Friday, April 2,
1982
Went to the
Chinese restaurant in the old town with Jong-Soon. As we walked, she questioned
me as to why I would not marry a Swiss man! Oh, goodness! We arrived at Restaurant
Bourg (as it is called on the outside) and ordered tea, a beef omelette and
curried chicken. The curry sauce was nice and spicy hot. The rice was dry and
didn’t stick together. Our waitress was Vietnamese and used German. An American
fellow with a guitar and his son came in to sing a few songs. Jong-Soon wanted
to know where the mother was! Oh, goodness! They passed a cup and I put in a 50
centime coin, and noticed there were only 5 centime coins in the cup. Later the
manager came to talk to us, since we were both “Asians.” He was from Macau and
was in Bern 2-1/2 years before coming to Biel 5 years ago. He seemed like a
nice, but awfully young fellow. He said we should drop by anytime and gave us
cards with a phone number.
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| Chinese restaurant card |
During his free time he would be happy to drive us
newcomers around to get to know Biel. From the card we learned the name of the
restaurant is actually Tschung Wa. A drunk man peeked in the window and blew a
kiss to Jong-Soon. Susanne E and her husband arrived at the restaurant for
dinner as we left about 21:45. Jong-Soon wanted to walk in the city but I felt
uncomfortable as we got the lookover from all the men. I guess Jong-Soon would
welcome any opportunity to meet people! When we returned to the Personalhaus/staff residence at 22:30, Jong-Soon was
going right to bed in order to get up by 10:00!
Saturday, April
3, 1982
I allowed myself
to sleep in until 9:00 and was ready to go with my coat on at 10:00 when
Jong-Soon came knocking at my door. She seemed surprised to see I was ready,
and ran to her room to blow dry her hair. We left at 10:15 and I was wearing my
usual jeans and ski jacket, carrying my canvas tote bag. Jong-Soon wore low
heels, a skirt and a suede jacket, carrying her purse and a book about Jesus. I
noticed how Jong-Soon really stared at people. She also has this thing about
femininity, and she likes that Swiss women are always well-dressed and wear
make-up, as opposed to German women who were “frech.” (Which literally means
fresh, impudent or brazen, but Jong-Soon uses it to mean something like a
slob.). Jong-Soon had on a lot of make-up, so she must be Swiss and I must be
“frech!”
We got the 10:40
train to Bern (I bought a half-price round trip ticket for 6.50 CHF$3.25),
arriving at 11:18. Since Jong-Soon hadn’t had breakfast, she got a processed
hamburger at the station snack bar. We made our way to the Casino for the Ostereiermärit/Easter Egg Market. I was
expecting an open air market, but we entered the Casino and paid a 3 CHF/$1.50
admission fee, and entered the lobby of an elegant theater.
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| Easter Egg Market program |
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| Easter Egg Market program |
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| Easter Egg Market program |
We were directed
upstairs past a table selling ceramic bunnies and chicks. At the top of the
stairs were a few more tables, one selling the eggshells of hen, duck, goose,
and a couple ostrich eggs. Another had dyed eggs with the silhouettes of plant
materials and one had baked goods of bread bunnies and chicks. There was a
table of supplies to decorate eggs and one with books about decorating eggs, as
well as Easter or bunny stories. Finally a table with polished rock and mineral
eggs. But wait! We entered a huge hall with balconies and chandeliers. The room
was full of displays and we started around the outside wall to see showcases of
the prize-winning decorated eggs for this year, and the past two years. The
variety of methods and the intricacy of the decorations were amazing! There was
a collection of 350 Ukrainian eggs grouped according to the localities they
were made. Each area had its own distinctive style, but generally they were
colorful and in geometric designs. A table of classical and modern ceramic egg
holders, some looked like shallow candle sticks, and there were pairs and
groupings of a half dozen or so. In the other foyer of the hall were displays
of decorated eggs with many of the artists working at their craft. Many of these
were selling their eggs. I started pricing eggs I liked, and figured I would be
able to buy one or two, not many more! The center of the hall had another ring
of tables with artists displaying their wares. There must have been about 60
decorators and about half as many styles. Eggs dipped in wax with designs or
pictures etched in, watercolor painting, pen and ink, acrylics, etc. Geometric
patterns, Swiss scenery, flowers, etc. Designs using pieces of straw and thin
colored string. Hungarian and Ukrainian, and “naïve” styles. Some had fine
intricate scissor-cutting paper designs applied to them. There were even eggs
that had been perforated or filigreed with cut-outs, and some with cut-outs
that were inverted! Batik eggs, eggs with plants shellacked onto them. There
were some that had realistic drawings to make it look like a safety pin was
through the egg, or had stitches across an imaginary crack. Some were
decoupaged or were open to reveal pictures glued inside. One man had carefully
carved designs on just the surface of the egg and a lady tatted thread designs
to put on her eggs, and another was macramé-ing thread for hers. One technique
was to dip a egg in a swirl of colors and I bought one of these marmorierte/marbled eggs for 18 CHF/$9.
I also bought an etched egg for 28 CHF/$14. There were also wooden, etched
glass, and ceramic eggs. It was all so marvelous!
The
concert was to begin at 20:00 and we arrived a few minutes before that when
they were still setting up chairs in the cafeteria/auditorium. There were about
25 people in the audience when a group of boys came out in regular clothes to
play loud unfamiliar music and sing in dialect. More people trickled in, as they
banged away with a drummer, bass and lead guitarists, and a synthesizer. At one
point we lost the bass player and he wandered around until the sound engineer
went to tell him he was unplugged! The serious audience politely applauded each
number. Some Arab guy came to talk to me and Jong-Soon in Japanese! Jong-Soon had been very
eager to do something this evening, but I guess she didn’t realize what we were
getting into. She wanted to leave after the first band (Sopwith Camel?) was
done, and I was very agreeable! The next group (Train?) was dressed in white
shirts and black pants and ties. We left at 21:10, and had to climb the hill
next to the funicular, then make our way to the train station. Took the 21:43
train to Biel, arriving at 22:10.
At 13:00 we went
to a Merkur restaurant for lunch and I had lasagna and a Sprite and Jong-Soon
had liver and vegetables with an alcohol-free beer. We went window shopping as
I looked for a poster of an Alpine panorama, since the poster shop was closed.
I lost Jong-Soon several times as she stopped at jewelry stores to look at
wedding rings! Jong-Soon wanted to buy a handbag and we went to a department
store. Jong-Soon found a bag she absolutely loved, in the children’s
department; a Holly Hobbie carry-all bag. A group of clowns went by with a
musical triangle and a concertina to advertise a children’s show. Jong-Soon
wanted to go, but soon forgot about it. I really needed to find something for
my brother David, and was perusing flea market stalls while Jong-Soon sat down
for coffee. Once the stores started closing we went to a Gfeller café for
coffee. A Peace demonstration walked by and I saw signs with “El Salvador” and
“Pologne/Poland.”
We went to a
restroom where Jong-Soon tried on a hairband she bought, and admired her
handbag in the mirror. I noticed that Jong-Soon looks into every mirror she
passes.
We wandered back
to the station, stopping to listen to street musicians. After listening to two
kids play a piece on violins, I heard someone next to me exclaim, “Bravo!” I
turned to look and it was Mary Q! She recognized me but couldn’t remember
from where. She accepted that I had taken the Baby Course from her in New York
last June! Such a small world! She had to get home with her groceries, but gave
us some tourist-y advice. Jong-Soon wanted to sit and rest her feet, so we
found a bench to sit in the warm sun. Jong-Soon began going through her
purchases, a hairband, hair combs, a toothbrush, and the handbag. Suddenly Mary
appeared! She felt guilty for leaving us and invited us to tea. We caught a
tram that took us to Mary’s car that she parked half way into town. It was an
Austin built for use in a foreign country (she and the car are British) with
left-hand steering, and it had unusual seatbelts. “Like on SwissAir,” said
Mary. But I have never been on SwissAir! Mary’s apartment was in a tall building next to a huge woodsy park with a playground and
sheep enclosure. Mary lives on the 13th floor, so we took the uneven
elevator (goes to the uneven numbered floors). We were shown a view of the
Inselspital/Island Hospital, before entering the crowded and cluttered apartment. Cluttered in
a nice way with books and more books. Mary jokes it is a student’s apartment.
She sat us down to listen to a Fisherfolk record album. Jong-Soon appreciated
the songs about Jesus. Mary came out with a nice tea set from Finland, left by
a sub-letter who was from Finland. We had English tea, little cookies, and an
Irish fruit cake. Mary put on a Brahms record, but the conversation was still
about God. We had been talking about Rosie S (who took the same Baby Course and
had been sub-letting Mary’s apartment herself for a while), and the name Huemoz
came up and Jong-Soon brightened up. Mary told the story of l’Abri and the
pastor Francis Schaeffer, an American, who came to Switzerland because God
told him to, although he did not know why. Through his children he came to lead
youth group discussions, and kept having to have a bigger house to keep the
youths who would stay to help out doing small jobs. l’Abri/shelter has grown
into a large evangelical Christian movement with many branches. Then Mary told
about Anne B and Mary P and how through prayer and God they got an old
chalet in Huemoz to open a home for children with handicaps. (NB. I interviewed
with Mary P to work at this home in 1980, but decided not to take the job.)
Mary insisted we
needed to do something that evening and perused the Bern newspaper. There was a
rock concert at the youth hostel, so she gave us a couple pears, the rest of
the cookies, and drove us to the top of the Marzilibahn funicular at 19:50. The
funicular seemed to be closed, so we walked down which only took a minute or
so. Found the youth hostel a couple blocks away and bought 5 CHF/$2.50 tickets
at the door and had our hands stamped with “Rock and Roll Bar, Train.” |
| Rock concert ticket |
Sunday, April 4,
1982
I slept in until
9:30. Went to church to see what they gave out on Palm Sunday. St Maria
Immaculata gave out olive branches, and the Protestant church gave out holly
branches. I bought fresh chocolates from Progin (since they are closed on
Mondays) and spent the rest of the day packing, cleaning, and washing clothes.
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