Guest Post: An Expat in Switzerland Demystifies Those Christmas Cakes

 

By Chantal Panozzo

Each December, the Swiss grocery stores overflow with different Italian cakes and it didn’t seem like a good idea to keep myself wondering just what the heck they all were. So I tried them, and here’s my take:


The first cake I tried was Pandoro. I admit that my husband and I bought the cake more out of our excitement at opening a “Pandoro’s Box” than anything else (terrible pun, I know, but I’ll use anything as an excuse to eat new desserts). Anyhow, the Pandoro was a tall yellow cake, which came with a packet of powdered sugar. I wanted to love it, but I didn’t. To my over-sugared American taste buds, the cake wasn’t sweet enough—even with the packet of sugar—but it was still a fun thing to eat, made more fun when I found out the cake originated from the Verona area in Italy, where some of my ancestors were from. To be fair, the Italians call this stuff bread, not cake, so maybe I had the wrong mindset when I ate it. Darn, I just might have to try another for the sake of justice. Poor me.

Panettone, sometimes known as Italian Christmas bread, originated in Milan. My ancestors would be disappointed, but I preferred this bread to the Pandoro, mainly because the Panettone was filled with raisins, candied oranges, and almonds. If I only could have added the powdered sugar of the Pandoro to the Panettone it would have been perfect.


Anyhow, before you invest in a big Italian bread/cake thing, I recommend buying a mini one of each kind to see which you prefer. Mini Panettones and Pandoros can be found at Migros, perfect if you just want to sample each (or bring some home to the family). Some people even pack these for their lunch. Sounds like a good idea to me. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!


Do you have a favorite Christmas treat that you enjoy in Switzerland? Please share.

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Chantal Panozzo is a writer and blogger. She’s the author of One Big Yodel and Writer Abroad . She also blogs for a new expat community blog. This blog offers affordable calling cards in Switzerland as well as information about living abroad in Switzerland and in many other countries.

Guest Post: Why Being an Expat Blogger in Switzerland is a Great Thing

by Chantal Panozzo

When I started my expat blog, One Big Yodel, back in 2006, I had no idea what I was doing (and also no idea that anyone would actually read it besides my mom). It was an innocent little hobby that helped me relieve the stress of not knowing a German word from a Swiss German one and it was just an added bonus when someone like my husband would actually leave a comment.

Fast-forward three years, and my blog is now getting over 3,500 visits a month and comments from people I actually don’t know but can’t wait to find out more about. Maybe it’s lame, but now I’m addicted. How many comments will this post get? Will someone else subscribe to my blog today? I’ve gone from blogging newbie to blogging nerd. And it hasn’t taken much.


I’ve made friends through what I’ve deemed “Blogger Blind Dates”, gotten writing and blogging jobs, and found a sense of community here in Switzerland that I couldn’t quite find through traditional organizations meant for the proper Hausfrau that I am not. And I’ve got my blog to thank for it all.

If fact, blogging has been so great, that I recently started another blog, Writer Abroad, for all of you expat writers out there (and those just dreaming of being an expat writer). This hasn’t done much for my Internet addiction, but I won’t blame myself, I’ll just blame the power of the all-mighty blog.

But now I’m starting to get nervous. There are thousands of unread blog posts in my Google Reader and I’m determined to read them all.  Because if I don’t, I’ll feel like I’m letting down my big blogging family. And that would just be wrong.

Why do you blog? Does it make being an expat in Switzerland (or elsewhere) more bearable? Are you as addicted to blogging as me?

Chantal Panozzo is a writer and blogger. Besides keeping her own blogs, One Big Yodel and Writer Abroad, she also blogs for a new expat community blog. This blog offers affordable calling cards in Switzerland as well as information about living in abroad in Switzerland and many other countries.

Guest Post: What do the Swiss think of Expats in Switzerland?

 By Chantal Panozzo

After some conscious research and experience living as an expat in Switzerland over the last three-plus years, I’ve come to some conclusions about what the Swiss think of us, the expat in Switzerland. This is by no means scientific research, and if you’re Swiss and would like to throw in your two cents (I mean Rappen), please do.

1. The Swiss think we American expats in Switzerland all used to be fat. But then we got here, and suddenly we got skinny. (If this were true, the South Beach Diet would have been replaced with the Swiss Chocolate one long ago). Anyhow, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a Swiss person say, “Wow, you must have been here awhile. Because you’re not fat anymore.” Or the other good one is, “You don’t look like an American at all. Because you’re not fat.” Oh, Switzerland.
   
   
2. The Swiss think it’s weird that we eat chips with our sandwiches. To that I say, just wait. The new Subway in my little town of Baden is already stuffed with kids from the school across the street. And they’re all buying the meal combos that include your choice of Zweifel chips. Poor Switzerland. It will soon be as chip crazy as America.
   
   
3. The Swiss don’t understand why we don’t smoke since smoking makes you skinny. To that I would just tell them, “No, don’t you remember, me being in Switzerland alone makes me skinny. I don’t need to smoke.”
   
   
4. The Swiss like us as individuals but think as an expat group that we’re ruining their country. As my neighbor once said to me. “Now Baden is trashy, dangerous, and filled with foreigners.” I looked at her and then she added, “Oh, I don’t mean you.” They never do.

What do you think the Swiss think of us based on your experiences? Or if you are Swiss, please tell us, what do you think?

Chantal Panozzo is a writer and blogger. Besides keeping her own blogs, One Big Yodel and Writer Abroad, she also blogs for a new expat community blog. This blog offers affordable calling cards in Switzerland as well as information about living in abroad in Switzerland and many other countries.

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Guest Post: Look Me in the Eye and Say That!

by Kathy Lyon

Yesterday I was riding along in the tram, staring out the window absentmindedly, and it happened again. I caught a passerby's eye. This inadvertent eye contact seems to happen all the time here, and it startles me every time. Then there's the staring. And not sexy come hither looks, but just some unknown person who clearly feels perfectly comfortable observing you as you wait for the cashier or while you read the paper on the train.

This just does not happen in the US. Looking a stranger right in the eye is an invitation or a threat. Looking at directly at a stranger for more than a few seconds, staring, means you are evaluating that person as a partner or an enemy and you want them to know it. (It can also mean you're crazy.) These actions are never neutral and accidental eye contact is really pretty rare.

Not here in Switzerland. However, I get the feeling that looking at a stranger here is relatively neutral. Maybe that's because the (German speaking) Swiss are accustomed to much more prolonged eye contact than Americans. There's the toasting ritual, where you look the other person right in the eye and toast them by name (repeated in pairs for the whole table). And then there's the expectation that when meeting people you will maintain direct eye contact for the whole introduction and ensuing conversation.

I had read about this, and I made every effort when we were looking at apartments and opening our bank account to demonstrate my probity and general good egg-ness by looking people right in the eye for the whole interaction. I couldn't do it. Especially not with the male bank manager. It just felt much too intimate.

These kinds of cultural differences are tough. Eye contact is not something we usually think about or try to consciously control. The same is true for the physical distance we maintain from others (jammed hip to hip on the train or carefully maintaining a micro-millimeter separation?), or for speaking volume in public, and for hundreds of other little things we just never think about. But all or any of these can push another person's cultural buttons.

Good to know, in abstract at least. I say tomato, you say Tomate. Not so easy in real life. Hey! Stop staring at me!

Kathy Lyon is an Expat Living in Switzerland. She writes about her adventures on her blog TwoFools in Zurich.
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Guest Post: West Side Story in Basel

Guest Post by Tejal

Planning a weekend in the Swiss autumn is a no win proposition - there is the gorgeous colour and that sweet nip in the air that makes you long to be outdoors - only, when you are outdoors, the chill and the damp make you long to be in the warm indoors, cozy and tucked in.

Go out we did, the Musical Theatre in Basel was staging a revival of "West Side Story ". I chose this because it presented a great cultural alternative in a scene otherwise dominated by Depeche Mode and the guy who takes you trekking (also, I confused Basel with Bern, I thought it would be a oneish hour drive from Geneva. Yes I'm that clueless.)

The stunning drive to Basel made the journey totally worthwile from the get go. And the play was in English (the one fact I got right!)

While it can't be said that the production staged at Basel is upto A list Broadway or West End standards, there were a few great moments - Oneika Philips, playing Anita, managed to strike a chord.

To summarise, West Side Story is a Romeo and Juliet style love story set in the backdrop of teenage gang wars in New York. It has become iconic for its choreography and music (I Feel Pretty, Somewhere , America)

Check out "I Feel Pretty" as the theme song for this really cool Nike Commercial.





The unexpected icing on the cake was the beautiful town centre of Basel, as we wandered around the autumn goods market in the town centre, we regretted not getting there early enough in the day. Well... there's always a next time

(The West Side Story runs at the Musical Theatre in Basel till the 22nd of November, tickets can be found at www.ticketcorner.com)

Guest Blogger Bio: Tejal Nangla is a blogger and amateur writer, currently writing on her blog, Wide Eyed Gypsy. 

Guest Post: Räbeliechtli

by MrsMac

Last Saturday my husband and daughter attended our town's Räbeliechtli.  It's a parade celebrating turnips.  Kind of.  Basically, the kids parade through the town carrying hollowed out and decorated turnip lanterns with floats made out of turnip lanterns.

We were lucky that a friend of ours made the lantern above for Marion. 

I'll be perfectly honest and tell you all that I have tried my hardest to find an explanation behind Räbeliechtli and have come up with nada.  I've googled, I've questioned neighbors... nothing. 

But that doesn't stop us from enjoying it!  Our town's parade was fairly small but all the kids got involved.

 Pictures above by MrsMac

However, this Saturday night, Richterswil is having a fair, Räbechilbi, before their Räbeliechtli.  The whole town is lit with lanterns to celebrate.

The Richterswil Räbeliechtli is the largest turnip (or sugar beet) parade in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.  And from the pictures I've seen online... 

Picture above from myswitzerland.com

... it looks gorgeous!

The festivities start at 3 pm and the parade at 6:30 pm,  Maybe we'll see you there!

Guest blogger bio: MrsMac's is an American expat in Switzerland. She enjoys exploring life in a different country with a bossy toddler and sweet little baby in tow. She writes about her adventures abroad in Switzerland on her blog,  Swiss Family Mac. 

Note from Swisstory: I am really excited about this and hoping Jace wants to check out some turnip-o-lanterns with me. I did find some more information about this interesting holiday, but in German only... and more here.. After reading this, I found out that this is a kind of Thanksgiving, as in the middle-ages turnips were the modern day potatoes, so the townspeople gave thanks for the bounty and celebrated the harvest each fall. Now it is just another tourist event - the residents of Richterswil are REQUIRED to decorate their homes during the big event with turnip lanterns - and over 25 TONS of turnip are grown in the Zurich area each year for this event alone. WOAH. Thanks, MrsMac for sharing this cool tradition. It is the first I have heard of it! See you Saturday in Richterswil!

Guest Post: How to Make Friends in Switzerland, Part Two

By Chantal Panozzo

Last week over on ACC, I talked about the difficulty of making Swiss friends and gave a few tips for how to make friends with your neighbors.

Today, I want to tell you a story about my friend Peter. Peter recently started a new job in Zurich after changing companies and for his entire first two weeks at work, no one asked him if he’d like to go to lunch and most people barely acknowledged his existence. He told me he was frustrated with being ignored, but slowly, he started to make some friends, especially when he approached people first about  going to lunch or getting a drink. And Peter is Swiss.

The point? It’s not just you, the expat, having problems making Swiss friends. Even the Swiss people have trouble making Swiss friends. The main ingredient needed? Patience. Like the story of not knowing my neighbor’s first name for an entire year even though we ate cheese together a lot, the Swiss are private
people. They need to get used to you just being there. Slowly but surely, they will most likely warm up to you. Just give them the time and then, put in the effort. Learning a bit of their language will help too.

Even though you might be the new one at your office, it might have to be you to ask your Swiss officemates for a lunch date first. This can be a shock to Americans like myself, who may be used to organized welcome lunches on their first day of employment.

Strangely enough, another way I’ve made Swiss friends is through my blog.  I’ve had a number of “blogger blind dates” with some of my readers—in fact I have another one next week. Blogging is a great way to network, and you’d be surprised that there are Swiss out there that blog in English and by reading their blogs and leaving comments, you may just make a friend.

More information of making on friends in Switzerland can be found here:

• Just Landed - Why it is so hard to make friends in Switzerlan
• One Big Yodel - Making friends in Switzerland
• Glimpse - A raging party turned by 73 year old neighbor into my friend
  

Chantal Panozzo Bio: Chantal Panozzo is a writer and blogger. Besides keeping her own blog, One Big Yodel, she also blogs for a new expat community - www.affordablecallingcards.net. This blog offers affordable calling cards in Switzerland as well as information about living abroad in Switzerland and many other countries.
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Thanks for a great post, Chantal! If you, too, would like to be a guest blogger on Swisstory while we are in transition, please email me at jessica (at ) swisstoryblog .com! 

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