Landschlacht, Switzerland: 9 May 2016 An email from an old friend, Sumit, asks: “Not writing blogs anymore?…I have not seen any new blogs in the last few weeks.” A daily journal, bought at a local grocery chain, has a leather cover that intimidates: “You don´t write because you want to say something. You write because… Continue reading The Silence Between
Category: Literature
Canada Slim in the Capital
Bern, Switzerland: 11 February 2016 13,000 people move to Bern, Switzerland´s capital, annually. Some tens of thousands commute to the city every day. Approximately 17, 000 students are enrolled at the University. Above: The main building of the University of Bern The Bern Tourist Office registered 686,967 overnight stays in 2012. Hundreds more tourists come for… Continue reading Canada Slim in the Capital
Eternal Bliss and the Edge of Madness: Gaga over Dada
Zürich, 8 February 2016 “When the going gets tough, the great ones party.” (Bill Murray, Garfield 2) Granted this is an unusual source for a quote to try and sum up the phenomenon that was born in Zürich, spread around the world, inspired future cultural movements and is once again commemorated obsessively this year back… Continue reading Eternal Bliss and the Edge of Madness: Gaga over Dada
Not from my neighbourhood
Landschlacht, Switzerland: 13 February 2016 “I often have to remind people I’m from the New World and all the old rules and formalized hierarchies that stifle and overwhelm others don’t necessarily apply to me. Tell me I can’t do something– are you sure, Dude? Let’s see…” The above statement was posted by an American Facebook friend… Continue reading Not from my neighbourhood
Where there´s a way, there´s Wil
Wil, Switzerland: 2 February 2016 A small walk on a nice day? Why not? Climb some hills, ascend a tower, a leisurely stroll. So while North Americans anxiously worried about whether their local groundhogs would see shadows, I decided to face my own shadows. Prior to this day, the city of Wil represented only one… Continue reading Where there´s a way, there´s Wil
New Switzerland lost and found
Winterthur, 29 January 2016 Wearing my teacher´s hat again this day…conversation class. Topic of discussion: The Swiss Family Robinson, written by pastor Johann David Wyss (1812), edited by his son Johann Rudolf Wyss and illustrated by his son Johann Emmanuel Wyss, is a story about a Swiss family shipwrecked in the East Indies en route to Australia. The… Continue reading New Switzerland lost and found
The Backyard Tourist
“A desk is no place to think on a large scale”. (Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking) “An absolute new prospect is a great happiness, and I can still get this any afternoon. Two or three hours´walking will carry me to as strange a country as I expect ever to see. A single farmhouse which I had… Continue reading The Backyard Tourist
The future: Older dog, newer tricks
Winterthur, Switzerland: 26 January 2016 Generally speaking I am not a fan of natural museums, for they often seem to me to be: well, unnatural. “On the Mounted Animal Nature Trail, you’ll be sure to see All Mother Nature’s favourite pets, all sitting rigidly. They’re never hungry any more, their last meal left them stuffed.… Continue reading The future: Older dog, newer tricks
Utopia unrealised
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope some day you’ll join us And the world will be as one. Imagine no possessions. I wonder if you can. No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people sharing all the world. (John Lennon, “Imagine”)… Continue reading Utopia unrealised
Konstanz: City of Shattered Dreams?
In the two years just passed and in the two years that follow, multitudes of people around the globe commemorate the events of World War 1 (1914 – 1918) that involved 70 million soldiers – 9 million of them killed in action, 7 million civilian casualities, and a conflict that lasted 4 years, 3 months and… Continue reading Konstanz: City of Shattered Dreams?