Some Confirmed First Impressions

So now that I've been here almost 4 weeks, I think it's safe to confirm some of the first impressions I had of Fribourg and Switzerland:

1. If you're not wearing a watch, you're doing it wrong.

2. A text message sent in French can use abbreviations (i.e. dropping vowels in long words) but if you type out the whole thing, it is uncouth to leave out accent marks. Switzerland is very couth.

3. In Switzerland absolutely NOTHING is open on Sundays. On every other day of the week, all shops (including grocery stores) close between 18h and 19h. The Swiss do this because it is culturally unacceptable to stay at work or school late, as this neglects the family and personal rest, both of which are strongly valued here. Similarly, most students leave Fribourg on the weekends to go home and spend time with family. This explains why it has been difficult to find a weekend nightlife crowd under age 40. Instead, the student clubs get crazy on Mondays, once all the students are back in Fribourg.

4. Life is definitely more chill here, especially coming from NYC and Boston where people are constantly occupied, stressed, and moving. On the one hand I absolutely love the busy city life because it makes me feel fulfilled and productive, moving toward my goals. Here, life is a lot slower, as evidenced by the early closing times. In particular, the library closes here at 10pm! (But let's be honest, I don't really miss those 3am Tisch nights.) At first this really freaked me out because I felt like I constantly needed to be progressing in school or that I needed to be always busy in order to be fulfilling myself and justifying my time abroad. However, I am coming to realize that it is just as fulfilling to absorb and live this slower, more balanced culture. Of course people work hard here - how else would Switzerland be so economically successful? The difference, though, is that people here only work hard until 7pm, at which point they go home to their families or go out for a drink with friends. No wonder people are generally happy here! This also explains how the three distinctly different cultures living in the same small country can get along so well. People work hard, but equally prioritize downtime.

5. It is NOT okay to wear sweatpants outside of your bedroom. Not even in the communal dorm kitchen.

6. It is impossible to find milk that is less than 3.9% milkfat. Not sure how I feel about eating cereal with cream, but hey, things could definitely be worse.

7. I need to learn German ASAP.