A TALE OF 2 ORDERLY NATIONS - Part 4

🚗 Driving Culture

• Switzerland treats speed limits as sacred laws, written in metaphorical stone and enforced by hidden speed cameras lurking like highly trained snipers. Step even slightly over the limit, and you've instantly won yourself a surprise photo souvenir courtesy of Swiss law enforcement. It's efficient, relentless, and guarantees that every Swiss driver develops a built-in speedometer through sheer fear alone.

• In contrast, Japan's speed limits, though technically real, are more of a suggestion than an actual rule. They're often set unrealistically low – so low that if everyone actually followed them, pedestrians might start overtaking cars in casual strolls. And since there's no official tolerance for exceeded limits, enforcement tends to be flexible – which is a diplomatic way of saying "enforced when deemed necessary" rather than by any predictable rule. Thankfully, there seems to be a silent agreement among drivers: ignore them just enough to keep traffic moving, but not enough to cause chaos.

In Switzerland, an amber light means brake immediately, unless you want the police to send you a memento in photo format. In Japan, hesitate too long, and you will be rear-ended by five taxis simultaneously.

🏡 Your Home, Your Castle

• Swiss homes are built like medieval strongholds, designed to withstand blizzards, financial crises, and generations of stubborn inheritance disputes. The walls are thick enough to block both Arctic winds and unsolicited neighbourly advice, and once you sign a mortgage in Switzerland, you're legally bound to that house for eternity and beyond.

• Japan, on the other hand, follows the Buddhist philosophy of impermanence – housing included. Homes are lightweight and not built to last for centuries. The upsides? They're sturdy enough to survive sizeable earthquakes, and unlike Swiss "fortresses", they are actually affordable for mere mortals. The downside is that a brand-new house starts losing value the second someone walks through the door. Forget passing it down to future generations – most houses in Japan are essentially disposable, with people tearing them down just to rebuild something newer and shinier every few decades.

Either way, both nations have figured out exactly what they want from their houses. One invests in generational durability, the other in affordability and short-term efficiency.

💵 Cost of Living Shock

• In Switzerland, nothing costs what you think it should, but at least three times as much. You see a sandwich? That's $12. A bottle of water? $5, even if it's just tap water in disguise. A casual dinner? Might require a minor bank loan. Swiss pricing follows a strict formula: (Expected cost) x (Unexplained Swiss multiplier) = Financial suffering. Even locals have accepted their fate – nobody questions why an ordinary pizza costs as much as a concert ticket, they just embrace it. The difference? They can probably afford it, because they have a matching salary, whereas foreign visitors don't.

• In contrast, thanks to the weak yen, Japan has never been more affordable for tourists. Foreign visitors arrive thinking they've unlocked an economic cheat code, enjoying cheap convenience store meals, budget-friendly transportation, and amazing sushi at prices that feel like theft compared to other countries. At the same time, however, Tokyo rents will drain your soul, for places so tiny that you may have to store your emotional baggage outside. And then there's fruit. A square melon? $200. Fancy strawberries? Mortgage-level pricing. A perfectly shaped apple? Might require financial consultation before purchase.

🥶 Seasons: Survival of the Fittest

Switzerland and Japan both pride themselves for running like clockwork, and that includes even times of extreme weather conditions.

• Switzerland thrives in winter – snow-covered landscapes make everything look like an Alpine postcard, cabins glow with cosy warmth, and Swiss people wander through blizzards as if they were light breezes. The colder it gets, the stronger their national pride grows – if a Swiss person isn’t actively skiing, making fondue, or adjusting their precision-engineered heating system, are they even Swiss?

• Meanwhile, Japan enters survival mode every summer. The humidity is so intense it feels like the air is trying to hug you... aggressively. Stepping outside in July? That's a dare. The air is 80% moisture and 20% suffering, ensuring you arrive at your destination completely drenched - even if it wasn’t raining. But people don't flinch – they suit up with parasols, cooling vests, and tiny electric fans like heatwave superheroes, gliding through the sauna streets with the grace of ballerinas. And should they run the risk of overheating after all, they can always escape into the nearest airconditioned shop, which will chill you to the bone.
  

  
  

Surviving Swiss prices or Japan’s humidity? Either way, it's a battle.