Today I was truly a stranger in a strange land… I visited, for the purpose of finding work, the Principality of Liechtenstein, only two hours’ distance by train from my own wee village by the Lake of Constance. Liechtenstein is a landlocked German-speaking constitutional microstate monarchy sandwiched between the Rhine River and the Alps, between… Continue reading For God, Prince and Fatherland: The Principality of Liechtenstein
Tag: travel
Life among the Winti
Living in the shadows can be a mixed blessing. For example, my cousin is a world class athlete who has qualified for the Olympics, ran in the Commonwealth Games, and is presently raising money for children as he runs and rolls across Canada, so while I proudly boast of my connection to my cousin, I… Continue reading Life among the Winti
Canada Slim and the Briar Patch City
Welcome to “the Writing Room of Europe”, or as I like to call it “the waiting room of Europe”. St. Gallen is the city in which I work both as a ESL teacher and a Starbucks barista. It is a city where I still wait for my professional dreams to come true, yet seem to… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Briar Patch City
Lingua Helvetica: Language(s) in Switzerland
Buy some medicine in Switzerland (if you can afford it). (And considering how generally the Swiss worry about life far more than they actually seem to enjoy living may be a great reason to run (not walk) to the nearest Apotheke!) You will see that the instructions (the message in the bottle, so to speak)… Continue reading Lingua Helvetica: Language(s) in Switzerland
Impressions of Lausanne
Last week I investigated, in my Tour of Nine, (Switzerland’s nine biggest cities: Geneva, Lausanne, Biel, Bern, Basel, Lucerne, Zurich, Winterthur and St. Gallen), the employment prospects of Lausanne. A city of hills reminding one of Rome or San Francisco, Lausanne is Switzerland’s 4th largest city. (Lausanne has 130, 000 inhabitants, behind Zurich (380,000), Geneva… Continue reading Impressions of Lausanne
Frank about the Franc
“In the world of central banking, slow and predictable decisions are the aim. So on Wednesday 15 January 2015, when the Swiss National Bank (SNB) suddenly announced that it would no longer hold the Swiss Franc at a fixed exchange rate with the Euro, there was panic. The Franc soared. On that Wednesday one Euro… Continue reading Frank about the Franc
Geneva: the good, the bad and the beautiful
As those who’ve been following my posts here or on Facebook know, yours truly has been actively trying to improve my career by looking farther afield from the northeastern Switzerland market where I reside. Since the end of last month I have been to Geneva almost every week and the city of Geneva has left… Continue reading Geneva: the good, the bad and the beautiful
Welcome to Customsland
I have friends who just can’t seem to get a break whenever they try and visit faraway places, because when they try to enter these lands, customs deny them entry. One might ask why, because, after all, they are no obvious threat to anyone, have no criminal background, are not a visible minority and they… Continue reading Welcome to Customsland
Wrestling with the Republic
If one reads the Rough Guide to Switzerland one suspects that it is not the greatest fan of Geneva: “Geneva is an anomaly, the nearest thing the world has to a truly international city, and yet with nothing of the pizzazz such a description might suggest.” Yes, it is a special city, though certainly not… Continue reading Wrestling with the Republic
Confessions of the Batman
A fortnight ago, before the breeze off Lake Constance turned brisk, Ute and I were visited by a denizen of the dark, a creature of the night. A bat had somehow found its way into our apartment. It was an hours-long struggle to get the helplessly lost and confused little fellow out. His visit (I… Continue reading Confessions of the Batman