Archive for November, 2008
Church in Lausanne
November 29th, 2008 by Doris
We thought it is going to be hard to find a Chinese church in Lausanne, but no harm to try to google it. “Chinese church in Lausanne” hou la there is one hit! It is only 2 stations away from Lausanne Flon. So, this morning we went. It is a small church with about 20 people (but normally with 40-50). It is a great feeling to be able to attend Sunday service again and not knowing why, I have a very strong feeling and my eyes were watery when I was singing during the praise and worship. Perhaps I am missing the praise and worship team back in Auckland?
It is very sad to know that not many people here go to church. Some of the church building needed to be “shut down” because it is not used. And that is also the reason that the government lend this building to the Chinese congregation to use for their Sunday service. There are only 7 Chinese churches (including fellowships) in Switzerland and this one in Lausanne is one of them. Here is the website: http://www.eccl.ch this church started as a bible study group and only recently they began their Sunday service. Many of them from the church are either running or working in a Chinese restaurant in Lausanne. As a new comer to the city and the church, we were overwhelmed with their friendliness, kindness and enthusiasm.
After Sunday service, we were invited to join them for lunch with their special speaker for that Sunday. I must apologized for my narrow minded thinking that majority of Chinese who run a Chinese restaurant in a foreign country would tend to live solely inside their own Chinese community. However, my concept has changed since I met them. Even though they are Chinese and running a Chinese restaurant, they fit in the Swiss community very well. When they invited us for lunch, we thought we could have some inexpensive Chinese food but turned out that we went to an Italian restaurant near the Olympic main office in Lausanne. They all could speak very well French (I don’t even know how to order!) and blended in with the Swiss culture very well. The lunch ended up to be way out of our budget but it was a great lunch (remember Switzerland is very expensive). We had salad, fries and moules (mussel) as starter; pizzas, 2 different kinds of pasta and risotto for main and coffee/desserts to follow (+ eau du no gaz and gaz – water costs here too!). They told us that they are not the “educated” bunch but for us they are well educated and opened minded. Also with their unique characters, they are involved in a great mission that is to go out to other Chinese restaurants in Switzerland as well as many other countries in the world to share the gospel with all the workers in Chinese restaurant. They understood better than anyone about the life restaurant workers and they wish very much that the others could have the hope and blessing they receive from God. What a coincidence that a group from the church together with others from other part of the Europe is actually leaving this Friday to Auckland, New Zealand for their “restaurant-gospel” mission.
Lausanne, Switzerland
November 25th, 2008 by Doris
We are finally here in Lausanne, Switzerland after a 12 hours flight from Hong Kong to Munich, an hour flight from Munich to Geneva and another half an hour on the train from Geneva to Lausanne. It was such a mission with all together 2 big backpacks, one big luggage which merely has a rice cooker, a blanket and couple jackets, 2 small hand suitcase (one of them filled with computer parts), a laptop, a camera bag (with camera of course) and 2 personal handbags. Ruth, Doris’s boss was very nice and came to pick us up from the train station with her 3.5 years old daughter (Laura). They took us to the apartment and showed us a bit of the city so that we were not too lost.
Although the studio is quite compact, it is a clean, nice and comfy place. As we entered the studio, we were so grateful that we don’t need to buy a bed! Basic cooking utilities are also already available. I (Doris) specially enjoy the big wardrobe although we haven’t got many clothes with us. Another great thing is no matter how cold outside, it is always warm inside the building. We even have the window open at night while we sleep as it was too warm with the blanket. We are considering moving to a bigger place but housing here is quite limited and expensive.
Switzerland is well known to be a very expensive country but we only felt it when we saw the price tag. Fresh meat and seafood are particularly expensive with up to 60CHF per kilo! Some vegetable are about the same price as in New Zealand, but some like broccoli and cauliflower are expensive with 2-5 CHF per kilo. It is interesting to find that everything is priced per kilo. So, we only looks for things are the light 
.
There is market in Lausanne city every Wednesday and Saturday. Even though we can speak nearly none French, we decided to fit into the culture by doing our grocery shopping in the market. It is such an experience and we managed to get carrot, onion, tomatoes, spinach and some vegetable!
After exploring the city for a week, we also find that there are couple supermarket sells things much cheaper than the other. So, we have decided those are the place we will be shopping atJ. We also find there are quite a few Chinese restaurants around but we don’t see many Asian on the road. We are still looking for a Chinese grocery stall so that we can get a bottle of Soy sauce although we managed to get proper Thailand rice from one of the supermarketJ.
Guess what! This morning when we got up, as we opened the window, it was snowing! How beautiful! We can also see the mountain covered with snow from far, it is just magnificent. We are planning to go and take some photos tomorrow (Sunday) as on Sunday, nothing is opened and most people stay home.