Hi-Di-Hi from Heidi land..............
Trip Start
Mar 08, 2008
1
35
58
Trip End
Oct 02, 2008
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Zurich,
Switzerland
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Coming from Portugal there are some things you notice which come as a nice surprise..........people know what the flush buttons on toilets is for, there is always toilet paper, trains seem to glide rather than ker-klunk, everything is on time, when the single ticket counter is overrun by hordes workers come out of nowhere to open new counters, people are stupidly polite and friendly and make you feel like you're doing them a favour by entering their shop rather than vice versa...........And the landscape is .........well...........perfect, picture perfect in fact like a continuous stream of Capability Brown landscapes.........everything is in its right place...........or so it seems anyway.......
And this is what becomes so unsettling ........Switzerland exists in a surreal Hyper-functionality which seems to us so opposed to human nature......There is no margin for error and it often seems like everyone is under constant pressure to maintain the perfection.......
But Switzerland is a great place and certainly an opposing model to Portugal and many other southern countries working chaos......Just so you don't think we have some dys-functionality fetish here are some examples of Swiss weirdness observed from and informed by the locals.......
-On a highway if you approach within twenty metres of the car in front you are likely to offend........
-Fines were issued during Euro 2008 for Spaniards celebrating their victory by hooting their horns...
-You need a degree to work in retail.........or just about any job in Switzerland..........(this may explain the excellent service though!)
-If you don't have a degree and manage to be employed you will be paid less to do the same job.....
-Swiss residents but non-passport holders are paid at least 13% less for doing the same job with the same experience......
-If you don't park at a perfect 90' to the parking space you are likely to receive a note from your neighbours commenting on your messiness........
-These ones not so bad but definitely weird..........the canal in Zurich is crystal clear! wha'ts going on this country!....canals are meant for filth, car wrecks and floating, bloated bodies of the recently deceased........not yummy looking fish!
But in all seriousness Switzerland is a land of unspeakable beauty......postcard perfect everywhere......but if you were to give us a choice of living under the pressure of constant perfection and that of organised chaos?!!/!?.....
........well........
Angie is Hei-di now.........
