There’s a heavy cloud over my head as I sit on top of my luggage in the Milan bus station writing this. Having to leave Switzerland was heartbreaking. I was amazed at how quickly I had become attached to this foreign world. Not only did I have to say goodbye to such a beautiful place, but I was also leaving a good friend.
People can teach you so much. Thiemo is one of those people who you can learn from without even realizing it. He radiates a contagious energy that makes everyone around him laugh and he is smarter than he will admit. Staying with a family that speaks a different language was a bit daunting at first, but like I said, I swear they are all smarter than I will ever be. I believe this because of language. In Interlaken, most people speak a dialect of German called Swiss-German. However, in the schools, everyone speaks normal German to keep things consistent. Students are required to learn English starting at a young age and on top of that, many of them also take another language like French or Italian. Thiemo and his younger brother speak the most English in the family—Thiemo being fluent, his brother quite close. Their mom spoke enough to communicate with simple words and their dad and youngest brother spoke the least. When we arrived, it was clear they hadn’t spoken English for a while, and especially not with Americans. I immediately became conscious of how fast I was talking and slowed down. There was a lot of back and forth translation between Thiemo and his other family members, but nothing was stopping us from laughing and enjoying ourselves. We didn’t need to speak the same language to enjoy each other’s company.
But I also felt somewhat incompetent. Everyone I’ve talked to while in Europe has spoken some amount of English while I know only simple words like “hello” or “thank you” in their language. One thing was reassuring though: smiles go a long way. There are still ways to communicate with people even if you don’t speak the same language. There is a universality about humor and kindness that hurdles any language barriers. Small gestures and expressions can say a lot. So even though I don’t know any Swiss-German, I still had the pleasure of getting to know some wonderful people. This experience is one of the reasons Switzerland impacted me so much. Having friends from a different country is something I have come to value a lot. Knowing someone on a more personal level made a world of difference in the way I experienced Switzerland and made saying goodbye a hell of a lot harder. There is no reason why because we are different that we cannot share the same emotions and experiences. So, I said goodbye to a friend I didn’t want to leave and to a country that I had not finished exploring knowing that barriers could not keep me from returning.
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