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How to Eat a Gipfeli

There is probably nothing I miss more about Switzerland than it's great selection of breads and pastries. I remember working in a small town near Zurich where everyday we were visited by a Znüni-Wägeli (lit. 9 o'clock break vehicle) that brought the local bakeries fresh products. Imagine the smell of fresh Weggli (rolls),  Maisbrötli (corn rolls) or - even better - Schoggigipfeli (chocolate croissants)! Combined with a hot cop of coffee these treats definitely made my morning break!

The most famous of of Swiss pastries is the Gipfeli (croissant). This flaky moon shaped pastry is very similar to its French relative but slightly less buttery. You can find Gipfeli in every bakery, café and supermarket. Many times you can choose between the classic Buttergipfeli (butter croissant) and it's variants such as Schoggigipfeli (chocolate croissant), Laugegipfeli (lye covered croissant) or Vollkorngipfeli (whole-grain croissant).

Most Gipfeli you can buy in stores and even at some b…
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How to Connect with Swiss People

In the last few years, Switzerland has always been considered a generally attractive place for expats to live or even settle. However, surveys usually point out one particular downside of life for expats in Switzerland: It seems incredibly hard to establish a healthy social life that includes locals. It seems, Swiss people are not only very punctual and precise but can also be quite distant - especially for someone who is used to a more outgoing culture.

Not surprisingly, in a 2015 survey conducted by Expat Explorer, Switzerland ranked poorly in making friends, integration and culture. Other surveys over the last years produced similar results.
What can you do? How can you connect to Swiss people? I must admit I'm not sure if I'm qualified to make a recommendation. After all, I'm a native born Swiss and I've never had to adapt to life in Switzerland. However, when I moved from one canton to the other I found myself without friends and family around and had to start lo…
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What I've Written about Swiss German so far

Over the last few years I've written quite a few articles about languages in Switzerland in general with a special focus on Swiss German. Thanks to Google Analytics, I know that many people visit my blog to find out more about this language and maybe even learn a few words or phrases on the way.

Hence, I decided to compile an ordered list of all language related articles of this blog. Hopefully, you'll find it helpful to learn a few new words or find out more about Swiss German.
Overview over all languages of Switzerland:Four Official Languages of Switzerland: German, French, Italian and Rumantsch are the official languages of Switzerland. Different Swiss German Dialects: What are the dialects of German spoken in Switzerland? Great overview with examples for several dialects.Swiss German 101: Short introduction to Swiss German with a basic glossaryOnline Resources for Learners of Swiss German: List with free resources for learning Swiss German over the internetSwiss German Di…
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Famous Swiss Food and Drinks

What food is Switzerland famous for? A common answer to this question is chocolate. It's true, there is a huge selection of chocolates in Switzerland and most of it is very tasty. However, there is so much more other good food in Switzerland too! There are sweet and savory dishes, lots of pastries and cakes, candy and even soft drinks that originated in Switzerland. Most of these remain popular in Switzerland to this day!
Famous Food and Drinks in Switzerland This short (and incomplete) overview of very Swiss dishes and foods will give you a taste of the great variety of Swiss foods. You can find recipes and more information on specific items when you click the link.


Famous Food1st of August Buns: One of the typical ingredients of a Swiss 1st of August celebration, our national holiday, is the 1st of August Bun. This soft sweetish bread appears on almost every table that day - bought or home made. They are tasty and great with cold meat, cheese or jam and taste best when coming s…
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Four Official Languages of Switzerland

A few weeks ago, I came across quite an ignorant statement in the comments of a blog I'm following. Someone in all earnest claimed that there was no country on earth with more than one official language. I was dumbfounded. Haven't they heard of Canada* with English and French as official languages? Or maybe Finland*, where Finnish and Swedish are both recognized as formal languages? And what about Switzerland with not two or three but four official languages?

I decided to leave a short comment pointing towards the facts. After all, here was I - together with more than 8 million other inhabitants of Switzerland - a living witness to the different languages spoken throughout Switzerland. Besides, a quick google search would have brought up plenty of websites dealing with the issue of multilingual countries.
The Four Official Languages of Switzerland  Switzerland is a country that unites several regions that are culturally and linguistically quite different from each other: the …
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Merry Christmas & Blessed 2019

The year is almost over and the holidays are just a few days away. As has become our custom we made a Gingerbread House for Christmas. I've been trying different recipes each year and the results have always turned out tasty but not always very stable. This year I found a great recipe over at Chefkoch.de that produced a tasty and very stable house. In fact, it was so tasty that the house didn't last very long and right now has almost disappeared in our bellies.

I hope you're enjoying this holiday season, celebrating the birth of Christ and spending time with your families and friends. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all!









© 2018 IRENE WYRSCH "A HUMOROUS GUIDE TO SWITZERLAND" ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Meet Cervelat, the typical Swiss Sausage

If there is one thing that shouldn't be missing at a Swiss style cookout - also called Brötle - it's a few Cervelats. This typical Swiss sausage also called Chlöpfer (which literally means "banger" or "burster") stars at cookouts, school trips, barbecue evenings and even in salads. It is made of pork and beef and has a very unique pink color that sets it off against most other sausages available in Switzerland.
How to prepare Cervelat The most common way to prepare a Cervelat is to roast it with a stick over the fire. To prevent it from bursting open uncontrollably, most people cut the sausage before roasting it. Typically you cut a cross into both ends of the Cervelat which gives it it's famous appearance (see picture above). Another popular option is to cut several lines into it's sides.

Cervelat can also be eaten "raw" with bread or in a salad. It's a precooked sausage so no worries there! It's also a great addition to your lun…
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How to Build a Fruit Fly Trap

Who doesn't know them, the small but annoying fruit flies that seem to appear out of nowhere and take over your fruit plate?  Thanks to their ability to track down fermenting fruit and their super fast life cycle, they multiply quickly once they found your fruit supply.

The best way to get rid of these buggers would be to store all fruit (and vegetable) in the fridge but many people (including myself) think that fruit loses some of it's flavor when you keep it refrigerated. Another popular answer to the fruit fly problem are vinegar traps. A combination of water, vinegar and dishwasher soap is put in a small bowl and the fruit flies are supposed to land in there and drown. This has never really worked for me so I was looking for another way to get rid of fruit flies.


Building a Working Fruit Fly Trap I've always thought it strange that fruit flies would prefer vinegar over fruit (which they didn't!) so I decided to make a fruit fly trap with fruit in it. It's very…
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