Before I moved under a gigantic fog cloud (uh, I mean, to Switzerland), I never thought much about the sun.
It was 93 million miles from Earth and similarly distanced from my mind. I went about my days as planned whether the sun shone or not, confident that I would see it again.
But when something is taken away from your life that you never considered important, it acquires divine meaning. So shortly after I arrived in Switzerland, the lack of sunlight transformed me into someone who was white, pasty, and desperate. In other words, a Swiss sun-worshipper.
“Hurry, step outside! The sun’s out.” I’d yell to my husband, flinging the door of our Swiss apartment open.
But he wouldn’t get outside fast enough. Today’s two seconds of sunlight would be gone.
If you would have asked me five years ago what I associated the sun with, I would have said vacation, summer, warmth. But if you ask me now, I’ll just say this: stress.
When it’s a sunny weekday in Switzerland, there’s a lot of pressure. You have to get outside.
Staying inside is not an option because you’ll develop sun guilt. Or worse, sun withdrawal. If you’re stuck in an office and the sun is out, your blood pressure rises. Even if you don’t smoke, you pretend to. You have to get outside.
Sunny Saturdays are also stressful. You need to get outside. But you also need to shop because you can’t shop on Sunday.
The weather might suck for Sunday, but you have to waste part of Saturday shopping. This makes you upset. This makes you antsy. You’re so focused on buying cervelats to grill outside that you forget to get gas for the grill.
Sunny Sundays are also nerve-racking. You have to be outside. And so does everyone else. The trains are packed. The roads are jammed. Everyone wants to be outside but instead they’re stuck inside.
Finally you get to an alpine trail. A remote one. Except there are hundreds of people already there. This you find annoying. This you find less than peaceful.
But then you realize: in Switzerland, the middle of nowhere is the center of the universe. At least while the sun is out.
But instead of stressing, we should just check the weather report for tomorrow. Chances are, the fog will be back and then we can all just relax.
Tags: Life in Switzerland, stress, Swiss, weather
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Thanks for the memories. In the 80’s I spent a few years in canton Aargau. It was splendid until winter hit when it averaged one hour of sunshine per week. I felt I would go mad. I would instinctively charge outside at the first hint of sun. One day I drove to canton Ticino for a desperately needed dose of sunshine.When I returned, my Swiss hosts were puzzled at my need for sun and also chastised me for wasting so much gasoline in pursuit of the sun. On future extended visits I based myself in Locarno for the weather.
I’ve visited as a Summer tourist on several occasions, and until my last visit in June 2010 I have only ever enjoyed bright sunshine. However, June 2010 in Mürren greeted us with 3 straight days of rain, clouds and fog. After that I can certainly sympathize with your need for sunshine. But even in rain, Switzerland is a stunning country. Wish I were wealthy enough to be able to live there!
We call this sun stress “sun guilt” in Seattle.
Usually, the weather at weekends is terrible but during the working week it’s wonderful. Have the Swiss developed a weather machine that punishes those that dare to take time off from work? Perhaps we should move the weekend to Wednesday / Thursday.
Lived in the north and the south of Switzerland, and can most certainly sympathize with this excelent little article, although not because Switzerland isn’t sunny in the north, its because it is in the south! I had sadly to go north for work…
This blog entry is SO hilarious and SO true!
I kept laughing out loud just by myself! aahhah!
I’m swiss, but I lived for 7 years in California and now I’m back in Switzerland (Geneva). The funny thing is that before living in CA, I didn’t really miss the sun - as I didn’t know what I was missing.
After having lived in a very sunny environment, I find it extremely difficult to be back here, when you MUST go out as soon as there is the slight beam of sun. Saturday is plain horrible and you hope the weather is gonna suck when you know you have to go shopping on Saturday - to avoid the guilt of being inside when it’s sunny outside! lol