Ticking Along Too edited by Dianne Dicks ISBN: 3952000213, Price: CHF 27.80, 208 pages See also Ticking Along with the Swiss | Home Page | Reviews | Contents | Order Form | This is the follow-up collection of stories to Ticking Along with the Swiss , with personal experiences of authors of different nationalities. Their stories are a mix of social commentary, warm admiration and observations of getting along with friends, neighbors and business partners when living in a German-speaking country as a foreigner. Easy to understand, this book is also enjoyed by Europeans who are learning English.

Note that the individual stories are separately available for republication.

Review

Ticking Along Too is a follow-up collection to Ticking Along with the Swiss. These are not travel guides per se, a fact that Dianne Dicks readily concedes in her introduction to the second volume, but in spite of the light tone that many of the stories take, they go deeper than a road map - they are a mix of social commentary, warm admiration tempered by criticism, observations of national or local character traits. Most of the stories are about what it is like for a non-Swiss to live in Switzerland, not just visit for a week or two.

Many are humorous, most examine cultural differences, and some are even bold enough to suggest that there may be a dark side to the Swiss. One author even goes so far as to say, "Switzerland works better as an idea than it does as a nation. The picture of the nation presented for outsiders, and tirelessly promoted by the Swiss Naitonal Tourist Office, is that of a unified, peaceful, neutral, wealthy land filled with bucolic cowherds on spectacular Alps. Insiders know better." But the same writer, a nonresident American who speaks Swiss-German, admits he finds himself drawn back to Switzerland repeatedly.

Despite the criticism, which is mostly mild and predictably similar throughout the stories, it is important to remember that the contributors who live in Switzerland (most do) are there by choice.

Many of the contributors describe lengthy, often unfinished assimilation processes as they struggle with Swiss-German dialects, cope with nosy neighbors, leave bicycles unlocked, experience an automatic restroom faucet for the first time, attempt to make a name change, try to explain away expired bicycle license plates to an unsmiling policeman, search for an apartment, watch their children become bilingual, or observe, as the editor does, that "good business deals have often influenced the logic of the Swiss."

Contributors to the book originated in the United States, England, South Africa, Japan, Iraq, Canada, Jamaica, the Czech Republic as well as Switzerland. Contributors' occupations are an eclectic mix, although heavy on the English-teacher side: translator, homemaker, pastor, retiree, museum curator, writer, businessman, performer, and painter/sculptor. The chapters contributed by people who work as writers are usually, but not always the best-written pieces; in one way or another, everyone has something to say about Switzerland.

review by Craig Little from SWISS AMERICAN REVIEW, New York.

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