Reporting for Duty- All the way from Switzerland

[Que]

Hi Guys,

I'm Max. I'm from Switzerland and I've been struggling with my weight and fitness for years.

Right now I weigh about 100kg (at least that's what the scales tell me) and this needs to come down to a healthy weight for my height (1.78cm or so). Sorry for the metric units, but I'm not really proficient in your strange units.

I've recently purchased a Roadbike and plan on doing between 100-200km per week, in 3 portions. This past week I fell short by about 10km, albeit it was more the fault of my friend's bike breaking down.

I'm still working on my masterplan. The general idea is, to be down to a 32 waist in a year. (Right now I'm between 36/38).

Sorry for any errors in my English, it's been a while.

Greetings from Switzerland,

Que.

[Kain]

Greetings! Glad to see a Swiss on here. My relatives are swiss/german. (The First Brenneman was exiled out of Germania). One of my life goals is to get a drink from a St. Bernard's barrel. Might sound silly/stereotypical but it is a goal.

Anyways, welcome aboard.

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

Welcome to the Rebellion! Don't worry about the "strange" non-metric units, as there are a lot of people from outside of the USA here (and, as nerds, many of us are competent in metric).

[zielperson]

Welcome!

My name is zielperson ..err.. Marcus and I am also from Switzerland. (Zurich, to be more precise)

As for the measurements, just plug "100kg in lbs" into google and you get the answer.

::zielperson::

[Dantes]

Never ever apologise for using metric units.

The US is archaic in its refusal to change...

Also welcome aboard.

One thing you should note about pants... a 32 waist does not mean you are able to fit 32 pants.

I can "fit" 30" pants on the waist but usually need at least a 34 or 36 to fit around the quads.

Just something to keep in mind and cycling builds awesome quads

[Que]

Dantes, let's just say, that at the moment the fit of my trousers is not restricted by my quads.

Zielperson: Schön auch einen Schweizer hier zu sehen. Auch wenn du Zürcher bist.

[thescrawnycaveman]

Que, I wish I could speak Swiss.

Welcome to the forums! And, you probably get this a lot from stupid Americans (reporting for duty) but, just how awesome is it living in Switzerland? I've always wanted to go there, seems like an amazing place.

Also, to help lose weight, strength train like a beast. If you are done with a work out and you don't feel like you just busted down a large brick wall, you didn't lift enough weight.

[zielperson]

Dantes, let's just say, that at the moment the fit of my trousers is not restricted by my quads.

Zielperson: Schön auch einen Schweizer hier zu sehen. Auch wenn du Zürcher bist.

Even worse, I am a German. Only living in Zürich (or close by - Dübendorf).

Let the hate tirade begin.

(For the uninformed - there are some animosities of a lot of Swiss against Germans)

::zielperson::

[Dantes]

The fit of your trousers are a temporary phenomenon,

Also, what's wrong with Zurich?

Kind of curious about this animosity between the swiss and germans here as well.

[zielperson]

LOL

Zurich folk have a reputation in Switzerland as being "uppity and arrogant" - being the largest and one of the richest cities does not help that.

The whole Germans/Swiss sentiment is waaay too convoluted to explain.

The Germans often are seen as being "uppity and arrogant" (heh) and rude (Germans are much, much more direct in their speech).

A badly translated (and exaggerated) example, when ordering a drink:

German: "Ich kriege eine Cola, bitte." --> "I will get a coke, please." (The "please" part is often left out in Germany, this is being a polite tourist)

Swiss: "Könnte ich bitte eine Cola bekommen, falls möglich?" --> "Would it be possible for me the get a coke, please?"

So far, I never had real trouble here in Switzerland. Co-workers and friends often make jokes about this whole thing, though.

Funny thing is that I find people rude when I am back in Germany now, too. (and I still do the "bull in a china shop" impression in Switzerland)

::zielperson::

[Dantes]

Come to New Zealand then

We're fairly relaxed here.

However, Good manners should be encouraged!

That could mainly be due to culture differences correct.

A stereotype could simply be applied simply due to a larger proportion of Germans visiting Switzerland due to geographical proximity.

On a side note.

I was waiting for an extremely convoluted answer going back centuries to when some Duke accidentally spoke unpleasantly to a poor austrian farmgirl who happened to have swiss parents.

[zielperson]

Yeah, nothing as convoluted as that.

Funny thing is that being a polite German (in Germany), you'd still be considered rude here.

On the other hand, a lot of Swiss like this clarity when working with Germans. It can be a hassle getting to the core of a problem with Swiss people.

::zielperson::

[Dantes]

Oh, I have no problem with calling a spade a spade.

I just find it interesting when different cultures think that something is rude even when the other person does not.

/

In the interests of further disrupting the thread, is it just the rudeness that is an issue?

[Que]

Quite nicely put, Zielperson.

Also a big influence is the xenophobia of some Swiss people, but that's another topic entirely.

The "culture-clash" of Switzerland vs Germany isn't that big, if you compare Switzerland to Bavaria and Baden-Würtemberg. But the difference between Switzerland and Saxonia can be quite big.

And no, not just the rudeness is an issue. Some people also feel threatened. I guess you could compare it to USA vs Mexico.

[Dantes]

That makes more sense.

Anyway, Welcome aboard

[MegaCarp]

Welcome aboard man...1.78 cm...so a short squatty dude.. Nah i knew what you meant. Good luck

[Que]

Yeah, heightwise I drew the short straw.

But what I lack in height I make up in other areas.