For most of my first year in Germany I didn’t drive. I come from a small Canadian city with no major highways, and so the thought of the autobahn seriously freaked me out. I was, and remain, very surprised at how easy it was for my husband to simply turn in his Canadian license for a German one (which appears never to expire), to be handed a company car, and to then just be on his way. Sure, GPS is a miracle for those of us who need to navigate to work that first day, or to the nearest food market for the first time, but such technology has yet to explain to me what the yellow diamond sign means, what the white squiggly line on the road means, and what I am supposed to do when someone is riding a horse in front of me. Many expats, like my husband, cope with various expat situations, like driving, by relying on observation, common sense, and hoping for the best. I offer a cautionary tale however, of common sense, and how it may not always be your most reliable guide.
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Online Lifelines
Remember that time not long ago when long-distance phone calls were reserved for special occasions? Your uncle on the other side of the country would get a nice three minute phone call on his birthday, and your grandmother across the ocean could expect a quick “Merry Christmas” once a year. Oh how far we have come. Now with new cable and internet technologies, long distance communication is no longer the family-gathered-’round-the-phone occasion it once was. Yesterday, as my mother walked me through how to prepare the perfect Easter ham from her respective kitchen miles and miles away via Skype, I considered what it must have been like for expats living so far from their family and friends, just a couple decades ago, before the internet, email, and social media.
Where the heck is the baking powder?
I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for expat moms who need to bake cupcake after cupcake, cookie after cookie, required by their children for school fundraisers, soccer practices, birthday parties etc. Baking in German-speaking Europe is hard!
When I first moved over here and started hanging out with other hockey wives, nearly all of whom were mothers, I would normally start hearing a dull buzz whenever they would start complaining about baking. I would catch random snippets about all the brown sugar they had to pack in their luggage, or all the Betty Crocker stuff they were having their cousin bring over at Christmas. I was 24, in a new relationship, no kids, living it up in Germany; my need for molasses and baking powder was pretty low on the priority list. Cut to five years later and a here I am in a supermarket in Switzerland, printed recipe in hand, staring at an aisle of cake mixes, none of which are the kind I need to make homemade Twinkies for my husband’s birthday. I see lemon cake, spiced cake, chocolate cake, some kind of brown speckled cake . . . what happened to just good old yellow cake? READ MORE »
The Naked Truth
There was one very significant event that I happened to omit from my last blog, regarding my recent trip to Davos. In truth, I just wasn’t quite ready to talk about it yet. The incident was somewhat traumatizing, or at least severely uncomfortable, and it left me feeling as though all of the acclimatizing and adapting I had accomplished over the last five years in Europe, was for nothing. Deep breath: I will now go ahead and tell you the tale of three young Canadian women who attempted to spend an afternoon . . . at a Swiss wellness center!
You went to Davos and didn’t ski?
I have often joked that Switzerland may be the only place on earth where gyms are completely deserted during the month of January. I remember going for the ubiquitous January 2nd workout last year, anticipating the typical hordes of resolution bandwagoners, but I ended up having the place all to myself. The reason for this phenomenon of course, is that everyone is skiing! Why would anyone workout during winter holidays when the Alps are right there? Skiing is as Swiss as cheese and chocolate, and the Swiss people take all such enjoyable things very seriously. I should note here that the idea of health and wellness in Switzerland is much more geared toward just that, health and wellness. It is quite a different mentality from the North American obsession with fat burning and muscle pumping. Many Swiss believe that if fitness can be found within some of the most beautiful outdoor settings in the world, then the Elliptical machine can take a hike. In searching for outdoor activity, there is no better place to find heart-healthy fresh air and challenging winter adventures than in Europe’s highest city, Davos.
Expat Hospitality
As I have mentioned before, my husband is a professional hockey player, now playing here in Switzerland. We spend nine exciting months of each year in Europe, then three whirlwind months in Canada. As much as we adore our time overseas, it always requires some adjustment, spending holidays with people we’ve just met; new teammates and friends who become temporary family during special occasions. We also have had to learn to face life’s many ups and downs over Skype with mom, texts with friends, and via outlets like this blog. As an expat living in Germany and Switzerland however (some of the most popular destination countries in Europe), my husband and I have also been very fortunate to host many of our family and friends in our various overseas homes. We have hosted friends looking to discover the European nightlife, parents coming to make sure we have a proper Christmas, cousins coming to celebrate New Years Eve on the slopes, and friends of friends backpacking through. Each visitor has been very different and each visit has been uniquely memorable.
Cheese Please!
When the cool fog starts rolling across Lake Zurich, and the neon green foothills begin showing white frosting on top, my thoughts immediately turn to the tastes of Swiss winter foods. Last fall during my first few months in Switzerland, I started hearing people talk about some Swiss dish called Raclette. I had heard the word a couple of times in Germany during conversations about different Christmas traditions, but I had little idea what it was; something about hot stones and cheese. So when I sat down for my first Raclette meal in Rapperswil, Switzerland, I had no idea what to expect. I especially did not expect the love affair that subsequently unfolded. “A meal made up of potatoes, melted cheese, and pickles?” I asked, “Am I in heaven?” Now I need only walk by the outside of a restaurant serving Raclette to be drawn in by the smell. Sometimes all it takes is seeing the packages of Raclette cheese in the grocery store and the next thing I know I am making the dish in my microwave at home. I’d call it a minor obsession.
When to go Home
It’s hard to know when to go home. Situations arise back in Canada that often tug at my heart, wanting to pull me across the ocean. Though we get to experience many wonderful things while living here, we expats also miss out on a whole lot. While we do have most of our lives here: our partners, house, jobs, kids, pets, friends, routines etc., we also have a whole world back home. My friends in Canada know that I won’t be there for their birthday parties or that special “girls night out”. My family knows I won’t be joining them for Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas morning breakfast. But we miss more than the simple occasions; I have also missed important weddings and the birth of my best friend’s baby. So what does eventually compel us to interrupt our pleasant European life, spend a couple thousand bucks, hop on a plane, and fly back overseas?
Death.
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I Go a’Wandering
When imagining Switzerland, most people might picture snow-covered mountains, rolling green pastures, cows, cheese, dairy-maids, and ginger-bread looking houses. Now while many may assume that these are just stereotypes, I can assure you they are not. Of course, the country has far more to offer with large modern, international cities, including Zurich, Genève, and Bern: some of the top-rated for quality of life, in the world. However, the Swiss people also pride themselves in keeping their majestic landscape and cute culture just as it has been for hundreds of years. And one of the very best ways to experience the stunning surroundings is with your own two feet. Venture atop stony cliffs or along the blue water’s edge; romp around in a soft sheep pasture or amongst row upon row of grape vines. Switzerland’s numerous and well-marked hiking paths, or Wanderwegs, extend to every nook of the country and assure you safe, challenging, and of course incredibly beautiful experiences.
Canadian Wedding with a German/Swiss Twist
Four months before my July wedding I was inundated with the same comment from almost every female I encountered: “Oh you must be so busy!” Further into the conversation always came the question, “Is it difficult planning a wedding from overseas?” I was living with my fiancé in Switzerland, for the hockey season (August- April) and was getting married in Montreal, Canada, on July 9th. For a while my answers remained the same: “No, not really”. I didn’t understand what was so hard about planning a wedding, even from another country. We picked the venue the last time we were in Canada, I ordered my dress from a shop near my house in Switzerland (planning to haul it home on the plane), I googled photographers, cake makers, bridesmaid dresses, floral ideas- and felt totally confident that the internet was the only tool I needed. Until it came time to order invitations . . .
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