Friday, September 18, 2009

After a lo-ong few weeks, we are back in the US o'A. We've had a pleasantly surreal few days here in Seattle, in our own country but feeling as foreign as could be. We seem to require a brief retraining on the basics of American culture. The things which bothered us in CH somehow became normal. Now, for instance, I must remind myself that eye contact is not creepy.

The niceness of the US, Seattle in particular, must be overwhelming for complete newcomers. Why would the guy giving my sandwich tell me to "take care" in such a nice way? Why! And the constant smiling! Where do they come up with all the extra energy for this? It may be a sign of idiocy in some cultures, but to me it represents a kind of openness and care I never really noticed in my own people before. I am enjoying this generous perspective at the moment – beatific, really.

Though Swiss Ms. has plenty of other observations about Seattle, she's not sure whether she will continue public broadcast of them in the future. There's a time when enough is enough and one commentator more may be one commentator too many. (Also, it's hard to be a luddite and a blogger at the same time.) But she thanks you kindly for your attention and interest over the past few years and wishes you well in your own endeavors at home, abroad, or hovering interstitially in the blogosphere. Also, she heartily suggests, should any opportunity to escape your daily grind for a season or so arise, that you take it. A bit of early retirement is good for the soul, completely worth paying for later.

11 comments:

Grandma G said...

WELCOME HOME!!

Are you saying you're not going to blog 'at all' anymore?

So you "unretire" now that you're home again? Or are you still retired, as in forever? Methinks you're kinda young for that. I, on the other hand.....

Swiss Ms. said...

Thanks! I am still thinking about it, but I am leaning toward retiring (from blogging), yes. But I will unretire professionally to do an internship this year and then hopefully go back to school next fall. I'm looking forward to being useful again.

In any case, it seems like you keep pretty busy. I imagine helping Courtney help you takes a lot of energy! Not to mention all that sewing....

Grandma G said...

Well, best of luck in whatever way you choose to be useful!

Yeah, my "retirement" is busy, indeed. And you're certainly right about the energy Courtney requires in my "helping her help me"! lol I'm usually exhausted at the end of those days. But she's such an adorable little sweetheart, that it's all worth it. :)

janet l moran said...

I do not accept your resignation Ms. Swiss. Just because you are married to a celebrity and need to uphold a solid reputation doesn't mean you can't write about it all! We can talk more about this later.

oijoyphoto - the husband said...

anyway, swiss ms. what an easy change to 'seattle ms.'!!!

here, here - oijoyphoto-the blog.

Kathy said...

Well, shucks. I was looking forward to more posts about my hometown. In any case, good luck and prosperity to you.

Swiss Ms. said...

Thanks, Kathy. Hope you're enjoying Zurich as much as we're enjoying Seattle!

JulieAnn said...

Yeah, I have to admit, I'm not accepting this very well. As excited I am that you're in the country again and a mere few thousand miles away, I'm not taking this blog retirement well. Please, please... just a blog post here and there. I'd think your cultural insights into our own culture would be most fascinating :(

jenicrob said...

Oh, I'm so glad to hear you're a luddite! Like me. I'm not even on Facebook. That's how much of a luddite I am.

Swiss Ms. said...

Yeah! I'm not on FB either. We can stand strong together.

Elisa @ Globetrotting in Heels said...

I wish I could have visited Seattle before moving back to Europe! Have fun, I know I miss the smiles here... though I still smile at strangers, even if they look at me like I'm crazy :-D