May 2010

All morning she kept reminding herself that, today her plan was to go fishing with her father. She was home for a few days from her busy life in France. She needed his advise on an important matter. When she and her four-year younger sister were growing up in the Vevey area of Switzerland and they were confronted with a dilemma, their Dad would always take them fishing at the "Lac de Brey" in the back country of the Canton of Vaud. Whilst they would fish from the shore of this well stocked artificial lake they could examine the problem from different angels with their father. They never would catch many fish as the conversation became very heated at times. Nonetheless their Mother was always grateful for whatever they would bring home for dinner.

Today she had a bomb to drop or so she thought! She and her "boyfriend" were considering getting married. Marriage was a big move in the life of any young person in today`s complex society. The divorce rate was very high in both Switzerland and France not to mention Sweden from where her friend came. They had been living together for over five years now and were very happy with the status quo. Why change things? Well, first and foremost there was the bureaucratic nightmare of living in France. Friends say it is much easier to complete the constant paperwork if married. She was Swiss and her friend was Swedish. His country was a member of the European Union, hers was not and she always risked being asked to leave. She was concerned that she would loose her surname, but if they were married in Switzerland both parties had the option of keeping their own, taking the others or taking both by adding a hyphen.

However, what concerned her and her partner the most was the eventuality of having children and this is where her Papa's advice would play a significant role. During the early stages of her parents' marriage they both had a successful career but were very much involved with their respective jobs. It was only when her parents reached their mid-30's did they decide to have their first child. She was the results of that decision! It changed their lives significantly. In no time work became merely a means of survival, no longer a lifestyle. Her parents kept asking themselves, especially after her sister was born, why they waited so long to have children. The family and their children's upbringing became her mother's and father's passion.

Her partner was adopted himself and therefore had a completely different outlook about having children. Her major concern was related to the responsibility of putting children into the world today. Was not a major financial crisis brewing that might even surpass the Great Depression in its impact? Is the crime rate not increasing? And what about terrorist attacks taking place more frequently in the industrialized nations? Will her children not blame her one day for being egotistical in having children?

Why did she worry so much? Momentarily she would be leaving to go out to the Lake with her Father. The weather was lovely, perfect for fishing. She was very much enjoying her visit to Switzerland.

She thought she knew what her father would say anyhow, what he always did: "Things are not for ever, take advantage of a situation when it presents itself, work hard to achieve your goal and remain flexible".                                                                                     

March 2010

She received the call on her mobile when she was sitting on a park bench down by the lake eating her packed lunch. It was from a doctor at the American Hospital in Neuilly. He insisted that she come straight away to Paris. "Your Uncle, Anton Bittmann was admitted to the hospital a week ago with pneumonia. His condition is very fragile and I don't think he will last the night. He has been asking for you these last few days and only just this morning we found your business card in his wallet, He persists that he wants to tell you a GREAT SECRET."

She rushed back to the office, got on her computer and pulled up Easy Jet. They had a flight to Orly at 14:45 and seats were available. She would have to catch the next train leaving for the airport in seven minutes! She ran into her boss on the way out and informed him she would be back tomorrow.

She arrived at the airport a couple of minutes late due to the fact that the train was delayed. She went directly to the gate as the flight was boarding already, she was given a boarding pass at the desk in return for her printed confirmation.

The plane was half full; she had her choice of seats and took one next to the window in a empty row. So, Uncle Anton was dying. Actually, Great Uncle Anton, and he wanted to see her? What did she know of Uncle Anton? He was her maternal Grandfather's younger brother, born in the small border town of Schaffhausen in the Germanic part of Switzerland, he left in search of fame and fortune at an early age. He was always considered the Black Sheep of the family. When his name infrequently came up, the older members of the family always talked in hushed whispers. Rumour had it that he worked for the Nazis as a translator in Paris during the Occupation, and was interned in a prisoner-of-war camp in England after the Liberation. Apparently her Grandfather had to go over in 1945 to pay his release, which was arranged by the Swiss Embassy in London. He has been living in Paris ever since. He must be close to 90 years of age!

Upon arrival at Orly she took a taxi to the hospital in Neuilly. Her first impression was that it appeared to be a plush hotel. The receptionist was awaiting her and telephoned through to the doctor she had previously talked to. A nurse was at his bedside as they entered his room. She was surprised to see how small Great Uncle Anton had become. It must be at least fifty years since she saw him last at a family re-union in Schaffhausen. She was a little girl at that time. The nurse was very relieved to see that she had arrived and said: " Your Uncle keeps repeating numbers, here I've written them down for you – men 3'118, women 5'919, children 4'115. There are dates too – 16/17 July 1942." The doctor mentioned that they looked the dates up on Internet and that it must have had something to do with Le Vél d'Hiv (Vélodrome d'Hiver) where the Vichy government rounded up over 13'000 people for deportation to Auschwitz. When Uncle Anton heard that name, he opened his eyes wide and looked directly at his niece and said in the Swiss German dialect from his native Schaffhausen that the Nazis wanted to kill him too, he had to record their names and addresses because they said everything must be in order. Even though they were all Parisiens, each had the Star-of-David attached to their outer garment. His last words before Uncle Anton expired were: "I didn't want them to hurt the children, I didn't want them to hurt anyone."

January 2010

It had been snowing all night and Achmed didn't want to get out of bed this morning. His job as a postman would be especially difficult today. Everyone would be in a nasty mood due to the snow.

He loved the snow, and appreciated the pristine silent atmosphere that encouraged him to reflect on the contradictions between his native Morocco and his country of adoption; Switzerland.

Not France, not Britain and certainly not the United States, but minute “isolated” Switzerland was truly the country par excellence of individual freedoms. He thanked his lucky stars every day that he was able recently to become a citizen; first of the city of Lausanne where he had been residing for the past twelve years, then of the Canton of Vaud and thus of Switzerland.

Achmed was not a religious person even though he had been brought up a Muslim by his parents back in Casablanca. When in doubt he turned to the teachings of Mohamed and took comfort in the Koran. However he did not recite his daily prayers nor had he ever been to Mecca and he had no intention of ever doing so.

For him, showing respect for his fellow man was the key to a successful life. No matter what your background was, expressing integrity in your daily routine dealings should always take priority. He was therefore, very dismayed to learn a fortnight ago that he, as a Swiss citizen, would be called to the polls in November to vote on a most unusual matter. Apparently, an initiative had been proposed to forbid the construction of minarets (towers) on future mosques to be built in Switzerland! At present there were only four in the country. The Federal Council, the executive branch of the Swiss Government and both houses of Parliament rejected the initiative. Nonetheless since it was a 'people's' initiative, according to the Swiss Constitution, it had to be voted upon. The Government felt that it would menace religious freedom in the country and discriminate against the 350'000 Muslims, mostly from the Balkans, living peacefully in Switzerland. Achmed believed the same.

Obviously, it was a ploy by the Nationalistic far-right leaning “Volks” (People's) Party to stir up another of their “hate” campaigns, this time against an 'unofficial' religion. No one took it very seriously. The three other coalition parties; the Social Democrats together with the Greens, the Christian Democrats (Center Left) and the Radicals (Center Right) didn't even bother to raise their voices in opposition as they deemed the whole farce as being beyond the ridiculous. Surveys taken up to a week before the vote showed a major defeat for the Volks Party. The resident Muslims in Switzerland did, however, organize a rally in Bern in front of the Federal Parliament building for the weekend before the vote. Not many showed up, not enough to even get mentioned in the media. Achmed didn't go to the rally. Hence he would not waste his time in voting at all. Instead he went to Geneva to attend the Conference on Peace in the Middle East at the International Red Cross HQ's, which was open to the public. This was a mistake. The initiative passed with a very slight margin BUT nevertheless passed. Achmed realized that he should have gone to the protest rally instead of the peace meeting!

Introduction

In order for the reader to benefit from this blog, the tales related will be short, succinct and to the point. We just don't have the time to wade through the abundance of information one receives on a daily basis over the net.

The intention of the author is to relate through relevant passages the reason why Switzerland has been so successful over the centuries and still is today.

Being a small mountainous country with over seven million inhabitants, it has always been a challenge for the local residents of diversified backgrounds, not to mention languages, to learn to get-on with each other, let alone with their immediate neighbours; France, Germany, Austria and Italy. A Swiss very much cherishes his/her personal freedom.

Hopefully some of you are Swiss, others may have lived here to work or to study for extended periods of time. I'm sure you will agree that there is no 'typical' Swiss and that is what makes the country unique and very special at the same time.

Forget the boring clichés about cheese, chocolate, chemicals and banks. These topics are of very little interest to the Swiss unless they make a living from them.

The traditional method of 'storytelling' is employed. Both fact and fiction are freely integrated to create atmosphere. Characters are developed within each scenario. Many risk returning in future installments.

The idea is to create an arena for discussion. So, therefore, feel free to comment in German, French or Italian besides English. I'll post three older stories as samples. Then I'll try to post a new entry every few weeks………… Happy Reading.