The Perpetual Tourist in search of a Swiss Role by Paul N. Bilton ISBN: 3-9520002-3-X Price: CHF 26.00 184 pages, paperback, with 20 illustrations by the author The entertaining and light-hearted diary of an Englishman married to a Swiss, who decides to live and work in Zurich. Cultural values of the Swiss and the British have never been compared with such wit and insight. Paul Bilton's diary tells about the pleasures and pitfalls of cross-cultural adaptation.

Paul Bilton discovers the many different ways the world is viewed in Switzerland, attitudes about having a good time, getting a job and the qualifications for it, about queuing and meticulous attention to detail. He observes how Swiss vote, pay bills and taxes, what they celebrate and how they get along with each other. He is astonished and amused at what the Swiss worry about (almost everything) that most British people do not even think about. He is also shocked at what the Swiss do not worry about (real candles on Christmas trees, three-pin plugs and lifts with no inner doors). He laughs his way through most bureaucratic formalities and he relishes discussions in English with automatic cash dispensers.

"The Swiss even voted against a proposal to reduce the standard working week from forty-two hours. I am sure the British with the same system would vote themselves endless holidays and free beer on the National Health."

"Not that money is everything, but the number one worry of the average Briton is money, or rather the lack of it. However, the British do not seem to be too interested in doing much about it. It is no joke that the Swiss problem is not one of earning money, but their dilemma is finding the time to spend it."

"Swiss supermarkets devote considerable shelf space to their superior chocolate. In Britain chocolate is mainly for kids and metres of shelving are required to display the wide and exotic variety of crisps -- flavours that include sweet and sour pork, prawn cocktail, roast beef and curry."

"In Zurich the British tourists can often be heard on the trams because they are the only ones laughing. However, I have not found any differences between what the Swiss and the British laugh at. The British look for humour in everything, the Swiss are brought up not to expect it."

How does he cope with culture shock? He claims his appreciation of cultural diversity comes from being a perpetual tourist - being ever surprised and fascinated by things new and different from one's own land. "When life starts to get you down, try looking at the world with the surprise and joy that comes from being a tourist at heart. Never pondering too long. Certainly not worrying. Noticing the nice things and missing the nasty. Asking naive questions and being content with naive answers. Always discovering the new and the novel. Waking each day to a new adventure. Prepared to be spontaneous and unprepared to plan." That's a perpetual tourist in search of a Swiss role, with surprises at every turn.

A delightful diary of unconventional spectacles.

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Reviews of The Perpetual Tourist

The word 'tourist' usually conjures up ghastly visions of camera-toting travellers clad in shorts and sunglasses, off to discover far-away places already packed with other tourists. But this 'perpetual' tourist is a British writer married to a Swiss who decides to live and work in Switzerland. Paul Bilton's entertaining diary tells about the pleasures and pitfalls of cross-cultural adaptation.

Rather than be just another immigrant, he prefers to see himself as a perpetual tourist. He discovers the many different ways the world is viewed in Switzerland and finds adventure at every corner, fun in the everyday as well as the unexpected. He takes each new day with the surprise and joy of being fascinated by things that are new and different.

He treats bureaucratic formalities as a sport, finds a job without knowing the local lingo and is soon sorting his rubbish as religiously as any local. With wit and insight he delves into the social codes and political interests of the Swiss, keeping a diary to formulate explanations of cultural differences.

Twenty playful cartoons illustrate his observations, anecdotes and comparisons. His diary includes reports of his travels to other European countries as well as to the USA which enrich his Anglo-Swiss outlook on life.

He enjoys making fun of himself more than poking fun at others. In the process of discovering the cultural values of the Swiss, he inadvertently discovers his own cultural baggage that he brought with him from Britain. Writing his diary, without breast-pounding or pointing-fingers, helped him get through cultural adaptation without losing his sense of humour and without doting on the standard clichés about the Swiss.

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