Faces: People, Places, and Cultures articles from October 2008

Faces: People, Places, and Cultures archives from October 2008

Mystery photo?
October 1, 2008... Mmmm... what is this? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Answer to Mystery Photo on inside front cover: Wheels you can eat! Better not put these on your bicycle--these round objects are all cheese.

What images come to mind when you hear the name "Switzerland"? Do you think of Saint Bernard rescue dogs, mountains, Heidi, snow, or Swiss cheese? Here are five fun facts about Switzerland to get you started on your journey.(High 5)(Country overview)
October 1, 2008... 1 Surrounded by Others on Four Sides Switzerland might be twice the size of New Jersey, but unlike our state, this mountainous country is nowhere near the ocean. To the north and west, France and Germany form the border. To the east and...

Switzerland.(At a Glance)(Country overview)
October 1, 2008... Official Name: Swiss Confederation Location: Switzerland is landlocked in central Europe, east of France, north of Italy, west of Austria and Leichtenstein, and south of Germany. Area: 15,940 square miles (41,284 square km) ...

A gallant goat: the chamois.(Critter Corner)
October 1, 2008... Steep cliffs, craggy rocks, hardly any vegetation--and lots of ice and snow. This is the world of the high Swiss mountains. You might think animals couldn't survive here. But bring along your binoculars and you might catch a glimpse of a famous...

A glimpse of Switzerland.(Country overview)
October 1, 2008... Dinosaur fossils, palm trees, and glaciers--would you believe you could find them all nestled in the small country of Switzerland? With an area of 15,940 square miles, it is about twice the size of New Jersey. But this relatively small land is...

It's about time.
October 1, 2008... A ban on jewelry in the 1500s helped make Switzerland a center for watch- and clock-making. In 1541, a religious reformer named John Calvin introduced Calvinism to Switzerland. This religious doctrine emphasized God over all other things and...

Swiss sports: won't get much sleep during a sled-bed race! The Swiss know how to enjoy their winters--the sillier, the better.
October 1, 2008... Switzerland's beautiful surroundings and fresh, clean air make it the perfect place to take part in outdoor sports. Many of the games played in Switzerland would be familiar to you. Tennis, check. Soccer, check. Hornussen... wait. What's that?...

Dear Tommy ...(e-Pals)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Our New Jersey pal, Tommy, continued along his e-mail trail to Switzerland for this issue of FACES. He saw some silly statistics from siblings in Switzerland, starting with sentence one. Can you guess what? You'll...

The Matterhorn.
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] What would you say if I told you that Switzerland's most famous peak, the Matterhorn, really came from Africa? How did a part of Africa travel thousands of miles? Almost 90 million years ago, the African...

Multilingual.
October 1, 2008... What do die Schweiz, la Suisse, la Svizzera, and Svizra have in common? They all mean "Switzerland"--in German, French, Italian, and Romansch, its four national languages. Like the melted blend of cheeses in a Swiss fondue, the languages of...

What a Saint.(Saint Bernard)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Emergency! Imagine yourself trapped in snow. Your body temperature drops dangerously. You lose consciousness. Then heat begins to radiate through you. You awake to--ugh!--dog breath. You have just been saved by a...

Swiss cheese ... more than just holes!
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Big Cheese A family watches cheese being made in the Saint Gallen Rhine Valley, eastern Switzerland. When someone mentions Switzerland, what's the first thing you you think of? Mountains? Heidi and her herds...

Home of the world's greatest chocolate lovers.
October 1, 2008... Chocolate bars, chocolate cake, hot cocoa... you might think that Americans eat a lot of chocolate, considering that the average person in the United States eats 12 pounds a year, but if you lived in Switzerland that average would be a...

As solid as a Swiss bank.
October 1, 2008... Think your sock drawer is a safe place for your money? While the hiding spot may keep it out of your little brother's hands, it's not nearly as safe and secure as a Swiss bank account. A stable and healthy economy, privacy, and safety are the...

Growing up in Switzerland: meet the Meier Schlegel kids--two boys and a girl growing up in rural Switzerland.
October 1, 2008... We are Julia, 14, and Samuel, 12. Our family also includes our little brother, Donat, who is 8, our mother, Cornelia, and our father, Georg. Our mother is a physical therapist. She works four days a week. On the other hand, Georg is...

The culture of Heidi.
October 1, 2008... Pictures a beautiful valley in the Swiss Alps. complete with perfect blue skies, lush green pastures, and picturesque herds of goats. Now imagine a young girl walking through this scene hand-in-hand with her kindly grandfather. Does the name...

Swiss cheese mountains.
October 1, 2008... Are you ready to travel at 250 miles per hour some 1.5 miles beneath the surface of a mountain? If so. you'll be excited to learn that sometime soon after 2016 you will be able to. Of course, first you will have to get to Switzerland--the land...

The Swiss Federal Express.
October 1, 2008... At the young age of 27. Roger Federer is already poised to go down in the tennis record books as one of the all-time greats. Some have predicted he will be among the greatest who have ever played this sport, Who would have ever thought so?...

Color is life.
October 1, 2008... Do you have a favorite color or colors? Do your friends like the same colors? Chances are that you each love different colors. Color preferences are personal, because reactions to color are subjective. Johannes (yo-HAHN-is) Itten (1888-1967), a...

Lauterbrunnen: valley of waterfalls and lace.
October 1, 2008... Do you think J.R.R. Tolkien's Misty Mountains are just fantasy? Then you have never been to the Interlaken District of Switzerland. Tolkien visited the region as a teenager and based his masterpiece The Hobbit on this magical, enchanting land....

Ask Faces!
October 1, 2008... Here is your chance to send us your questions about people, places, and cultures from all over the world. Each month, our experts will answer several questions from readers like you. Want to know where the world's highest mountain is Iocated?...

Face facts.(Cartoon)
October 1, 2008... Onions of all shapes and sizes are the focus of the annual Bern Onion Market held on the fourth Monday of November. Vendors sell soups, breads, and even crafts featuring the fragrant vegetable at this festival, which is one of the country's...

The alphorn: a play based on a Swiss Folktale.(Play)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Cast of Characters: Narrator 1. Narrator 2. Narrator 3. Hans. Frieda, Giant. Musician. Hunter Narrator 1: Hans. a herdsman who tended cows. lived in a neat and tidy chalet in the Alps. A bunch of edelweiss...

Alberto Giacometti: space viewed differently.(Art Connection)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Alberto Giacometti is one of Switzerland's greatest artists. Distorting the human form is not a new style of art. In fact, Giacometti was influenced by Egyptian art when he was a young man. Do you see any similarities between Giacometti's...

The Frozen Waterfall.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... The Frozen Waterfall by Gaye Hicyilmaz [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Frozen Waterfall is Gaye Hicyilmaz's eye-opening tale of a Turkish family's migration from their quaint seaside village to a modern, bustling metropolis in the...

Say what?
October 1, 2008... from April FACES: Go Green! "Does this fur make me look fat?"--Logan M. "You didn't just see that, okay?"--Cassidy W. "Can't I have some privacy?"--Jordan E. "I'm just practicing my gymnastics."--Juliet [ILLUSTRATION...

Say what?(One Last Face)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Fill in the speech bubble for this photograph. The best entries will be published in an upcoming issue! Send your captions to facesmag@yahoo.com

Doggone dangerous!
October 1, 2008... Help the Saint Bernard find his way to the injured skier. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] illustrated by Brad Wuorinen Answer to Doggone Dangerous! on back cover: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]