Are the swiss ready for wild Bears?

Are the swiss ready for wild Bears? Theis SwissINFO article highlights Swiss issues of living in the mountains.  Thanks SwissINFO!

Episode 2 of Our Town: The Christmas Market

The 2nd Episode of Our Town. A story about two Americans and their dog, living in Fehraltorf, Switzerland for a year. In this episode, the Sofields go to the Christmas Market, a one day event in Fehraltorf.... (P.S., the quality of this is better on my Facebook page if you want to watch it there, Ruth)

What to drink with a Swiss cheese fondue

Funny and Important!

Klausjagen!

So what are all these people eagerly waiting to see?

Klausjagen (Nicholas Chase) festival takes place in the Swiss town of Küssnacht on the eve of St. Nicholas Day. It starts with the loud attention-grabbing sound of whips. 60 talented men (everyone wears white shirts) perform whipping shows. My guess is that this kills two birds with one stone. It drives away the evils spirits in town and keeps the road open so the parade can begin.

Next is a procession of men wearing Iffelen (elaborate paper hats, eluminated with candles, some 100 years old). They are silent and do their own dance through the small streets packed with 20,000 on-lookers. There were about 150 of these Iffelen and the dance/paraded around for 40 minutes. I bet the chiropractor's office is full on Monday.

Saint Nicolas himself followed the Iffelen. Note: Here, St. Nick is thin and he has outsourced his gift giving activities to the Schmutzlien. Nick also realized that if he had is own day, he wouldn't have to share it with this Christkind (so he comes on Dec 6. not Dec 25 like in the US). Nick leads a brass band playing a traditional Klaus song. In my interpretation St. Nick is leading a chase, not being chased. Because . . .

Next came a thunderous 500 strong troop of trycheln (ringing large bells which are descendants of cow bells) ringers.

Our friends noted that only men from the town of Küssnacht are allowed to participate in the Klasenjagen. I did a little math. The census stated in 2007 that there were 6800 people between 18-64, 49.3% are female, and 20% are immigrants. That means about 40% of the towns males participate. Most ring the trycheln. It is the easiest thing to do, plus you can drink and smoke (long curvy cigarettes) while you are going it.

The parade finishes with 200 cow horn blowers. The neighboring town must love this event!

60% of the town apparently goes out after the Parade for a drink. This hall was constructed (appended onto a bar) just for this evening. Drink up! Ruth and I loved the entire night. Thanks Switzerland (and our friends) for sharing. P.S. Can't wait for Ruth's video.


Ruth's Videos Below!!!


These are the whips entertaining us before the parade.

One example of the Iffelen (or Infuln) dancing down the street...

Another example of the Iffelen (or Infuln) dancing down the street...

Samichlaus was in this part of the parade somewhere, but we were much more interested in Schmutzli, all dressed in black with a white sack over his shoulder...


The Cow Bells - it is best to just listen to this video - but turn it waaaay up to experience what we did...

Our Town Fehraltorf: Episode 1 (Local Fruit)

The beginning of the Holiday Season - Lindt Style

Last Monday, I randomly got an idea to see if we could go check out the Lindt factory. I had seen a big Lindt sign on a building in Zurich, so thought it might be an easy adventure. My timing was impeccable. There was an announcement on their webpage - on Tuesday (the next day), the factory would welcome the holiday season with the lighting of the factory. That morning (Tuesday), we got our first snow in Fehraltorf, so it seemed like it really was time to bring on the holidays. We had to go after my German class, so didn't get there until about 8:30 pm, but there was still plenty happening...

The factory is actually a bit outside of Zurich, on the Zurich Sea (not where I had seen the sign in Zurich), but still very easy to get to. Later, one of my office mates told me that growing up, the rowing team she was on used to row past the factory... torture for a rower! When we got there, they had Christmas images projected up on the factory that changed every few minutes. There were Christmas carols (all in English) blasting out of speakers. There were people dressed in white chef's hats and smocks with shopping carts filled with Lindt Santa Claus, reindeer, and bars... for free!

The building lit up with the three Wise Men to the left.

Look at all of that candy!

In the back was a little 'market' with food vendors. We settled for gluhwein (our first of the season) and raclette. Raclette is a Swiss cheese dish, to be eaten in the colder seasons. They heat the top of a big round 'block' of cheese, and scrap it off onto a plate. Then they add a few boiled potatoes, and you can garnish with small pickled onions or pickles. Finally, you sprinkle seasonings on if you like (so far, we have only tried black pepper and paprika). It sounds so simple, but Ohhhhh, is it yummy.

In the front, there were several little cabins set up with big open windows for your viewing pleasure. Inside the cabins were chocolatiers making different products. Hot chocolate with real melted chocolate added (best hot chocolate I have ever had), covered nuts (cardamon, yummy), truffles (really fun to watch the chocolatier with the big copper kettle in front of him dipping the chocolates and then decorating them), and molded chocolates (Santa Claus was the focus tonight). We made the rounds to all of these twice. The first time to get our free samples (like kids in a candy store), and the second time to slow down, watch and film what they were doing for a video (and for another set of free samples). On the second go round, the lady making molded Santa Clauses gave me one, wrapped up in a paper napkin. Cool!

Making molded Santa Clauses... and having fun!

Decorating chocolates...

Watch the Video!! A Lindt Christmas with the Sofields...