I enjoyed Amanda Fier’s column in Tuesday’s Daily. I like her idea of sharing her experience abroad with us. For me it is interesting to read about the experiences of an American student who has become an international student in my home country.

It reminds me of the first year I spent in the U.S. and all the things I misunderstood. I thought I would not write back to clear up a few misconceptions about life in Switzerland her article may convey, but I could not resist.

I thought some readers might be interested in knowing some more about Switzerland.

I want to thank Amanda Fier for specifying that Switzerland is NOT Sweden (I have heard that one many times too) and that a unique “Swiss” language does not exist. Here is the key to the mystery “what do they speak in Switzerland”:

We have four national languages (languages spoken throughout the country) and three official languages (languages used in official communication). The four national languages are (Swiss) German (70 percent), French (20 percent), Italian (10 percent) and Romansh (a few people). The official languages are French, “Hoch Deutch” (real German, not Swiss German) and Italian. English appears very often on products and documents as well. Romansh is not an official language because less than 2000 people in Switzerland speak Romansh.

Swiss German is not a written language. It does not have a well-defined grammar and spelling rules. However, there now exist some newspapers written in Swiss German. German and Swiss German are close enough that German native speakers can understand basic Swiss German without learning it and vice versa. There are many German dialects that are classified as “Swiss German”; some of them being spoken in Alsace, a region of France close to Germany.

Amanda also mentions about graffiti. I do not see that trend as very positive. It makes great areas of Swiss towns look like the Bronx in New York. I do not know about Lausanne, but in Geneva, no building has been perceived as “demanding respect” by the youth. My high school has been painted thoroughly since I left three years ago, including the original building built in John Calvin’s days (16th century). The city puts white paint over the stains regularly because as a historical building it should look good for tourists.

It is true that public transportation is very developed. It is also true that cars and gas are costly. But so are food, housing, entertainment, everything you need to live. Teenagers and students rarely own cars. The legal age for driving is 18, and few students work so they cannot pay for a car. Besides, they do not need a car. However, most people do own a car once they enter “real life.”

I can understand that as an American staying around students, Amanda may have felt that few people had cars. Roads in Switzerland are narrower than in the U.S. (cars are smaller too). Parking spots are scarce, especially in the center of the cities. Parking in Geneva is like parking on campus here.

With such a good public transportation system, it is wiser to leave the car at the outskirts of the city and take the streetcar. Still, streets are crowded with heavy traffic.

One last detail. Unlike what Amanda says, you do not pay for carts in the grocery store. You just need to give a coin as a deposit. If you bring the cart back to the store, you get your coin back. They had to do this because people would leave the carts in the parking lots.

Finally, another thing I have to admit about Switzerland is that smoking is the norm. Life is designed for the smoker, not for the non-smoker, even though cigarettes are like the rest: costly.

So thank you Amanda for your article. I hope you are having fun in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Agnes Bischoff

Senior

Physics