Some random thoughts about Switzerland

The Swiss people have the best door knobs I have seen. Strike that. The Swiss people have the best hardware I have ever encountered…door knobs, faucets, window frames, doors. I was amazed at the quality and effortlessness it took me to use things here.

Switzerland is a very clean country. There are reminders everywhere to keep clean. I was walking past a wall of stone yesterday morning and I saw a bit of snow on the wall that I couldn’t help but touch. To my surprise, the ‘snow’ was a giant dollop of soap. Yes, they soap and rinse their stone walls. It’s that clean.

The trains run on time, but the train I too here left 2 minutes late. We were the only late train I observed.

Many nationalities work for this company. I spoke to British & Swiss (of course). I also spoke to Dutch, Scottish, Americans & South Africans.

English is a required language at this company. One Swiss host assured me that the bathroom sign below was in English per company dictate and not because Swiss people thought English speakers were messy.

The Swiss ‘time’ stereotype was fully played out while I was here. At the Zurich Flughafen, the signs tell you ho many minutes until luggage will arrive, and all the ads (played next to the luggage sign) are about watches (or Audis).

People were almost always on time. However, as I write this, my Swiss host who is to drive me to the airport is late. Very unusual for him.