Top 10 differences between Switzerland and the U.S.
Everything is closer together. Well, not trees and bushes, but people and buildings and even countries. Susan and I went grocery shopping (and had lunch) in Germany on Monday. We could as easily have gone to Lichtenstein, but will save that destination for another time.
Speaking of groceries, there isn’t nearly as much variety in the stores. I’m wondering where the other 73 brands of toothpaste are. The Swiss appear to have cornered the high end of the market on just about everything and are perfectly content to offer only those items.
A car isn’t absolutely necessary. But then that didn’t stop us from buying one — in fact, the biggest one we could find. (I may post pictures of the Volvo station wagon in all of her glory later. It’s a beauty. The color looks like a serious leg bruise on about the third or fourth day. But it runs.)
The view from the window: having lived in places like Illinois, Michigan, and Florida, I’m not used to seeing snow-covered mountains in the distance. But there they are — in every direction.
Languages. Having moved most recently from south Florida and having heard Spanish, Portuguese, Creole, and more on a daily basis, I wasn’t expecting to hear an even bigger variety of languages spoken here. Switzerland has four official languages, not including the one that most Swiss seem to speak fluently — English. But I hear even more on the train each day.
The Swiss are punctual — in fact, überpünktlich, but then I’ve blogged about that previously. Fortunately I’ve always been a bit obsessive about that myself. I feel as though I’ve come home.
In a land of cheese, there is no cheddar. True.
Chocolate. I once served a church downwind of Hershey, Pennsylvania, so I know all about chocolate, but in Switzerland chocolate is a national treasure — along with cheese, watches, fondue, army knives, and skiing.
There are 8 million police in Switzerland. Every single citizen has been deputized to enforce Swiss law. No infraction — no matter how minor — escapes the searching eyes of the Swiss. A dog walked improperly? A car parked on the line? A noise between the hours of 12:00 and 14:00? All will receive disapproving words from local law enforcement.
Oh, and no yard work on Sunday in Switzerland. We don’t have a yard and are actually glad about this one.