I'm one of the locals and well, I'm amused.  People come here with a certain kind of idea about life in Geneva (or about Switzerland), comparing the life here with what they know (other countries they lived in) and well, this is not the same.

About friends ? well, locals are perhaps not interested to have these kind of people as friends too. there's some effort to do on both side, to understand the others, effort that not everyone is ready to do.

Who cares about what temporary expats think.

Geneva is not ever going to be London, NYC, Los Angeles, Berlin, etc.

THANK God,I dont what Geneva to ever be like those places because it is beautiful here. Those places are full of convenience at the cost of 'Real quality of life'.

Geneva is great for what you put into it.

Locals are not interested in temporary 3-6 months friends.

'Most' Swiss like to have friends for decades. 'not all'

I've been here 23 years.Not interested in temporary friends either.However,I must say of all the friends I have here,only one good friend is "local"(well,originally from Lucerne) and a couple of other friends are from here.All the others are from English-speaking countries(I do speak French by the way).

Why is that? I think it's a cultural thing.Aussies,Brits,S.Africans,US,Irish etc tend to  share a certain immediate openness and......above all.....a SENSE OF HUMOUR and a certain easy-going attitude.This is of course a generalisation - but in general I have found that it works likes this.

Nationality is the last thing I worry about when I decide who I want to spend time with. Language is important; my French is not fluent so that's why I don't really hang out with locals.

Frankly - if someone says 'locals are boring' that tells me that they're close-minded, and they're unlikely to be a friend of mine.

Interesting to see the solidarity between the above threads. I for one am an expat and have been in Geneva for about 15 years.  I travel and have lived in more than one major city. I also have local friends. 

The reason why I asked my question was to see if people have a different perception on how they view locals and Geneva, learn about their opinions and how they express them. 

I have been hearing diverse comments about Geneva and "local mentality" and of course comparisons with other (bigger and more populated) cities here and there. Most comments, though, have been expressed in private and/or with some sense of respect. 

I believe it is ok to have an unfavorable opinion of the place we live and work in, especially if we feel somewhat estranged by some aspects of its society or customs. 

But to display a negative and undermining statement, out right, about the place that is giving us a chance for a decent life (generally, given the relatively high standards of living) and a good job is in my opinion somewhat ungrateful if not immature.

We are all entitled to our opinion.  However, I believe that public statements ought to be made with some kind of self-sensorship.

When I first came here I really wondered how I was going to make friends and threw myself into my work.  I eventually joined a couple of clubs and built up a circle of like-minded friends and acquaintances both expats and locals partly because I am involved with an expat club and a local one. Luckily I learnt French at school but spoke none for 30 years before coming here 

No more difficult here than anywhere else. 

Looking ast the comments on previous threads, I would add that were I still in London, I would not be interested in spending time with a short term visitor

Hey WorldOfCraze,

Good question.

You're asking how we feel when we read other expats posting negative stuff about Geneva or about locals. You're not asking what each of personally think of Geneva. So I'll answer what you're asking.

I think everyone has a right to express how he/she feels, even if they're living in a host city. I don't think that because someone emigrates to country X, one should refrain from pointing out things that they doesn't like in country X.This is especially true when we live in Switzerland, where personal freedom is a highly held value. Of course there's a right was and a wrong way to express a negative comment, but if the comment is worded in the right tone, I don't see anything bad about it. 

I've seen on glocals people posting bad stuff about Geneva, and then get attacked with the line of "we're guests in Geneva, we should not post negativr stuff about it". I dis-agree with that angle.

On the more narrow point of "is Geneva boring or not": of course there's no absolute answer. Geneva is lively for some, boring for others.

Nir

Hi all,

Everyone has their opinion and maybe some of these people who say such things have had a bad experience, are feeling nervous in a new country perhaps not knowing the language, having left family & friends at home to grab an opportunity with both hands but feel slightly vulnerable so have a defensive attitude.

I have been in Switzerland since the end of May and have had some downs but loads of ups and have met a whole range of people, Swiss, Danish, Scots, Russians, French to name a few.  I'm not sure how long we will be here for but when I meet people I certainly don't care if they are only here for a few months, if we get on, have things in common I am open to friendship.  If it's only for a few months so be it, you can learn a lot from a person in a short time.  I am from from a small town in the West Coast of Scotland and when I moved to the big city Glasgow it was a daunting experience and I had some downs but mainly ups!  C'est la vie! 

We love Scotland and it will always be home but my partner and I love Switzerland and hope to stay here for a long time, who knows it could be forever!  It's a beautiful country in many ways and we have made a home here and enjoying the experience!

We live in Canton of Vaud, visit France often, have taken a weeks holiday in Ticino and are looking forward to going to Zurich shortly...and the rest!

Bon Week-end,

Susan

To me, there's quite a difference between 'Switzerland is boring' and 'the Swiss are boring'.

'Switzerland is boring' may be true for individuals. If you don't speak French and haven't found friends or activities in the expat community that you like, you may feel isolated. I would encourage these people to try harder and learn French, but it's a statement that I can understand.

Someone who says 'Swiss people are boring' is making a generalization based on a stereotype, and probably hasn't had that much experience with Swiss people. To me, this kind of statement is ignorant and disrespectful. 

In answer to the question:

I kind of get where these people are coming from(it took me a LONG time to find my niche here) but,at the same time, I think it's rude and arrogant to make such public statements.

As a Swiss person,I think I would be very insulted.