Grüezi Miteinander

G R Ü E Z I 

pronounced:  grü-e-tsi

English translation: 'hello' or 'I greet you'

"Grüezi"

I heard this from people who sat next to me on the trams, from individuals I'd meet walking down the street, and even from store clerks. 

"What is Grüezi?" I'd say to myself, and just smile and tip my head a bit at the Swiss-German I had just crossed paths with. This was happening every day. I knew it was some sort of greeting, but other than that I was clueless. 

That was, until Saturday the 29th of November. 

Doug and I were invited to dinner in Meilen with our new Swiss friends, the Sprengers. We met Iris & Paul at the train station and then proceeded to take a walk along a view path between the bluffs over looking Lake Zurich and the open fields. Time and again we would pass people who said 'Gruezi' and Iris would respond 'Gruezi miteinander'. Finally, I had someone to explain this Swiss-German greeting! And so she did... she shared with me that this phrase is used to greet someone and you should return the greeting. I practiced my pronunciation.

Now I got it!  Finally I could stop looking foolish and be polite to the people I meet in Switzerland. 

To gain a clear grasp of this Swiss greeting and other similar phrases ... check out the posting on Swisstoryblog.com for Tuesday, September 9, 2008 titled Swiss Greetings 101. Jessica provides an excellent explanation as to what to say, to whom, when to say it ... and how to respond.

I looked online for a definition of grüezi and came across a photo on flickr.com of a Washington state vanity license plate that read: GRUETZI.

I began to hear it more and see it used in lots of Swiss advertising. It's now part of my vocabulary! 

The only challenge NOW is that I've mastered it so well, that store clerks now continue their conversation with me in Swiss-German. Which again leaves me with more blank stares and slight nods. :) 
P.S. Yes, I know I've used two different spellings for the word Grüezi. Just as in English, it seems to be spelled different ways by different people. :)

Christmas window displays that brought back my childhood memories

I love window shopping, especially at Christmas. 

As a child growing up in Minnesota I have wonderful memories of my parents taking my brothers and me to see (and experience) the Dayton's window displays in downtown Minneapolis. The windows were decorated with miniature scenes of Santa's workshop and winter in Minnesota. Our cold runny noses pressed against the display windows to see who would be the first to spot the moving features...an elf hammering away at a workbench, another putting together a tricycle, or even the smoke coming out of the chimney.

This memory was recreated for me this past weekend when Doug and I took a day trip to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. We passed a department store that had six windows decked out in a story book Christmas theme: the Muggestutz.  I don't know much about the tales, written by author Susanna Schmid-Germann, but my understanding is that they are about the lives of fairy-tale dwarves living in  Meiringen-Hasliberg in the Canton of Bern. 

Below are pictures of the display windows. Bring back any memories???

This was the sticker in each of the windows...

let it snow, Let it Snow, LET IT SNOW!!!

Christmas without snow ... is like ... no Christmas at all!

Yes, I was born in Wisconsin, raised in Minnesota, live in Washington State, and am right now in Switzerland. There is only one kind of Christmas ... Christmas with SNOW!

The picture above was taken in Heiden, perched above Lake Constance in the northeastern corner of Switzerland in the Canton of Appenzell Ausserhoden. Heiden is at an elevation of 2,605 ft.  This particular square and the church to the right are listed as a Heritage Site of National Significance for the country of Switzerland. I just love this picture -- the essence of a northern Christmas. 

Doug and I took a train, a tram, and then a Post bus to Heiden -- to visit the Henry Dunant Museum, a museum dedicated to the life and work of the founder of the Red Cross, who spent his last years here. I'll post more about the museum visit later.

What we didn't expect was a spectacular countryside tour ... 'over the river and through the woods to ...' with amazing postcard-like photo opportunities. Below are just a few of the great pictures we took. 

A view of a side street in Heiden.

A view from the Post bus looking across the countryside.

One of the many small communities we passed along the way to Heiden.

Snow, snow and more snow!

A railway bridge off in the distance over a raging river.

More countryside. Notice the snow hugging the trees.

One solo tree in a park: what more do you need?

I hope you enjoy these snippets of SNOW pictures as much as we enjoyed playing in the snow.

The Sprengers from Switzerland!!

In my 3rd blog entry (December 1st – The Ghost Walk of Zurich) I mentioned having drinks at the Aelpli Bar with our new Swiss friends from Meilen. They are Paul and Iris Sprenger, a wonderful couple who have ‘taken us under their wing’.

Doug always chuckles when I say I’m the shy one of the two of us. But I am! I’m an extremely shy extravert. I like meeting new people and exploring new venues. I was the one who found and suggested the Ghost Walk. We were the first to arrive that evening, but were soon joined by another couple who appeared to be about our age or slightly older. The tour was being given in English, so I knew they spoke or at least understood English … even American English (vs. British English).

So, while people were arriving, I introduced myself to the woman. “My name is Luci,” I said. She responded, “I’m Iris.” The tour began, and as we walked from location to location, she and I chatted about random things: where are you from, why are you taking this tour, isn’t it cold, and so on--nothing in particular, just conversation. Iris introduced her husband Paul to me, and I introduced them both to Doug. We learned that they lived near Zurich, and they were taking the tour just for the fun of it. They lived just south of Zurich in Meilen, but were fond of “meandering” frequently, just as Doug and I do.

Sometime during the tour Iris said, “Give me your number, so we can get together.” YES, I thought: I had made a new friend! I mentioned it to Doug and when the tour ended they suggested we go for a drink. They knew the city and took us through the cobblestone street to an out-of-the-way pub called the Aelpli Bar, in central Zurich’s Niederdorf neighborhood.

As we walked through the old wooden door and up a few narrow steps, it was as if we slipped through a portal into old Zurich. The pub was small, cozy, comfortably lit, and packed with happy patrons. The music was not piped in, but was live and up close: three accordionists played as they sat on overturned crates, and the waitress wove her way among close-packed tables of customers who sang and foot-tapped along with the melody. We found a well worn wooden table and benches in the back of the pub, and Paul ordered us a bottle of wine.

The next hour or so was magical.

Paul shared with us that he had recently connected with relatives from America. In 1854 these relatives’ ancestor, John Jacob Sprenger, had immigrated to America – to my home state of Minnesota! John Jacob Sprenger’s descendents had done their research, connected with Paul and Iris, and exchanged family information. Just last year, Paul and Iris had traveled to Minnesota, California, Oregon, and Washington to visit with their new found relatives. So they knew Seattle, and had visited many of the places we had. We connected!

Before the night was over, we had exchanged not only phone numbers, but business cards and email addresses, and they had invited us to dinner at their home on the following Sunday evening. They walked back through old Zurich with us; then we said good night and boarded our respective trams. Not goodbye, but just good night, for this would be just the first of several adventures with our new Swiss friends.