Jan

29

DIY Dilemna

Filed Under Business & Finance, Consumer Concerns, Family & Friends, Home Management, Migrant Life, TV Commercials/Print Ads | 7 Comments

This Schweppes postcard image speaks to me in so many ways no words can’t. It depicts the woes of DIY (do-it-yourself) newbies living either in Europe or North America. Even with the aid of an assembly instruction manual, usually presented in a ‘wordless’ sequence of sketches, these non-DIY fans just can’t do it right.

Last Friday, my husband abandoned the notion of DIY work. He decided not to be a masochist this time — that is, taking home disjointed furniture parts of a computer table and chair (the former made of solid wood) and putting them together on your own. Instead, he opted to pay extra (i.e. 10 percent of the total amount) and let the people at TopTip, a Swiss furniture and appliance store, do the work for us. I think he had learned from his previous experience — the time he assembled our newly bought wardrobe on his own — that it’s wiser to let the experts do complicated carpentry stuff than to risk one’s mental health by attempting to create something functional and durable from a mind-boggling set of spare parts.

Had we done the furniture assembly ourselves with our bare hands, which are very unskilled to do any kind of carpentry work, I would have gone ballistic. It’s like Lego work without the fun element. Had I known that it’s quite common in Switzerland to take home jigsaw-puzzle furniture parts and make something sensible out of them, I would have taken a crash course in carpentry back home (Manila) before taking that step of faith to migrate here.

RANDOM TIP: If you’re hopeless in carpentry and you live in Switzerland, better buy already assembled furniture. Paying for the service fee is far better than losing sanity as you struggle to figure out which piece goes with what.

Jan

24

Swiss Bread

Filed Under Business & Finance, Consumer Concerns, Faith & Values, Food & Drinks, Humor | 22 Comments

Two and a half years ago, I heard a hyperactive American preacher, on a speaking engagement in Winterthur, rave about the freshness of Swiss bread. With an emphatic tone, he said that the Swiss bread tops it all. “Oh,” he exclaimed in a semi-delirious manner, “it’s a joy to pick up that freshly baked (Swiss) bread every morning!”

He fell in love with Swiss bread, obviously. And I thought man does not live by bread alone. But of course, I’m now taking things out of context with that statement. The preacher did move on with his message and said that the Word of God is like Swiss bread — new in the morning and to be craved for day by day.

For someone coming from the land of rice, I naturally had my reservations with his simile. Why not say the Word of God is like a bowl of Thai perfumed rice instead?

RANDOM TIP: Don’t take my last line seriously. Bread in Switzerland, which comes in many varieties, is indeed to die for, according to bread lovers. If you’re in Switzerland as a tourist, go to the nearest deli and sample the different kinds of Swiss bread on sale. If you’re based elsewhere, just click here and have a virtual taste of this manna from Heidi Land.

Jan

24

German Coursebook

Filed Under Books, Business & Finance, Education & Campus Scene, Language | 4 Comments

Last week, I promised my teacher in my Monday German class that I would write a letter (in English, of course) to Herr Ernst Maurer, author of the wonderful, wonderful coursebook Deutsch in der Schweiz (German in Switzerland) published by Klett.

You see, by the end of the month, we’re done with the book. And it’s a pity that Herr Maurer and his four-member team — Franziska Harder, Christine Hintermann, Nora Kindler, and Virginia Boxer — didn’t come up with a follow-up book that German language students can use in the next level.

The 160-page coursebook, to be used with a workbook, vocabulary book, CDs and cassette tapes, presents lessons in units that cover relevant topics such as the history and geography of Switzerland, the Swiss people, food, leisure, housing, health, transporation, education, career, and many others.

I like it because the lessons are thematically cohesive, and the layout is fairly easy on the eye. There are lots of pictures and artwork to complement the texts. The photos are great in such a way that they show the things one always sees in Switzerland — for instance, maps and train schedules, the pink payment slips, the Swiss currency (coins and paper bills), classified ads from newspapers (e.g. job and apartment vacancies), and yes, even Lindt chocolates. The list is endless.

Grammar and vocabulary points are integrated in each lesson. And the seatwork and take-home assignments help reinforce these points at the end of each class.

So far, Deutsch in der Schweiz is my favorite German coursebook (I’ve been to different language schools using other coursebooks) because the textbook writers really had the learners in mind when they effectively put the materials together in one cohesive and, thus, readable book. And need I say, they even mentioned Filipinos and Tagalog (our language) in some of the lessons, a rare thing in German coursebooks. Maybe one of the writers had a Filipino friend or spouse.

Since I skipped class yesterday to give way to my monthly laundry obligations (as part of my “calling” here in Switzerland), I don’t know now which book from Hueber we’re going to use in our next course that starts in February. There were two book options presented by our teacher last time, and I was supposed to cast my vote, together with my classmates, yesterday (the day I chose to wash clothes instead). Oh well.

Time to compose a moving correspondence to Herr Maurer and encourage him to come up with a “sequel,” if possible. German language students in Switzerland would love to see his work again.

RANDOM TIP: There are hundreds of language schools in Switzerland that cater to the needs of foreigners (and even some Swiss). Make sure you choose the right school, the right course, and the right schedule for you. It pays to be in the right class, especially when one is studying something as complicated as German.

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