Some memories are etched for a long, long time. As a 3-year old child, my parents brought along for their first European business trip to Germany and Switzerland. I can remember clearly our flight transit in Sri Lanka, how popular I was being an oriental child walking amidst an international exhibition of industrial machinery – I kept receiving souvenirs and spoken to in Japanese, screaming with tears while on a short flight in our family friend’s four-seater plane and how my mother was attempting to sooth me with spoonfuls of jam, dashing out from the car during a snowstorm to snap a photo, wearing a oversized winter jacket, throwing snowballs at my father and the highlight of the trip – biting off the edge of a wine glass while sipping water in a restaurant!
Next week I return to Switzerland on my own, it feels like I am stepping into a new country. A fews days I have already planned to spend in Bern with my dear friend M, and before that with the lovely J & M in Basel then finally to Zurich for a special reunion. Apparently that stomach-churning flight I had as a child took off from Bern.
I’m looking forward to the next two weeks of relaxing, exploring and studying – with friends, with myself and with whoever I will meet on the way. By then Switzerland will be dearer and even more special to me than it already is.