A Dreikönigstag Crown

My Swiss Boyfriend becomes King for the day and gets good luck for the year.

 

On Three Kings Day, or Dreikönigstag, whoever finds the little king in the Dreikönigskuchen wins the crown and a year's good luck. Last year it was me, this year it was my Swiss Boyfriend. I didn't mind because I didn't even have to pose him to get a photo for the blog.

Below: snow falls onto my Swiss Boyfriend in Bern.

This is the last of the winter posts for now!

Christmas Pudding

Above: My Swiss Boyfriend had never eaten Christmas pudding before, and was not too sure what to do with it.

Okay, I did a Christmas-related post a week ago, but Christmas celebrations go on forever in Switzerland and I've got quite a backlog of pictures.

2009 was my Swiss Boyfriend's first English Christmas and all his relatives wanted to know was, "Have you eaten Christmas pudding yet?" So we took this picture to reassure them.

A Duck and a Crow

 Above: My Swiss Boyfriend invokes the spirit of birdhood using my brother's silver rubber duck.

Below: He is rewarded by having a crow put on him. Spectators are amazed.

A Schmutzli Costume

Above: Schmutzli makes his entrance, summoned perhaps by the glowing tub of holy Vitalite.

In Switzerland, Santa Claus - known as Samichlaus - arrives on the 6th of December to give out oranges, nuts and chocolate to the good children. He is not alone, though, but accompanied by the sinister figure of Schmutzli. Schmutzli is dirty, dressed in rags and will beat the children if they have been bad - or even spirit them away in his sack.

Schmutzli and Samichlaus share a joke.

This year my Swiss Boyfriend and I staged a Samichlaus celebration for our friends. I played the good cop and he was the bad cop. Needless to say, this involved putting lots of stuff on him.

Bonus: If you want more Swiss Christmas traditions, I also found this video on the Klausjagen (St Nicholas chase) that takes place in Kuessnacht on the night before Samichlaus.

Yes, this was a Christmas-themed post in the middle of March...

A Fetching Earring

Above: what happens when wine and Christmas crackers mix. I think my Swiss Boyfriend looks like a sleazy record producer here.

Tiny Tiny Paper Boats

I can't believe he made this little things with his big hands!

Protective Corners

My Swiss Boyfriend was so taken by the protective cardboard corners on the frame I had just bought (seen above him) that of course they had to go on his head.

AVAST

 Above: My Swiss boyfriend reverts back to his ancestral pirating past. This is how history and genetics work.

There has been something of a delay in updating this blog, but it is now at an end! I have a whole file of Things on my Swiss boyfriend and am about to set up some entries to be posted automatically.

These are from the summer.

Above: the vagaries of Swiss national identity being what they are, my boyfriends genes also spent some time as a bandit of some kind.

Swiss National Day!

Above: A bottle of SWISS SYNERGETIC DRINK on my Swiss Boyfriend. Below: My Swiss Boyfriend savours the delightful aroma of SWISS SYNERGETIC DRINK.



I have lots of photos to catch up with posting here, since apparently I haven't updated for the last four months - but they can wait, since for the moment I am in Switzerland with my Swiss Boyfriend and it is, moreover, Swiss National Day. To celebrate the country that gave me this wonderful plinth for putting stuff on, here is an appropriate picture.

As you can see, these photos come with a new bonus: there is now a Beard on my Swiss Boyfriend!

Here is another bonus picture:



Above: My Swiss Boyfriend with his lunch on his head, in Bern.