Friday's Five - 5 Swiss French Words (Related to Food) You Should Know

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Some years ago, when I was working in Zürich, I was overwhelmed with swiss german. Although I considered by german relatively fluent, I didn't understand a word of swiss german. After 3 months, I could know when my work colleagues were talking about the weather, some recent news or the upcoming weekend. But as you can see, I spent most of my time there guessing the lunch topic of the day. I usually had a poor soul sitting next to me who's job was it to translate whenever I had a clueless look on my face. 

Before moving to the french part, I thought that at least this time, the french would be the same as in France. At least some of the (very few) words I had learned in University would find their use. I was right, kind of. French in Switzerland isn't that different from the french from France, but there are, in fact, some words that will be confusing for other french speakers. 

1. Cornet. You go to the supermarket to buy some fruits and the cashier asks you if you want a cornet. Why would the cashier want you to take a music instrument similar to the trumpet after buying some fruits? Turns out, cornet is the swiss french word for sac de plastique (plastic bag). 
2. Services. Whenever I buy a quick take away salad, the kind waitress asks if I want service. The first time I thought: better decline any service, whatever it is, it will probably have an extra cost.  I then took a plastic fork and knife and went back to work. Soon afterwards I found out that service is the swiss french word for couverts (cutlery). I can picture the cashiers' puzzled look when I kindly declined and then took it anyway!
3. Déjeuner. Yes, you know this one. But, as confusing as it may be, déjeuner in Switzerland is not having lunch, but having breakfast - what in France is called petit déjeuner. 
4. Dîner. 1:30pm on a saturday. I went to have lunch on a terrace. The waiter comes to take my order by asking "Quest-ce que vous voulez pour dînez?". "Dinner?" I thought "who wants to have dinner at 1:30pm?". What school had taught me to be dinner in french seems to be lunch in Switzerland. 
5. Souper. So, if breakfast is lunch and lunch is dinner... what the heck is dinner? Souper, as in supper!

All these words are related to ordering food and going food shopping, which is as far as I can get with my limited french. 

Do you know about any words that are used differently in another country? 

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PS: Just a quick note on my april blog cleaning challenge - I'm probably going to make the move to Wordpress this sunday! I realized that many design options can't really be seen correctly unless you've already got posts in it, so... wish me luck! 

How Do You Cope With Culture Shock?

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I've been an expat for one and a half years now, and had never before sat down to clear my thoughts and feelings on living in Switzerland. It's not my first time abroad. However, its the first time that I left my country without knowing when I'd be going back. I didn't care about not knowing one single sole in the whole country, nor did I care about my lack of french knowledge. I hardly blinked when it came to leave the comfortable familiarity behind and dive into the unknown. I was going to conquer the World (or at least, Switzerland). 

But my thoughts on working in a foreign country have changed over time. 

Contrary to what I thought when I knew I was moving, culture shock is not only about different social norms or exotic food, which you can usually prepare for before moving, which I did. I had already worked six months in Zürich a couple of years before and had learned about many swiss standards - I learned how to eat fondue, how to greet co-workers in swiss german and where not to park my bike in the building (this one I learned it the hard way). Culture shock continues long after becoming familiar with your new life. Experts like to classify this identity crisis into four phases. 

1) Honeymoon

Fairy Tale Sunset in Lausanne, Switzerland

The Honeymoon phase is full of excitement and euphoria. You feel you can grab the World in your hands and do whatever you want. Every day is a new adventure - new faces, a different restaurant, a hidden shop, a cute small side street with a boulangerie selling the best baguettes you have ever tried. The public transport is reliable, the city is peaceful, clean and safe and people are kind and respectful. 

You smile while you walk. Life is good. 

2) Frustration

"Careful not to fall down the mountain" Sign, in Switzerland

But honeymoons don't last forever. You start to realize that there are actually less than 5 bars where you can go to  - either because of the crowds or because of the prices. Its the forth time you try asking for a glass of water with your coffee and you receive an arrogant look from the waiter. Maybe even a clueless arrogant look - you're wrong pronunciation bothers them, and having to repeat the same word 10 times (when you know there's nothing even similar that it could be mistaken with) bothers you. You go to a hairdresser and come out with a messy cut and completely broke. Every saturday feels like a monday - you have to wake up early to do all the shopping for the next 6 days, as you will have no time to do so during weekdays. 

Basically, this is the time when you get familiar with the flaws of living abroad: you don't understand locals' social norms, you get laughed at because of your pronunciation. You feel disillusion, frustration and anger. You blame all your mishaps to the culture and people in your new home country. At this point, you feel alone and misunderstood and would sell your organs to go back home (figuratively, of course). 

3) Understanding

Filet de Perche with sauce tartare, a speciality from Lac Leman

After a while of closing yourself into a bubble, things start to get better - You're adjusting to the new culture. Things that used to annoy you during the second phase, now are insignificant or can even be laughed at. You've adjusted your meals to the local timing (well, almost, I mean, sorry but a spaniard will never have dinner at 6:30pm) and are even trying out some new activities that are key in the new country, such as hiking, skiing and snowboarding. You have set up a routine, and feel comfortable with it. 

You understand the cultural differences with your home country and are learning how to deal with them. 

I believe I've passed the second phase (although frustration comes back eventually when I have to cope with a new shock). I've developed a routine for saturdays, that gives me enough time (and flexibility) to deal with the weekly food shopping. And in case I run out of milk, I know where I can buy some last minute. I've also realized that there's so much more outside my city that is just a short bus, train or plane ride away. It's really easy to keep on seeing new faces and different places whenever you get bored of it. I guess that's one big advantage of Switzerland. 

4) Acclimatation

Sunset over Lac Leman, Switzerland

Although I have adopted some local habits and am adjusting to the new culture, I still don't feel that I belong here - I feel like a foreigner. Part of it may be because of my ridiculous french skills that don't really take me any far. But there's much more to it than the language barrier. I feel that I don't have something really settled. My family is a couple of thousand kms away and my best friends are spread across Europe, too. I do know people that I consider friends, but most of them come and go - as most expats do. I guess the idea would be to start making local friends, which would only truly happen if I was fluent in french, and not only talk about where I come from and what I want to buy in the supermarket. 

There's still some hard work to do. 

Have you lived or are you living in a foreign land? If so, in what phase do you think you're at? Any tricks on how to get more involved in the host country's culture? How do you meet locals?

Photo Essay: In the Land of Bisses

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Walking along Bisse Vieux

I know I've been missing in action for the last couple of days, but I promise to make up for it. After all, during this time, I've been discovering some more corners of Switzerland, that I can't wait to share with you. Given that I missed out last week's Photo Essay, I decided to start the week with a walk through the land of bisses. 

What are bisses anyway?

To put it simple, Bisses are old water channels that are used for cultivation. These channels were built to fight the drought that farmer's in Valais are exposed to during summer time. By carving out water paths, farmers collect water from rivers ( mainly La Printse) and artificially divert it to their crops. 

I was surprised to find out that particularly this region - Nendaz - is one of Switzerland's most important raspberry and apricot plantations. When driving up to Haute-Nendaz during spring, we were surrounded by beautiful flowering apricot trees all over the valley.

Walking the Bisse Vieux 

Although there are several hike along different bisses in the region, we decided to explore the Bisse Vieux, one of the oldest channels, built around 1658.

The path next to Bisse Vieux, Nendaz

We found frozen water along the walk!

Unusual rock formations covered in moss

On our way back 

This walk goes for 7 kms starting in Nendaz up to Planchouet. We didn't walk the whole way, because we weren't really prepared for it - it was already late in the afternoon and, as we went by car, we would have had to walk back another 7kms in the dark. However, what I saw (about 3 to 4 out of the 7 kms) were beautiful. Its an easy hike for any age, since the height difference is of 100m along the full trail. 

Its views are spectacular - on a relatively clear afternoon, we could see the whole valley!

Views from the walk

The views as well as the hike is probably even more spectacular during late spring, when the fields are greener and more water flows through the bisse vieux. But I was impatient - couldn't wait for another month!

Facts on Bisses in Canton Valais

1. The water that flows through the bisse vieux has its source in the glaciers Grand-Désert and Tortin. 
2. The oldest bisse of this community - Nendaz - is Bisse de Salins, which was built in 1435 and is still regularly used to irrigate the crops of the region. 
3. In case 7 kms walking aren't enough, there are another 750 kms of walks along  200 bisses in the canton Valais. 
4. Valais is part french-speaking and part german-speaking. Therefore, whereas in the french side these channels are called bisses, the german-speakers call them Suonen. 
5. Valais' longest bisse is a hike of 32 kms that goes through 100 year old larches. 

How was your weekend? Did you find something new in your area?

Outlining Lac Léman (Switzerland)

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Lac Léman (aka. Geneva Lake)

On Sunday, I woke up early - the sun was shining on my face. It was the first day of spring and it felt great! After lunch, I took the chance to discover my city and its surroundings by taking a walk along the lake towards Montreux. 

Montreux is 27 kms away from where I live, which was quite optimistic for a random Sunday afternoon. I told myself I'd walk until I got hungry, tired or cold. And so my walk began.

First signs of Spring

The path next to the Lake

The little Port of Lutry 

After 11 kms outlining the lake, when I reached the center of Cully, I wasn't tired nor hungry. However, the sun wasn't as warm as it was after lunch and a cold breeze was coming through my light spring attire. Turns out that a clear sky and bright sun in march does not automatically mean you can unpack your swimsuit, at least not in Switzerland! 

When the sun comes out, its nice to be a tourist in your own city or region. Walk. Take pictures. See what surrounds you with different eyes, don't just assume that you've seen it already. Fall in love with your city (again). I really recommend it.

Have you ever tried being a tourist in your city or region? Have you grabbed your camera and searched for this alternative angle?

Want to see more pictures of my walk from Lausanne to Cully? Visit my Flickr Gallery!

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring!

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View of Matterhorn - In Zermatt, Switzerland

This winter was a tough one. 

Switzerland experienced a very heavy snow fall back in November and December, the  strongest I had ever seen. Luckily, Switzerland is prepared for these kind of snow attacks - at the time I left to work, streets and walking paths were already cleared! I was amazed to see parents pulling their kids' sledges on the way to the market, or even people taking out their skis to ski in the park. There were people skiing, sledging and snowboarding down Le Petite Chêne (check from minute 1:00 onwards), a very steep pedestrian street in Lausanne. This was, in fact, what encouraged me to take snowboarding lessons this year - I want to be one of those people next time there's the chance to slide down a path!

Then, of course, Switzerland's cold winter wasn't enough for me - I wanted something more extreme and headed over to New York for the snowmageddon this January, where temperatures reached -18ºC. That was the coldest I had ever felt so far and I'm not sure if I could ever stand lower temperatures than than those ones (I'm not quite sure if I want to try out). This turns Winter 2010/2011 into the most extreme winter I've survived so far. This wasn't easy coming from an island where temperatures are around 25ºC all year round. 

Although I've now been in Switzerland for one and a half years, I think I've only learned now how to appreciate and profit from its winter. And I'm going to miss it (did I really just write that?).

What's Spring going to bring to me?

Flower in Tenerife, Canary Islands

I'm obviously also excited about spring. Spring means flowers, bright skies, green fields, and people drinking and eating on terraces. A lot of Switzerland's attractions and hiking trails that will reopen during spring as well and my mission this spring is to get the most out of it. I want to really immerse in the country's culture and enjoy its natural landscapes so, unless weather is very bad, you can expect more posts on Switzerland coming in the next couple of months!

I'll obviously continue with my usual travels around Europe - next stops are Frankfurt and Düsseldorf this upcoming week, and Tenerife in about a month from now, so there will be no time for getting bored!

Do you have any plans for spring? 

What are you specially looking forward to this spring?

The Unexpected Switzerland

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What first pops into your mind when you think about Switzerland? 

You may think of skiing in the Alps, followed by some hot cheese fondue. Maybe you first thing is chocolate, cows and Heidi running down a green meadow. People carrying army knifes with any possible application (yes, there are gourmet army knifes just to cut food and open wine and beer bottles, in case you were wondering!). Or maybe what you think of is luxury - expensive watches and lots of private bank accounts. And bankers, obviously - lot's and lot's of bankers. 

Well, I'm not going to write about what you already know. There's so much more to Switzerland than the cheese, army knifes and watches! 

The Lakes

A View from Lausanne on Lac Leman (unofficially known as "Lake Geneva")

Switzerland encompasses a huge diversity of landscapes on only little more than 41,200 km2, ranging from 195 m to 4,634m above sea level. No wonder that, besides for having some of the greatest mountain scenery Worldwide it also houses a surprising amount of lakes. There are more than 1,500 lakes spread across the country, although only 16 of them are larger than 10 km2 (being Lac Léman the largest one).  

Wherever you are, you will surely not be far from a lake. During summer, Switzerland's lakes are flooded with sailing boats that go out to enjoy the late afternoon and watch the sunset on the quiet water. When I first moved here, I wondered why someone would own a boat in Switzerland when you couldn't get anywhere with it. But now I've learned that for the swiss it's not about going somewhere, but about enjoying quality of life - which includes drinking wine on a sailing boat watching the sun set behind the mountains. You can be sure that taking a sailing course this summer is on my bucket list... 

No wonder that Allinghi, Switzerland's yacht racing team, is the two-time winner of the America's Cup, the most prestigious trophy in sailing! 

The Wines

Lavaux Region and its Vineyards kissed by the afternoon sun 

When thinking about Switzerland, very few minds (if any) will picture a country of wine. Lying in the shadow of its neighbors, France and Italy, swiss wine is almost inexistent outside of the country. Although annual production can reach 150 million bottles, only about 2/100 are exported. Putting this into perspective: with a population of 7 million people, each person would consume 21 bottles of swiss wine per year. This turns Switzerland one of the top wine consuming countries Worldwide!

The country houses around 20,000 winegrowers many of which have small productions that serve personal use. It's not rare to meet people who own a little vineyard in the back of their house, specially in Canton Vaud. 

Switzerland may have several wine growing areas, but my favorite one is Lavaux Vineyards  which besides from producing high quality white wine, it offers one of the greatest views of Lac Léman and the Alps. 

The Cheese

A whole variety of cheese

Ok, cheese might be nothing new to you about Switzerland. But when you google swiss cheese, you get more than 3 million imagines, out of which most of them are of the cheese with the holes in it. Yes, that's a swiss cheese. It's called Emmentaler. But this is only one of the more than 450 varieties of cheese this country has to offer!

Other swiss cheese you may have come across in supermarkets worldwide are Raclette cheese, Gruyère and Appenzeller. Most of the cheese is made out of cow milk, but you can also find it made of goat milk or sheep milk. Every region has its own local cheese. One of my favorites from the canton Vaud is Tomme Fleurette, which is made out of raw milk (a real speciality). Swiss cheese range all prices imaginable and can be filled or topped with fine herbs, mushroom mousse, pepper, or truffles (among many others). And believe me, the truffle one - delicious!

Did you know about these facts on Switzerland?

Which were / are your preconceptions about Switzerland?

Don't forget to hop over to Happy Homemaker UK to  enjoy more expat posts all over the World!

Priceless: Learning How to Snowboard in Switzerland

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Renting A Snowboard and Boots for 2 Days

55 CHF (42 EUR)

Brand new board!

Return Ticket to Les Pleiades  Incl. beautiful Landscape 

24 CHF (18 EUR)

The cute little Rack Railway Train that goes from Blonay to Les Pleiades

First signs of snow (at about 900 meters)

View of the mountains, all covered in snow (at about 1400 meters)

2 Hours of Private Snowboarding Lessons

and the teacher holding my hand while speeding down the slopes

110 CHF (85 EUR)

Not me on the picture, but that's the concept
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Mulled Wine and Homemade Tarte au Citron

15 CHF (11.50 EUR)

... Arriving back Home without a broken your leg/arm/butt....

and having found a new hobby (that doesn't imply a beach)

PRICELESS
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Herewith I completed one more thing on my Bucket List!

Also, check out my guest post at Andi's Beautiful Adventures, Life's a Beach - from the time I spent in Mexico.

How about you? Have you done something you've always wanted to do, but never have really had the guts to do it? 

All I want for Christmas is Cheese

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Borough Market, London

Maybe it's the cold weather, the snow, that makes me want to wrap into a warm blanket and fish pieces of bread out of a fondue. Or maybe the Christmas market that I cross every evening after work, with it's shiny big menus announcing fondue and raclettes for 5 CHF. Perhaps the street market stands, that have such a broad variety that, even if you examine each one carefully, you can be sure that the next week there will be at least one you will have never seen before. For one reason or another, I'm thinking about cheese during an alarmingly high amount of time a day. 

Since we are close to Christmas (and I'm still craving for cheese), I'm sharing 5 Christmas gifts for cheese lovers (yes, I'm crossing my fingers that someone will surprise me with of the below). 

1. Raclette Machine

Having a raclette machine at home is one of my wildest fantasies (geez am I weird). For those of you who don't know the raclette - it's a type of cheese, originally from Switzerland, that is used for melting and is accompanied by small potatoes, pickled onions and gherkins as well as tradition swiss dried meat. 

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2. Mouse Cheese Grater / Serving Bowl

This little mouse grates cheese and stores it inside itself. You can easily detach the mouse from the grater and turn it into a serving bowl. Why having a traditional grater? This one is so cute!

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3. Fondue Set

Fondue is a traditional swiss / french dish of melted cheese that is eaten by dipping long-stemmed forks with bread into the cheese mix. The difference with the raclette (besides from the serving) is that the fondue is made of a specific mix of cheeses (that varies between France and Switzerland) and is usually added some wine and seasoning. It's the ideal apres-ski meal. And I want it, too. 

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4. Natural Slate Cheeseboard

I just love this cheeseboard - Have you noticed the chili shaped handgrips? The board is protected with acrylic resin to reduce chipping and prevent from staining - making it a perfect board to cut and serve the cheese. You can feel at home like at the finest french restaurant - having your own plateau de fromages. 

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5. Set of Cheese Knifes

Anyone spending enough money on buying cheese should have a set of proper cheese knifes. I fell in love with the minimalistic designer set below, which offers one to cut parmesan, general cheese and soft cheese (from left to right).

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Needless to say, all this cheese chit chat has whetted my appetite.

Do you think this cheese obsession has to do with living in Switzerland / France? Or can it hit anyone anywhere? Do you also fantasize of crackers with cheese?