Today I hosted (!! because my friend who organized this had to go to a funeral) a reading by a woman who recorded the biographies of the 18 remaining nuns living in community in the Fahr monastery. Which was fascinating.
Another hobby of this author, it turns out, is researching Swiss emigration to the United States, particularly from her home town of Einsiedeln. So. TONIGHT I LEARNED that Tacoma, Washington (a port city just south of Seattle) has an active Swiss community with regular Schwingen (a Swiss wrestling sport involving burlap shorts) tournaments.
https://www.tacomaswiss.com/
http://www.einsiedeln-anderswo.ch/en/
It's hard to imagine now, but before this country helpfully offered to keep everyone's money safe through two world wars, Switzerland was once one of Europe's poorest countries, and consequently it is a place, like Ireland and Poland, with many emigrant communities. I knew this already, but...well I guess because I didn't identify as Swiss when I was living in the US, I hadn't ever given much thought to Swiss-American communities and what they do to stay in touch with their heritage. But of course, they form clubs and eat fondue together and yodel and go hiking and wrestle in burlap shorts. Just like home.
No comments:
Post a Comment