My family have lived intermittently in Switzerland since 2006 (my dad lived there when I was 3 or 4 as well), and my current base is a little town/village just outside of Geneva. I never used to get homesick, but since I went to uni I found that the longer I spent away from our apartment in Switzerland (even though I've never lived there, don't have a bedroom there or any belongings whatsoever) the more I felt a kind of nagging feeling, one that was always appeased whenever I returned. I get to see my family usually about every two months as they often come back to England for various reasons, and it's always nice, but there's something about going home and not having to worry about any of the adult-y things I worry about when in London that's just so comforting.
In the Theme of Being Georgia, I've written a list of stuff I like/miss about home when I'm away, some of them big things but many of them tiny:
- My family - I don't tend to realise how much I miss being around them until I come home.
- The weather - summers are baking hot with the most awesome afternoon storms and winters are perfectly cold, with real snow.
- The views - I never take for granted how beautiful Switzerland is, and I miss seeing huge bare expanses of untouched land and snowy mountains and the lake and crazy sunsets.
- How organised everything is - you don't really understand this until you go there, but everything is so efficient and works just fine.
- Maxibons - I feel like they may have these in England but I never eat them here, the Maxibon ice cream sandwiches are just so darn good.
- People's attitudes - I rarely make an effort to see many people when I go back (I left when I was 15) but whenever I do I'm always struck by how culturally diverse and open-minded everyone is, and I love the fact that no one is made fun of for being different because, well, everyone is.
- Crêpes - there's this one place we used to go to where they do such nice crêpes and I always try to go to it when I'm in Switzerland.
- Powerful showers - our shower's pressure here in London is shocking, so whenever I go home I make the most of the pressure our shower has. (Sounds dumb but it genuinely makes me happy.)
- Recycling - another weird one, but Switzerland is so on the ball with recycling that it becomes natural to put different things in your different bins, and I dunno, the attitude towards it is that it is so easy to do but it does so much.
- Food in the fridge - not specific to Switzerland but having a fully-stocked fridge and cupboards that I can go to whenever I want is the best feeling. The BEST.
- Tap water - oh look another weird one, but hey, Swiss tap water is nice, it just is.
- Crisps - there are certain flavour crisps that they don't have in England that I WISH they did, such as Zweifel paprika (different to other paprika, I can't explain it) and Jumpys, these kangaroo-shaped cracker crisp thingies.
- Languages - everything is written in two, if not three languages (always French and German, almost always with Italian too), so I find myself calling certain products the German name, even though I don't speak the language. In general too, you'll always hear a bunch of languages wherever you go, and it's cool.
- Money - for some bizarre reason I love Swiss money, the notes are so colourful and the five-franc coin is my all-time favourite coin. (Yes, I have an all-time favourite coin.)
- Chill - everything is chilled, everyone is chilled, no one rushes, the pace of life is incredibly slow - it's a stark contrast to London and it's nice to be around for a while.
Don't get me wrong, I love how busy London is, I love how frantic it is and how there's always something going on, but taking time out to relax is always good, and Switzerland is the place I find it easiest to do just that.
See you next time!
Georgia
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