Swiss "Top 10"

Another week has finished and only through God's grace did I make it through this one! I had an awful day yesterday and was just crabby and frustrated with everything French. I let my friends know about my state of mind off the bat and they were great. I hardly talked in class (that was a good thing) and went back home right after school and "holed-up" with an English movie, chai tea, and I even made myself a grilled cheese for lunch. Then I attempted to not even think "french" at all. Of course I did have to talk to Hermine at times and I alternated between English & French. I even managed to throw out some of the "past tense" stuff we had just learned this week, but it was pretty mind-numbing to do so!

However, I knew days like these would come (thanks to some great Inter-Cultural training by Wycliffe) and that Friday (today) would be a new, and hopefully better, day. And it was. So go the joys of losing all sense of who you are and immersing yourself in a game where you don't know the rules or the language. I think it's called the game of.....hmmm....yep, "LIFE!" We were talking on the way home today that it's only after you've been stripped of everything you are and everything that you've done that you realize your identity is in Christ. Not what you know or know how to do.

(Wendy teaching me how to tie suture knots - using Eric's shoe laces.)

So, I've come up with some observations about Switzerland to help you learn more about the country I am living in for the year. Enjoy and feel free to pass on your new knowledge to all your friends and relatives! ha ha - maybe not

10.) You can see the Alps from just about any town or village in this whole country....on a clear day, that is.

9.) There are more selections of cheese than hair products in every grocery store. (Probably even if you added the number of hair products found in the US to that number too.)

8.) There is a minimum of 1 Beauty Shop/Barber & 1 Shoe Store in every block downtown - I think there are at least 12+ blocks downtown.

7.) You can by every kind of meat, processed meat, and meat-like products in the stores, but they don't have pepperoni.

6.) The buses and trains (most of them) are electric and connected to this elaborate cable system above all the roads. Of course that also means if there is an accident in the path of the bus they can't go around it.

5.) The Swiss-French have to learn German but the Swiss-German usually don't learn French. The Swiss-Italian people usually learn both and neither of the other two learn Italian. I won't even comment on the Romansch language - it's sort of "Latin-like" from what I gather and you know what happened to that language!

4.) Chocolate is one of the cheapest things in the store and the "lowest grade" chocolate here is higher end stuff in the States. It's kind of like having water in your house, everyone has it available all the time. The really good stuff is out of this world amazing.

3.) It seems like every other person here smokes. They say it's a European thing but it makes me really sad, and really annoyed at companies like Phillip Morris (in the neighboring village) who promote it as being "cool." All I see is a country full of people in Hospice with a Lung Cancer diagnosis in 20-30 years. But, I am a nurse (and former Hospice nurse at that).

2.) To dress "European" you need a few essentials (which I just don't think will fit into my budget or "style"): tight jeans (more so if you are a girl), boots that go up over your jeans, black everything to mix and match with your jeans and other black accessories. At least 2-3 different BOLD colors that make up your hair color.....nothing that really looks like what you were born with. A cell phone, and most of all just remember that you want to layer a lot of things together that really don't match at all. Disclaimer: This is just my impression of a majority of people I see during the day, NOT everyone or really even the people I hang out with - Swiss or other. I'm thinking it's probably more so of a younger generation thing....but not always. :)

1.) If you own a dog you can take it ANYWHERE in Switzerland. Yep, like I said, ANYWHERE. Not this "okay, you can take your dog in here because it's a guide dog", type of thing. Nope, in Switzerland your dog can accompany you on the bus, the train, the tram, the boat, in the restaurant, in the clothing store, in most buildings, and everywhere you walk. So, if you are looking for a canine-friendly place to visit, come on over!