The Swiss character has inevitably been shaped by the country’s history and its natural environment. It’s the long, dark winters that have most likely fostered their self-absorbed and silent manner.
Swiss are third-generation city people at most, so almost all families have relatives living in the country. Childhood memories will undoubtedly include summers spent in the country. The somewhat grim and reserved Swiss of the winter months undergoes a significant change in summer: s/he will ask friends out for a picnic, meet new people, get on a boat to cruise on a lake, or climb a mountain. The Swiss are also passionate skiers. A foreigner is well advised to bear in mind that in human relations, Swiss try to avoid sentimentality. Much of what other nationalities voice without hesitation, Swiss may reveal only once they know a person quite well.