Probably my biggest shock was the language. I expected the Swiss to speak German, but they spoke a dialect called Swiss German, which has hardly anything in common with German. I couldn't understand when my host family talked to each other. The Swiss can understand Germans, but Germans cannot understand the Swiss. At times I was very frustrated because my three years of German did not help, but I reminded myself I was in Switzerland, and my bad mood vanished. Anyhow, many people knew and were extremely willing to speak English.