Swiss Book Club

I enjoy being involved in clubs. Back home in Minnesota I belonged to several; some with very original names. One of my favorites was Thirsty Thursday, which consisted of several college friends getting together once a month to go out for a drink. We didn’t always meet on a Thursday, so I recall several times getting odd looks from people when they’d ask what my plans were that evening and I responded, ‘Thirsty Thursday’ when it was a Monday or other day of the week. Another of my favorites was FWOT MC, which stood for First Wednesday of the Month Club. This club consisted of me and my two dear friends, Allison and Jemma. We invented this club so that we would have a scheduled time to get together once we were no longer roommates. I’ve offered to host FWOT MC here in Switzerland; however, they haven’t been able to get away for an evening yet. The club that is most precious to me is my book club. This is a group that I have been a part of for a decade. Not only do these friends share reading as a common interest with me, they have been a constant source of support in my life.

My need for a group followed me to Switzerland. Last year I joined a women’s club for expats in Lausanne, but I haven’t done much with it. They offer a lot of different activities, but the times don’t often match my schedule now that I’m working. Although the women that I’ve met have been nice, the club tends to attract older women, so it hasn’t been a perfect fit. That’s why I am so excited that a few of my neighbors started a book club here in our town. We’ve only had a few meetings but already it is something I look forward to each month. Although it’s an English speaking group, we have quite a range of life experiences. Each month we meet at a cozy, little bar that is within walking distance for most of us. The highlight for me so far was when we invited the translator of the book, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, to our meeting and she came! She happened to live a few villages away from us. It was so interesting to hear her thoughts on the book, to learn the differences between French and American literature styles and also how the translating process works.

I think my Swiss book club is just what I needed to make Switzerland feel more like home.