Or, as my husband says, “How I got cultivated”. Am I American or Swiss? Looking closely, but not too closely, I can see I have changed. Some things I do now are just so Swiss.
Here’s a nonfinite list of things I do the Swiss way.
Around the House
I wear Slippers inside and not just when I have my pj’s on. My street shoes are for outside use only. When I come home I take off my shoes and put on my slippers. In fact, I wrote a whole post about slippers. Speaking of shoes, I have no qualms about wearing socks with sandals either, outside, naturally. That is not American.
I never throw away paper, cardboard, glass, plastic bottles, cans or even food in the normal, pick-up trash. None of that “one trash for everything” for us Swiss. All those things are picked up to be recycled on scheduled days. Before you put them outside, you always tie your newspapers or cardboard into perfect, carry sized bundles using a slipknot. Of course, not all food scraps are thrown into the compost either. Old bread? Save it and feed it to the ducks.
At the store I have also, at times, removed what I bought from its box. Then put the cardboard into a special bin for the store to dispose of correctly. It reduces waste at home and makes it easier to carry. And quite honestly it saves me the trouble of bundling the cardboard.
I don’t hang clothes out to dry on Sundays, but I do wash on Sundays. Having confessed to that I have an unbelievable urge to apologize. Just one of many Sunday and quiet rules.
I used to get irritated when someone called during the Swiss nightly news. Not quite as violently as my Swiss husband, but still. Fortunately that is a thing of the past, now that our TV has the pause function we can watch the news whenever we want. I imagine the number of ulcers in the general Swiss population has declined because of that too.
Food
Have my food choices changed since I’ve been in Switzerland? You bet. When it comes to food, I moved to the land of Cockaigne.
Is this a myth or a truth? Swiss eat chocolate EVERY day. And, ONLY Swiss chocolate because it’s the best. If you ask me, it’s truth. I know that’s the only reason I eat so much chocolate because that’s what Swiss do. Now, if you believe that, then I have a bridge to sell you.
Swiss eat melted cheese at least once a week. True, but only in the winter. For diversity they eat a variety of hard and soft cheese with steamed potatoes. No question about that, I ended up in the right country. I must have been a chocolate and cheese eating mouse in an earlier life. Say cheeeese!
Unless it’s my spaghetti casserole, I always twirl spaghetti on my fork. It’s just so much neater that way.
Switzerland isn’t big on peanut butter. That’s just fine with me, it’s way too expensive anyway. A friend of mine came to Switzerland for a year. She couldn’t live without peanut butter and was in total disbelief about the price and size of the jars. I think she bought her peanut butter weekly in the 5 gallon size.
Geography
When you actually know where Switzerland is on a map of Europe you are Swiss. What’s wrong with this picture? Well, at least they didn’t put it in Sweden.
Punctuality and Spontaneity
I’m annoyed when a train is 3 minutes late. So inconsiderate. Or how about when the mailman is late? That’s almost as bad as being late as an invited guest somewhere. All no-goes.
The Swiss aren’t necessarily known for their spontaneity. Yes, I am surprised when someone calls and invites me to dinner – that same evening. Thank goodness it doesn’t happen too often. The Swiss way of thinking is: spontaneity is okay as long as it’s planned.
Planning is a big part of being Swiss. You plan your next vacation while on vacation or shortly thereafter. Go ahead, ask any Swiss where they plan to go on their next vacation… Even if I don’t regularly go on vacation, I’m big on planning.
While Ben was taking an international language course in Italy the teacher said ‘All Swiss have a pocket planner’. The non-Swiss thought he was joking until he asked everyone who had one to take it out. Every single Swiss in the class took out their planner. Like most Swiss I have a pocket planner, too.
Out and About
Americans love bumper stickers. No bumper stickers for the Swiss. Actually, I believe they are illegal here. No cute sayings to read while driving. This particular Swiss-ness doesn’t bother me. I was never a bumper sticker person.
I never order tap water at restaurants. If I want water I buy it bottled and pay handsomely for it. That is just so Swiss.
Some Things never Change
There are some things that haven’t changed for me since I’ve been here.
I will continue to use dry yeast when making bread and zupfe (that would be braided bread).
I will continue to leave windows and doors open to enjoy the breeze. I do not complain about it being drafty.
I will continue to pick up and eat pizza with my hands except when it is not politically correct. Hmm, but I drink wine and not beer with pizza so that’s half American and half Swiss.
I will continue to count in English when it has to be quick and correct.
So you see, you can take the girl out of America but you can’t completely take the America out of the girl. Some things never change, I guess.
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