Sunday Morning Thoughts – January 7, 2024

Decent year so far.

I wanted to go to bed early on New Year’s Eve. That didn’t work out – long story. And I had completely forgotten about the church bells ringing out the old year for 15 minutes before midnight and then ringing in the new year for 15 minutes after midnight. And remember what I said about those church bells? They are freaking loud! Now picture all of them going at the same time – Catholic and Protestant ones all together.

I can’t believe we’re still doing that. I missed it the past four years because I was either out of the country or asleep. I already wrote about my two long hikes on Jan. 1 and Jan. 3 so we’re skipping those today, but there is a related topic that I need to rant about for a bit.

Muskelkater

I have a bone to pick with the English language. So, you guys “borrowed” the German words Zeitgeist, Doppelgänger, and Schadenfreude but you don’t have a word for Muskelkater? How did that happen? Explain yourselves! And no, it’s not just sore muscles. It just isn’t!

It’s a cleverly crafted word. “Kater” can be a male cat but it’s also the German word for “hangover”. It basically means that your muscles are hung over. I love everything about that word – I could do without the actual pain of course – but the word itself is brilliant. You get Muskelkater when you’re overdoing something – when you push your muscles a bit too much, when you do repetitive movements over a long period of time, or when you haven’t actually done any physical exercise for a while and decide to start moving. I could go on.

Why am I ranting about this? Well, those countless steps on Wednesday’s hike have given me severe Muskelkater and for the past three days my 101-year-old great-aunt has been walking around like a spring chicken compared to me. And not having a proper English word to rant about this is just wrong!

Bon Schuur Ticino – a Swiss movie

I mentioned Wednesday’s hike (read about it here). And the picture they used in the trailer to indicate that they have arrived in Ticino was my hike’s destination – Morcote. I thought that was a nice coincidence.

Screen shot trailer Bon Schuur Ticino

Let’s look at the title quickly. Of course, it would be “Bonjour Ticino” if spelled correctly, but I think in terms of pronunciation Bon Schuur is probably closer to how German speakers (the ones who don’t speak French) would say it. And that’s kind of the point of the movie.

Anyway, it’s a Swiss movie. Not sure if it will be shown anywhere else as it is mostly in Swiss German, with some French and Italian mixed into it. Oh, and there is one sentence in Romansh as well. As not to spoil anything I’m just going to talk about things that are in the trailer.  

You know that we vote a lot in Switzerland and about pretty much everything. In this movie the vote is on having just one national language (instead of four) and make everybody speak that. This vote happens and instead of (Swiss)German (spoken by a large majority of the population) the language that wins is French. The Italian speakers in Ticino are not having it and vow to fight it. The Swiss German speakers are going to language classes. The French speakers are gloating.

I found it really funny because it was so accurate. I mean seeing all the Swiss German speakers attempting to speak French – hilarious. And, it also has my favorite Swiss French comedian in it - Vincent Kucholl. He’s absolutely brilliant. Any Swiss readers who don’t know him. What’s your excuse? He’s part of a comedy duo and his partner, Vincent Veillon, had a tiny role in the movie as well. They used to do short 120 second videos (called “120 secondes”) and now have a show on Swiss French TV called 52 minutes. If you speak French – check them out.

As I said I’m not going to spoil the movie. Just a couple more observations. Language is identity. And while we’re kind of making it work with four national languages, it is also having those four national languages that makes it work. I am counting Romansh here as well, even though I agree with that one farmer in the movie who says that they are largely ignored. If you’ve been following me for a while you know that I feel very strongly about language and identity and I have written about this before.

Swiss friends – it’s worth watching.

Dreikönigstag, Dreikönigskuchen and why nativity scenes are wrong

On January 6 we celebrate Dreikönigstag (literally “three kings’ day”) and as always there is food associated with it. This is it:

Bakery-bought Dreikönigskuchen

And here’s how it works: people choose one of the small pieces and whoever finds a plastic king/queen inside theirs has to wear a crown for the day. I’m saying “has to” because that’s what it always felt like to me. The bread itself is sweet and soft and tradidionally has raisins in it. I love it. Also, if you eat yours alone you are automatically queen/king for the day. I like that too.

So, on this day we’re basically celebrating the arrival of the Three Wise Men at the stable to see the newborn baby Jesus. I know the timing and all is completely off anyway so this might be pointless, but how come every nativity scene has them already there on Christmas Day? That’s just wrong. They were still walking towards Bethlehem at Christmas or else they would have gotten there earlier than January 6. Just saying …

And please note that if I’m ever at your house around Christmas and there is a nativity scene, don’t be surprised if the Three Wise Men are moved to somewhere off in the distance. Just to give it a semblance of accuracy.

Churches on top of mountains

Something somebody said on Zoom last night made me think about churches on top of mountains. On Wednesday’s hike I climbed to the roof of the church on top of Monte San Salvatore. From up there you could also see churches high up in the hills elsewhere and I know I’ve seen many like that in other places around Switzerland.

Initial thoughts on that? Well, I guess people tried to get as close to God as they could and saw it as a sign of their faith to carry building materials up steep mountains to build churches. Then I remembered that God talked to Moses on a mountain and something about a sermon on the mount. I’m sure there’s more on that in the Bible and elsewhere.

Chiesa di Santa Maria del Sasso in Morcote - famously 400 steps up from the lake shore.

Seriously, the things my brain finds interesting … but you know where it went next? Let me tell you. I’m now wondering if countries with more mountains are more religious than others because they automatically feel closer to God. Or is the opposite true? Are flatter countries more religious because they are trying to make up for their lack of mountains? That’s one I have to think about some more. The answer doesn’t seem obvious right now. There might also not be one as the two could be completey unrelated.

Any thoughts on that are welcome. I’m thinking Christian countries myself, but if others have thoughts based on different religions, I’d like to hear those too.

Podcast – Knowledge builds bridges

[back to edit: the podcast no longer exists - it got deleted when Callin was sold]. I’ll be doing a podcast later today. I’ve been asked how people can find it. I guess the easiest way is to go to callin.com and look for “Knowledge builds bridges”. Back to edit - this was probably my last podcast. Feels like I lost the spark.

I hope you’re having a wonderful Sunday.