First few days in my new country

Every writer needs some motivation to write. For me, readership is important. I am one of those who write because someone will read what they write.

I need to thank Anuj Gosalia,Prasid S and Alpesh Patel. I know that they are definitely going to read (not only look at pictures!) whatever I write :P during this European expedition of mine. They have encouraged me at different times to write. I know people don’t like text heavy posts. But what the heck! I’ll do what I feel like. This post is text heavy. A little less than 1000 words.

Anyway, my first few days in St.Gallen were eventful yet in an extremely anti-climatic vein following my London trip. It all started with British Airways losing my baggage. I had two bags and lost one of them. It had a few essentials that vegetarians like me need, and some warm clothing which everyone needs in Europe in winter! Also I lost some very Indian cool stuff which I had thought I would gift interesting people whom I meet on this trip. Lost all of that L

Suddenly, I was in unfamiliar territory. Reason: Language. Suddenly it was all German. Announcements on rail platform at Zurich. Sign boards. Conversations in the background. At least in London, English made sure I was comfortable. There was a weird sort of uneasiness. I felt a little helpless as I felt I wasn’t comprehending the world as efficiently as I was a few hours back. Strange feeling!

Took a train from Zurich to St.Gallen. Double decker train and the great weather made sure there were awesome scenes throughout the journey. Both sides of the train, I just saw lush green meadows, gigantic trees and cattle eating merrily. Welcome to Switzerland!

So I got to the university, met 2 bachelor Swedish students who had come on exchange(they were also struggling with the german), got my welcome package and my room keys. Luckily my room is close to the station. So close that its bang opposite! But not to worry! Swiss trains make as much noise as earthworms do when they wriggle. The room is nice and I’m alone. So I get a lot of time with myself. So much time that it can become boring! But I’m paying a princely sum as rent for this place. So I better make good use of it :P

Now comes the tough part. No baggage. No essential items. No food. So began the tough job of figuring out where to go to buy stuff. What was even tougher was to explain people what I needed. Being a veggie, you can’t blindly pick up things. I spend painful amounts of time reading things here at the back of every food product in a supermarket trying to make some sense of the letters written. Some observer may feel I’m some illiterate simpleton from Asia who has landed in Switzerland. Well, I was actually illiterate in German a week ago!

I have never had so much problem communicating with people! I really admire all the people in the world who know multiple foreign languages well. Also, those people who settle in completely unfamiliar environments and adapt. I mean all those people who left India in the 70s and the 80s and have flourishing businesses in so many countries – hats off to them! I know necessity forces everyone to do stuff but still one has to DO it. I mean we have the internet and the mobile phones and various medium of information and communication. I wonder how they managed in those days. Settling in new environments must have been definitely tougher then. No Google translator, no GPS, No Google Maps, No Wikipedia, No Youtube, No facebook......

St.Gallen is beautiful city. It has rich heritage and the cathedral is a UNESCO heritage site. It is known as the knowledge city and it was a cradle of knowledge for centuries. However, St.Gallen is a quiet city. Definitely quieter than Mumbai and London – 2 cities I have been to in the last month! I am a people loving person and to see no one on the road on Sunday (5^th September) was just weird! I mean I saw a few cars and a dad playing with his kid. It’s just different. Not that I have never been to quiet cities before but to suddenly see this after 10 days of people heavy London was striking. I did venture into a park where I saw a few people enjoying their Sunday and a few kids playing fussball (football in german). I also entered the tent of a visiting theatre group. There was stand-up comedy that night but they advised me not to waste my money as it was all in German.

The fight with British Airways and the weather just made me grumpy. It was an uncomfortable environment and I was not particularly liking it. I mean how can there be cities without people: P Everything shuts early in St.Gallen and for that matter everywhere in Switzerland. Only the bars and the restaurants are open. You almost feel no one works in Switzerland! Also, everything is mechanised.

The initial few days were also bad because of lack of good food. My happiness is totally dependent on whether I get good food :P One good thing that is happening is the discovery of the cook in me. Since I lost most of the basic veggie food I had got from India (thanks again to BA), I had to innovate. I had taken directions from my mom when in India and luckily I had the compact pressure cooker in this bag. Called up my Mom again and conformed the process.

So it all started with Pasta and then I made Paneer Makhani using Vanilla Yoghurt, and then Potata-Onion vegetable and some really fancy bread items. I mean all you need is Bread , Cheese, Mayonnaise, Chilli Sauce, Olives and Sun dried tomatoes! And I love Bread! I’m sure the creative side will take over and I shall discover new vegetarian recipes. I have to ensure though that I am not bored of it soon. I have a problem – Get bored with anything very soon. (Let’s see how much I write!)

Soon, things became much brighter and much more interesting. Met people and started discovering new things. So many parts in St.Gallen which I had not seen yet. As you shall see in the next post I have really started enjoying St.Gallen and Switzerland!