Skip to main content

Quarantine Art


At the moment, most of the world's population is under obligations to stay home as much as possible. Some countries (try to) enforce very strict rules that include complete lockdown on certain days and hours (e.g. Peru, Italy) - other countries don't want to give up on the last bit of freedom for their citizens and still allow people to go for a walk or run if they adhere to social distancing rules (e.g. Switzerland). 

Now, while the second approach seems to be the more humane and probably one that can be endured better for a long period of time - we're speaking of months now - there are countries that argue they cannot go this path. One, their health systems would be overwhelmed and two, their cities are extremely crowded and population generally don't adhere to rules so social distancing in practice wouldn't be applied thoroughly enough. Peru is one of those countries with strict rules, lots of detentions for breaking them and is only just now entering the critical phase of this health crisis. May God help us all!

An Idea for an Activity during Quarantine

I'm no health or virus professional so I cannot give much advice on what to do in regards to the virus. Also, there are people better prepared to assist people who struggle with the actual emotional and physical toil of this global quarantine. It might be better to contact a counsellor, your pastor or a good friend if you struggle. Please do!

What I want to do is share an idea for an activity during this quarantine. I'm homeschooling my son and we're living quite isolated in a remote village so this situation is nothing totally new. We're having troubles getting school supplies (shops closed and village in lockdown) but we improvise with what we have available to create a lesson for each day.

Yesterday, we started our project of 'Quarantine Art'. First, we went outside and gathered flowers, leaves and grass from around the house. We tried to find as many different colors and sizes as possible. Then we went inside and got out papers, our pens, scissors and glue and started creating pictures with parts of what we'd collected earlier. No rules, no themes - just what we thought of in the moment. 

I guess you could do the same with other things found in and around the house: newspapers, magazines, old photos, parts of indoor plants, fabric, etc. It's really just making a collage with what you have around!

Here are the results of those two well-spent hours!

Flowers and Leaves
Ready to create

Flower art

Fall house scene

Christmas art

Forest

© 2020 IRENE WYRSCH "A HUMOROUS GUIDE TO SWITZERLAND" ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Schätzli, Schnüggel and Müüsli - Terms of Endearment in Swiss German

Kiss -  Oliver Haja  / pixelio.de If you've ever been invited to the home of a Swiss couple, you are probably familiar with the most popular Swiss German term of endearment "Schätzli" ('little treasure') or one of it's many varieties like e.g. "Schatz" or "Schätzeli" . Obviously, this is not the only pet name used by Swiss couples (or parents for that matter). Like many other languages, Swiss German offers a wide variety of words and phrases that you can use to address your loved one. Swiss German Terms of Endearment What most of these pet names have in common is the ending "-li" which basically turns the thing or person a word refers to into something small or cute. For example "Haus" means house and "Hüüs li " means small house. Plus, this ending "-li" can also be added to first names as a means of endearment, e.g. Benjamin li , Esther li or Fabienne li . I tried to come up with a colle...

How to Say 'I Love You' in Swiss German

To be completely honest, I'm not very fond of hallmark holidays and Valentine's Day is probably the mothership of them all. In my home there will be no cheesy cards or flowers on that day and, personally, I'm happy about it. However, I know that there are many people who like to celebrate Valentine's Day and take it as an opportunity to show their love and appreciation to their loves. Even in Switzerland, there are plenty of people celebrating it nowadays. If you're short on ideas for this years Valentine's Day in Switzerland you might find some inspiration here: Valentine's Day in Switzerland . If you're already set and have the perfect date ready, how about surprising your loved one with a few romantic Swiss German phrases? You should know that the expression "I love you" has only recently made its way into Swiss German from the High German "Ich liebe dich". Swiss people used to simply say "I like you" or "I like ...

How to Spot a Swiss Person

"You're not from here, right?!" These were the words the saleslady of a small clothes store on a busy Tel Aviv street directed at me a few years ago. I was surprised she had spotted my foreignness so easily. After having lived in Israel for a few years and mastered the local Hebrew, I thought I was able to blend in quite well by then. So, I asked her how she knew. She replied with a smile and said: "You nicely folded the clothes you tried on before bringing them back out!" Oh that! Something I assumed was 'normal' but, apparently, the locals didn't do that. My Swiss background gave me away.  A Stereotypical (Swiss) Person As an expat I can usually spot fellow expats right away even if at first they seem to fit right in. Be they Swiss people I encounter abroad or foreigners living in Switzerland. Mostly, I catch a word or a phrase in a foreign language or see clothes or other items that are clearly not local. Here in South America it's very easy t...