Location: Interlaken, Switzerland

Published: World Hum

The two American college students eating breakfast at Balmer’s Herberge in Interlaken oozed a morning-after awkwardness that prompted me to perk up. I imagined the duo descending together from one of the maze-like hostel’s dormitories into the communal dining room, dutifully following the instructions at the buffet counter to “have your voucher ready and choose from muesli with fruit or continental breakfast.” “I like this muesli,” said the girl to the boy, more like a question than a comment, as if grasping for some sort of common ground in the harsh light of day.