Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Switzerland


 
Short Films:

               On December 21st of this year, several organizations are going to be launching “Short Film Day” in Switzerland. I have tried to get access to a site that has many of the short films, but at this time I am unable to do so. YouTube has a few that I thought I would watch while drinking my homemade hot coco.

One that I found was “Burnt Fish Fingers”. In this film, a young woman turns on her radio to find that her male roommate has called the show. He tells the on-air psychologist that he is unhappy in his relationship. The radio psychologist tells him he should leave the flat where he is staying, and the young woman listening to this panics. The film starts out slow and uninteresting, but the ending makes the film worth watching.
Another was “8”. This short film is about two soldiers from opposing forces. They find themselves alone together in a forest which turns out to be filled with landmines. The film is sad, and almost funny at the same time.

I am not a world traveler and thus I know very little about Switzerland. What I do know can be summarized in the short documentary: “Switzerland: More than Just Cheese and Chocolate”. This film didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know. I had to laugh when I watched this; for a having the line “More than Just Cheese and Chocolate” in the title, the documentary sure spent a surprising amount of time on those two subjects. This cheesy documentary also talked about Swiss watches, Swiss Army knives, the Alps, and how their soldiers guard the pope.
Food:
               No, I did not go out and by a big block of Swiss cheese and Swiss miss to tell you how good they are. In fact I am pretty sure Swiss Miss is made in the U.S.  I did go out and have Fondue at Mangos, a fondue lounge here in Peoria, IL. We did not eat the traditional cheese fondue. Instead we went for a broth fondue that that we dipped raw chicken and Asian vegetables into, followed by an orange chocolate fondue for desert. Broth fondue is very simple, and I felt silly going to a restaurant, to get it when I felt certain that I could have made it myself. Still, it wasn’t bad. And Arvind and I had a lot of fun trying to fish the vegetables out of the broth. The restaurant itself was clean, and well decorated, and almost empty. The few people who were there were young men who were there eating by themselves.

               Fondue is a French, Swiss, and Italian food. Swiss food itself, in large part, resembles the foods of its neighbors, France, Germany, and Italy. Cheese is a common ingredient in there foods, but it isn’t limited to cheese fondue. Other foods they eat include:
·        Muesli- A cereal often eaten for breakfast, similar to granola made from rolled oats and fruit.

·        Quiche- Which I actually consider French.

               Tonight before going to bed, I might open up a bottle of Petit Chocolat- A chocolate red wine that I purchased at Aldi’s. Surprise, it isn’t Swiss but German.  Being that Switzerland neighbors France and Germany, I decided that a German Wine with a French name was close enough for this evening.

Work Sited:

“Burnt Fish Fingers”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZptBXPysPp0. Retrieved: December 11, 20013
Czarlewski, Jan. “Switzerland Celebrates Short Film Day for the First Time on December 21”. Swiss Films: News.  http://www.swissfilms.ch/en/festivals_short_films/news/-/id_news/5361. Retrieved: December 11, 2013

 “Swiss Cuisine”. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cuisine . Retrieved: December 11, 2013.

“Switzerland: More than Just Cheese and Chocolate” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_9p828uz3I . Retrieved: December 11, 2013.

Vasic, Asim: “8”. Festival Winners. Film Short. http://www.filmsshort.com/festival-winners/ . Produced: 2010. Retrieved: December 21, 2013

 

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