We've now been here more than a month, and I feel it's time for a list. (Is that a British thing, compiling lists? Or just a Nick Hornby/male one?) This one is dedicated to Maria and will be entitled:
1. They're nice! As in incredibly friendly. Even the faintest contact with a Swiss person ends with them wishing you a good day, evening, weekend. In English, German, or Swiss German. This includes people at eateries, in supermarkets/shops, in the lift, on the phone, you name it.
2. Their customer service is out-of-this world! In our first week, we got offered coffee (proper 'crushed-bean in a machine' kind of coffee) in three different shops: When we went to buy a SIM-card (pay-as-you-go-only, nothing fancy) for our mobiles, when we looked at Nespresso-machines, and lastly when we'd been to a furniture store to purchase various items (the coffee here came with chocolate).
3. Wherever you go for walks, there are benches (see last week's post).
4. Wherever you go, generally, there are drinking water fountains.
5. The toilet paper in their public loos is SOFT! (I've sampled a few so far...)
6. They have a very natural relationship with their bodies. We've started using a public pool 10 minutes' walk from here, and for the first time since I lived in Denmark, I've used a changing room where women actually take off ALL their clothes in front of other women. And also shower in communal showers (women and men shower separately, I hasten to add!). There are facilities to shower in private, should one wish to do so...(On the other hand, I did find it a little strange, when I came across two teenage girls shaving their legs in a sink in a public toilet in the Swiss version of John Lewis the other day...)
7. They LOVE their flag. And it looks almost like the Danish one, so I love their flag as well. The pictures below are of some eggs, which my Swiss colleague, Sara, bought the day before their National Day on 1 August.
8. Their transport system. I'm so grateful to be finally living in a place where the trains are on time and regular. It really does make a difference to one's daily commute and day in general. Furthermore, travelling by public transport is cheaper here than in the UK and the ticketing system much, much easier to understand. It may actually be based on logic!
9. Their professionalism but still relaxed and helpful ways. I thought, the Swiss would be quite strict and pedantic, particularly those in authority, but we've only come across people who couldn't be more helpful. From day one, we've felt in good hands when dealing with the relocation manager, the importation agents, the bank, the post office, the management team for the building we're living in etc.
And finally:
10. Their patience. This is needed in abundance when I try to speak German before I give up, if it gets too complicated (it's usually me overcomplicating things and trying to use words and grammatical structures which are completely out of my reach yet). When I finally, after having probably offended them as well as their family in various ways, ask them if they speak English, they often modestly say yes, and then conduct the rest of the conversation as if English were their first language.
I think we'll stay a bit longer!
Lots of love,
Karen x
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