Always Something New to Learn

So far, I’ve learned that Ricola and Ferrero Rocher are both Swiss brands, in addition to Lindt, of course, and there are entire walls of chocolate in all the supermarkets. My plan is to buy one bar a week, and hopefully try most of them before I leave. A lot of them have praline in them, which tastes like hazelnut to me, and is absolutely delicious. I have yet to have fondue, and am really starting to want to buy a Swatch, since they’re also everywhere.

For me one of the most interesting things to take in is the culture and politics. I’ll try not to drone on about it too long, but Switzerland is known for its direct democracy, where the people pretty much vote for everything. Their executive branch is interesting too, as they have seven people in the cabinet who take turns being president for a year each. I found out that in Geneva drug addicts can go to clinics to access clean needles free of charge (though of course they have to bring their own drugs). People vote on all issues through a referendum, and I read that one of the referendums that recently passed was to make heroine available by prescription. Sexuality and personal space are also different concepts. Earl warned us not to wear anything too revealing because it would be an invitation to others (similar to us, I guess). He has an interesting fashion though, as his standard outfit are black Capri pants with a button down shirt, but only the bottom two buttons are buttoned. He’s a very interesting man, if you can imagine the outfit on a bald man with glasses. I suppose you could say he’s a character, and certainly has his quirks. He speaks English very well, and very enunciatedly, although we often can’t understand what he’s trying to get at academically. One non-academic example is when he was talking to us about SIT’s sexual harassment policy. He asked if any of us had ever been harassed, and commented that there are some people who are actually fond of harassment. All of us were extremely confused by this, but I guess to him harassment didn’t have solely a negative connotation, and could simply mean flirting or teasing. Also sometimes when I’m talking to him one-on-one he’ll sometimes emphasize something by leaning towards me, until he’s face is inches away from mine. I have to remind myself that they have different concepts of personal space. The traditional greeting here is three cheek-to-cheek air kisses, which I think is the cutest thing ever. Swiss culture is also extremely polite, and combined with their punctuality, meticulousness, efficiency, and environmental concerns I find myself really liking it. Alors, j’arrête ici, I’ll stop here since it’s only been a week and I’ve already written more than 6 pages!