Was walking through town today and saw a guy with those big disc earrings - not the ones which dangle, but the ones which are placed in the hole and made bigger and bigger over the years.....sort of Amazonian style.
The young Swiss are such enthusiastic and adventurous travellers and a number tend to return from these trips to Patagonia, Nepal or Laos sporting permanent reminders of the trips - tattoos, piercings and the like.
Are such markings respectful reminders of life changing experiences with indigenous people, or a childish symbol of not growing up and joining the norms of the society that they were born into?
The young Swiss are such enthusiastic and adventurous travellers and a number tend to return from these trips to Patagonia, Nepal or Laos sporting permanent reminders of the trips - tattoos, piercings and the like.
..I find American or Canadian youths much more adventurous. The Swiss kids usually just end up on Mallorca.
..I find American or Canadian youths much more adventurous. The Swiss kids usually just end up on Mallorca.
Really? I don't think you get many other Europeans taking a 3 or 6 month sabbatical (from work, not gap year) to travel across Australia, or South America etc. Maybe I haven't seen the typical type, but my social circle and work colleagues seem to travel like that
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there is a guy in Geneva... I've not seen him for awhile now. ( thank gawd )
but he's taken the whole tribal marking things to an ENTIRELY new level...
Was walking through town today and saw a guy with those big disc earrings - not the ones which dangle, but the ones which are placed in the hole and made bigger and bigger over the years.....sort of Amazonian style.
The young Swiss are such enthusiastic and adventurous travellers and a number tend to return from these trips to Patagonia, Nepal or Laos sporting permanent reminders of the trips - tattoos, piercings and the like.
Are such markings respectful reminders of life changing experiences with indigenous people, or a childish symbol of not growing up and joining the norms of the society that they were born into?
So... people who have one (ear thing) are in one of two clearly-defined categories... either giving a cultural-nod to a far flung place, or they are childish and refusing to "conform to the norms".
Or... maybe it's currently quite fashionable (in the UK too), and they happen to like the more individual look it gives them?
Really? I don't think you get many other Europeans taking a 3 or 6 month sabbatical (from work, not gap year) to travel across Australia, or South America etc. Maybe I haven't seen the typical type, but my social circle and work colleagues seem to travel like that
I agree with you. From my experience, the Swiss are pretty adventurous travellers on a par with or possibly exceeding the Brits.
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So... people who have one (ear thing) are in one of two clearly-defined categories... either giving a cultural-nod to a far flung place, or they are childish and refusing to "conform to the norms".
Or... maybe it's currently quite fashionable (in the UK too), and they happen to like the more individual look it gives them?
No...other options available on request
I'm not just talking about a glitzy earring or a wacky hair dye though - I'm talking about permanent markings which will still remain when you are a 60 year old grandparent. Not making a judgement about that per se BUT I do think that there is COULD be an element of "I'm never going to get old" to the choice
I'm not sure conformity equals grown up, more the opposite, isn't it kids who are the ones overly concerned with fitting in?
Good catch - sorry - I meant more that it is childish to think that you will never need to get a job, go to the bank, raise a child......when you are a child you think that conformity will never happen.....but it almost always does
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Really? I don't think you get many other Europeans taking a 3 or 6 month sabbatical (from work, not gap year) to travel across Australia, or South America etc. Maybe I haven't seen the typical type, but my social circle and work colleagues seem to travel like that
That is just LiB living up to the entire magnitude of his nickname.
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That is just LiB living up to the entire magnitude of his nickname.
...yeah well, you hardly hear about Swiss kids getting in trouble for hiking in Iraq/Iran or North Korea. Also, I've been around the world and the only places you meet Swiss people are Thailand, DomRep, Mallorca or Egypt.
...yeah well, you hardly hear about Swiss kids getting in trouble for hiking in Iraq/Iran or North Korea. Also, I've been around the world and the only places you meet Swiss people are Thailand, DomRep, Mallorca or Egypt.
I think that wherever they go.....they tend to immerse themselves for longer and more deeply than others....at least in my experience
(and then produce arse-numbingly boring slide shows about the trip...but that IS a different thread)
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I once met a woman who rambled on about non-conforming conformists.
She was fit, so I tend to agree with her.
Percentage-wise barely any people have them, so choosing to have one certainly gives a more individual look than something as common as a tattoo. Besides, something being in fashion doesn't always equal conformity, especially if it's a niche trend.
Really? I don't think you get many other Europeans taking a 3 or 6 month sabbatical (from work, not gap year) to travel across Australia, or South America etc. Maybe I haven't seen the typical type, but my social circle and work colleagues seem to travel like that
I wish I knew your friends. The ones I have met have been in the vein of Los_inabroad's description.
To be fairly just, I've seen as many Swiss with ear lobe enlarging disks as Portuguese, German and Finnish.
Might have to do with the type of friends I have, though. Or the type of bars I go to...
Reasons for it vary from the typical "I WANNA BE AGAINST THE NORM AND I WANNA MAKE THAT VISIBLE" to "I find it a beautiful way of body changing". I have to say, though, it looks odd on a guy wearing a suit on his way to a job interview (which he succeeded)...
I actually find the percentage of metrosexuals in Switzerland more visible than unusual tatoos/piercings. Might have to do with what I feel is odd or not though.
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