From what I could gather from the dental hygienist, or, as she referred to herself, DH, as a result of having grown up with fluoride in the water, I now have to contend with slightly discoloured teeth. The Swiss do not put fluoride in their water. Interestingly, after both the 'sand blasting' and scraping of my teeth came not only the expected polishing, but also a little wipe-down of all the teeth with a fluoride-soaked bit of gauze. I was then instructed to neither eat, nor drink for the next hour to maximize the effect of the fluoride.
Although the teeth-cleaning was a bit stressful, (I hadn't had to deal with dental 'power tools' before, and the whine in one's ear can be quite piercing) I felt very well taken care of at Swiss Smile. The DH spoke dialect initially, and, when I indicated that I could not well understand her, she switched into Hochdeutsch, then, after not catching one specific word she'd said, she thought it best to switch into English. I quickly disabused her of that idea, by saying how I'd really prefer to speak German. I then conceded that it would be all right if she'd like to speak English, but that I'd be responding in German. Danke schoen.
At one point the DH asked if I'd already been in Zuerich for two years. That was her guess, really. I responded with, 'two weeks'. Then, in German, I said, 'That's why I'm so keen to speak German with you.' Grosses Laecheln!
SS is relatively expensive, but worth it.
PS: 'DH' sounds too much like 'BH' and that makes me think of boobies.
SS is relatively expensive, but worth it.
PS: 'DH' sounds too much like 'BH' and that makes me think of boobies.
ugh I can't stand the dentist. That's awesome you're do so well with your language. I'm getting lost, which one are you working on?
ReplyDeleteGerman. :) Although I was at a language school today, and the advice lady suggested I start on Swiss German. I mentioned that I wouldn't be ready for that quite yet. Let's learn to walk before we run, you know?
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