A close-up and personal look at Switzerland
In America learning knitting, sewing and cooking is done in a Home Economics class in high school. When I went to school girls took home ec. and boys took wood working. I know, where was the equality? But that was… Read moreKnitting in America and Switzerland
My first memory of trading stamps were the “green stamps”. I was way too young to understand the concept of collecting stamps and trading them for other products. If you asked me what they looked like I would say green,… Read moreCollecting Stamps, Coupons and Stickers
I know I’m showing my age, but when I came to Switzerland you bought a train ticket at the station. That’s the way it was. Period. No Internet and no i-phones. Each and every train station, big or small, had… Read moreSwiss Trains have Changed
I’ve been in Switzerland a very long time. When I go back to the States I have to get used to some things again. Getting back into the “American groove” can even take a couple of days. Money The first thing… Read moreGetting back into the groove in the States
Sometimes it’s difficult to know exactly where Switzerland is, especially if you are American. After all, it’s far away and “over there” in Europe somewhere. Usually, sometimes. Quite often Sweden and Switzerland are interchanged. Alas, to err is human. Here… Read moreWhere Exactly is Switzerland?
Although it is enormously important, only learning the Swiss language doesn’t make one Swiss. Some of the small, but important differences present themselves in the form of numbers. Handwritten Numbers 1, 7, 9 and oftentimes 4, the most important being… Read moreLearning Swiss by the Numbers
I’ve already talked about some of the smaller and midsized cultural shocks I had to deal with since moving here. I still stumble occasionally but not nearly as much as I used to. I enjoy the cultural differences, many of… Read moreCultural Differences in Switzerland and America
I love happy endings. Well of course I do, I’m American. I have been told many times in Switzerland that is so typically American. All the fairytales I heard as a child always had happy endings, too. Obviously I’m not… Read moreFairytales and Happy Endings
Most superstitions had their beginnings a long time ago and are based on ignorance or misunderstandings of science. As far as I can tell, American and European superstitions run along the same lines with minute differences. For example, in America… Read moreBad Luck Superstitions
Technically these aren’t strange things in America, but things that seem strange to me when I go back and visit. I’ve been here in Switzerland so long that quite often the Swiss way or thing seems normal and the American… Read moreStrange Things in America
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