Swiss expats on living abroad: The adventurer
More Swiss people live abroad now than ever before. In this series, seven types of expatriates talk about the happiness they have found far from home.
Almost 11% of Swiss citizens don’t live in Switzerland – and the figure is growing all the time. What do these emigrants seek abroad? And what made them decide to leave their homeland? They told their stories to Swiss newspaper SonntagsBlick.
The adventurer
Mathias Künzli, 47, describes his departure for the United States at the age of 19 as “a move with absolutely zero plan”. With scarcely two pennies to rub together, he wanted to study percussion for one or two semesters at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Twenty-eight years later, he still lives in the United States. “It has less to do with the country than with the fact that my most important professional years were spent there,” says Künzli, a native of Aargau. The movement, the rhythm, the internationality – all this fascinated him.
From the moment he arrived, he earned his living as a freelance musician. When he moved from Boston to New York City with his degree and $3,400 in his pocket, he managed to find his way into the local music scene. Since then, he has played drums all over the world.
For the past few years he has been living in Los Angeles with his wife, who emigrated from Israel to the United States. “I feel comfortable enough in the United States, but that doesn’t mean I’ve become American. This experience abroad has made me an open and tolerant person. I’m not afraid of others, regardless of where they come from,” he says.
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