Geesh...Yabby you've gone and made me blush!

Can you imagine it? Ha ha we would have to avoid economics and politics. :)

I have worked with many Swiss and they were without exception highly organised, perfectionist and almost always serious but with the occasional twinkle of humour hiding in there somewhere. Just avoid a Swiss Chef when the pressure is on.

Swiss German is very difficult and led to some rather embarrasing misunderstandings with my inadequate school taught Hochdeutsch and the Swiss variation of German. Yikes.

One thing I've noticed over the years is that the Swiss, while reputedly boring, tend to turn up in the strangest places. There always seems to be a 'Swiss' restaurant to be found, even in places where McDonalds et al are blissfully absent.

Just sayin' ;)

Foxy, I think you'll like this.

When I was sailing around the place, I had a lot of books on board. Most of the yachties I met had a supply, too. Of course, we had read most of them from cover to cover.

When we met another yacht we would often have a book swap session. There was a convention followed at these sessions, where we wrote in the fly leaf the date, the place, & the name of the boat the books went to this time.

Many of those books had spent years sailing around the barrier reef, but some had been to more than a few exotic places. One book I acquired in the Gilbert Islands had ciruumnavigated the world 4 times in 10 years, as well as visit more Pacific islands than I can remember. There were so many names, & places, in that book that we were writing on the back cover.

Boring countey? Gee, I never found one of those.

CJ, that is probably because in Switzerland, learning some kind
of trade is just about considered socially mandatory. So you
have lots of chefs for instance, also hotel managers around the
world are commonly Swiss. It goes back to a great school for
training hotel managers in Lausanne. But the same principles
apply to nearly all trades, so the Swiss tend to move around
the world, based on their qualifications.

The thing is, Switzerland has no natural resources as such,
so the Swiss had to learn to use brainpower as their most
valuable resource.

Swiss sense of humour is quite dry and would often not be
understood by others, so I'd say that being in a foreign country
here, many would not really show their more humorous side.
Amongst other Swiss, they tend to lighten up.

Pelican, its a real shame that more people don't enjoy the
simple country life. My idea of bliss is a real old Macdonald's
farm :) I thrive on it.

But I reckon for many, life goes full circle. When they are young,
they leave home and head for the bright lights. They have their
careers, make their money, do their politics etc. But what then?
Look around you, many a politician or businessman will head
for the country, breed some horses, run a few cows, grow a few
grapes, play around with the tractor, full of dirt and blissfully
happy!

Dear Hasbeen,

You should write an account of your experiences.
I think it would make an interesting book. I for
one would buy and read it. It sounds like you've lived
a very rich life - and I bet there's still heaps
more to come. The little you've told us on OLO,
sounds like a Bestseller. I love the idea of books
being passed on and valued. Amazing experience!

Cela est bien dit, répondit Candide, mais il faut cultiver notre jardin - This was Candide's conclusion after his travels - cultivate your own garden. They say Voltaire meant that one should mind one's own business but I think that what is emerging from this thread is more on the money.
Hasbeen - I like nothing better than getting a second hand book, especially if previous readers have scribbled their thoughts in the margins.
Four times in my life I have scrapped my entire library and started afresh - some old friends come back to the new library Sasson's Memoirs of a Fox Hunting man describes boring old England before it was torn apart by WW1.
One book I miss is an autobiographical account of someone who, in the late 19th century spent a year with the Inuit. (can't even remember the title.) Yet with those sort of friends who has time to be bored?
Today people have it even better than we did - my daughter is currently 'wwoofing' around the world http://www.wwoof.com.au/WWOOFing_aound_the_world.html - a great idea - free accommodation in return for sharing people's lives for a short period - I doubt that she will get bored.