Austin CP10 (Cultural Immersion)

I'm going to write about my experience in Switzerland, which occurred last summer, but was nonetheless an eye opening and special experience I keep close to my heart. Where to begin?

Well, the first thing that struck me was the hospitality. Even on the airline (Swiss Air) they gave out delicious Swiss Chocolate at the end of the flight. Usually, I'm just happy to get peanuts and a towel. However, due to the price of the tickets (don't ask) they should be giving out more than just chocolate. I should have gotten chocolate and a massage.

The country is rather small compared to the U.S. It's about the size of one our mid-sized states. Everything is reachable with a few hours. We landed in Zurich, but we took a train to Lucerne, which took 3 hours. Every hour, a conductor walked up and down the train, inspecting everyone's ticket, checking for freeloaders. In the U.S. I occasionally take the Amtrak train, but nobody ever checks on those things. And the trains are usually running late. However, the Swiss are notorious for their precision (watches, trains, planes, etc.) If the schedule says the train will arrive at 3:07, it will arrive exactly at 3:07, without fail. Arriving at 3:08 would be a catastrophe. Somebody would probably get fired.

Eventually, the whole precision thing got annoying. I was riding the train with my family, when the conductor noticed our tickets had a mistake. It was dated for the 08/02, when the day we were riding was 08/03. We told him it was obviously a mistake by the clerk, and that we had paid for that day. However, since our ticket did not exactly match the date and time we were there, we had to purchase new tickets with the correct date posted on them, or else be escorted from the train. So my father told SS Sturmfuhrer Heinrich (whatever his name was) that it was the clerk's mistake. Why should we be penalized for that? The conductor did not seem amused. "I thought you guys were supposed to be neutral" I said. It was then that I fully appreciated the idea of flexibility. That American idea that you can and must adapt. To change when the situation has changed, not just stick to the script no matter what. "I was just following orders" didn't work at Nuremberg, it shouldn't work now.

We ended up paying for new tickets anyway. I never said hospitality was good, I just said it was different. We got to our hotel which was relatively cheap. However, across the street not so much. The Lucerne Palace was this gargantuan Taj Mahal looking building across the way, and when I got curious, I walked inside. I immediately thought the Queen of England must have stayed here. I asked how much to book one room for a night. "Three thousand Euros a night" the front desk manager replied. That is some serious lunch money. If I saved up all that I had made for 3 months, maybe I could afford to stay there for a night. For that kind of cash, there better be some scantily clad women waiting in my room for me, or a toilet that wipes my bottom for me, while feeding me grapes. THREE THOUSAND EUROS!!! MAN......

We ended up going to a place called Interlachen, which means "between the lakes". Needless to say, it was a town nestled between some lakes. It was absolutely beautiful. I've never seen a land that's been left so untouched and pristine. You'd think that no human had ever set foot there before, or at least picked up after themselves (Maybe the Gestapo commandant has you thrown in jail for littering? Just guessing) Seriously though, we could learn a thing or two from the Swiss about environmental policy. Global warming doesn't exist there. I was wearing a heavy jacket and pants in July! It's cold there. People walked there dogs, but picked up their waste when they were done (In New York, people let their dogs shit wherever they want, and leave it their! Savages!)

I could write about Switzerland all day, and how I can't wait to go back. What I want to touch on though is the camaraderie you feel with other English speakers while abroad. I'm not talking about meeting the locals who happen to speak English but the Americans, Brits, and Aussies you run into while traveling. There is an immediate bond you share, because you are both strangers in a strange place. You grow unusually close much faster than you normally would at home.

I met these two girls from Texas who hadn't even known me for more than two hours, before they invited me to go to Germany and stay with them for a couple of weeks. Now, when would that ever happen here at home? I was American, and so that meant they could trust me. God, I can't wait to go back :)