Newly Swissed Online Magazine

33 more signs that you’re becoming Swiss

You may have lived in Switzerland for several years. Or maybe you have moved here recently but it feels like years ago. Either way, there comes a point in your expat life when you wonder: "Who am I, really?" If you have caught yourself doing any of the below things, the answer to this loaded question is going to be straightforward: you are becoming Swiss!

We have covered some surefire signs that you're becoming Swiss before. But if you are still unsure, go on and read this list...

You know you're becoming Swiss if:


You think it's safe to watch Swiss fighter jets from a nearby mountain...

Photograph copyright Peter Steehouwer

You voted against the basic right of six weeks of vacation.

Swiss Direct Democracy in Switzerland

You get interested in the rules of Schwingen.

Schwingen Swiss Wrestling

You have a view from your office that other people save up their whole lives to go see!


You often think that you live inside a postcard.

Lake Iffigsee above Lenk

You know where each cat in your town belongs.

Signs More Swiss - Swiss Cats

You carry an empty bottle to the city to fill it with fountain water.

Switzerland Fountain Water

In a cafeteria, you grab a table and reserve it before getting food. That's normal though, no?


You won't buy something because it's not expensive enough.


You'll bring an empty paper bag to the store to avoid paying 20 cents for a new one.


Naturally, you remove your produce from all the plastic clamshells right at the store in order to reduce waste at home.


You consider shopping across the border in the Euro zone to save money.


You wonder why anyone would want to shop outside of working hours.


You start planning a two hour trip several weeks in advance.


You stop to like peanut butter.


Instead, you start judging the quality of the whipped cream on pastries.

Vermicelles chestnut pastry with whipped cream

You consider food with garlic in it to be spicy.


You buy a new ski suit every year to keep up with ski fashion.

More Signs that you are becoming Swiss - Ski Fashion

You appreciate the differences between the cantons.


You feel comforted by quad-lingual courtesy announcements that your train is running three minutes behind schedule.


You get asked whether you speak Swiss.


You don't think it's funny when someone confuses Switzerland with Sweden. Seriously.


Your only bumper sticker reads "CH".


You get annoyed when the car ahead of you doesn't turn off its engine at a traffic light.


You don't understand irony.


You think spontaneity is OK, as long as it's planned.


You apologize for being two minutes late for an appointment.


You become interested in the myriad of insurance offerings.


You deliberate which lake to either bike, hike or roller blade around on the perfectly maintained paths through the woods that might occasionally block a view of the mountain!


You like to get up at six o'clock in the morning.


You hear the name "Justin Bieber" and you immediately think of "Biberli"!

Justin Biber meets Appenzeller Biberli

(Photographs copyright Wikimedia Commons)

Dimitri Burkhard

As the founder, editor, and community manager of Newly Swissed, Dimitri owns the strategic vision. He is passionate about storytelling and is a member of Swiss Travel Communicators. Dimitri loves discovering new trends and covers architecture, design, start-ups and tourism.

17 comments

  • Wow! Apparently I’m not Swiss then, only about 4-5, maybe 6 of those apply to me! Maybe you should revise your list to get a better quota :) But maybe it’s not your fault and you only know very weird Swiss people…. :) But I like your way of connecting Bieber with Biberli! :)

  • You have a compost container on your window or in your garden, you get mad when the bus is 1 minute late, the kids in the kindergarden have a reflective scarf thing on when they walk to the kindergarden alone, and you keep the old bread so you could feed the ducks on the lake :)

  • you can never have enough cheese and you judge people (& their driving skills) by the Kanton given on the license plate.

  • The Swiss may punch the paper to flip the pages… but what care they give said papers when recycling! They are bundled into perfectly uniform packages, tied with a special knot, and stacked curbside like a neat little paper-bundle wall! At this point, it looks like the papers may not have even been read, let alone punched!

    • Very well observed! I love how you “tied” the newspaper flipping to the impeccable recycling manners – no pun intended! ^Dimitri

  • Hillarious xD wait that means one point was wrong there was one saying u dont unterstand ironyand im swiss also a lot of them are actually true

  • You get annoyed about the lousy public transport abroad. I was watching Train Spotting Live on BBC4 and they were talking about that GB should be proud to have invented the train. I looked at my British partner and said, ‘Yes sure, but we Swiss perfected it!’ Here in the UK, when you have to get somewhere you might have a train there. But boy, it’s going to be a pain in the backside to get back home again. I am not surprised anymore that everyone drives around locally in their cars.

Dimitri Burkhard

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