Welcome Home

The first impression of Switzerland was seeing the Lake of Constance from above. Just fifteen minutes later, the plane already landed at Zurich Airport. Such a small country and yet… it has a big place in my heart. Read more…

My parents awaited me at the airport (thanks!). I was surprised to see that my mother now wears specs, but she looks really good with them. The next hour of driving home was a bit like in a dream: wow, everybody talks Swiss German… hey, did you see, there are Söiblueme (yellow flowers) blossoming in the fields… everywhere you can see forests and fields and small houses… so many things still look the same… especially the last part of the journey felt funny, driving through Lindental valley which looked as drowsy as ever, with still the same billboards being displayed (“Bauern brauchen einen fairen Milchpreis”, which in English reads “Farmers need a fair price for their milk.”).

At home, my brother David and Johanna awaited me. They prepared a wonderful welcome meal, just have a look at the picture! For those not familiar with the Swiss cuisine: The big brown braided bread in the centre is called Züpfe. Just behind and to the left are some examples of Swiss cheese. The rolls are called Hobelchäs, and there is Tilsiter, Appenzeller, Emmentaler und Sbrinz Möckli. The drink is also a local speciality called Rivella, with milk serum as a main ingredient ;-) You see, I was delighted about so much swissness in a simple meal.

The next days were filled with finding a place for all those souvenirs, seeing people again, spending time with my family and Johanna (she stayed at our house till Wednesday). I was glad to see people from Crossover again. That’s a Christian group with great people, I used to attend a lot of fellowships and camps before I left for Singapore. Viêt, if you read this, I bought a pair of K2 Mach Skates, gonna send you a picture later. Now I have to learn how to break without falling ;-)

More Swiss info to follow… keep browsing here from time to time. I guess the next few articles will be in English, cause everybody in Singapore urged me to continue blogging ;-)