The Swiss Old Man

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'Entschuldigung Sie bitte... ' and a barrage of more Swiss German sentences. I was just standing there like a lamp post waiting for my family. But maybe, I was, strategically, positioned like an information booth for lost people with the intention of asking for directions. The old Swiss man seemed bewildered as I got lost in translation.

I was at The Zürich Hauptbahnhof or The Zurich Central Station. It was teeming with people in a frenetic atmosphere with trains coming and going.

He was carrying a seemingly heavy duffel bag and I was speechless. I did not understand what he was talking about at all. And I was trying to remember the Swiss German phrase for, "I don't understand you."

Being a writer, I guess... exudes an air of confidence that we know everything... ha-ha. As a tourist though, I was confounded that I could not help him and left me confused and, understandably, helpless. 

Unlike what I experienced in Singapore, where I stood out. In Zurich, I blended in and disappeared among the locals, particularly, Southern European and I am leaning towards Italian like my late older brother, Bob.

On hindsight, what I should had said was, "Es tut mir leid, aber... ich verstehe Sie nicht."














photo credit: Intercity via photopin (license)
License: (license)

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