Retrospective
Picture: Zürich, Switzerland
On 1 October of this year, I am living in Switzerland for exactly ten years. This was a conscious decision for us. As a child with annual summer holidays in Austria, my love for the mountains began. Later, when I met my husband, we spent our holidays in Switzerland and visited my husband’s family. We felt very comfortable in Switzerland and so the idea came up: “What would it be like if we lived here?
When we had the chance to move to Switzerland, we used it and voilà … there you are, ten years later.
For me this step was a great challenge. Not only did I have to give up my job in the Netherlands, but with my hearing impairment I also found it very exciting whether I could get used to the language.
Fortunately, I have no problems with the German language because I learned it when my hearing was relatively good. I had also studied in Germany for a year. Swiss German, however, is very different from German. Now I would no longer be able to learn a new language. At home, with my husband, we talk Dutch at his request, otherwise the language is (Swiss) German.
When I had to go to hospital for a few days for an operation at the beginning of this year, I warned the doctors and the staff during the preliminary examination that I might be speaking Dutch after the anaesthesia. They all understood, but apparently the German language is so deeply rooted in me that this did not happen.
Soon after our move, I began to live actively in my new environment. I went to yoga, became a member of the local recreation club, volunteered and enrolled in associations for deaf and hearing impaired people.
Gradually I got to know people, built a network, engaged in all kinds of activities and even became a member of a women’s discussion group whose members all have hearing disabilities. It’s something special, because usually this group doesn’t take on new members very quickly (no one came after me).
I am now chairman of an association for people with hearing impairment, I volunteer at the local retirement home, write columns and a blog, give lectures, give tours of a museum in the near future and also run awareness-raising workshops for businesses and schools. In short, I am very busy again and have definitely found my job and my way here.
It was a long and intensive process that certainly took several years. The Swiss are very friendly and polite, but not very accessible – my in-laws are definitely a pleasant exception. For example, drinking a cup of coffee with the neighbours is not common. If you are invited to your home by Swiss people, that is something special. And to break through that, you have to do something about it.
Looking back on the last ten years, a lot has changed in every respect. It’s not just that our living environment has now been built up and there are shops next door, I really feel integrated here, and although I’ll never be a “original” Swiss, people here accept and respect who I am and what I do.
Artikel von Renee Iseli - Smits
Blog ansehenSometimes in life you get a premonition of something that might happen, but you ignore it because yo ...
In this section, the Acoustician Team keeps you up to date on technology, advice, handling hearing ...
During this time of the year, schools and other educational institutions are usually stressed out b ...
Diese Stellen könnten Sie interessieren
-
Data Analyst Role at Fintech
Gefunden in: Talent CH C2 - vor 3 Tagen
Worldline Zürich, Schweiz PermanentThis is Worldline. · Worldline helps businesses of all shapes and sizes to accelerate their growth journey - quickly, simply, and securely. We are the innovators at the heart of the payments technology industry, shaping how the world pays and gets paid. Our technology powers the ...
-
Elektrokonstrukteur m/w
Gefunden in: Jooble DE O C2 - vor 4 Tagen
APROVIS Energy Systems GmbH Ausland, Schweiz GanztagsElektrokonstrukteur (m/w/d) APROVIS ist ein hoch spezialisiertes Unternehmen mit dem Schwerpunkt auf effizientere Energienutzung und der Reduktion des CO2-Ausstoßes. Unsere qualifizierten Mitarbeiter*innen entwickeln weltweite Lösungen für Biogasanlagen und Blockheizkraft ...
-
Bauarbeiter
Gefunden in: Talent CH C2 - vor 3 Tagen
Flexsis Winterthur, Schweiz GanztagsEINFÜHRUNG: · Unser Beruf und unsere Leidenschaft «HR-Management»Flexsis AG ist ein eigenständiges Unternehmen der Interiman Group SA mit über 140 Mitarbeitenden, die an 47 Standorten in der Deutschschweiz ein komplettes Programm von Dienstleistungen im Bereich Human Resources an ...
Kommentare