I had the opportunity to go home recently, just in time for the wedding of close friends. I was happy to be back in California, the place with many things I love and miss while I am away. As always I met with friends and family, ate my favorite foods, and of course, took as many trips as possible to that city by the bay: good old San Francisco. Although I can say many good things about this place, which many claim to be very European in style, I will always love one thing above all others: the cultural diversity. As I wondered through China town, where I was completely immersed in a different language, different smells, and music, I appreciated that feeling of being somewhere foreign and exciting. Many people know that famed term “the melting pot,” an expression used frequently for this American city phenomenon of many cultures living in one city. But as anyone can tell you, it’s not exactly fondue. Instead you see cities within a city – the Chinese in one giant community, the Latinos in another, the Italians in North Beach. None of them need to learn English to navigate around their day to day life, instead there is a sense of isolation, one group from another, which often causes friction. We call this the “Salad Bowl.”
When I came back to Switzerland, I became even more aware of the relative uniformity of the country which I call home for the moment. For example, the trains and busses all look the same, the mountains and nature are EVERYWHERE, and well, fondue is fondue, from border to border. At least that how it seems at first glance. But this isn’t quite true.
We have to look at the history of Switzerland for starters. Although not an official state until 1848, the country’s origins come from a loose agreement formed between different people living in the Alps who wanted to keep relative peace among themselves. However these people came from different backgrounds concerning their religion, language, and culture. To this day you can still see the differences from Canton to Canton, where one may be Catholic, the other Protestant, and where language is a distinct sign of their identity, depending on which of the 4 languages they speak.
I came to grips with this when I first arrived in Suisse Romande (the French part of Switzerland). Although I had been to the German side of Switzerland multiple times before, and was close with many of my Swiss German friends, I couldn’t help but notice a slight difference overall in the stereotypical Swiss French: as their language dictated, they carried a more “Frenchlike lifestyle.” Instead of being painfully on time to everything like many of the Swiss Germans I knew, time seemed to be less important somehow, and being late was well….ok.
Even speaking to the Swiss, they will be the first to admit this. “The Swiss Germans are in line with the rules, the Swiss French more relaxed, and the Swiss Italians…..well you know how crazy Italians are,” my half Italian half Swiss German boss explained to me with a grin. Depending on your geographical location, you could be dealing with people who remind you of a different country or culture…..almost like a salad bowl. But then add in the geographical size of tiny little Switerland with a population of 8 million people, and it blows your mind.
So are there any differences between the Swiss and the US salad bowls? Well, yes. Although there are distinct differences between the cantons and regions of Switzerland, they appear to fall into a few distinct groups, often based on language, whereas in the US we have immigrants pouring in from hundreds of different cultures speaking so many languages it would take a lifetime to learn them all. I think of Switzerland as a Ceasar Salad, and the US cities as an extremely varied mixed greens with the works of toppings.
And yet there are immigrants in Switzerland, alhtough they seem to be extremely unwanted by the local population. There must be something in that country that unifies the people against the outside world, whether it be the cheese, watches, or the extremely high standard of living….or just the fact that they are the descendants of simple mountain folk who wanted nothing more than to live their lives in peace, away from all of those crazy warring neighbors. Whatever it is, to be Swiss is definitely an identity stands out all on its own.
