PARADISE (APPARENTLY)
WELCOME TO SWITZERLAND

FLO REGINA

“Paradise apparently-welcome to Switzerland” (www.paradiseapparently.com) is a light-hearted and funny book about how complicated it can be sometimes for a south-Italian to get used to Swiss culture. Probably because I used to park in Geneva as I did in the south of Italy, I must say that this was really expensive. I got so many fines it cost our family budget 2000 CHF just the first year! But thankfully, my Dutch husband did not ask for a divorce, after all. I did not know that we cannot cut the grass on Sunday morning and I was informed by the local police who came to visit us in our new house. WOW! If in Bari the police should come every time somebody does not follow the law the whole armed forces of the European Union would not be enough to get control of the situation!

I always used to be late before moving to Switzerland, but now after seeing my children crying because we often arrived too late at birthday parties or, even worse, after the party had finished, I am much more on time. I am almost punctual now; I did not want my children calling the local child protection services.

Am I the only foreigner who needed some advice on how to behave properly in my new Swiss life? I hope not. That’s why at the end of “Paradise Apparently” there is a survival guide for foreigners in Switzerland that intends to help people who just move to this country to follow some important rules. I would have needed this guide; it would have helped me to avoid unpleasantness. Yes – I realize that was because my civil sense was not always outstanding. But I must say I have improved a lot.

I don’t think that there are xenophobic expressions or offences directed at Switzerland and at the Swiss in my book. To read my book it’s really helpful to have a sense of humour and a positive attitude to cultural differences. The observations shared in “paradise apparently” are not intended in any way to hurt the feelings of the Swiss. Often, the behaviour, habits and customs that are normal in the host nation can appear bizarre, surprising or unusual in the eyes of a foreigner.

The main objective of my book is to let the reader smile at the ironies and the funny side of my experiences in Switzerland.