rented houses and hardly anyone has a single detached house (no space and you need minimum 20% down payment, not to mention that houses are very expensive)

1) Name one thing that you would terribly miss in your new country, if you had to leave it.
· I have not made that many real Swiss friends, but the ones I have, I will miss for sure.

There you have it. I'm not for tagging, so feel free to steel/use it and have fun. You don't even have to be an expat. Maybe you've lived in two very different parts of your own country. Just let me know if you did it. Deal?

Have a great Sunday