About Me
- Kristi
- The Boy, 2 Muttleys and I have finally realized our dream of living 1 mile from the Lindt Chocolate Factory. Leaving Atlanta (the World of Coke) for Zurich (the World of Chocolate) hasn't come without challenges, incredible fun or giggles. Follow along as I chronicle our adventures as we acclimate to this new Swiss lifestyle.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Englishforum.ch - Fact or Fiction?
If you troll the internet, you will likely find trolls. That is what I learned anyway after discovering englishforum.ch. There is no doubt that this forum contains a vast wealth of information for the soon to be or current expat living in Switzerland. Unfortunately it also contains a lot of useless banter by unbelievably bored people and opinions tainted with vitriol. The vitriol is usually directed towards the Swiss themselves. The Swiss are this, the Swiss are that, the Swiss don't do this or the Swiss do too much of that. Just a little over a year ago I came over to Switzerland, with knocking knees, expecting the worst because a small group of people decided it was better to be locked up in their apartments talking about the Swiss vs actually living in Switzerland.
After meeting a friend for coffee today, we brought up this forum and discussed it briefly. It is almost a rite of passage for a person moving to Switzerland to find this forum and read it to death. After a chortle over this phenomenon, we both admitted that we occasionally still use it but only for fact finding missions. Many people post their lessons learned so you don't have to make the same expat mistakes they did. In a new country, simple things are no longer simple and this forum contains thousands of great tips including how to recycle Swiss style, which stores are open on Sunday and where you can find a decent Gynecologist. You can also find people selling entire apartments full of IKEA furniture for Rappen (no, not little rap songs...Swiss change) and someone to watch your pet. There is absolutely no doubt it brings value but it can also suck you into a vortex of off-the-wall opinions and subjects not fit for public consumption.
The Vitriol Example
I am going to call this guy "Crazy Town". Crazy Town's most "riciculous" statements are highlighted in red. Most notable of the "riciculous" is the statement that people in Switzerland do not pour the wine you gave to them that evening as a gift. This is somehow a flaw of the Swiss. What I wish I could tell Crazy Town is that I rarely ever pour wine I receive as a gift the day it is given to me. I save it for another day as I already purchased wine for that evening. That is what people do when they have guests over for dinner...they buy things in advance. And finally, can you really trust someone who uses the acronym "WTF" more than once? I certainly hope you can't.
The "Holy Crap you have WAY too much free time to be writing this" Examples (oh, there are many)
It isn't that I have that much against the post itself. I love a good "man blows himself up in a toilet" story like the next gal. What I find amazing is it has received 943 views. That means 943 people viewed this vs taking a walk outside or meeting a colleague for coffee. Frightening.
Notice that this person's screen name is "Evita is here". I really wish she wasn't.
Evita strikes again with a post ending in "haha" when there wasn't anything particularly funny to "haha" over. I really hate the misuse of "haha".
Wait...what?
You are helpless
You are hopeless
And you should be steralized
If you use englishforum.ch, my only advice to you is go there with a purpose, find what you are looking for and then get the hell out of dodge.
Moving to Switzerland? What you may not know is that it can take a little while to get a cell phone. While you are waiting, get a Swiss Calling Card so you can stay connected.
After meeting a friend for coffee today, we brought up this forum and discussed it briefly. It is almost a rite of passage for a person moving to Switzerland to find this forum and read it to death. After a chortle over this phenomenon, we both admitted that we occasionally still use it but only for fact finding missions. Many people post their lessons learned so you don't have to make the same expat mistakes they did. In a new country, simple things are no longer simple and this forum contains thousands of great tips including how to recycle Swiss style, which stores are open on Sunday and where you can find a decent Gynecologist. You can also find people selling entire apartments full of IKEA furniture for Rappen (no, not little rap songs...Swiss change) and someone to watch your pet. There is absolutely no doubt it brings value but it can also suck you into a vortex of off-the-wall opinions and subjects not fit for public consumption.
The Vitriol Example
 19.09.2010, 10:20 | |||
| |||
Re: Aussies survive in Switzerland?? Dude! Your Gf left you! WTF. People here are riciculously uptight. I am going back to N America. You have to make an appointment with your friends weeks in advance to see them! And... get this! When you bring wine over when you are invited for dinner... they put the wine away and then serve you the cheap wine! This has happened to me on several occasions! WTF! Just ead the stuff here about bosses throwing temper tantrums, or whatever. This place is for little children. they move into the floor upstairs from their parents! How often do you want to hang out with grandma? Every day? And gossip over some silly news? This place is like a prison man! break free! Go back to OZ where people are fun and spontaneous!  |
I am going to call this guy "Crazy Town". Crazy Town's most "riciculous" statements are highlighted in red. Most notable of the "riciculous" is the statement that people in Switzerland do not pour the wine you gave to them that evening as a gift. This is somehow a flaw of the Swiss. What I wish I could tell Crazy Town is that I rarely ever pour wine I receive as a gift the day it is given to me. I save it for another day as I already purchased wine for that evening. That is what people do when they have guests over for dinner...they buy things in advance. And finally, can you really trust someone who uses the acronym "WTF" more than once? I certainly hope you can't.
The "Holy Crap you have WAY too much free time to be writing this" Examples (oh, there are many)
 | Treverus | 23 | 943 |
It isn't that I have that much against the post itself. I love a good "man blows himself up in a toilet" story like the next gal. What I find amazing is it has received 943 views. That means 943 people viewed this vs taking a walk outside or meeting a colleague for coffee. Frightening.
| Evita is here | 51 | 1,074 |
Notice that this person's screen name is "Evita is here". I really wish she wasn't.
|  Evita is here | 21 | 352 |
Evita strikes again with a post ending in "haha" when there wasn't anything particularly funny to "haha" over. I really hate the misuse of "haha".
| OBone | 23 | 576 |
Wait...what?
| transatlantic | 26 | 561 |
You are helpless
| farhaneee | 51 | 1,856 |
You are hopeless
| sharkey | 133 | 1,517 |
And you should be steralized
If you use englishforum.ch, my only advice to you is go there with a purpose, find what you are looking for and then get the hell out of dodge.
Moving to Switzerland? What you may not know is that it can take a little while to get a cell phone. While you are waiting, get a Swiss Calling Card so you can stay connected.
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13 comments:
Agreed...lots of good information lost in too much nonsense. If it weren't for the obvious access to my market, then I wouldn't waste my time there...
LOL - great blog Kristi.
The idiotic comments on englishforum are annoying, and I rarely find much that's useful for me.
On the other hand, it could be a rich source for material on expat meltdowns (like your first example).
This is awesome. Glad someone took these trolls on.
BRAVO! I wrote a whole post on the negative crap on the forums, and its buried somewhere in my unpublished stuff to use on a rainy day when I got nothin'. I totally agree. I poured over this forum before moving here, and couldn't fathom why people had such bullshit qualms with this country. Hey guess what...SWITZERLAND ISN'T NORTH AMERICA. Get over it and adapt.
I felt it was my duty to expose the trolls. See, I may use the internet to share my experiences, but I do it a more positive manner. I would like to think I am more of a garden gnome than a troll...bringing cuteness and cheer.
This post gave me a good laugh! I don't have a TV, so saturday mornings I like to read EF and see what the idiots are up to, just for entertainment. The food thread is OK though.. ;)
It was nice to meet you at the cooking class yesterday - your blog looks great :)
~Melissa
Good post. Everyone on the Englishforum and Expat group are visitors in Switzerland... here by their own choice... adapt and live and love Switzerland, or go back home. But no complaining. -Matt
Melissa - great meeting you as well and thanks for stopping by the ole blog-a-roo. There is no doubt there is entertainment value and even a ton of great info on the forum. I just question the folks who spend all of their free time on the site.
Matt - Agreed, folks are here by their own choice and frankly, we are guests of this great country. With that being said, I think it is OK to have a beef every once in a while and everyone has the right to complain a little...but if you start bashing a place and its people, you have crossed a line and you are basically biting the hand that feeds you. That person should most definitely go home and bring their misery elsewhere.
I agree with Matt and what you say. Perhaps because, as an American, I had the same problem with everyone who moved to the USA to take advantage of what it had to offer and still complained about how terrible America was. And I always thought, "if you think it is so bad here, why don't you go back to your country!" However, it seems that most of the people doing the bickering in EF are Europeans who are upset at the fact that another European country does not offer the same cultural niceties as their land of origin. The fact that Switzerland is a land of its own with its own idiosyncrasies and cultural differences does not seem to come into play. Perhaps you should start - americanforum.ch - just a thought :o)
I'm a Swiss guy and I find that forum very good. It's right there's some unpleasant reaction from time to time, but it's make that forum more interesting. I know some other forums for expats, but I just would recommend this one to every people coming to live in my Beautiful Country.
Don't you mean "trawl" the Internet ?
...and what does "Steralized" mean ?
Meh
Thank you Kristi for writing this article.
I am glad to hear not all English speaking expats share the common views expressed on this forum...
(I am Swiss btw, and I consider some of the regulars there as outright xenophobic.)
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