"Worldfest 2012"

(UPDATE 11/25 - I replaced the video below with a version of the entire song.  A much better version.)

Today was "Worldfest" at ZIS ("Zurich International School" is where the kids go to school.)  It's an annual event that showcases the school's cultural diversity.  Families from all over the world attend the school, so dozens of countries were represented.  Booths were set up all over showcasing different foods from all the countries, so you got to walk around and sample different cuisines.  (My favorite was the "jambon" from Spain.  Ham sliced right off the leg.)  Anyway, there was also entertainment, featuring several groups of kids performing dances and songs.  Ben and his friends formed a "boy band" group based off of the group ONE DIRECTION.  Ben's band was called "ZIS Direction" and you can check them out performing below.  They did the song "What Makes You Beautiful," and they actually sang along with it (not just lip-syncing.)  They spent about 2 weeks rehearsing the moves and learning the lyrics, and as you can see below they did great.

Anyway, here are some of the highlights.  As Jenny and I go through the hustle and bustle of every day life we sometimes forget what an international experience our kids are getting over here.  When you deal with it day after day you start to become blind to it almost.  Days like today are a good reminder for all of us just how unique this whole experience is.  

"I am from Switzerland. And I am here practicing the English."

Over here in Switzerland I continue to go to my German classes once a week.  Back in January when we first moved here I knew "Guten Tag," and "Auf wiedersehen" and that was about it.  Nowadays I can manage pretty well ordering and interacting with a waiter at a restaurant, and I can even make a little small talk now with neighbors (usually about the weather.)  So my German has come a long way in one year.  Still though, no matter how hard I try I still run into those "lost in translation" moments where I look like an idiot.  That got me to thinking of the running gag I used to see on a show called "Trigger Happy TV."

Trigger Happy TV was a British show that used to air in the U.S. on Comedy Central back in the early 2000's.  The main idea behind the show was to show public reaction to practical jokes and embarrassing situations.  Think of it as an edgier version of Candid Camera.

Anyway, there was a running gag called "I am from Switzerland," and watching it again over here I find it even funnier than before.  Now that I'm over here trying to speak German I can totally relate to it.  I'm sure there have been times when I said something that was totally off the wall.

Anyway, the clips are below.  Not sure if you'll find them funny but I do.  Just remember...the main actor is not actually from Switzerland (he's an English actor) and the people he's talking to have no idea they're on camera.

"Räbechilbi"

One thing that I've grown to appreciate being over here in Switzerland is discovering local customs and traditions that I would normally never be exposed to.  Take for example the popular festival we celebrated this past week - "Räbechilbi."    

"Räbechilbi" (pronounced "Rabba-kill-bee") is a Swiss holiday that celebrates the end of the harvest, and marks the symbolic transition from fall to winter.  And it turns out our village of Richterswil has the largest "Räbechilbi" festival in Europe.  The festival is celebrated with turnips, which are hollowed out and then illuminated with candles inside (very similar to "luminarias" in Mexico.)  According to legend the holiday originated as an occasion for farmers and their families to give thanks for their harvests each year.  Another legend tells that in the 19th century the farmers living in the hills above Richterswil used turnip lanterns to find their way home from the fields at night, and their wives would use turnip lanterns to find their way home from evening church services.  

Anyway, the festival is held on the 2nd Saturday in November, and it is a big deal around here.  All the lights are turned off in the village and the villagers parade through the streets with floats decorated with turnip lanterns.  Practically every major building in town is lit up with lanterns.  Supposedly, something like 26 tons of turnips are used for the festival.  The town dumps a huge pile of turnips in the center of the village for residents to take.  Everyone is encouraged to decorate their homes.

So all last week we celebrated "Räbechilbi."  Up at the kids' school all the classes got to make turnip lanterns.  Each student made their own, and then at the end of the week the students and their families all hiked through the woods behind the school with lanterns in a big parade.  I volunteered to help out Ben's and Megan's classes with their lanterns, so I got an education on how to make a lantern out of a turnip.  Basically you start by hollowing out the turnip, (which I discovered has a pretty dense interior.  Not as easy as a pumpkin.)  After that it's up to you.  Adults pretty much like to hollow out the turnip and put a candle inside and call it good. Children however like to take it further.  Children take cookie cutters and scrape out designs on the turnip, or write their names or initials on it.  Typically though you don't carve it like you would a pumpkin.  The idea is to illuminate it from within.  (By the way, I spent a lot of time this week smelling like turnips.  Not a good smell.)

Our week ended with the big festival in our village.  Many other communities around Zurich and the rest of Europe have their own celebrations this time of year, but Richterswil's festival is the big one.  Supposedly it's world famous.  Even the Guinness Book of World Records recognized it in 2000 as the largest turnip festival.   Wow!  Who knew?  Woohoo!  We're on the map!

Supposedly turnips have been used as lanterns throughout Europe for ages.  In fact, it was the pilgrims who first brought the tradition to America.  Then later when Irish immigrants first arrived in America they continued the tradition until they realized pumpkins were much easier to carve and hollow out.  That's how the "Jack-O-Lantern" originated.  As a big fan of Halloween I thought it was really interesting discovering all that.  

Anyway, we had no idea our tiny village was the Mecca for turnip festivals, so it was a 
big surprise and a cool experience.  It was cool to see the kids all week immersed and interested in a holiday that was completely foreign to them (sorry for the pun.)  This entire week has been an education for all of us concerning "Räbechilbi," and I wanted to share all of this with you all.  So to better explain it to everyone I tried to take a lot of pictures of the whole experience, from making the lantern to the festival itself.    Enjoy.

MAKING THE KIDS' LANTERNS

THE "RABECHILBI" PARADE AT SCHOOL

GETTING READY FOR THE VILLAGE PARADE

A Day In Liechtenstein

Yesterday we took a drive over to Liechtenstein.  Liechtenstein is a tiny country that borders the eastern side of Switzerland.  It's only about 62 miles across and the total population of the country is about 35,000.  So when I say it's small I mean it's microscopic.  Some interesting things about Liechtenstein...it's an incredibly rich country with lots of wealthy citizens (mainly in the financial sector.)  The country is a tax haven for internationals, it has the second lowest unemployment rate in the world (at 1.5%), and it has no military.  Also, Liechtenstein is technically a monarchy.  The Prince lives in Vaduz Castle, which is in the village of Vaduz (Liechtenstein's capital) and is the world's 6th wealthiest leader.   For ages Liechtenstein was an independent state of Austria, and then after World War I the country changed allegiances and formed a union with Switzerland.  Today Liechtenstein shares an open border with Switzerland and even uses the Swiss Franc for money.  So even though Liechtenstein is it's own country it's basically an independent state of Switzerland.  Anyway, I've always been curious about this little piece of land.  We've driven by it several times and I've always wondered what life was like there.  So yesterday we found out.

We first drove to Gutenberg Castle, which is on the southern end of Liechtenstein in the village of Balzers.  The castle is really cool looking.  It's perched on a small hill overlooking the rest of the town.  With the alps in the background it makes for quite a scene.   We walked up the hill to take a closer look at it.  Don't be fooled by our dress in the pictures.  It really wasn't as cold as it looks.  It was just incredibly windy.  Anyway, after we checked out the castle we drove north to the village of Vaduz, which is the capital of the country.  Vaduz was very surprising in the fact that it was a lot more modern than I expected.  We expected to see a quaint "old town" village center, but instead we found several contemporary buildings and a lot of art museums and sculptures.  It was nice...just not what we were expecting.  The Vaduz Castle sits on a hill overlooking the village below, and that's where the Prince and the royal family lives. The castle is closed to the public so we didn't go in of course, but we got some pictures of it.

Overall, it was kind of fun saying "we're going to drive over to Liechtenstein.  We'll be back in a few hours."  As I told the kids on the way home, most people don't even know where Liechtenstein is, let alone get a chance to visit there.  So I guess now our kids can say they've been to Liechtenstein.  Hopefully one day they'll think that's kind of cool.