A Taste of Switzerland
Reception organized by Swiss Consulate and Fletcher Students
J
ointly with the Swiss Consulate in Boston (Swissnex), six graduating Swiss students at The Fletcher School organized a reception on April 16. The “Get a Taste of Switzerland” event was a farewell gathering as well as an informational event regarding study possibilities and exchanges in Switzerland.
Students and faculty were received with a plentiful Swiss buffet, caringly prepared by the Swissbäkers, a Swiss couple that recently opened a catering service in Reading, a town north of Boston. Swiss rolls and bread, lean air-dried beef slices—Buendnerfleisch—an assortment of cheeses, a range of traditional pastries, and not to forget the Swiss chocolate, quelled everyone’s appetite.
In his opening remarks, Christoph Buehler, one of the driving student forces behind the event, thanked the Fletcher community for the high interest in the event, regardless whether this was due to the food or more genuine interest in Switzerland. Buehler drew attention to the close ties between The Fletcher School and Switzerland. For example, over 100 Fletcher alums currently live and work in Switzerland, while Fletcher also runs joint degree programs with the University of St. Gallen and an exchange program with the Graduate Institute in Geneva.Having been given the floor, Swiss Consul Pascal Marmier explained the specific focus of the Consulate in Boston, Swissnex. Unlike other consulates, Swissnex Boston’s mandate is to provide a forum of knowledge and information exchange among academia, industry and society in New England and Eastern Canada. The Consul underscored several events the Swiss Consulate had sponsored at Fletcher. In the spring of 2008, he participated in a panel on Public Diplomacy, while in September 2008, the Consulate also organized a visit to Fletcher by Louis Palmer, a Swiss school teacher who has been crossing the Middle East in his self-constructed solar car.
Jacqueline Gasser-Beck, the Advisor on Education and Academic Affairs at Swissnex, presented the Consulate’s role to promote academic exchange among students in U.S. and Swiss universities. She encouraged students to explore Swiss universities’ graduate programs and their possibilities to do study-abroad programs in U.S. universities. “I hope you will now all visit Switzerland,” she concluded.
Christina Alfirev F09