Weekend across Switzerland

This weekend I set out to drive across Switzerland with my parents. The goal was not so much to visit the country, but to visit our countrymen (friends and family) that my parents have not seen in a long time (or in some cases never). But since I don't intend this blog to be a simple journal of my activities, I will write less about the itinerary and more about my thoughts.

We visited four different households in three different cities. Personally, I had never met before any of the people that I was going to meet this weekend. I felt slightly worried because I did not know what to expect, did not know how we would be greeted, and what the people we were going to meet were like. In addition, my parents and I have a different idea of how to spend time (surprise, surprise) and doing speed friend and family hopping was not high on my preference list. I thought that there were better ways to budget time, especially since the weather was beautiful, there are so many nice places to see in Switzerland and my parents are here for only a short time.

But then my worries were unfounded, it turned out that the weekend was absolutely amazing. Each visit was different, and wonderful in its own way. I cannot describe how well we were greeted and how each person did their best to try to make us feel welcome. Any Serbian (and perhaps some others) reader will probably say that this is normal but they would only be half correct, which I will explain later. The readers from the west (especially big cities) would not be accustomed to (and perhaps not even comfortable with) this kind of welcome.

In Serbia, there is a tradition of hospitality (yes, I know, there are other places like that in the world. However, most people that read blogs in english don't come from those places. And yes, I said 'most', not 'all'). In Serbia, traditionally, guests are very important. If someone wants to visit you, even a stranger, you are supposed to offer him all the hospitality that you can. In a way, a guest is sacred. In more understandable psychology, Serbian people draw pride out of being good hosts. If you visit someone and you are so impressed about it that you talk about it to others, it raises the status of your host. But I think that this part is subconscious. The reason why I say that our visits were surprisingly good even by Serbian standards is because I have experienced many visits where I was well greeted, but there was a lack of sincerity. People were greeting me well because they were supposed to, not because they enjoyed my company. On our Swiss trip, I really had the impression that people liked having us there and that not only we were not a burden, but that our visit truly meant something to them. In other words, the form of hospitality learned from centuries old Balkan customs was given the colors that were genuinely painted on the spot. And together they gave something truly beautiful. They gave me the felling of knowing the people who were hosting me all my life, even though I never met them before. They made me want to stay with them and talk with them and laugh with them for much longer than I possibly could have. Who knows, perhaps the fact we could not stay long in one place made sure that we left before the magic expired. (Now that I said all of this, I need to remark that the most colorful welcome came from a Macedonian, not Serbian person.)

To put this into perspective, I don't think that this type of hospitality exists in the West (or at least in the big cities). People can welcome you sincerely, and you feel good to be there, and you have a great time, but the form is not the same. It's difficult to explain (the best would be to experience this). Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. The Balkan form seems to be sometimes perceived as too aggressive by those that are used to more cordial receptions. But perhaps the level of warmth that I experienced this weekend is a good thing to be learn by some foreigners (most critique goes to the fellow Swiss who put human relations at 18th place on their list of priorities, somewhere between renewing their Yodle magazine subscription, and going to the seaside for holidays*). On the other hand, there are many things we Serbs could learn from the westerners, but that is going to be a subject for some later posts (unfortunately there may be many on this subject).

*Swiss go hiking for holidays.

Visa Interview

I just returned from a visa interview (country unspecified). In general I go to these fairly often and find them extremely annoying. What is annoying is the process: I am supposed to gather various documents, write to which countries I traveled in the past (!) and when (!!), write out my CV, prove that I can stay in a given country, prove that I will return to the current country etc. Luckily (from the point of view of filling out the visa) I am not married yet, so there are chunks that I can leave out blank, but even this will change soon. Also, my professional history is empty so far and this saves me some time.

But worst of all is the anxiety. I am not in control. Whatever I do can be undone by the person behind the glass who has only a few sheets of paper to form an opinion of me and decide whether I am worthy of entry to the promised (or less so) land. And this person may be having a bad day or decide that he/she doesn't particularly like me.

"What if my application gets refused?" - "Well, you won't go there then, is that so bad" - "No, life goes on, but still, why can't I be treated like a normal person" - "Well, they have to keep their jobs for their citizens" - "Yes, I get it, but it's been 9 years that I do this over and over again, I was never refused a visa anywhere, and I still have to treat every time like the first time" - "Well, it's your choice, in the end you are the one that wants to go there - you can always choose not to go" - "But that's not the point" - "So what is the point" - "..." .

There is really no use arguing with myself over this, I always lose.

Anyway, today my visa interview was a good experience, nay a great one. Everything went well, the personnel was friendly and respectful and treated me like a human being (except for the gigantic security guard who screened me again on the way out). And I got my visa. And it is going to be valid for much longer than I applied for. And it will be delivered promptly. Alleluia

Does this mean my faith in the "system" is restored. Not at all. It's still inhuman. There should be a global database that keeps track of all the visa attempts and eases the process as you go for more and more visa interviews. I will be very happy the day I can just pick up my passport and travel wherever I want without planning and gathering documents months in advance. See you in fantasy land...