So, the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver have come and gone.
As a fan of sports in general, the Olympic Games are always an exciting time for me, but they are also a time filled with ambivalence and mixed-emotions, as they are, I am sure, for many ex-pats.
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The first time we went to China together, my husband said: “Now I know how it feels to be illiterate“. Incomprehensible Chinese Characters everywhere.
Signs and commercials in China often feature an English translation, so at first my husband thought he would be able get by. However, he soon realised that the English signs were not much use - for better or worse, he had to make use of his limited knowledge of Chinese.
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It’s that time of the year when Chinese people all over the world celebrate the coming of spring. When I think of Chinese New Year festivities, I am reminded of bright red lanterns, fireworks, good food, crowded trains, little red envelopes with cash, and loud folk music blaring from loudspeakers everywhere.
In Switzerland, an awareness of this important Chinese holiday has become mainstream. Migros and Coop, the two biggest Swiss supermarket chains, are using the opportunity to promote their lines of Oriental food products.
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Early next month the Swiss are going to vote on an initiative which wants to give animals the right to be represented in court.
Coming from a culture which loves animals only after they have been turned into a tasty dish, the notion that animals may exert their legal rights in court is refreshingly different.
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Last week I walked past the entrance of the ‘Veloparking’ in Basel and decided to have a look inside. I was amazed to find a huge underground parking, filled to the brim with bicycles (the facility holds more than 1600).
Seeing this reminded me of my childhood in China, when bicycles were the unquestioned main form of transportation.
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2009 was a turbulent year for the Swiss print media. Several newspapers restructured their editorial, merged operation with others, or even closed down.
The economic crisis wasn’t the real reason, but it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
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