"Walking"
Culturally, Americans do not understand the art of walking, or what it means to be a pedestrian. When walking is the first choice of transportation, when everything you need is within a mile of your home, when driving a car is considered inefficient and wasteful, then America will become a walking culture. Our wide expanse of country will never allow Americans to truly experience life as a pedestrian. However, in a country such as Switzerland that fits four and a half times into the state of Washington, with most of the land mass being mountains, expanse is not a well-known phenomenon. In fact, every Swiss person I have met when asked what they thought of the States reply with, “It’s so BIG!”

Walking makes sense in Switzerland. It takes too much time to find a parking spot in the parking lot and then usually you have to pay to park, so why not hop on your bike or walk to the local store? Its only 3 blocks away and there is usually a little pharmacy, a bakery and a restaurant right around the corner. There is no need for a big SUV full of food from Costco when all you have is a small hotel room size fridge in your 4 room apartment. Milk and eggs can be delivered right to your door from the local farmer, you bake your own bread, so the only thing that really needs to be stocked up on is wine, and your husband, every time he has a birthday, gets at least 20 bottles to put up in your cellar.

Biel, where I lived in Switzerland, was about 2 hours from Geneva. During my stay in Switzerland, I visited Geneva about 4 times for various reasons. I found that most people I met from Biel had never been to Geneva, and if they had, it was only one time. “It is just too far,” they would say to me. Imagine that mentality in America. You’d never get anything done!

You can see the affect of living in a small country in all parts of Swiss culture. They have 4 different official languages, but this is ok because as a Swiss person, you rarely leave your village, so you only need to be able to communicate with those people around you. Each Canton, like a province or a state, has its own pronounced dialects within the different languages. The mountains, the disinclination to travel, easy access to everything they need right around the corner, keep the Swiss and home and isolated from each other. You would think that in a small country, it would be easier to stay connected with other people, but it is quite the opposite.

But back to walking—the best thing about walking is noticing things. There is so much to see and look at while you are walking. Also, by being outside, the weather becomes so much more a part of your life. It can be enjoyable to experience weather. It becomes refreshing and invigorating. The exercise you get while walking keeps you fit and trim. Rarely do you see obese people in Switzerland. They can eat tons of cheese and chocolate, but the effect is slim because of their active lifestyle.

If walking doesn’t appeal to you, there are other easy choices of transportation that are just as good such as a scooter or a bicycle. The amount of older citizens riding bicycles amazed me. I don’t think I had ever seen a gray haired woman riding a bicycle until I was living in Switzerland!

Oprah Winfrey recently had a show about a a book called French Women Don't Get Fat, by Mireille Guiliano. The basic premise is that French women don't get fat because they enjoy their life by eating small portions of many different wonderful foods and by walking everywhere. I would say that the Swiss people also have a similar mentality. They have a simpler diet than the French, but the lifestyle is similar. One thing Oprah forgot though is the amount of time that French and Swiss women have to spend in the litchen cooking to prepare so much food to enjoy! That's another thing that American's wouldn't like to do, spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

I have noticed since I have been home here in Seattle is that my amount of walking has declined. If I want to walk to the store from my house, it takes me a half an hour. I don't know how yet, but I am determined to figure out a way to put more walking back into my life. Last year where walking was my main form of transportation, I felt more alive and full of energy than I had in a very long time.