We've just come back from a weekend in Switzerland. We were staying in the Alps near Zurich, in an area that they actually call "Heidland". I find that quite sad for some reason. Maybe it is because it suggests that most people come to area with pre-existing ideas of what it will be like and they have got these ideas from "Heidi". But that's another story.
What really struck me was that after almost every greeting or goodbye the Swiss all said the word "mit einander", which mean with each other. So you walk down to breakfast and you hear "Good morning with one another" or " a nice day with one another". It doesn't work quite so well in translation but it has a really nice feel to it in German. It makes it feel really personal and re-establishes the connection between me and my fellow human beings. They aren't just wishing me a nice day, they are also wishing me a nice day with them.
I did wonder if this level of personalisation or inter-connectivity between people had something to do with the political and social attitudes in Switzerland. For such a country that is relatively important despite its size, it is interesting that a lot of things still have to be decided on a very large scale democratic basis via referendums. But that might be going too far.
Maybe they are just friendly people.
