Having lived in Switzerland for eleven years now here are a few observations.
Wait. Eleven years? What happened to eleven years?
I have managed to travel quite bit, mainly in the French speaking part of the country. I rarely venture east of the Röstigraben / rideau de Rösti because… there’s not much point? This is a common theme in the country - culturally, socially, politically. When you have a country with three relatively clear language boundaries that’s inevitable1. We do venture east sometimes, but it’s usually to see music in Zürich. We venture south often, but travelling to Italy.
It’s beautiful. You probably knew that already, but really it is. Some people live their entire lives to try to retire to a place like this, and I’m grateful that circumstance allowed me to end up in this place.
It’s not that expensive. But maybe it is. The Swiss Franc is currently absurdly strong against most other currencies, which has made travel for us outside of the country cheap. Not so much the other way around.
My French is woeful, but I understand most of what is said and most of what I read and I can communicate relatively well. Sometimes I feel it’s getting better, sometimes worse. FIDE have evaluated it to a B1 level, the maximum they test for. Maybe it’s closer to B2 but I’m dubious. Regardless, that’s enough to apply for the passport.
My health isn’t as good as it was when I arrived, in some ways, but is better than when I arrived, in others. The healthcare system here has its own issues, and its own benefits.
The Swiss political system and direct democracy is interesting, but i won’t be able to participate for at least another two years. It really is a long haul for les étrangers, and it’s expensive. The consequence of that is a large percentage of non-swiss live here. Some political parties like to complain about that; but when you make it a long, expensive, and in some cases difficult process, that’s the outcome.