“C’est pire qu’au Canada, non? Faut trouver une meilleure fraise!” – I’d expect a Canadian to have better tools!
So called out my neighbour the other day, as the snow continued to fall over the heights of Lake Léman, Switzerland. And so goes another day in a place that might be best, with its many expats, both recent and long-settled, and lazy Chasselas-fueled evenings watching the sun set off the lake, be re-baptized Happy Valley…
Here in an exceptionally snowy winter wonderland, the expats grumble while the wizened locals speak of this winter as having blessed us with the heaviest snowfall in years. And indeed the snowfall has been sufficient to make this writer’s choice of an entry-level snow-blower a regret. Even more so, as said machine was purchased in francs just before the Swiss Central Bank’s surprise move sent the franc sky high…
With snow comes a microcosm of expat life in Switzerland.
Out comes neighbourly support and a sense of responsibility. On our private lane, unique in the Valley for being inhabited, apart from yours truly, completely by Swiss, one neighbour has taken it upon himself to clear the way after even the faintest wisp of snow appears (using, it must be said, a snow-blower that if let loose would bully our shiny little entry-level machine into submission — and steal its lunch money for good measure). While he’s at it, our happy neighbour even clears the top of our drive. Job done, thoroughly, consistently and dependably. Wonderful Swiss stereotypes in all their glory.
The remaining part of the bargain, of course, is that the rest of our drive must be perfectly cleared — with stern looks of disapproval each time our neighbour passes by until the job is properly done. And while the cleaning is wonderful recognition that we are now part of the neighbourhood team, it does not quite erase the unsavoury story we learned of how snow removal was used as a ploy to keep those deemed less suitable from joining the neighbourhood. The story, it seems, was that other punters were dissuaded from buying our eventual home after being told that our private lane lacked any kind of snow removal, and that any solution would come at a prohibitive cost…
And so goes another day in Happy Valley.
By the Happy Valley Correspondent
