Saturday, April 11, 2009
It’s been a while since my last post, apologies. Near the end of our sojourn in Clermont things were pretty hectic, and now that I’m in Geneva things are equally hectic as I figure out this city that will be my home for the next 4 months.
So far, Switzerland has been everything I love about France, and has lacked all the things that drive me crazy about France.
1. It’s not an uncommon site in any French supermarket, fast food place, or any service driven place in general to be highly understaffed at the register. Yes, only at the register. At a store there will be tons of workers milling about the aisles, but only 2 of the 6 registers are equipped with personnel that slowly serve the ever-lengthening line of customers. In Switzerland, the registers are stocked and the people are efficient…. I think they get that from the German side…
2. For those of you that speak French you are aware that the way of saying 70 [soixante-dix], 80 [quatre-vingts]and 90 [quatre-vingt-dix] is a game in arithmetic. The seventies are sixty-ten, sixty-eleven, sixty twelve and so on. The eighties are even worse with four-twenties, four twenties and 1, four-twenties and 2 etc, and the nineties borrow it from both; four twenties ten, four twenties eleven, four twenties twelve. You can imagine the trouble when it comes to handing out phone numbers…. Quatre vingt douze… is that 80.12 or 92? One may never know… but the ever savvy swiss have looked back to their Latin origins and have adopted the system of having a DIFFERENT WORD for each number, like every other romance language out there. Good-bye soixante-dix, quatre-vingt and quatre-vingt-dix ! Hello septante, huitante and nonante. I think it goes back to the efficiency thing...
3. In France dog crap is a part of life. The “crottes de chien” that decorate French towns and cities alike are an accepted part of la vie française. After spending months and months watching my feet when I walked as to avoid stepping in doggie do do I have come to love the fact that the swiss do not share this custom with their westernly neighbors. Instead, they offer free plastic bags everywhere and remind owners to clean up after their dogs… maybe this ‘trend’ will catch on one day in France.
4. They have good chocolate and cheese here too!
5. The French like to stare. It’s a part of their culture. I don’t know if its an innate curiosity or something that has been passed from parent to child, but I do know its irritating as ever when people stare at you without shame in public places. You get on the bus and everyone stares at you like you have 3 heads and are speaking in tongues…well, I guess English is strange enough for the French… but its not even like it’s a quick look… its at least a 60 second total evaluation. Weird. The swiss respect peoples’ private lives and personal space. They do not stare, they do not harass celebrities, and they do not even look in people’s apartment windows as they are passing. There is a sign on the bus that says ‘respect the privacy of others. Don’t look at the other passengers’. Maybe this is a bit much… but its definitely better than being stared at!!
So far, Switzerland has been everything I love about France, and has lacked all the things that drive me crazy about France.
1. It’s not an uncommon site in any French supermarket, fast food place, or any service driven place in general to be highly understaffed at the register. Yes, only at the register. At a store there will be tons of workers milling about the aisles, but only 2 of the 6 registers are equipped with personnel that slowly serve the ever-lengthening line of customers. In Switzerland, the registers are stocked and the people are efficient…. I think they get that from the German side…
2. For those of you that speak French you are aware that the way of saying 70 [soixante-dix], 80 [quatre-vingts]and 90 [quatre-vingt-dix] is a game in arithmetic. The seventies are sixty-ten, sixty-eleven, sixty twelve and so on. The eighties are even worse with four-twenties, four twenties and 1, four-twenties and 2 etc, and the nineties borrow it from both; four twenties ten, four twenties eleven, four twenties twelve. You can imagine the trouble when it comes to handing out phone numbers…. Quatre vingt douze… is that 80.12 or 92? One may never know… but the ever savvy swiss have looked back to their Latin origins and have adopted the system of having a DIFFERENT WORD for each number, like every other romance language out there. Good-bye soixante-dix, quatre-vingt and quatre-vingt-dix ! Hello septante, huitante and nonante. I think it goes back to the efficiency thing...
3. In France dog crap is a part of life. The “crottes de chien” that decorate French towns and cities alike are an accepted part of la vie française. After spending months and months watching my feet when I walked as to avoid stepping in doggie do do I have come to love the fact that the swiss do not share this custom with their westernly neighbors. Instead, they offer free plastic bags everywhere and remind owners to clean up after their dogs… maybe this ‘trend’ will catch on one day in France.
4. They have good chocolate and cheese here too!
5. The French like to stare. It’s a part of their culture. I don’t know if its an innate curiosity or something that has been passed from parent to child, but I do know its irritating as ever when people stare at you without shame in public places. You get on the bus and everyone stares at you like you have 3 heads and are speaking in tongues…well, I guess English is strange enough for the French… but its not even like it’s a quick look… its at least a 60 second total evaluation. Weird. The swiss respect peoples’ private lives and personal space. They do not stare, they do not harass celebrities, and they do not even look in people’s apartment windows as they are passing. There is a sign on the bus that says ‘respect the privacy of others. Don’t look at the other passengers’. Maybe this is a bit much… but its definitely better than being stared at!!
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