JustJess
Christmas was nearing day by day. Vevey was illuminated with colourful lights and shops were full of people. The covid-19 restrictions have loosened up. It almost felt like a normal stressful pre-Christmas time. And me? I still didn’t know if I would be coming home for the holidays or not.
Odds were slowly turning in my favour, when before the mid of December, the Czech Republic finally disappeared from Switzerland’s list of risk countries. That was good news. It would mean I could return to Switzerland without obligatory quarantine. But PCR tests in both countries were still necessary. That meant taking one test before leaving Switzerland and one after my return. At the time, PCR tests cost from 120-180 Francs, depending on the place. That was quite a bit of money for an Au-pair salary. Add the journey costs and some Christmas presents and I would be left with literally no money. At that point, I thought my trip back home was officially off the table.
But of course, it was still nagging me. There were many people in the facebook group of ‘Czech people in Switzerland’ discussing over and over the changing pandemic rules and travelling possibilities. It turned out that you could have taken the PCR test also after your arrival to the Czech Republic if you were travelling by car. If taking public transport, you need a PCR to board. That could have changed a lot for me because the price of the test in the Czech Republic was only around 35 Francs. So, if I would be able to find someone who would take me by car, I could go home.
I decided to put up an ad on the facebook group of ‘Czechs in Switzerland’, asking if someone is going home and would take me with them. If that would work out, there would be only one last matter to decide: ‘Was it worth it to risk catching covid-19 on the way and taking it home to my family?’ Or ‘Catching it home, after the arrival and risking the obligation of staying in quarantine in the Czech Republic thus complicating life of my host family who needed me back until a certain date?’
I so wanted to go but it didn’t seem worth the trouble. I didn’t know what to do and my family home was trying to discourage me. Just to keep me safe. I’ve been seriously losing my mind around this. There was a time when I loved to be spontaneous and make last minute decisions. But in 2020 everything had to be planned into the tiniest detail. I needed a negative covid test. My journey had to be in sync with the viability of the test. I had to fill up “Public Health Passenger Locator Form”. And so on and on. Each and every step felt lined and controlled. It felt like freedom which I have taken for granted disappeared.
At that point I practically prayed for the sign from above.
How shocked I was, when I actually got that sign.
Quite quickly I got an answer for my ad from a fellow Czech woman who was coming home by car the following weekend. She was searching for co-passengers. That itself couldn’t be viewed as a “heavenly sign” but the lady, Ivana, said she lived in a town called Kerzers. And to me there was something familiar about the name of that village. Then I realised.
That very morning, before receiving her message I took notice of a picture on the back of a guide through Swiss Romande, which I got as a present from my host mum. It was a coincidence – I don’t think I’ve ever seen that guide from the back side before, I usually study the insides. But that morning, it was laying innocently on the shelf, shoving its backside to me. In the picture was a commercial inviting people to a butterfly park – Papilliorama. And that park resides in Kerzers.
How big of a coincidence is it? That the day you take notice of an existence of a village, you never heard of before, a person from the same village writes to you that they can take you home? Well if that wasn’t my sign I didn’t know what else would be. Needless to say that I said yes. And I was due to leave Switzerland in just 5 days.
The preparations for my departure were hurried. I didn’t count on coming back, so I didn’t have a single Christmas present. I’ve spent my free day running around Vevey with the list of names and searching for things I could afford with my budget. Keychains, snifters, chocolate… everything possible with the Swiss flag on it. In general I truly hate Christmas shopping but I felt like I could not come back empty handed. In the end, I’ve burned two days and most of my budget on the Christmas gifts. But that was worth it. Letting your loved ones know that you remembered is always worth it.
We were due to leave on Sunday afternoon and for Saturday evening, my host family asked me out for dinner, to celebrate Christmas a bit. They took me out to a fondue restaurant, because I haven’t had a fondue since I came to Switzerland. That was, in the country of cheese, seen as a great misfortune.
The restaurant they reserved table in is called “Les 3 sifflets” (The three whistles). It is quite a small space and it was packed with people even with all the covid restrictions. I can imagine that without the omnipresent plexiglass it would be jam-packed. But that’s what restaurants in this part of Switzerland usually are – head on head.
The family ordered a fondue and I quickly found out why they chose this place. Every time the restaurant serves fondue the waiters and waitresses come in costumes, with Swiss flag in hands and a giant pepper grinder over the shoulder. At first I was surprised and then, everytime after it brought a smile to my face. Everyone knew the fondue was coming, because a special tune started echoing the place a few seconds before the fondue squad came in. When we got our fondue and the parade came to us, they put a special metal template on our fondue pot and grinded some pepper in it with that giant pepper grinder. And that’s how we ended up with a Swiss cross made of pepper on our fondue.
I must say that it was a very original experience. Even stronger than the fondue itself and that’s something. Because fondue “moitie-moitie” of Gruyère cheese has a really strong taste and even stronger smell. My host mum always says that she hates doing fondue at home, because the smell is everywhere and it is impossible to air.
After the fondue came a desert and I was prompted to try something typical for the region. ‘Meringues à la double crème’. It is a meringue with a heavy cream similar to mascarpone, but softer. With the sweet taste of the meringue it goes really perfectly. I fell in love.
I also got a gift from the host family. An amazing one. A book of photos of Lake Geneva (Léman, Bien plus qu’un lac). They really couldn’t have chosen a better gift because I love books and this one will always remind me of the places I fell in love with. When I’m gone one day. I decided to take it with me back home to show to everyone. To share my happiness of the place I live in. Of the luck I had with my host family.
Then, before I even realised it was Sunday mid-day and I was heading to Lausanne and then to Bern to meet my transport. I was excited and nervous at the same time. Excited because I love being on a way and I was heading home. Nervous because I’m not used to driving long distances on the highway and we agreed on taking turns while driving. I also felt a little guilty because I was leaving Jo behind. She didn’t have the luck to come home for holidays and she had to stay with the host family where she didn’t feel welcomed. But I really needed to go.
Here is what I noted to my diary on my way from Lausanne to Bern:
There is one thing about myself I never understood. Why do I feel so good while on a train? Everytime the train slides through a turn I feel strangely calm and placed. Maybe being on a train is like a comparison to the way I am walking through my own life. Those are the moments, I know I am moving on. But it’s not just about moving from point A to point B. It’s like the journey itself is a phase of life. A closed part. A bit like in a vacuum. When I am on a train, the world around me freezes. Time stops. Like I am in my own world, forced to slow down and reflect. And while my subconsciousness is completely balanced I also feel excitement. Because on a new journey I never know what’s gonna appear behind the window. I might catch a glimpse of something I’ve never seen before. These outlooks are making me incredibly happy and all the time leaves me fascinated by the beauty of mother nature and the size of the human spirit.
My transport lady turned out to be the same age as me and she travelled with her dog. A Jack Russel terrier named Jessie. We started talking about our lives and we quickly opened ourselves to one another. Even when the paths of our lives went through completely different ways, there is something common about our mindset and life experiences. I wonder if it has to do something with the fact that we both grew up in the Czech Republic of the nineties.
On the way we had a few more stops. Ivana was also a transport for some Christmas presents of other Czechs in Switzerland. She took the things they wanted to get to their families and didn’t have the opportunity to do it themselves because of the covid-19. The car was full before we even reached Zurich, where we took one more passenger. All these stops caused us to cross Swiss borders after 6 PM and we knew we were up for a long long night.
During the way we talked a lot. I learnt that Ivana works with horses and it allowed her to travel the world. She worked in Australia, New Zealand, England and now for a few years in Switzerland. I was quite surprised to learn that a job in this field offered so many opportunities. I would have ever imagined that. But I guess it is quite logical. Horses are everywhere and if you can take good care of them, you can do it anywhere around the world.
Crossing the Czech border was a funny business. At Rozvadov (the crossing point between CR and Deutschland) we immediately headed to the gas station, to get the toll sticker. To our surprise they didn’t have any. It was almost the end of the year so they were out of stock and the new online system to buy them was only for the stickers valid from the new year. The shop assistant told us that none of their shops on the highway have any, so we should try gas stations of other brands. That’s how we ended up riding the highway without a stamp until Prague. We simply couldn’t get one even when we stopped at four gas stations. Our response to this whole situation was funny: “Oh yes, now we know we are in the Czech Republic.”
The way from Prague home was the hardest. It was midnight and I took the wheel, because Ivana had to drive another two hours after dropping me home. It was hard to concentrate on the highway because it was surprisingly not as full of holes as I remember. So nothing much to keep me awake. But everything went smoothly and around 2 AM I was finally home. Cuddling my dog into unconsciousness.
The funny thing was that only my father knew I was coming so when I video-called my mother in the morning (she lives in a different place) and I had our family dog by my side she told me: “I knew you were coming! I knew it! I fell asleep so late because I thought you were going to call me to pick you up somewhere!” So I don’t know how, but her motherly radar worked out even when I denied that I would be coming at all.
I spent an amazing week and a half in the Czech Republic. I visited all the family, some friends and before I knew it, I was back on a bus to Switzerland. I realised for the first time that holiday time can be quite hectic, when you have all these errands to run and people you want to see. I must admit, that in the end I left the Czech Republic more tired than I came. And without covid-19. It was so worth it.
