Hi alchyna, thanks for the warm welcome!
It struck me after my first post that most people are probably most concerned about visa issues, so I figured I’d best preempt it with that disclaimer. J
I apologise for the length of the following. Re. your questions:
Living in Switzerland
In a word: great. It’s certainly a higher standard of living than I’ve experienced anywhere else (with corresponding prices). Plenty of nature and fresh air, a continuous array of events, concerts, carnivals and festivals, and – most of all – fantastically located for exploring the continent. I quite like the fact that even the cities retain their traditional appearances in contrast to the congregation of glassy skyscrapers that characterise many other major cities.
The opening hours of shops took some getting used to though. Shops generally close at 6pm on weekdays, 4pm on Fridays and all day Sundays, with slight variations depending on where in the country you are. True to stereotype, everything if highly organised and runs extremely efficiently – I’ve genuinely heard train drivers apologising for 2 minute delays.
Adapting
I had little trouble adapting to Switzerland (with the exception of the aforementioned shop hours), though given that I do speak the local German dialect my experience could well be skewed. Other international friends also claim to have found it easy to acclimatise here. Language is not necessarily an issue – many foreigners I’ve met don’t speak any of the local languages, and get around fine purely with English. Having said that, the locals do appreciate it when foreigners put in the effort to at least try, and many from the older generations are unable to converse in English.
It can also be rather challenging to break into a local’s inner circle. In my experience the Swiss are rather guarded and more difficult to get to know than, say, Brits or the Dutch. Most are certainly friendly and helpful, but getting to know a Swiss person on a deeper level does seem to take more time. This, of course, is a generalisation based on my experience, and may not ring true everywhere.
In terms of shopping, most major international brands are available here, along with many local or regional ones. Grocery shopping is where a local language comes in extra handy; most products only carry details in German, French and Italian.
Accommodation
There is unfortunately a hierarchy when it comes to renting. It isn’t too different from most other countries though. Owners tend to prefer local applicants, followed by foreign professionals from reputable companies and so on. The chances for foreigners depend largely on the type of visa they have (short term vs long term), where they are from (while not true of all places, discrimination does play a role), what company/university they’re working/studying at, and so on. The longer the validity of your visa and the more stable and trusted your company is, the better your chances. Geneva is known to have some of the highest rents in the country, due largely to the high demand and low supply of available accommodation.
Switzerland also uses this odd system in which there are two “official moving dates” each year – 1 April and 1 October. Because of this system there’s usually a larger selection of places for rent available in the run up to these dates as compared to “unofficial” periods.
I favour this site for vacancy listings: http://en.comparis.ch/immobilien/listgeo/show?mode=1. The following article also contains links to several other property sites: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/specials/switzerland_how_to/daily_life/Living.html?cid=29177976
(side note: www.swissinfo.ch is useful for updates on life in Switzerland, and www.englishforum.ch is a great resource for pretty much anything that an expat might need to know about moving to/living in Switzerland)
Employment
I have no experience with part-time employment here either. The usual student jobs exist (Starbucks, supermarkets etc), but it is extremely difficult to find part-time work if one doesn’t speak the local language, especially in a customer-facing role. You mentioned earlier in the thread that you’re fluent in French, so this shouldn’t be an issue in your case.
From what I’ve read IHEID also assists students with finding part-time work, so that’s the route I’m planning to take. I reckon there’s a better chance of obtaining part-time work relevant to the programme in this way.
tl; dr
Switzerland is great, as expensive and organised as people say, and accommodation and employment can be difficult to obtain. www.englishforum.ch is a fantastic resource.