Geneva........and Zurich!

We have finished with our jobs, and we are now busily preparing the detritus and flotsam of our lives to make the giant leap back across the Atlantic, back to the land of Opportunity, of Freedom and Bravery, of Google, Apple, and Microsoft....of Disney, Hollywood, Las Vegas, and California girls....of ExxonMobil, GM, Big War, and MegaChristianity.....and, most unfortunately, to the land of Republicans, Rush Limbaugh,Glen Beck, and the rest of Idiot America. Most assuredly, I have mixed feelings about this.  Can you blame me?

A recent Rasmussen poll showed that 44% of Americans believe in the literal translation of the Bible. This means that over 140 million Americans believe that a talking snake encouraged a woman to eat an apple; that a 900 year old man built an Arc to replenish humanity and all the other fauna on the planet; that the sun revolves around the earth; that the earth itself is only about 7,000 years old; and that Jonah lived inside a whale for three days. It is the majority of these 140 million morons that enabled, by their votes, arguably the worst President in American history to inflict his modern vision of the Crusades on the world, and to then proceed to destroy the global economy, and America's reputation in the process. This is the majority that believes any criticism of their country is anti-patriotic(as if the right to criticize government wasn't enshrined in the Constitution), believes that America can do no wrong, and believes that the "American Way" is the only way, that their is nothing to be learned from other cultures. Am I ambivalent about my return? You betcha.

On a more mundane topic, my wife and I took the train to Zurich yesterday. We had only been to the downtown core once before, and then only for a couple of hours before we had to catch a plane to somewhere else. I thought it was time that we had a more thorough visit, and I'm glad we did! We took the train, because public transportation here is a joy to experience, and much less of a hassle than driving, navigating through questionable traffic and congestion, and then paying for a parking spot for the day. The train takes off from downtown Lucerne, twice every hour, and arrives in downtown Zurich with no muss, and no fuss. The trains themselves are beautifully maintained, spotless, smooth as floating on a pond, more punctual than you could believe, and comfortable as can be. I will miss them. Trains in America...the few that there are...suck.

Zurich is an awesome, wonderful city. A city that all cities should aspire to be. As a Swiss city, it is of course beautifully maintained and clean. It has great public transportation, both in the city and on the lake. It has beautiful, historic buildings, incredible shopping, a wide variety of restaurants, both local and of various ethnic backgrounds, and of various price points. It is incredibly bike and pedestrian friendly. It is so vibrant and eclectic, so full of culture, so interesting and stimulating. I love Zurich. We had a great time exploring the city, shopping, eating, and taking pictures, and a nice, comfortable, and smooth trip back to Lucerne on the train. All in all, a perfect day. Following are a bunch of pictures of our day in Zurich.

Our train to Zurich

Enjoying my trip!

The Limmat river

Old Town Zurich

A few weeks ago we took an overnight trip, also by train, to Geneva. We had applied for some jobs with Expedia.com at a global lodging division which they were working towards opening there. So we thought we should definitely go and check it out, considering that if we got the jobs, we would have to relocate to Geneva! This was a long shot to begin with, but we thought, who knows?, and if we got the jobs, we could prolong our stay in Switzerland for a couple of years or so, experience more of Europe, and save tons of money. Not a bad thing.

Unfortunately, Geneva was a bad thing. Geneva is a lousy, awful city. A city that all cities should dread being. If I didn't know better, there would be no way that you could convince me that Geneva is located in Switzerland. I would swear it was in France, or even Saudi Arabia. It was full of ugly buildings, dirtier than any other Swiss city I had ever seen(though it was still cleaner than most cities outside of Switzerland), and mostly lacking in the personality and culture that personifies cities and towns in the rest of the country. Worse, it was full to overflowing with both former Yugoslav immigrants, and worst of all.......Muslims. Now, those naive among you might think I am being somewhat discriminatory, or even a bigot. Think what you want. I know what I know, and I know what I have witnessed and experienced. A good portion of the fine citizens of the former Yugoslavian countries are of questionable moral repute. Most of the rest are criminal trash.  I know this is a result of the environment in which they are forced to grow up and live in, I'm not arguing that. But be that as it may, they are generally not people you want to hang around. As for Muslims, I won't say much, because whatever comes out of my mouth will be derogatory. At best, they are dirty, they stink, and their vile language assaults the ears like fingernails on a chalkboard.  Muslim women are forced to parade around in black blankets, covering their bodies from head to toe, with only a small opening for their eyes. They do this because Muslim men are so socially and culturally stunted, insecure, and sexually repressed that they couldn't handle a woman in her full glory. Sexual repression is a key tool in controlling the Muslim man.  Then the Muslim man controls the Muslim woman's every move and thought. They come from medieval countries with medieval belief systems and ideologies, and they are overrunning much of Europe.

So much for Geneva. We were very disappointed, and I can't imagine ever going back. Anywhere that half of the human population is subjugated and repressed, forbidden and denied the ability to fulfill their potential as human beings, is a place that I can easily skip experiencing ever again. The world is full of senseless, ignorance-inducing, reprehensible, man-made religions that have caused known and unknown tragedies throughout the ages, but Islam is the shittiest of them all. Shame on you Geneva, and shame on the rest of Europe for allowing in the representatives of a culture that should have died out, that should have "evolved" out of the human social paradigm, hundreds of years ago.

I've included a few pics of our time in Geneva.  It wasn't all bad. The little boutique hotel that we stayed in was very nice, the train ride there and back was enjoyable, and some of the festivities revolving around August 1st, Switzerland's "Fourth of July", were interesting and worthwhile.  Enjoy, and please forgive my rants.

My wife's campaign to destroy Grand Casino Luzern is proceeding apace. She is continuing to sow dissent and discord at every opportunity. I have learned during my time here in Switzerland that Europeans tend to have a very different relationship between employees and management. The employees have a tendency to just take their lumps from management, to figure that "this is just they way things are", and to suffer in silence. Perhaps it's a holdover from the distant past, a reflection of the relationships between the nobility and the peasant class in feudal Europe, whereas the peasants had almost no power, and the nobility had almost all of it. Who knows?, but I have learned that cultural legacies like these can persist for centuries, regardless of how times have changed. Whatever the reason, most of our fellow coworkers just grumble to each other about how awful the job is, then proceed to lick management's ass, or at the least not cause any ripples. Also, many of them are from other, often less-priviliged countries, and are afraid to complain and risk the possibility of losing their job. I think America is very unique, in that it is the only culture I know of that aplauds the idea that not only anyone can....but everyone should....claw their way to success, that unacceptable situations should never be tolerated. Only Americans are so bold and demanding in life(or you could say "such assholes" as well, but I'm trying to be positive here). They often get what they want because they do what it takes to get it.  Not Europeans so much, although that fails to explain my wife, as she is European! I often say nowdays that she is more American than I am, and that's no exageration. She is doing everything in her power to change a situation she finds unacceptable in the time she has left. She is encouraging everyone to either stand up to management and demand change, or to quit en masse and leave the casino without a staff. She is trying to have everyone go see a lawyer, explain the horrible work environment and the advantage that the casino management is taking of them, the laws they are supposedly breaking, and to initiate a class action lawsuit. I believe she has a few more dealers on the verge of quiting. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't have much longer to achieve her goals, seeing as how we only have a week of work left -- but I wouldn't put it past her!

Here's an interesting fact about the casino here in Lucerne, that might surprise just abouuuuut......nobody: there is a particular ethnic group of people that tend to frequent the casino and its gambling tables much more regularly and in greater numbers than other ethnic groups. Can you guess which one? -- I'll give you a hint: This groups name starts with an 'A', has three letters in the middle, and ends with an 'N'. It also has multiple ethnic subgroups that have names that start with 'C', 'J','T','V','I', among others. Yes, as I'm sure you have guessed by now, Asians represent themselves in the casino far, far more than any other ethnic group. I'm sure everyone who works in a casino and reads this blog is flabbergasted at this revelation..........not. Some nights at work, here in the middle of the middle of Switzerland and Europe, I feel like I am in China.

Now, there are a lot of stories and analyses in the news today about the ascendancy of China, its massive population and work ethic, its surpassing of the GDP of the economies of Germany, Great Britain, and Japan, the inevitability of its eventual dominance over the global economy and everything else, and its potential effect on international affairs and relations. However, from what I witness and observe on an almost daily basis, I really don't think we have too much to worry about. For starters, they are not just addicted, but absolutely obsessed, with gambling in any and all forms. Gambling is not just an amusing entertainment to enjoy with friends on rare occasions, it is like eating and breathing for them. I'm not sure if they would choose to live without it. Furthermore, they are the second worst gamblers the world has ever known -- after the Swiss, of course. They gamble because they are compelled to, not because they know how to! They do almost everything wrong, believing in their own 'luck' and superstition rather than cold hard statistics and money management. On top of this, if the time they take to ponder, discuss, argue -- and finally decide, to make a bet is any indication of how capable they are in the global marketplace, then we are aaaaaaallll good. Add to this their often complete lack of personal hygiene, their inability to dress themselves with any sense of style or fashion, and their tendency to pick their nose, hawk up loogies, chain smoke, and smell. All we really have to do to put a halt to their designs on global domination is to have American companies build a bunch more casinos in Asia, and keep bringing them to Las Vegas, and eventually we will get all of our money back! Problem solved.

Speaking of cultural differences, lets talk about some more of the differences between Europeans and Americans that I have witnessed and experienced. After all, that's what this Blog is all about! Although many women in Switzerland choose to work and pursue careers, which they are free to, and encouraged to, do if they so desire, it seems that many more than in America choose the alternative of not working, at least when they grow older. I see a lot of women working who are in their twenties and early thirties, but very few who are older than that. Maybe older women are out there working in great numbers, but simply at jobs that do not put them in as frequent contact with the public, I don't know. What I do know is that women on average start having children over here at a much older age than in most parts of the world; well into their thirties, and even into their mid-forties is not uncommon. I've seen pregnant women walking around here that look like they should be grandmothers! At least! At this stage in their lives, they often choose to stay home and care for the children. Personal incomes in Switzerland are such that most families can survive on just the man working, although they do have to be more frugal. Contrary to Americans, they are much more satisfied with fewer "things" in their lives, and most often live in smaller homes, or apartments, own only one,small, car, rarely eat out, use public transportation often, and simply.... live simply. As I've mentioned before, "getting rich", and striving to fill their lives with as many material possessions as possible is really not a priority here. It seems that older women here are often content to give up their jobs or careers, and become career moms. Younger women, though, especially those in their teens and early twenties, do seem to be more insecure and less socially developed than women from other western countries. From what I have seen, they are more "clingy" and desperate for attention and approval when around the opposite sex. I'm not sure of the causes behind this. To be honest, the Swiss in general are all less socially developed than many other western countries. It's really just a small country, of rich nerds!

Many cultural and ethnic relationship dynamics here in Europe strike me as disturbingly "Old World". Do you think that all these countries,representing all these different cultural backgrounds, religions, histories, different languages, different ideas, beliefs,and ways of "seeing" the world are all going to get along "lovey dovey"? Or that all theimmigrants coming here from other, generally less-developed,second or third-world countries and cultures are just going to blend seemlessly into the whole? Don't kid yourself. Most people dislike and distrust anyone different from themselves. I would hazard to guess that most Americans would naìvely conclude that something like the Holocaust could never happen again, that it was a cultural aberation of unique time, place, and situation, that Europeans, and especially Germans, have thoroughly learnt their lessons, are still contrite, and feel horrible about it all.  Ha, Ha, it is to laugh. I am here to tell you that with little provocation(and if they could get away with it), the Holocaust could happen tomorrow. Jews are not well-liked over here, and, along with the Muslims and former Yugoslavian country's immigrants, they are blamed for much of society's ills. They are viewed with suspicion at best, and open hostility and vitriolic hatred at worst.  Unfortunately, they do not try and make it easier for themselves. European Jews, in general, are not like most American Jews. They do not "blend" in, they do not try and assimilate into greater society.  They do everything in their power to differentiate themselves, and thus make themselves an even greater, more obvious target. They are very openly Old School. They are immediately identifiable, for they always, at the least, wear their yarmulkes(even the children), and at the most, old-fashioned black suits, black wide-brimmed hats, and the curls cascading down the sides of their faces. They speak their own language(or English), go out of their way to not associate with those not of their faith, partake of very few social events, sports or activities not of their making, live in their own neighborhoods, marry only their own people, go to their own schools, shop in their own stores, eat their own food, work in their own businesses, bathe infrequently, and have virtually no social skills or identifiable sense of humor, at least among Gentiles.

Overall, there is a lot of suspicion, distrust, and discrimination between and amongst all the European countries, but especially between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, most particularly towards the former Yugoslav countries, and specifically against Gypsies, no matter where they come from. Some of this discrimination may be seen as harmless, but it is nonetheless insidious. Of course, America can be, and has been, just as bad. This is not a competition. Americans are just as capable of discrimination and racial hatred and distrust as anyone from anywhere. Neither am I trying to say that Europe is a cauldron on the point of boiling over with hatred and "ethnic cleansing", but it is also far from a utopia of racial tolerance and comeraderie. Many ugly things lurk just below the surface.......

So, on a more upbeat, carefree note, I just celebrated my birthday on the 14th, and my wife and I went up to the resort of Engelberg by train for the day! We took gondolas and chairlifts up to the top of the mountain, and went innertubing on a glacier in the middle of summer! It was very cool, and incredibly beautiful. Thank you, babe! Most of the pics in this post are of that day. Ciao.

In the gondola

Timi's ready to tube!

At the tram station

Ridin' the tube conveyor belt!

A very dirty glacier

On top of the world!

On the train ride to the mountain

Blowing out my candles

Uniquely Swiss

I'm going to continue to write blogs about everyday experiences and so on while I'm here, but since I'm running out of time, I'm going to try and stuff as much info about the differences between Swiss culture and others as I can in posts like this one. I have culled some of these Swiss idiosyncrasies from my own experiences as well as from other blogs and forums that I have read off the Internet. This is just another random list, by no means complete, of some of those differences, and I will try not to judge any of them as 'good' or 'bad'. You be the judge.

Because of limited opening hours(most stores close by 6pm during the week, by 4pm on Saturdays, and are closed completely on Sundays) most -- especially grocery -- stores are packed, particularly on weekends. I don't just mean "packed", I mean "bat shit crazy Japanese subway at rush hour" packed. So packed that they have crowd control police on scene! Obviously, people who work normal 9 to 5 jobs have very, very little time to do their weekly shopping, except on Saturdays. On one occasion, my wife and I were enjoying hiking around the mountain resort town of Engelberg, not far from Lucerne, this past winter. We got back to the car around 5:00 pm, were a little hungry, so decided to look around for a cafe to grab a little bite to eat. We don't normally eat out, but we were hungry! Unfortunately, there wasn't a cafe or restaurant in the town still open for business. Let me clarify this: Engelberg is a large ski resort, whereas the mountains close down for skiing around 4:30 in the afternoon. At this time, hordes of famished, thirsty people pour down off the mountain and return to their hotel rooms, condos, and so on, eager to grab a bite and a beer and a little social time, and what do they find? A bunch of closed cafes and restaurants, the owners and employees having shut down and gone home to be with their families. This is not,  I repeat not, America.

Prices rarely vary from Grocery stores to convenience stores, or any other stores for that matter. If a sandwich or loaf of bread costs $5 at a huge grocery store in the suburbs, it will also cost $5 downtown, or at the gas station store, or at the store at the top of a mountain, or at the store at an amusement park. Same with gas prices; pretty much the same everywhere you go.

On top of their limited daytime hours, many stores, post offices, banks, etc, close for a long lunch, sometime from noon to 3pm!

Business and apartment building are rarely made from wood here. They are mostly built from concrete, steel, and stone. So are roads, freeways, tunnels, bridges, and so on. This requires cranes. There are always a lot of buildings and roads under construction or renovation, so there are always a ton of cranes around. I mean a ton. In any small village, there might be 5 or more building cranes dotting the skyline. I remember when people were impressed when Las Vegas had 15 or more cranes around the city......a city of almost 2 million. Here, in a town of perhaps 50,000, there could be that many. No kidding.

There are lots of photo radars in most towns to catch speeders, and the fines are huge, usually hundreds of dollars. They simply mail you the ticket, minus the photo. If you dispute it and it turns out it really was you, then the fine moves up into the thousands. There are very few accidents here. Do not speed in Switzerland.

There are random driver license/registration checkpoints set up by police.

Custom license plates are not allowed. Most license plates start with two letters representing the city you are registered in, such as LU for Lucerne, followed by six numbers and letters.

Parking spaces are small! If you own a slightly larger than average car, than it often becomes quite difficult to park it.

There are many, many great, economical small cars here in Europe. Dozens of different models with dozens of different features. You can really get a nice, luxurious, fashionable little car here that gets great gas mileage for a reasonable amount, at least outside of Switzerland.

Most cars are still stick shifts. Since most people here do most of their driving in cities, this make no sense whatsoever.

Almost all mailboxes are the same here, with a small section for letters above, and a larger door for packages and advertisement below. Everyone has a small plaque with their names inscribed on it, and another plaque that they use to indicate whether or not they want advertisements delivered to them.

All doors only lock with a key, so there is no way to lock yourself out of your home. Most doors also have handles, not knobs, so that if you can't use your hand to open the door(e.g. your hands are full of groceries), then you can use an elbow or your hip or whatever.

There are no smoke detectors in apartments.

Swiss keys are not like American. They have no notches, but rather a bunch of circular indentations. Much harder to copy or fake.

One can rent sheep here, and this is frequently done, to keep your lawn or field cropped nicely, as well as fertilized along the way.

Stores, factories, industrial, and residential areas are not separated into sections like in America. Sometimes you will find retail and commercial centers within apartment buildings and neighborhoods, and vice versa.

All children's names must come from a government-approved list. If the child is from another country, than his/her name must be proven to be acceptable within that country, via an official statement from that country's Embassy. There are no Dweezil Zappas, Moondusts, Apples, or Shitheads(pronounced Shuh-teed!) here.

Eating out is outrageously expensive here, yet groceries can often be found quite reasonably. Because of this mysterious disconnect, few people eat out very often. Also because of this, restaurant food is most often mediocre at best, with mediocre service. With no vibrant dining culture in Switzerland, there is very little demand to make excellent, innovative meals. I consider this epically tragic.

You must always pay for water in a restaurant, even if it comes from the tap, and it usually costs as much as a Coke or something similar. There are no -- repeat no -- free refills on anything.

Condiments, such as mayonnaise and ketchup, usually come in squeeze tubes, like toothpaste.

Cash is used much more often in Switzerland. It also comes in more denominations, such as two hundred, and one thousand. The smallest bills are tens, and anything smaller is in coins. They have small stuff, as well as 1, 2, and 5 Franc coins. All businesses have tons of cash on hand, so they don't blink twice if you buy a lollipop with a two hundred Franc bill. Very few robberies in Switzerland.

Personal checks are never used. Everything can be paid in cash, online, or via the bank's "Multimat", an ATM-like machine that accepts little chits with the bill info on them, and then debits your bank account for the amount.

One never pays for services, such as a car repair, at the point of service. All bills are mailed to you, and you pay them in one of the above methods.

The desire to "get rich", so prevalent in America, is not an obsession here. People are usually quite content with a normal income, even leaders of large corporations. The pay difference between employees and CEO's here is much, much narrower than in America. Doctor's also do not get into medicine to "strike it rich", they get into it because helping sick and injured people is what they want to do.

Cell phones are common, but not commonly used. It is very expensive to make a call. Same with texting. However, they work everywhere, no matter how rural, no matter if on the top of a mountain. There are no "dead zones".

Nudity, in advertisements and on TV, is considerably more common and accepted here. No muss, no fuss. Sexy Lingerie ads are frequently placed outside of stores for all to see, and there seems to be a lot of Lingerie stores!

There is very little air conditioning used here. Of course, the weather in Lucerne doesn't really call for it often, but even in the hotter southern climes, it is not common.

Switzerland is very "dog friendly". Dogs are allowed everywhere, in grocery stores, malls, shops, restaurants, and they are generally very well-behaved. All owners must take classes in dog-training and care.