A Wonderful Sunny Day

Well this year's crocus have arrived. They have been blossoming all week, but as I am a working woman I didn't see them properly until today. Although it is not exactly Spring temperatures, we had full sun all day and blue skies. After spending the morning doing housewify things, like cleaning windows, hoovering and cooking I decided to go into town this afternoon. Before I went I noticed that my cats were out in the garden enjoying the sunny weather. Fluffy was sitting on the lawn making the most of the weather.

I decided to walk into town. It was the first time this year and I was wondering why each year I need longer to get there, after all it is only a kilometer. I naturally had my camera with me, you never know what might turn up. This photo shows one of the narrow alleys on the way called the Grimmengasse.

and this is our local senior citizens home, just across the road. Might be useful one of these days.

There were not many people in town and I did not really have to get anything special, although my other half asked me to get one of our National newspapers, the Saturday edition, as they always have the coloured supplement which is usually quite interesting.

There wasn't really anything interesting to photograph in town except for this pigeon. He saw me coming with the camera and decided to hop on this stone (probably a remainder of a roman wall somewhere in town, or just an ornament for pigeons to relax on) and when the pigeon looked at me with that smile on his face I decided to take his photo.

After getting some money out of the money machine I took a slow stroll back home. I was wondering whether to go via the local castle for a few photos of the alps, but I was feeling a bit worn out and it would mean going uphill, so decided on the straight road home. I suppose I should now feel fit and healthy and glad that I went out this afternoon. In a way yes, but I was glad to arrive home. The sun was still shining and I noticed our first wasp or something that looked like one buzzing around the flowers in the garden, so I suppose Spring is just around the corner, although in Switzerland you never know. It wouldn't surprise me if we had a few inches of snow at the end of next week, so I am making the most of it while I can.

And by this time Fluffy had decided to relax and really make the most of the day

Ready for the Week-end, Yes

Friday evening and our office is empty. As I said to a colleague this afternoon, it seems to me that Friday afternoon is the slowest in the week and he agreed. It was a quiet day, actually a quiet week, Europe being sunk in carnival fever and most people taking days off in between. There were even a couple of small companies in Germany that were closed for three days. The weather was perfect today, clear skies, sunshine and yet another wonderful view of the Swiss alps on my way home, but this time I did not do a photo stop, although I thought it might be a good idea. Arriving home I packed out my shopping trophies, have had my evening meal and am now doing what I always seem to do in the evening - blogging. Even my cats have retired to their usual sleeping places, although I noticed that my big black cat Nera was outside but seemed to come in at a speed.

Nera: No wonder, that bit Ginger Garfield lookalike was outside again.
Me: But Nera, you are much bigger than the new cat, how comes you always run away from it.
Nera: There are just certain things a two legged human cat does not understand. I am a lady, or was until that unforgettable visit to the vets. However, I forgive you for that, I don't think having lots of kittens would be my thing. And the problem is that if I had not had my, well you know, operation, that Ginger cat would have probably taken advantage of me.
Me: Can you explain that one a bit more detailed Nera?
Nera: You humans can be a bit naïve sometimes. That new cat around here is a tom cat - understand. A tom cat with all the bits and pieces, and that is why Tabby and I are not keen to be near him. He seems to get a bit frustrated around me and Tabby and he gets quite annoyed to say the least.
Fluffy: Nera is right Human, Now I know what I am talking about because the vet removed my bits and pieces a long while ago - come to think of it I don't really remember having them very long. In any case, I don't mind. The Ginger Tom has a peculiar smell about him that I don't like. I smell much nicer.
Tabby: Fluffy you are a bit simple some times. The Tom cats call that marking their reviere or something like that.
Nera: So human you see what the problem is.
Me: Ok cats, then do you have any suggestions to improve the situation?
Tabby: I think you and Mr. Human are doing the right thing when you empty a jug of water over him when he is here. I even noticed that Mr. Grey's human chased the Garfield lookalike away yesterday evening and even shouted at him.
Nera: I saw that too, seems that Garfield Ginger Tom is not a popular cat around here
Fluffy: Even Bobinette does not like him and she chased him away.
Nera: Bobinette is a few years older than me and Tabby, so I think that ginger tom has a bit more respect from her.
Tabby: Well when Bobinette gets going with her hissing and claws out and fiery look in the eyes I would disappear as well.
Nera: You do, Tabby.
Fluffy: Perhaps he will have his bits and pieces removed one day as well, after all he is a lot younger than we are.
Nera: Let's just keep our claws crossed and hope for that day when we see him in a cage in a car heading up the hill to that place we know too well. When he comes home again he will definitely not be the same cat before he went.
Fluffy: You mean the vets.
Nera & Tabby: Hissssssssss

At this point I left my cats to themselves. In any case it seems that we are on the right track in giving the new cat in the neighbourhood a shower when he turns up. Mr. Human is still a bit careful and usually sprays the new one with water, but I found emptying half a liter of water over him did the trick this week. Will keep an eye on the situation over the week-end.

We have snow in Switzerland

We had wonderful weather today. It started off at freezing point and during the day went up to 8° C with clear skies and sunshine. I was talking to a colleague at work that works in our IT department about the photos I sometimes take at work and he said I should try it out on his side of the building as he gets the sunrises and I only get the sunsets. Then we started exchanging our photos shots by mail and internet where mine usually arrive eventually.

He went snowboarding last week-end in the Bernese Overland and was on the Männlichen, one of their skiing places and took some photos with his mobile, cell phone or whatever it is called - in Switzerland we call them handies.

I was so impressed that I asked him if I could show them here, so here they are. It was a nice sunny day in the Bernese Overland. The mountain on the lefthand side is the Eiger. On the flanks of that mountain there are windows from the Jungfrau railway which goes through the mountain. You can't see the Jungfrau properly on this picture, just the beginning of it on the righthand edge.

Here is a good photo to show the strength of the sun on that height which is about 2'343 meters over sea level. When I think our local mountain, the Weissenstein, is only 1200 Meters high. I know the Bernese Overland very well, also this area. It is where the big ski races are carried out in Winter, but I know it mainly from the Summer holidays when it is green and the meadows are full of beautiful flowers, cows and wondnderful scenery. I have often gone hiking up the mountains (not climbing) and when the weather gets a bit more summery I will scan a few of the 500 photos I have of the Swiss mountaines in Summer for a blog. They were taken in the old days when I didn't have a digi camera and the photos had something called a negative.

I don't ski and don't go to the mountains in winter for the simple reason that I am accident prone and would guaranteed break something. I can't even ride a two wheel bike. I am also not keen on the car rides to get to such places, especially if they are somewhere at the end of a country road leading to the alps. Bernese Overland is not so bad, you very rarely need to put chains on the wheels, but if you go to Grisons or Valais, then it is a different story, so I stay in the lowlands in Winter and depend on my friend's photos to show how it is.

There you can see some of the brave skiers getting ready for their downhill run. And thanks to my colleague for letting us enjoy a day out on the slopes of the Bernese Overland.

The Day started with a Rainbow

There I was sitting at my desk in the early morning wondering whether to get a coffee or do some work and my colleague says "don't you want to take a photo of the rainbow outside". Naturally I was wide awake and ready to go. It was miserable weather and I was surprised. I always thought that rainbows were caused by the sun shining through water drops. Well there was plenty of water around but I didn't see the sun. Anyhow I managed to get a couple of photos, although I have seen better rainbows.

Afterwards back to work, a nice quiet day - half of the office taken the day off to sleep out the carnival from last night and in Germany things were also very quiet. I think if there was an international European crisis during the carnival week, nobody here would be bothered. They would either be celebrating in the streets or in bed sleeping the whole thing off.

I have an appointment with a football match this evening. Switzerland are playing England in Wembley stadium in London. Our Swiss trainer, Kobi Kuhn, had a bit of a problem trying to sort out which goalkeeper he should choose (i.e. according to the newspapers and media). Pascal Zuberbühler is the "regular" up to now, but is 37 years old and so our trainer is putting a younger man in the goal - Diego Benaglio - 24 years old and not very much experience, so let's see what happens. I have lived 20 years in England and 40 in Switzerland, so who will I be supporting? Let's hope the best team wins (Switzerland??). For Switzerland it is a practice for the Europa cup for which unfortunately England did not qualify. Most of the Swiss players don't play in Switzerland in any case.

So let's hope the rainbow over our local village was a sign that Switzerland will win.

39 Years ago

39 years ago this building was well known but most people in our town, at least the ones that got married there. It was then our local registry office and it was here on this day that I said Yes. Well actually I said "Ja", luckily at the right moment. I understood more or less what was going on but was not so versatile in the German language as today. In Switzerland it is only the registry office wedding that is recognised by the state. Of course, you can have your church wedding, but if you do you have to have both. I settled for the registry office one and that was complicated enough.

When we decided to get married it was not really all that easy as we decided to have a quiet thing in Switzerland, just me and Mr. Swiss and 2 witnesses (also law in Switzerland), but because I was a British citizen at the time there were a few things I had to do. I remember one of them was to have my birth certificate translated into German. I think that was one hundred francs. Then I had to go to the embassy/consulate responsible for Solothurn. That was the consulate in Basel. I had to swear an oath in front of the assistant consular general - righthand in the air and say the words on the paper - that I was who I was on my birth certificate, was not already married etc. etc. I cannot remember the actual words, but felt like a criminal in court. Another hundred francs (I think). I brought all my documents to the town hall and they all had to be not older than three months. Unfortunately the only birth certificate I had was issued at my birth in 1946. However, being very humane, they told me they would accept it on the condition that I supplied a newer one after the marriage.

Eventually we did get married on 4th February. It was snowing a bit and I remember going to a local restaurant with the witnesses for a drink before the marriage, A couple Mr. Swiss knew that I had met about twice before the wedding. The wedding was conducted by the registrar. I remember his pin stripe trousers - I think he would have fitted in better on Threadneedle street in London than in a registry office. I even remember his name, although he has now long been pensioned off. When I became Mrs. Swiss I was congratulated and given a book about how to be a brave Swiss citizen, as I didn't only get Mr. Swiss, but also the nationality. At that time it was law, although men had to wait a few years. longer. Women got it straight away. Today, there are equal laws for men and women and both have to wait a few years before they become Swiss.

I sort of forgot about the new birth certificate, but the state didn't and I was reminded in a letter they were still waiting for my new birth certificate. All I knew at the time that Somerset House was then the centre for the issue of such documents in London, so I wrote to them enclosing a copy of my original birth certificate. It worked and a couple of weeks later, for the price of about fifty francs, I got a new certificate. As in the meanwhile my old certificate was deposited at the offices, I gave my new one and forgot about the old one, which meant I had none. About ten years later I needed the certificate to apply for a British passport. I was surprised, I phone the registry offices and had to wait about two minutes and she told me on the phone she has it and would send it. I received it the next day (Swiss efficiency).

So 39 years and two children later (I also had two stepchildren) I am still here.

My Polyglot Brain

At the age 20 I packed my bag(s) and took the train to Switzerland. Why – at the age of 20 you probably make decisions. Somehow other countries did fascinate me and I happened to find a job in Switzerland advertised in the daily English newspaper. A Business man in Zürich was looking for an English speaking secretary. The business man was a Pakistani, married to a Swiss woman and they had 3 children. At that time (1966) I just wanted to live somewhere else, having already breathed a bit of foreign air on holiday in Italy and Paris, which quite appealed to me. I was always interested in foreign languages, somehow I decided one day I would like to perhaps become bilingual.

I suppose that was the beginning of it all. I knew that there were a few languages spoken in Switzerland, but no-one told me about the different dialects. Every language has its dialects. Even English is spoken differently according to the region where you grow up and being a cockney I knew this too well. I was once working in the city for a shipping company, P. & O. and it was sort of said “diplomatically” I might have got the job as head secretary in the department if my verbal English was a bit better. Not exactly in those words, but I knew what the boss meant. So I left that job and worked temporary for a time, earning very good money and making my plans to somehow shift off to another country.

Ok so I arrived in Switzerland ready to use my German. I was in Zürich and that was the local language – I thought. I realised on my first day that German was not the local language. The local language was Züri-tütsch (Zürich German) which sounded a bit like German cut off at the ends. Now my German was not that good, but speaking and understanding dialect was a bit exhausting to say the least. My boss’s wife was very helpful (I was living in the same building in rooms – it belonged to them) and had family connections. She explained the fine points of the local lingo which did help a bit. Coupled with a few words of Urdu that my boss now and again used in the family the foundations of my language salad had begun. I soon discovered, however that Zürich being Zürich and populated by many international gnomes working in banks, that English (actually American) was also used a lot in the town. If they don’t understand you in the shops, just speak English, everyone understands that. Actually the purpose of my stay was not really to speak English.

Luckily my boss also had an Indian restaurant, as well as having his office, where I worked during the day, so as my social life was more or less non-existent at the beginning I begun helping out in the restaurant in the evening. That really laid the foundations of my German, although speaking dialiect was a bit too much. I could say hello (Grützi), goodbye (Adieu) and thankyou (Merci) but that was about all. Note a few French words are used. The Swiss language can be a bit of a mixture. After 2 years of Zürich life I was thinking of going back to England, when my boss’s wife said if you would like to stay, put an advertisement in the paper, perhaps you might find something else. A lot of things happened at once. I had 2 offers of a job in Zürich and my mum told me in a telephone conversation that the company Robert Bosch in the village of Zuchwil (next to the town of Solothurn in North central Switzerland) was looking for an English secretary. I think my mum never forgave herself for that suggestion. I called Robert Bosch and got the job so moved off to this place called Zuchwil. Again a village with Swiss German, but a bit nearer to the French part of Switzerland. It was in this company that I met my Mr. Swiss (after one month of courtship we got married – it will be 38 years tomorrow) so that sealed my stay in Switzerland.

Back to languages, we lived in Solothurn. If you take the train to the next big town of Biel or Bienne as it is called (about 20 minutes away) you can start using your French. Biel is 60% Swiss German speaking and 40% French speaking. If you travel down the lake a bit in the third or fourth village they are already speaking French. I had learnt French six years in England, so had to polish it up a bit. I would add the French I learnt in England didn’t sound much like the French they spoke in Switzerland (or in France for that matter). My first son was autistic, the people advising us said it would be better to speak Swiss German at home. Up to that point we had mainly spoken English, although I had two step children who I spoke German/Swiss German with. Gradually, without noticing it I had started speaking Swiss German. There is one big advantage in Swiss German. The ends of the words sort of get lost in your throat, so you don’t have to bother much about the grammar. Well I suppose you do, but you can get away with a lot. Most people thought I was Dutch. Not so much because of the accent, but they don’t expect the English to learn a foreign language. After 40 years in Switzerland I still have an accent, but it is the letter “R” that gives you away. No matter who you are, if you are English you will never ever pronounced a German “R” correctly.

During this time my “thirst” for foreign languages had not completely left me. Now and again I could use my French and also Italian which I had learnt for a year in England in evening classes. I told you, I was just interested in learning foreign languages. I found a very easy way to speak French and Italian. If you don’t know the word, just take the English one and pronounce with a French or Italian accent. In most cases you will have found the word you are looking for. Italian is also spoken in Switzerland in the Southern part known as Ticino (Tessin for us German Swiss) as it borders on Italy. We have a fourth language called Romansch spoken in the Kanton (county) of Grisons in the Eastern mountaneous part of Switzerland where the goats and deer say good night to each other. Now this is a strange language, but if you understand Italian and Latin then you do get the gist of it. I do not speak it, but understand it a bit and the people living in this area are usually bilingual as you don’t really get through life speaking Romansch, so they also speak Swiss German. If you go on holiday to St. Moritz, Davos, Arosa, or Klosters for example you will hear this language being spoken. Naturally to complicate things Romansch also has about 3 or 4 different dialects according to which part of Grisons you live in.

Before I forget Swiss German is not just Swiss German. The Zürich people speak it quite quickly, the Bernese slowly, the Basle people somewhere in between and in the Kanton of Valais they speak swiss German with such a dialect that even some Swiss don’t understand them (they also speak French there). Apart from the 4 different languages of Switzerland I think nearly every town or even village has its own way of speaking. You eventually end up with about 200 or 300 different ways of saying a word in German. Then of course we have the Valser people living in the village of Bosco Gurin, on the borders of the Italian part of Switzerland where you go over the alps and come to the German speaking part. I went there once. A death defying journey in the car, at the end of nowhere on top of a mountain pass, but the village is there with people living there and speaking a language only they understand. If you walk in the restaurant it is like a Wild West film. Suddenly deathly quiet and everyone looks at you.

That would be the Swiss languages in a nut shell.

As I got older, the kids started doing their own thing I decided it was time to brush up my French, so did a course from work. Then I realised a sort of childhood ambition, I learnt Russian. I stayed with the course for about 12 years, but unfortunately such courses are always breaking down as the don’t have so many persistant supporters like myself and after starting up a second time I decided to give it up, although I do have a look at my books from time to time. The next language was Arabic. I stayed a year in the course, could read it and picked up a few words, but at the same time was still learning Russian, so the whole thing got a bit too much.

At this time I had started looking after the office apprentices in our department at work and some came from immigrant parents. I had one girl, she was Kosovo Albanian, so she gave me a few hints on their language. I learnt that everything Albanian has the word Schqip in it somewhere, and that the original inhabitants were known as Illyria. Then I was looking after a Turkish apprentice. I quickly learnt how to count to 20 in Turkish, bought myself a sort of tourist how to speak Turkish book, and having help from my apprentice, could soon say hello and goodbye. As a matter of fact others in the department also got interested and we were soon speaking a few broken words of Turkish. My apprentice at the moment who is leaving the department in two weeks is Croat. I didn’t have to bother with her language as she understood my Russian and I understood her Serbo-Croat. Actually all our apprentices speak Swiss German better than I can as they grew up in Switzerland.

I still make grammatical mistakes in German (as well as the rest of the languages), but I find the main thing is people understand me and I understand them. My Mr. Swiss once said it doesn’t matter where I am I always get into conversation with someone. I remember when we were staying at a hotel in London once and there were some Russians on the next table. His words were “don’t speak to them”. Well I mean they spoke to me so a Dobr Den (Good day) was the least I could say. Mr. Swiss has now found that it doesn’t really make any difference where we go, Mrs. Swiss always seems to get into a conversation with someone.

We were once on holiday in Mallorca (did I mention that I learnt Spanish for a year as well – but unfortunately forgot most as my Italian got in the way). Anyhow we were on a boat trip and there were some French people there. Mr. Swiss said I am sure you don’t understand them. I told him I didn’t very well, so I suppose they are from Marseille, which was correct. French people from Marseille speak different to the French people elsewhere. We were once having breakfast in our hotel in New York. The people on the next table were Canadians and speaking French Canadian. I even understood it a bit.

Speaking so many languages can be a problem in the brain. I once started translating for my dad when he was here what my mother-in-law was saying to him, but ended up translating the English to my mother-in-law and the German to my dad. If I happen to talk in my sleep (which occurs now and again) Mr. Swiss says it is like sleeping next to a foreign dictionary. Basically I suppose I think in the language I am speaking. Forgot to mention I sort of understand Dutch as well (if you understand German and English it is somewhere in between).

In 2 years 20 months I will retire. I don’t think it will become boring. At the moment I am thinking about perhaps starting to learn Esperanto. I belong to a blogging community, more for photos, where there a a few people, mostly Hungarian, that write in Esperanto together. Actually quite easy to understand. A Scandinavian language is also missing in my repertoire and then of course there is Chinese (too many letters) and Japanese (3 different alphabets). In any case I am sure my retired life will not be boring.