OK so how do Melbourne and Sydney look through "Swiss" eyes? And what does it feel like when you receive two wonderful slideshows from Swiss friends that tug at the heartstrings?
Yes, you are right the sun is not shining on the pumpkin show for Theresa and Mike but what a show! And there was no shortage of gorgeous weather in the wonderful slideshow Stephanie captured to commemorate our travels from North to South and East to West in Switzerland - though as yet I have not worked out how to attach a pps file to this posting. I felt both sad and happy - sad to not be doing those wonderful things you do in each season which give the year structure and texture - happy to have had such an amazing opportunity and to have good memories to live with for years to come.
I will not do odious comparisons but here are some things I notice.
It's noisy and bustling here - and I don't hate it as much as I thought I would.
People are much fuller-figured ;-) and (Richard's observation) much taller on average. Must be all the meat eating.
Which brings me to meat - we can afford to eat a hearty meat meal every day though last night the chicken breasts I cooked were so huge (though still really succulent and tender) and we shared one instead of having one each - a comment on how we have changed? The total cost was $5.50 about CHF5.35.
Crime and sport tend to dominate the news - sport in particular.
The Prime Minister decided against a referendum to acknowledge indigenous peoples (our Swiss friends would understand why I am making this a special bullet point).
Visiting the bank deposit facility in Sydney was a very quirky experience - the facility probably looks exactly like it did in 1925 when it was built except it probably has a much more secure inner door and door frame than then. The attendants sit behind old-fashioned wrought iron bars and warn you not to lose your key as there are no duplicates and the only way to get your stuff out if you lose it is to have the whole box drilled. All quite charming.
And it's going to take a long time for me to like green again. Here green is mostly grey or blue green and leaves predominantly spiky.
The sun shines all the time :-) and everyone comments on how cold it is when it goes below 20.
Everyone in shops and banks and other service providers (except the YOUNG people at the mobile phone provider) is very friendly and warm.
And to all those who knock Switzerland's bureaucracy, you need proof of a local residential address or a local Medicare card here before you can do ANYTHING. Returning before five years was up was the best thing - be warned: five years is the cutoff point for Australia believing you are not coming back.
Yes, you are right the sun is not shining on the pumpkin show for Theresa and Mike but what a show! And there was no shortage of gorgeous weather in the wonderful slideshow Stephanie captured to commemorate our travels from North to South and East to West in Switzerland - though as yet I have not worked out how to attach a pps file to this posting. I felt both sad and happy - sad to not be doing those wonderful things you do in each season which give the year structure and texture - happy to have had such an amazing opportunity and to have good memories to live with for years to come.
I will not do odious comparisons but here are some things I notice.
It's noisy and bustling here - and I don't hate it as much as I thought I would.
People are much fuller-figured ;-) and (Richard's observation) much taller on average. Must be all the meat eating.
Which brings me to meat - we can afford to eat a hearty meat meal every day though last night the chicken breasts I cooked were so huge (though still really succulent and tender) and we shared one instead of having one each - a comment on how we have changed? The total cost was $5.50 about CHF5.35.
Crime and sport tend to dominate the news - sport in particular.
The Prime Minister decided against a referendum to acknowledge indigenous peoples (our Swiss friends would understand why I am making this a special bullet point).
Visiting the bank deposit facility in Sydney was a very quirky experience - the facility probably looks exactly like it did in 1925 when it was built except it probably has a much more secure inner door and door frame than then. The attendants sit behind old-fashioned wrought iron bars and warn you not to lose your key as there are no duplicates and the only way to get your stuff out if you lose it is to have the whole box drilled. All quite charming.
And it's going to take a long time for me to like green again. Here green is mostly grey or blue green and leaves predominantly spiky.
The sun shines all the time :-) and everyone comments on how cold it is when it goes below 20.
Everyone in shops and banks and other service providers (except the YOUNG people at the mobile phone provider) is very friendly and warm.
And to all those who knock Switzerland's bureaucracy, you need proof of a local residential address or a local Medicare card here before you can do ANYTHING. Returning before five years was up was the best thing - be warned: five years is the cutoff point for Australia believing you are not coming back.
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