remember the very first word any swiss person ever said to me the first time I visited switzerland. It was in a coop, and after the checkout lady scanned all the items she simply says "Merkli?". Suffice to say that even though i speak and understand high german, I had no idea what she was on about...

I had my first job interview in Zuerich -- it was a total DISASTER..

Guess the only thing I did right was show up punctually.. On second thoughts, probably it was wrong to show up at all

I know what you mean. I wondered why when out for a walk in the afternoon sun with my wife every person we encountered on the footpath kept talking to us about a dead French president. Later on we learnt that the second word was not, in fact, Mitterrand.

Similarly I thought how friendly the locals were when an old man stopped to blabber away whilst pointing and laughing. It was after he moved that my wife told me he was saying what kind of idiot carries an umbrella in such wind (I'm from far windier climes so would never have guessed). Then someone shouted at me 'eskimo' because i was wearing a winter hat. I realised that to not know what people are saying is probably better when so much of it is smart-arsed inanity. Genuinely friendly people i.e. not just robotically repeating Grüezi mitenand and profferring unsolicited advice are unfortunately harder found.

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...when I discovered my favorite time of the day in Zurich, one day in October 2010.

At 4 in the morning, when the air is crisp and the sky starts getting pink, in anticipation of the sunrise. When the streets are quiet, except for the occasional person cuddled up in her coat, eyes fixed on the ground, either coming home after a wild night, or leaving to start the day, and the smell of freshly baked bread coming from the bakeries, still closed to the public but already working, gets to you every few steps.

The moment between light and darkness when you know you really should go home, because in a couple of hours you have to wake up, but instead you keep walking and enjoying the magic atmosphere, trying to ignore the passing of time, and artificially prolonging the night.

The moment when my Swiss,soon to be ex-father in law looked into my eyes and told me "I have taken you into my heart as my daughter, just because you and my son are no longer together does not mean I can divorce you from my heart."

"You are for ever my daughter and I will always be your Swiss Papa. I am here for you when ever you need me."

...and he was. Plus, my Swiss Mama.

The train from Milan getting so late with a thunderstorm around and me being sure to miss the last connection to Zurich at Arth Goldau, wondering what would I do. Only to hear upon entering the Swiss territory that SBB has changed the route of the train via Zurich...i was glad to be in the Swiss territory, to be assured that I would be getting home no matter what.

Sitting on top of the Eggishorn and just staring for an eternity at the stunning natural beauty of the Aletsch gletscher....

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..night skiing for the first time (hey, I am in Switzerland, I have to do that)
..realizing that my best friend in Switzerland is a Swiss, against all odds.

Skiing in the shadow of the north face of the Eiger, amazing. Get yourself to Wengen if you want to try it.