The City Council of Zurich has reappointed the Foreigners' Advisory Council ABR for the term of office 2018 to 2022. The 25 members represent the people of Zurich without a Swiss passport and convey the concerns of the non-naturalized population to the city council. The office of the Advisory Board is held by the IF.

Press release of 30 August 2018

In the beginning, I had no idea how to behave when I had to date people but was too late. Who then calls whom?
In Istanbul, the waiting person calls and asks: "Tell me, when are you coming? Where are you right now? Can you do it?" I wondered for a while why no one cared about me when I was late, whereas I always phoned around caringly when I was waiting for someone.
But in the meantime everything has settled down well, someone is always on the phone.
Typical Züri.

After a year in Zurich, I found time for the first time to accompany my wife to shopping (ashes on my head!). After we paid at the checkout and my arms were covered with paper bags and child, I asked my wife to return the shopping cart.
She looked at me in amazement and said, all American: "But honey, why should I bring it back? After all, we paid two francs for someone here to do that." That's when I realized that she had now spent two francs a week three times a week for a year, for a total of 300 francs, on the imaginary rent.
Not that I don't give the following "Wägeli" users the joy: But I would have preferred to invest the 300 francs in a large sign that says you can get the two francs back.

My mother didn't say a single word German when she first flew to Switzerland to visit us. Of course, my wife and I picked her up by car at Kloten Airport. During the drive to our apartment, my mother couldn't help but be amazed. Streets, houses, gardens, cars – everything looked so new, so clean, so different to them. "Swiss".
So we were talking about the weather, the traffic and other things when my mother suddenly pointed her finger at a traffic sign and said: "Look, there is another sign for "Exit". – But that has to be a very big city."

As soon as I arrived in Zurich, I immediately tried to comply with the regional rules of courtesy, such as toasting with the wine glass a) the first time, b) with each new person, c) with every new bottle, d) when changing from white to red wine, e) with every further push from every direction, etc.
From the very beginning, I had also taken note of the fact that people always say "Grüezimitenand" as a greeting. So I always said Grüezimitenand, when I met people, whether they were three, two or alone, I made no difference, because I had this wonderful word Grüezimitenand. The fact that others sometimes only said "Grüezi" was something I thought was laziness.
It took about a year until someone discreetly pointed out to me that this wonderful word must be shortened to "Grüezi" for a single person. Typical Zurich.

When I got home one day, I noticed slight plumes of smoke in the apartment. In addition, it smelled burnt. The smell somehow came out of the closet. After half an hour of "Werweissen" I called the fire brigade. So that they did not consider me plemplem, I calmly gave my name and address and described the small problem. An equally calm male voice replied: "Mer schicked öppert verbii."
Relieved that they would handle the strange problem so discreetly, I waited outside the front door for a man with a briefcase in the small car. After less than five minutes, two fire trucks with sirens raced around the corner (it was actually a small smoldering fire in the apartment below me). How fast that went! And what an understatement – "öppert"!

When I didn't live in Zurich for long and explored my new quarters, one fine day I noticed a special shop in a small street. In the shop window hung various beautiful garments with a sensational price list: trousers 6 Fr., Jupe 5 Fr., shirt 4.50 Fr., coat 12 Fr. That had to be this summer sale, which other Italian women had already told me about.
I raced home, called some friends and told them enthusiastically about this business. On the same afternoon, the three of us set off, with empty bags and a lot of anticipation. But when we got there, I was taught otherwise by the friends: it was just a laundry. What a pity, because of course I have never found such low prices in Zurich's clothing stores again."

On one of my first train journeys in Switzerland – I didn't speak a German yet – I wanted to take the train to Zurich in Olten. Since in Spain at a station of comparable size two trains would never depart at the same time, I only paid attention to the departure time and got on board.
It wasn't until the ticket check that I realized that I was on the wrong train: With his hands and feet, the conductor explained to me that I should get off at the next stop. With great laughter, I was driven back to Olten in a single locomotive, where I finally caught the right train to Zurich. The helpfulness I experienced is unforgettable to me.

A friend from Germany was visiting, and one day I sent her with the empty bottles to the next bottle collection point. She could then leave the old bag right there, there is a special waste container for it. She came back very distraught and said: "What kind of city is this, where you even have to fold the waste?"
At first I didn't know what she meant by that, because I had already gotten used to this paper bag disposal container with the horizontal mailbox slot, which is supposed to prevent you from just choking a dirty bag in there. So please fold nicely first and then choke in.
Typical Züri.

I was 7 years old and only recently in Switzerland, when we were supposed to make labels for Christmas gifts in craft lessons with the text "the dear mother", "the dear father", "the dear God", "the dear Götti". I did not know the terms "God" and "Goddess" and wondered what could be meant by that. They were probably Swiss-German expressions for God, after all, Christmas was an important church holiday. But what would the other children give God for Christmas?
This was all too mysterious for me, and despite the teacher's admonition, I refrained from making labels for "Gods" and "Goddesses". I didn't dare to ask, I didn't want to be stupid.

In my home country, it is not appropriate to accept an invitation to dinner immediately. So when I'm visiting someone, the meal time is approaching, and I'm asked to stay to eat, I say, "No, thank you, I'm not hungry, I'm going home now." However, this rejection is not meant seriously, but only a polite phrase. After all, I don't want to give the impression that I could be hungry – a condition that is still part of everyday life for some people in Senegal.
Fresh in Zurich, I was amazed to find that I was only asked to stay here once to eat, and not insisted when I refused. After I had missed many a fine meal due to my polite rejection, I say today bluntly: "Yes, gladly."

When I came to Zurich a few years ago, I seriously tried to learn dialect and, in particular, the correct pronunciation of the sound «ch». My acquaintances gave me many beautiful words to practice, such as "Chäschüechli" or "Chuchichäschtli". Of course, I also wanted to apply my new beautiful words in practice and confidently demanded a "Chuchichäschtli" in the bakery, which I also got every time without hesitation. Only after months I was informed that the delicacy is not called Chuchichäschtli but Chäschüechli. Well, at least I can now do the "ch" perfectly!