Useful Links/Info

For those of you new to Switzerland here are a couple of articles about Swiss Etiquette and living in Switzerland by Catherine McLean. Read the article here.

Alain de Botton also wrote an interesting article about Switzerland and although a few years old it does contain some interesting gems about living in the biggest city in Switzerland. Read here.

Below these useful numbers you will find “Useful Websites and Links”

Emergency Telephone Numbers:

117 Police

118 Firebrigade

144 Ambulance

1414 Rega Rescue Services

145 Poisons

140 Car breakdown Service

1811 Telephone Directory Service

044 360 44 44 SOS Emergency 24hr Doctors

Some Swiss German Vocabulary

Nothing helps more than trying to speak the language. In Switzerland they speak Swiss German as opposed to “High German”. Here are some phrases in Swiss German you might find useful. Just click the link and then click on the pdf to enlarge: Useful Swiss Vocabulary

Siren Testing in Switzerland – First Wednesday of every February

The annual civil defence siren testing takes place the first Wednesday in February every year between 1.30pm and 3pm. Switzerland has 8500 mobile and stationary civil-defence sirens, which can alert 99% of the population. It’s just a test in case they ever need them in a real emergency. You don’t need to do anything except cover your ears – unless of course you hear them going off outside this date!

There are two alarm signals

At 1.30 p.m. you will hear the “General Alarm” signal sounded across the whole of Switzerland, an ascending and descending tone, which lasts for one minute. It is then repeated once more after a two-minute interval. Sometimes they continue testing the sirens till 2 p.m.. From 2.15 p.m. to 3 p.m. (at the latest), the “Water Alarm” signal is tested in those areas near dams. This is a different alarm lasting 20 seconds and repeated at 10 second intervals and is made up of twelve low continuous tones. In total approximately 7,800 sirens are tested across Switzerland.

Some Useful Websites

Am azon online store

American’s Welcome

American Women’s Club Zurich

AngloInfo Zurich

Active Search

BlogExpat.com

British Residents Association

BSCC

British Grocery Store

Dairy-Free Switzerland dealing with Allergies in CH

Dentist (English speaking)

Doktor.ch List of Swiss Doctors

Executive Re-Location relocation services

End of Tenancy Cleaning

English Forum

English Speaking Club of Zurich

Foundations for Learning

GartenSelect – gardening services

Global People Transitions

Google Translate

Language Center Zurich

Live-Switzerland

“Local” Phone Book

Luxe4Education Cashmere Charity

Meteo Weather

Mieterverband.ch – Help with rental accommodation

My Kugelhopf

My Switzerland

Natural Facial Rejuvenation

NewInZurich – Facebook

Noon Woodwork Carpentry & Design

PureBeautySpa Treatments

Simply Theatre

SBB Train Website

SinglePointofEntry

Stadt Zurich Architecture Info

Swiss Events Calendar

Swiss National Museum

Swiss Health Insurance Comparisons

Swiss World Heritage Sites

The English Show Radio Station

Ticketcorner

ZVV Travel in Zurich

TheLocal Swiss News in English

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Cinema

There are plenty of cinemas in Zurich, around 16 at the last count and many of them with several screens. You can find lots of films in the original English soundtrack – but make sure when you book that is says Edf – which means English with German (Deutsch) and French subtitles) – a capital D means that the movie is in German! Bargain tip: On Mondays all seats are reduced price in all cinemas in Zurich.