Impressions

It is sometimes hard to figure out how to explain my time over here, away from home, away from the US, away from responsibility.  It's not exactly a vacation (Tim is working lots of hours), and it's not even a "trip." Trips are shorter than this. The best word I can come up with is sabbatical.  It is time away from what I am normally doing, and is indubitably a time of learning.  There is so much to observe, absorb, and process!  It's quite overwhelming at times. 

Since I've now traveled through 3 different European countries, I wanted to try to process thoughts, observations, and impression of the cultures I've experienced.  I don't really know how to do this in a organized way, so this may be a little scatter-brained.

VERY IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: These are mostly my impressions from the little bit I have experienced in each place.  Do not take these as hard facts about these cultures (as if there is such a thing).  It is always important to remember that impressions are easily impacted by things like weather, the types of places you went (city, country, etc.) the people you are spending time with, and you--how you feel on a particular day, your personalities, and preferences.

 

British Culture

• British culture is somewhat formal.  Brits dress well, and sometimes I find they talk a little fancier (maybe it's just that the accent seems so fancy to me). They also have nice manners, which I appreciate.
• At first I felt that Brits were a little unfriendly, but this may just be city life.  We went to church over here for the first time on the 16th, and everyone was SO NICE AND FRIENDLY.  Unless they have a particular reason to interact with you, they may not, which seems unfriendly by American Midwestern standards (we smile and wave at everybody), but when they do interact with you, they are very nice and kind and helpful.  I have found this especially in customer service situations which is... refreshing :)
• I have noticed a lot more public affection in London.  I'm not gonna lie, this kind of surprised me.  It seems that the most romantic place in the city is the escalators in the Tube stations.  I think this is just because people are standing still and close to each other, so it seems like the natural thing to do to pass the time.  I don't know if Brits truly are more affectionate, or if I am just being more observant.  At home, I am usually engrossed with and interacting with the people I am with.  Not so much the case here.  I didn't notice affection as much in Germany and Switzerland, but I was with friends and busy talking with them, so again, maybe I just didn't notice.
• While London definitely has British culture, it is probably not in it's purest form.  There are so many tourist and people from other cultures, that it is very much a melting pot, and perhaps not as "quintessentially British" as other places.  Not that I have been to other places in Britain yet.
• In London, there are lots of people and, yes, crowds get annoying.  However, they are people that (for the most part) are used to being around a lot of people that are trying to get somewhere, so they PAY ATTENTION and things actually flow pretty smoothly.

German Culture 

• Germans are quiet.  I couldn't believe how quiet it was on the train! They generally seems to prefer to live quiet lives in many ways, actually.
• Germans eat their biggest meal in the middle of the day.  Breakfast is bread with meat and or cheese or marmalade, and the same thing at the evening meal.  The middle of the day is when they have a bigger meal.
• Germans have a lot of rules and follow them diligently.  This is one of the things I love about them!  I believe that rules and procedures are there for a reason, and it makes for a more orderly society (I think). 
• Germans are ON TIME.  No late buses there!
• Germans have much better graffiti than London!  I don't mean this as an insult in any way... it was really much more artful.
• Maybe the most fascinating thing I learned about German culture (simply because I was told, not because I observed it) was that almost every single stereotype or idea we have about German culture comes from Bavaria, a state in the southern part of the country-- this is where the Black Forest is.  The cuckoo clocks, the beer steins... all Bavarian.  Bavarians tend to think of themselves as their own country in some ways, and would kind of like to be independent from the rest of Germany.  It seems that if this were to happen, the rest of Germany would not mind.  So basically, Bavaria is the Texas of Germany :)

Swiss-French Culture

Switzerland can be a little confusing, because there are the Swiss-French, Swiss-German, and Swiss Italian.  There is also a people-group that only lives in Switzerland that speaks Romanesh, so I guess if you wanted to know if there is a uniquely Swiss language, that is it.  As you can imagine, those who speak each language are nearer to each respective country (France, Germany, Italy) and therefore are influenced by those culture.  But they are all still distinctly Swiss!!  Make no mistake about that.

Since we were in Geneva, we were in a Swiss-French area.  There was a definite feel of French influence, but you could certainly tell we were in Switzerland.

• One idea I have held about the Swiss for much of my life (that was not disproven at all while we were there) is that the Swiss have their crap together.  When they do a thing, they do it well.  They are thoughtful, planful, and thorough.  And I appreciate that!  Just think about the reputation of Swiss watches and Swiss army knives--they definitely have are know for quality engineering.
• The Swiss are trustworthy and discreet.  I think that by trustworthy, I should probably clarify that you can usually count on them to do what they said they would do.  This is maybe a little different from the idea of trustworthy as "you can trust everything they do because you know they will always do the right thing." Not to say they do the wrong thing... that's just not the kind of trustworthy I'm talking about.  Think Swiss bank accounts and the Swiss Guard.
• The Swiss are very protective of their culture!  If you are not Swiss, it is very hard (and expensive) to "penetrate" Swiss culture.  They are not necessarily rude or hostile, but buying land or housing is super-expensive, since it is passed down through families, and (contrary to popular belief) they won't hand out Swiss bank accounts to anybody that wants one-- you need to prove your residency in Switzerland.  They'll be friendly enough, but I get they impression they are not very easy to truly befriend.  However, I should also note that Geneva is like London in that there are many, many expatriates, and especially in Geneva, they are coming and going all the time, so this may be a protective thing if not a cultural one.  I wouldn't be inclined to form a close relationship with someone who was only going to be around for a year, either. 

European Cultures in General

While Britain is technically in Europe, they maybe don't tend to think of themselves as European.  They are on their own island out here, though, which in many ways distinguishes them from "the Continent.". And I might be imagining things, but the feeling may be mutual?  That is to say, Europeans don't necessarily consider Brits to be terribly European either. As usual, I could be wrong...
The European countries all have a very strong sense of nationalism.  I maybe would have thought that the cultures would have blended, since everyone is so close (geographically), but that is not true!  Like I said, even though there are Swiss-Germans, Swiss-French, and Swiss-Italians, they are all definitely and distinctly Swiss!  Ariel (my cousin in Germany) and Callie (my friend in Switzerland) had two different ideas of why this is, and I think they are both probably very true.

1. They are so nationalistic in order to protect their culture and sense of identity.  If you "blend" too much, eventually your culture may be lost.
2. They have had their cultures for a long time, and they cultures were very well-established before they were so easily traversed, so nationalism and cultural preferences are habit as much as intentional.  Which brings me to one of my main observations of cultures over here, compared to the US...

THEY'VE BEEN AT IT A LOT LONGER THAN WE HAVE.  Whatever "it" is (generally speaking) they been doing it longer, because they've been around a lot longer.  It's a great place to observe and learn.