gorgeous, but not particularly deep

While watching hiking videos last night, I stumbled upon this American chica:

She's absolutely gorgeous, but one gets the feeling that she knows how gorgeous she is (how can she not?), hence all the "I'm so beautiful!" camera angles. I did like her positive, youthful outlook as she was traveling through Switzerland, but after a while, I got tired of the repetitive "This is so unreal"s and "This is like a dream"s. One Swiss commenter humorously wrote that he takes his country for granted, so it's weird to witness foreigners' gaga reactions to it.

I actually think the Swiss as a whole do not take what they have for granted, and this jealous attitude toward their own soil is part of what motivates the Swiss to be polite but standoffish, and not particularly receptive to, say, immigrants (I wrote about this years and years ago, back in the halcyon days of 2007). The Swiss know they've got it good, which is why they treasure their political neutrality and aren't exactly thrilled about sharing their lovely landscapes and resources with outsiders. Un peuple renfermé, as I've heard them described by certain French folks: a closed-off people. Terrain at least partially determines culture.

Anyway, Elena's video does provide some beautiful shots of Switzerland, a country I wouldn't mind moving to. Alas, Elena perpetuates the myth that Switzerland is hellishly expensive, but old veterans will tell you that it's possible to get around for cheap if you're willing to make certain sacrifices, e.g., get your food from farmers' markets and groceries instead of at restaurants, and use the ubiquitous Kampingplätze instead of staying at hotels and hostels. I don't know what the best workaround might be for expensive internet access, unless it's to switch your phone to "airplane" mode and siphon off whatever Wi-Fi is available. (I use my own Wi-Fi device, which stood me in good stead while I was in France for two weeks in 2018.)

So Elena comes off as very beautiful and very positive, but not particularly deep. I can see she's a bit of a party animal, which makes my introverted self cringe, and even my long-gone thirty-year-old self wouldn't be attracted to someone like Elena except only superficially. She's young, she's going on many adventures while she can, and I don't begrudge her a thing. I just hope she gains a bit of depth with age so that she can really appreciate what she's seeing, tasting, and otherwise experiencing. She could start by learning some French and German.

ADDENDUM: she has a financial-advice video here in which she sounds more grounded and pragmatic. She's debt-free at age 23, which I applaud. Maybe I should revise my admittedly low estimation of her wisdom. Then again, she did think Switzerland was expensive, which means she's not the financial whiz she makes herself out to be.