Zmorgä is Swiss-German word for Breakfast. Literally translates to "Zum Morgen" or "To/For the Morning". Other similar meal terms are: Znüni (Coffee @ 9AM), Zmittag (Lunch), Zvieri (Snack @ 4PM) and Znacht (Dinner).
A weekday Zmorgä is usually very quick and typically taken between 6:30 - 7:30 AM - depending on when one leaves home for work/school. It's on the weekends that the humble weekday Zmorgä takes on a rather elaborate and almost festive look and feel.
So when i see an Ad in the local Church Pamphlet for a Saturday Ladies Zmorgä, i think to myself that this might be a good meet and greet opportunity with the local women of Seelisberg. At 8:55AM, i'm sitting with 11 other women in the Restaurant Träumli.
The women are all curious who this new dark-skinned woman at the table is... A couple i know already, and before we begin, as is the Swiss-tradition, we shake hands with everyone in the group. I try to memorise all the names - (Ursula, Beatrix, Sylvia, Greth, Thesi, Luzia, Monika, Monika Wipfli, Andrea, Nadja and Sonja), hoping there's no quiz at the end of the brunch!
The President of the Frauengemeinschaft tells me that she will send me the required forms to fill in so that i could officially be a member of the Verein (Club). They usually have a year round Programm with hikes, group outings, christmas decorations etc.. and I'm always up for something new..
Time flies by quickly when one is talking and eating (Muesli, Gipfeli, Zopf, Butter, Cheese, Jams, Tea, Fruits et al.) I'm surprised to learn that one of the women had run the NY Marathon a few years back. She's still in awe of New York and can hardly believe that i used to live an hour away from NY city but decided to move here in a small Swiss village of 800 people. I tell her - i can barely stand NY city for a few hours - here in the peace and quiet, i could live forever...
Each to their own.
We say "Prost" with a round of Apéro before we wish each other "Schönes Wochenende" and get on with the rest of our Saturday, just the way we would like to...
