Some Swissiscisms

I've been trying to compile a wee list of some "Swissicisms"- things that seem to be quintessentially Swiss. I keep forgetting some(I'm being swallowed up by the culture, man), but here are a few. If anyone has any other insights, feel free to share!
1) I think I've moaned about this before, but the shop opening hours are driving me insane. Most (nearly all) stores,including big ones, are closed on all of Sunday and Monday morning. Maybe Walter and I aren't typical, but Saturdays are slow for us. We're knackered from the previous week and want to lie around. Comoe Sunday morning, we have some energy and ideas about any shopping that may need to be done. If I forget to stock up (our freezer is beyond teeny) then Monday is harsh (a stick of wilted celery and something that looked like polenta in the packet, but turns out to be rather different). The post office, banks and a lot of stores close for lunch. Thursday is late night shopping everywhere. ie closing at 8pm.....maybe 9. I'm moaning about all this, but there's an upside. I have to plan my days and dinners a bit better. On Sundays we'll get out together exploring the area, or see friends. This country seems slow to change, but maybe thhat means they get more right. There was a vote last month about sunday opening. As it stood, one train station food market and one pharmacy in a town could be open. There were a few different measures- allowing everyone to open, some stores or no-one. Apparently, carried by 51%, any store in a train station or airport can now open.

2) Shopping brings me to money in general. People here don't have cheque books and work mainly in cash. Credit cards aren't used much either. So what does one do when one orders something for delivery? COD, or an enclosed bill (versement virement) which can be taken to the post office to pay. There's a big element of trust here, or maybe talking about money is distasteful.... Walter has the example of his office. It's located in another institution's building. When he first moved in, it was already 3 months later than he had planned, and they held the office for him. Walter lived in it for 2-3 months before signing the contract and paying. The man he was dealing with was very casual about the whole thing. We just received some calendars from a website here. There was no need to enter a credit card #- they came with a bill! Walter has also mentioned that legal contract here seem to be more towards "the spirit of the law" rather than covering all the loopholes. The Swiss legal and justice system would be interesting to look at... after learning French.. and lots of other stuff...

3)When we first moved here, I knew about the different languages, but I didn't know about the other divides that go along with it. German is the most common language here, but it ain't yer average, run of the mill German. It's known as Swiss German for a good reason. Germans really can't understand Swiss German speakers. This dates back to WWII. They were different before, but the war provoked the Swiss into make sure they didn't get confused with Germans, and change their language further. The French is of the typical variety. In school, the French speakers learn German and the German speakers learn French. After school, the German speakers would rather speak English than French and the French speakers would rather speak French (I think it's part of something translated into "the Swiss/Romande Ditch"). That's a good thing for me, as I can't get blasé about speaking the language (hehehe blasé). The Italian speakers stay out of it.... There are other aspects surfacing, but I can't remember them right now. It's just interesting that the French and German areas have more than a divide than I realised.

4) For such a clean and health oriented country, why do so many people smoke and throw the fag ends everywhere? One good thing is the trains become smoke free on the 11th Dec! Huzzah! That doesn't bode well for the platforms. We'll be on one of those platforms in a week waiting for the TGV to "Gay Paree". Allie's busting a blood vessel about that one. He gets on his bike these days with a silver cape and pretends he's the TGV. Any running also means he's the TGV. He also pronounces it the French way- TayGzhayVay hehehe. That reminds me, he's much more into the lingo now. When he goes to school, Walter's noticed the teacher says things to him and he does what she says! He and Tobe like to talk about the grand and petit chiens when we're out. They say bonjour to everyone too :) It's a blinking relief.

5) There's a marked seasonal delineation in stores. I went looking for a sand box recently and got laughed at. There's also SaurKraut EVERYWHERE right now. I've never seen it here and all of a sudden it's what's for breakfast,lunch and dinner. All of the shops also had Christmas stuff way before Thanksgiving, but no-one puts their tree up at home till the 24th.

6) We're finally having our French lessons (I know, Frenchh in Action is rad), 100 mins once a week. It's great and awful. In a class you can dissolve into the background, but since it's private, I'll look up from my complete incomprehension to see the teacher and Walter looking expectantly at me. She reminded me of a couple of Swiss French language differences. Seventy is septante (not soixante dix), eighty is huitante (not quatre vingt) and ninety is nonante (not quatre vingt dix). Much more logical, and it makes the Swiss shop keepers smile when the foreign chick says it :) Breakfast is dejeuner (not petit dejeuner), lunch is diner (not dejeuner) and dinner is super which is pronounced soopay (not diner). The Swiss also have petite tartine for breakfast (toast and jam or honey).

Hopefully we'll have a photo laden weekend and maybe a vid..... Friday is fondue with our French neighbours, Saturday is the International Club Christmas party. We're on the wait list for that, and there'll be poker (no splitting, push or insurance, though)! Sunday, Herb, Vero and baby Alec come over for Swiss Taco Night.... that should be interesting. How do I include SaurKraut on the menu?