Fasnachtsplakette

Not much has been going on this week to report- as of Friday the school is on holiday for two weeks and everything is winding down (in one lesson today we learnt about sushi and then made it; tomorrow I am giving a presentation on Hartlepool). Thing are gearing up in the city, though. A week on Monday is the first day of Basel's Fasnacht, or carnival. It's a big deal here.

The first Fasnachts curiosity I would like to present you are the Fasnachtsplakette. They're small badges that represent the theme of the year's carnival, and are made in various metals and sold to the public to raise money for the carnival. If you are wearing one during the carnival, I am told, then you are less likely to be covered in a bucket of confetti or have fruit thrown at you from one of the floats.

The theme this year is Zämme fägts, and (very) roughly translated it means that whilst each individual takes part in carnival, they also form part of the whole, hence them being shaped like a jigsaw piece. What a lovely image. According to this article in the Basler Zeitung, it can also be seen as a call to the governments of the two Basels or to the federal government, aimed at working together more. As this was published in December last year, they seem to be much better at political commentary than I am. It is also where I found the picture of the badges.

I have two pretty little badges on my shelf, waiting for carnival. They're also a nice souvenir.

More Fasnachts-tales will be winging your way over the next two weeks or so, even though the Penguin is off to the motherland on Friday.