Have a good “slide” into 2015!

My dear Reader,

it’s finally time for the usual greetings, wishes, messages for a happy new year!

I said “usual”, because they are traditionally the same messages, the same best wishes…But I suddenly realized that this is not the case in Switzerland!

Normally, around this time of the year, at the end of a year, everyone wishes everyone to have a good, healthy, successful, happy, joyful, etc. etc. new year. Basically, you wish your friends a better year than the one which is just fading.

But in the Confederation, in these days, absolutely before the 1st of January, they proudly wish you “en guete Rutsch is 2015”, which is something like “have a good slide into 2015”!

So in Switzerland you slide into a new year…Of course: in December it’s normally full of snow and so what can you do but sliding? Seen like that, it doesn’t seem so optimistic to me. You don’t just walk into the new year, you slide…i.e. you go down into the new year (you easily slide from a higher point into a lower point). Is this meaning the new year will be lower (worse) than the previous one, to let you slide into it?

Fortunately Switzerland is also the country where Albert Einstein, the genial developer of the theory of relativity, spent a significant part of his life! So I like to think that the famous “slide” wishes they use here in the Confederation shall not be seen as a slide towards something lower, worse than the current status.

But rather, thanks to Mr Einstein, everything is relative! Therefore the good slide into 2015 is to be seen as a smooth transition into a better year: you can actually slide from a lower point into a higher point!

My best wishes for a great slide into 2015 and a very successful walk through the new year!