The Swiss German problem

I don’t even know where to start with all that has been going on and what I’ve been feeling. I am all over the place and my mind is running a million miles a minute some moments and others I can’t even muster up the energy to try and understand what’s going on around me.

Let me start out by trying to explain how I see Swiss German. From what I could put together on my first visit here, the Swiss had a problem, or rather a complex, with speaking in High German. I was told they were self-conscious about their accents and that it would be difficult to communicate with them in High German. But, now that I am here I am able to shape my own opinion of this it seems that everyone understands the fact that I cannot understand Swiss German, at all. I can go to a store or a café and understand what is being said to me in Swiss German based solely on the context i.e. someone at a show store says something to me. I know what he is asking me because what else would he ask me in a shoe store besides “can I help you find something?/ are you looking for something in particular?/ would you like to try something on?” And I respond to all with a simple “nei.” When I am out I can figure out what’s going on simply by what is happening, where I’m at, and simple common sense. But anyway, I don’t understand Swiss German. Andri can have entire conversations with people and I am only able to keep up by trying hard to recognize one word every 25 words, but if I am able to do that I feel content because I can somewhat follow the conversation.

The other night we went out with a friend, Alex, who is from Bayern, Germany. He is someone here who I feel comfortable being around and I am not afraid to try and speak broken German to him either, which is great. Andri and him probably are few of the only people (besides his family) that realize that I do understand some of what they’re saying and don’t treat me like I have never heard German before. Most people have no idea that I have had German classes or that I come here with a previous knowledge of their language and have made it a point to try and learn it before arriving. Sitting with Alex and Andri at the bar was nice because it was a mini-German course. I feel comfortable speaking to them in my broken German sentences, and when I make mistakes I don’t feel stupid, because I know that they know I’m trying and that it is hard for me. When either of them speaks to me they speak slow and clear, but not as if I am stupid, but they know that it helps. They speak to me as if I know what they’re saying and if I have a question I will stop them and ask. It’s like they assume I understand till I make it known that I don’t. I feel as if it will be harder to learn here because everyone speaks English so well. It just sometimes feels like I will never be able to learn German because everyone speaks in Swiss German or English and I can’t seem to get the practice I need to learn anything. Luckily, everything written is in High German (complicated, I know!), so at least I can see things and hopefully learn that way. But the vocabulary in the newspapers and such is beyond me at this point, so I am forced to sit and not understand most of what is going on around me. In the buses and trams and trains I hear people talking and laughing and it hurts to not understand, which is hard because all I want is someone to talk to. Imagine: not even being able to eavesdrop, the most amusing thing to do in public transport!

But back to my original point: it does not seem to be a problem for the Swiss to speak in High German, it might be more tiring and tedious, but nothing out of the ordinary. This makes me feel better because I will never be able to get a point across in Swiss German. We now have the television hooked up, as well as the cable, so now I will be able to passively hear much more High German. Although I am hoping that this doesn’t take over my life, as it did in Mexico. Oh, how I miss FX! Hello German soap operas!!

Things are starting to get to me. My things are at Andri’s mothers, our current apartment, the basement in Teufen, and my mom’s house in Missouri. This is driving me insane because there are things I would like to have and can’t figure out where the hell they are. Today, for example, I wanted to look at my German grammar book and notes from class. I could not find the book anywhere, but I was certain that I brought it because it’s a German grammar book. How the hell could I not pack it, right?! Nope. I called my mom today because I was so stressed out and she told me that she had seen them lying around the house recently. How is it possible that in the midst of packing all of my things I managed to leave two of the most useful items?! This is still a mystery to me, because I honestly thought I was a master packer that never forgets anything.

Lately, I have been entertaining myself by planning. I adore planning and list making, so my mind has been focused on trip planning. I have “Europe on a Shoestring” (nothing in Europe can be bought on a shoestring, btw. Hence, everyone goes to Latin and South America for traveling) and have been copying sections and making my own personalized travel guides from many websites and books. The book included Western and Eastern Europe, along with Morocco, Turkey, Moscow, and St. Petersburg, so it weighs about 8 lbs, therefore not ideal for backpacking. This is making me excited for future travels and gives me something to look forward to. Andri is going to LA the first weekend in March for Global Brigades and so I am going on a weekend trip. I chose Vienna because it is a German-speaking city, which makes it justifiable to miss classes. At least I will be in a place where I must put my language classes into practice. Traveling in Europe is ridiculous because even a dorm bed in a hostel is around €17, which is outrageous compared to a $3 private room in Nicaragua. But the cheaper I can make our travels the longer our budget goes, so that is great motivation to budget, as much as one can in Europe. The capitals are best for budget travel because they have the widest range of options, for every level of income.

Next week I have plenty to look forward to. I discovered a few thrift stores in the area near our apartment, so I MUST go there tomorrow to look for things for the new apartment. I will also go to Fribourg, to the German school in order to give them my resume and transcripts. Then the weekend Andri and I will go to Vicosoprano, where his father lives. I am looking forward to seeing Michael and Katarina again.

I am on the train back to Bern now, so I am going to try to get a nap in.