Christmas Season In Zürich

This is exactly how I remember my childhood before Christmas. Including the organ music, played in church interspersed by the priest preaching in high-german the retelling of the story of Maria and Josef. I could swear I heard the exact same mass as we hear here in the beginning. I remember those then bedazzling lighted stars and symbolic Christmas tree light displays. I remember the magical, festive, red Märli-Tram that took us kids for a ride among pretty angels in white frocks we can only get a glimpse off here.

I remember crowded Jelmoli, the huge department store with the running stairs that brought us up to the second and third floor, to a humongous selection of toys, eventually Barbies too. I remember those nets that conveniently carried our purchases before the pretty plastic kind replaced them. I remember the crowds, more so even inside the Trams than the department stores. Scarry at times for a small kid squeezed among adults.

I remember the Salvation Army singers collecting coins on Bahnhof Strasse. Never liked them, not then or now. What is missing is the guy selling roasted Maroni (chestnuts) right nearby. A small bag full in one's hand spread delicious warmth on a cold winter day.

There are people, lots of them in heavy coats, with women wearing woolen shawls and hats. People offering their opinions only when asked and put on the spot. One pretty woman confesses that she is not in the mood at all for Christmas as she is going through a very difficult time, while the other pretty woman complains the decorations not being to her taste and the third about the weather failing to bring on the mood for her. Meanwhile, one guy does not mind the artificiality of the Christmas decor but welcomes being taken out of the daily humdrum, but the other guy reminds us that Christmas should have not be about shopping but should have a focus on the birth of the Savior. All of their answers given in great sincerity upon a bit of reflection. All of the people are so Swiss in their appearance, their attitude and I could not even say exactly why.

I remember the smoke-filled restaurants with the waitresses dressed in black wearing a money belt from which they gave us back change when we payed our bill of course always in cash and added a then common 15% tip for their service. Those often elderly waitresses were then called Fräulein (Misses, a rather disrespectful to grown women term that since has long been abandoned.)

I remember the popular music of those times too. And I remember those streets with their businesses, many still going strong more than half a century later. Modissa was a women's clothing store my Mom cleaned for a while in the early morning hours. It's also a store we got some of our dresses and sweaters from. Bally was the store for our shoes and boots, always.

Unggi, my uncle not by blood, worked at the main post office near the main train station and took me to where those packages were processed right before or after his retirement. Packages were always so carefully packaged and tightened with ropes many times over for safety.

Yep, I started my life in those times and times they are changing, some, but some things do stay the same.

Swiss Independence Day August 1.

The Swiss celebrated today August 1. the birth of their nation which dates back to August 1. 1291!

The common CH symbol, oddly seen on back of American cars in the States, stands for the latin Confederatio Helvetica (CH) translated in to German to Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft and  in to American, Swiss Confederation. 

Switzerland is no young Spring Chicken, the Swiss have been around the block a few times or more. These days their wisdom not to join the EU (European Union) seems a lot more sensible and prudent.

I have to resort to Wikipedia to learn that the area that makes up Switzerland covers only a ridiculous 15,940 square miles. The population counts less then 8 million.

In 2005 the median household income in Switzerland was an estimated $90,000! For much of the 20th century, Switzerland was the wealthiest country in Europe by a considerable margin. The Swiss franc remains one of the world's strongest currencies with the lowest inflation rate.

The Swiss Confederation has a long history of neutrality—it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815. Gosh, do I appreciate such a record!

1971 was the year women were granted the right to vote. My mom never chose to exercise her right, while I had left Switzerland before the age that would have qualified me to place my votes.

Switzerland has one of the best environmental records among nations in the developed world; It was one of the countries to sign the Kyoto Protocol in 1998 and ratified it in 2003. The country is heavily active in recycling and anti-littering regulations and is one of the top recyclers in the world, with 66% to 96% of recyclable materials being recycled.

Zürich, home to 1.5 million inhabitants and 150,000 companies, has taken top position in recent quality of life surveys. Life expectancy is among the highest in the world. Universal health insurance is compulsory.

The Swiss are the world's largest consumers of chocolate and looking at myself, I believe it. Finally though chocolate was discovered to hold those beneficial health qualities that encourage us to indulge guilt free.

Albert Einstein, physicist, might be the most famous Swiss personality but contemporary Tennis player Roger Federer, born August 8. 1981 may haven even more name recognition. C. G. Jung, Psychiatrist, has gained a surprising popularity here in my community in Santa Fe. Jean Piaget's name I encountered only the other day when I researched a pre-school in my neighborhood. Giacometti's work was recently auctioned for top price, I have no idea why, I do not understand his art, but sought after it is. On the other hand Andreas Vollenweider is well known in New Age circles for his trance inducing, soothing sounds.