They definitely do things differently here. Office culture is so unlike the working world to which I was accustomed before coming to Switzerland last year. As noted in prior entries, the Swiss tend to start and end their days early, often going to work at 7 so that they can leave at 4. They are legally entitled to have a lunch break, and many offices also have two scheduled coffee breaks per day. They also have no idea what normal people should make doing normal jobs. Swiss secretaries routinely take home an annual salary of $50,000, and complain that they are grossly underpaid for their 37.5-hour workweeks. (Edit: Keep in mind that, what with taxes and exchange rates, to make the same take-home pay in the U.S., your gross salary would have to be over $65,000).
On top of those general guidelines, however, are some smaller oddities. For instance, many Swiss wear regular shoes to the office, and then change into slippers for the day – Birkenstocks, flip flops, sandals, house shoes, the kinds of shoes you would usually avoid wearing in a business setting. It is the complete opposite of what you see in the States, where people wear comfortable shoes for their commute, then change into dress shoes for the office.
Also, the Swiss see nothing strange in wearing the same clothes three days in a row. In New York, if I saw someone wearing the same shirt and pants for more than one day, I assumed that they had unexpectedly slept elsewhere and hadn’t had time to change. Not the case here. The Swiss will wear an outfit all day, go home, take it off, go to bed, get up, put the same outfit back on, go through another day, go home, take it off, go to bed, get up, and wear it yet again, without ever thinking twice about it.
My office building is currently undergoing some renovations on the ground floor. The building management unilaterally decided to shut off water in the entire building one afternoon, so that the renovations could continue, informing all of the people working in the building that we would have to use the restrooms at the grocery store down the street, instead. When asked why they couldn’t shut off the water and do the work after hours or on a weekend, they replied that it would be more expensive to hire workers outside of business hours, and that it would cost the building tenants additional money to do so, which seems absurd, since most of the tenants have nothing to do with the construction. In my opinion, the one tenant instigating the construction should be obliged to pay the additional construction costs to allow the rest of the building to continue using their normal bathrooms and kitchens, instead of making bathroom migrations to the grocery store. But that would be logical, and we never said that things were logical here, did we?
Speaking of water, some residential buildings shut off the hot water after 10 p.m., since people clearly don’t need hot water after 10. These are often the same buildings that prohibit nighttime toilet-flushing, require men to sit down when using the toilet after 10, schedule laundry days a year in advance, and ask that walking be kept to a minimum during quiet time. How are you supposed to fulfill all of your hot water needs by 10 p.m.?
The weather forecasts are rarely accurate more than a few hours in advance here – Zurich weather is terribly unpredictable, with clouds, sun, hail, and rain coming and going on fast-forward, like in those accelerated weather pattern clips you see on TV; the weather can rarely make up its mind and stick to a plan, resulting in weeks where the highs are in the 80’s on Monday and the 50’s on Friday, with sun showers and hailstorms in between.
For the past four days in a row, however, the weather has been perfect summer weather, 80 and sunny (although there were thunderstorms predicted for three out of the four days), and I have been spending lots of time outside, having picnics in the park, reading on my terrace, napping by the lake, or just walking around, and it doesn’t get dark until 9:30, so by the time I go home (which has been after 10), sleepy and sticky from spending hours in the sun, I want to take a shower. It’s so great that the weather has been nice, and that I have the time to spend so much time loafing around outside, and (I feel ridiculous saying this), I’m so lucky to live in a building that lets me take showers after 10 p.m.
On top of those general guidelines, however, are some smaller oddities. For instance, many Swiss wear regular shoes to the office, and then change into slippers for the day – Birkenstocks, flip flops, sandals, house shoes, the kinds of shoes you would usually avoid wearing in a business setting. It is the complete opposite of what you see in the States, where people wear comfortable shoes for their commute, then change into dress shoes for the office.
Also, the Swiss see nothing strange in wearing the same clothes three days in a row. In New York, if I saw someone wearing the same shirt and pants for more than one day, I assumed that they had unexpectedly slept elsewhere and hadn’t had time to change. Not the case here. The Swiss will wear an outfit all day, go home, take it off, go to bed, get up, put the same outfit back on, go through another day, go home, take it off, go to bed, get up, and wear it yet again, without ever thinking twice about it.
My office building is currently undergoing some renovations on the ground floor. The building management unilaterally decided to shut off water in the entire building one afternoon, so that the renovations could continue, informing all of the people working in the building that we would have to use the restrooms at the grocery store down the street, instead. When asked why they couldn’t shut off the water and do the work after hours or on a weekend, they replied that it would be more expensive to hire workers outside of business hours, and that it would cost the building tenants additional money to do so, which seems absurd, since most of the tenants have nothing to do with the construction. In my opinion, the one tenant instigating the construction should be obliged to pay the additional construction costs to allow the rest of the building to continue using their normal bathrooms and kitchens, instead of making bathroom migrations to the grocery store. But that would be logical, and we never said that things were logical here, did we?
Speaking of water, some residential buildings shut off the hot water after 10 p.m., since people clearly don’t need hot water after 10. These are often the same buildings that prohibit nighttime toilet-flushing, require men to sit down when using the toilet after 10, schedule laundry days a year in advance, and ask that walking be kept to a minimum during quiet time. How are you supposed to fulfill all of your hot water needs by 10 p.m.?
The weather forecasts are rarely accurate more than a few hours in advance here – Zurich weather is terribly unpredictable, with clouds, sun, hail, and rain coming and going on fast-forward, like in those accelerated weather pattern clips you see on TV; the weather can rarely make up its mind and stick to a plan, resulting in weeks where the highs are in the 80’s on Monday and the 50’s on Friday, with sun showers and hailstorms in between.
For the past four days in a row, however, the weather has been perfect summer weather, 80 and sunny (although there were thunderstorms predicted for three out of the four days), and I have been spending lots of time outside, having picnics in the park, reading on my terrace, napping by the lake, or just walking around, and it doesn’t get dark until 9:30, so by the time I go home (which has been after 10), sleepy and sticky from spending hours in the sun, I want to take a shower. It’s so great that the weather has been nice, and that I have the time to spend so much time loafing around outside, and (I feel ridiculous saying this), I’m so lucky to live in a building that lets me take showers after 10 p.m.
3 comments:
Yun,
I read your article. I enjoyed it.
You have interesting life in Zurich.
Mom
Yun,
I read your article. I enjoyed it.
You have interesting life in Zurich.
Mom
Yun,
I read your article. I enjoyed it.
You have interesting life in Zurich.
Mom
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