Other stuff

I also wanted to write about a bunch of things that I saw or did over the past few weeks. Since I haven't been too good about my blogging I was trying to make a mental list and keep track of all the things I wanted to write about. Unfortunately, I can only remember a few things right now and I'm tired.

Briefly, I wanted to mention something I observed at the bar on Saturday night.
I saw two friends saying good-bye in the tradition Swiss way: Three kisses on the check or in the air with checks touching, beginning on the left side. After they kissed good-bye, one of the pair said good-bye to another person but gave them a hug instead; something I did with most of my American friends. Now, I always perceived the kissing as more intimate, probably because it was always done, compared to a hug, which is not always done with Americans but it can be with close friends. On this occasion, I realized that the kiss complete lacked intimacy while the hug was very intimate. The standard Swiss-Kiss seemed generic and cheap while the hug appeared to be special.

I guess I felt jealous of the Swiss-Kiss and wished American did it too. However, now I don't. I realize that the Swiss-Kiss is as informal as a hand-shake but takes more time and you have to get way closer to someone than you might want too! Just cut the crap and shake hands. It's faster, easier, and just as personal as a kiss. If you want to show intimacy, give a hug.

Humm....how many people have I offended with my blogs this evening?



One more thing I saw. After running the Solalauf race on Saturday (which is another blog for the future, if I remember) I took the train down from Oetliberg with Sarah. Two hilarious guys sat down across the isle from us. They could have come from a mental hospital with their sweat shirts tucked into their sweatpants, headphones connected to a cassette player, and unshaved faces making them look like mountain men. This aside, the two guys were lovers and displayed this fact openly on the train. It was so funny. They sat across from one another, leaning forward with their foreheads touching and Eskimo kissing, whispering sweet nothings to each other, all the while one of them kept his headphones on (Sarah said the play button was depressed but I didn't see). I wish I could understand Swiss German to know what they were saying. Two, straight looking men sitting next to the guys looked slightly uncomfortable once the petting began. One curled up in the corner, pretending to sleep while the other looked out the window. I really wanted to take a picture but that probably wouldn't be acceptable.