Laowai

Don’t ask me how you pronounce that word above. It’s a Swiss German word, I’ve tried to pronounce it, but I’m sure I have it all wrong. I think it means radish light. It’s really more of a turnip though… I think. Anyway – it’s all about this traditional harvest holiday where kids parade through town with hollowed out turnips. Some towns really go to town and have huge floats and displays all made out of illuminated turnips. We went to a town accross the lake on Saturday and saw a charming small town version. It was very dark. Just lots of kids coming down the street holding open flames. The weather was pleasantly cool and there was a band that filled up the old square with music. Then tonight Bea had a little Rabeliechtle celebration at her playgroup. The kids and parents walked around a bit and stopped at an old folks home to sing songs. So we’ve experienced another Swiss tradition. I carved my first Rabeliechtli. And we enjoyed the feeling of learning about something that is so familiar to the people around us and so very new to us. 

Here’s a photo that our friend took. I didn’t really get any good photos but those last ones show Bea with her new Welsh friend Owain. They are thick as theives.