Up till this day I have been unable to figure out which is better to avoid being despised by the locals: Trying my not so good German or speaking fluent English, exposing their inability to do so.

Came here 5 years ago to help my swiss wife with her ageing parents, undertook voluntary work 3 days a week for 3 years working with handicaped people, taught myself french, avoided doing the ex-pat thing and only mixing with english speaking people, go regulary into the same bars, alas I never speak to the locals, not out of trying, there is always this distrusful distance of non swiss.

In hind sight I wish I had just mixed with the expats as it would of been a lot more fun talking to people and having laugh, then trying to break into cliques that is prevelent in swiss culture.

So it goes . S