New Year's Resolution

My one and only New Year's Resolution  is to update my blog more often. I've been busy, and I know I've been bad at blogging on a regular basis (or at all). Hopefully you can make it part of your new year to look past my slacking and keep reading! 

Swiss Holiday- week 2

At the beginning of the next week, my host mother and I left early Monday morning in the car for Gstadd, where we left the car, and took the bus up into the mountains. Taking the bus from the small town of Gstadd to the hiking trails, was quite a swiss experience. Firstly, the bus was going so fast, on windy roads one lane wide-but meant for two lanes of traffic, that we were whipping around corners and I was afraid of falling off the edge of the mountains were were circling! "The Post" bus is a bright yellow bus run by the post office here (go figure) and it is known for a) running all through the countryside, and b) It's horn. For example, on the sharp turns where it is impossible to see cars coming from the other direction,  the bus toots it's obnoxiously out of tune arpeggio of a horn. DADADA-DADADA. Ahhh the peace and queit of the mountains ...then...DADADA.

 Secondly, we were stopped in a couple "traffic jams" in the tiny mountain villages. But not like you'd think. During the summer, the cows live up in the alps and wear big bells so they don't get lost behind a mountain or anything. Every Fall, the farmers have to bring them down from the alps and in some towns they have a big parade for this event. But heading into the mountains on the bus, the tiny village streets were filled with little children, no more than 8 or 10 years old, leading herds of cows through the streets on their way to the farm! I was amazed that the  kids could handle herding that many cows, and that they were allowed/ given that responsibility! It was very picturesque having little bond haired kids running through the streets herding a group of bell wearing cows. It definitely showed me a more traditional side of Swiss life!

Once we got up in the mountains and started hiking, we reached a pretty little lake nestled between the mountains where we stopped for a picnic and then continued hiking for another couple hours until we got to Gstadd. Gtadd is located in the famous ‘Berner Oberland’, an area where the government enforces laws demanding that all buildings have to be made out of wood, and in the traditional style. This makes for beautiful scenery, and I felt like I was walking in an earlier time! On our way to my host grandmother’s cottage, we stopped to pick up some groceries for our stay. My host mother said, “Do you like lamb?”. Although I was adverse to the thought of eating a cute little lamb while back in Canada, I am trying to be open and try new foods here, so I replied, “I have never had it, but I’d be willing to try!”. I was quite surprised when she told me, “Yes you have. We had it for supper a couple of weeks ago. I guess that means you’re okay with it!”. It makes me question a lot of what I have been eating and not asking about for the past couple months!

With no clocks, and a body exhausted from hours of hiking, I thought I was making a good effort to stay up until an acceptable 10:00pm, but it turns out I’m not so good at judging the time by sun/stars and went to bed at 8:00 the night before. So the next day, I woke up in the mountains, comfortably wrapped in layers of blankets (it’s a lot colder in the mountains) and very well rested. That day, my host mother and I took the train through the alps to Montreux- a largish city in the French part of Switzerland. From there, we took a boat (not unlike the Halifax ferry) to a castle called “Chateau Chillon”. This was the second part my host family’s gift to me! They knew I had never been to a castle before, so they took me to one of the most well known ones in the country!  We rented headsets (one in German, one in English) and set off on our tour of the castle. 

Sections of the castle are thousands of years old, and have been built, and rebuilt, abandoned, and stolen by kings and lords of different time periods and different nationalities.  The water that surrounds the castle looked so bright and almost tropical! From the castle’s tower we had an amazing view of the lake, and the French alps on the other side! All in all, I had an absolutely amazing “first castle” experience, and it was so nice of my host family to take me!

On our third day in Gstadd, my host mother and I took a ski lift up onto a mountain, and did some serious hiking. Despite my sore bum from Monday’s hike, I was keen and ready for another day in the alps. We climbed (not hiked-climbed. It was steep) up a nearby hill and I tried to capture the beautiful view on my camera (as always, it’s never quite the same) and then continued on our way. From here on out, we were walking mostly downhill. How hard could it be?! … a lot harder than I thought! We took one of the more advanced trails, but even so, by the end of the day, the back of my legs felt like jelly, and I decided to walk behind my host mother so that she wouldn’t see me holding my legs as we walked. I thought I was in decent shape, but I have never done anything like mountain hiking before! I have so much more respect for all the retired Swiss people who hike on a regular basis! After we stopped to stock up on “Alp Cheese” and other alp specialties, we left Gstadd and drove back home. My legs were happy to have the rest, but I was just a little bit sad to be leaving Gstadd, which really was paradise in the mountains, and it was a nice escape from the busy city life. 

Swiss Holiday- week 1

Although I have been here two months, I've had only two weeks of Swiss school so far! The first three weeks I was here, I was in a special language school, then I went to school for two weeks, had my social work week in the swamps, and then comes a three week vacation! Coming from Canada where snowstorms are the longest holiday of the year, the Swiss school system is a little different! Here they have one week of volunteering/social work, and then three weeks  break in October. So basically, I ended up having a month of no school.   

I spent my break discovering Switzerland. What better time to see the the country that I am living in for the year?  I made day trips with other exchange students and with my host family. 

Danielle and I in Konstanz

Danielle, (from saskatchewan) and I started off our vacation by making a day trip to Thun/Interlaken which was pretty, but tourist filled.

And the next day we went to Konstanz, which lies on the Bodensee lake and is on the border between Switzerland and Germany. We were stunned and amazed at the difference in prices between Germany and Switzerland! Even with the difference between the Swiss Frank and the Euro, things cost half as much in Germany! Needless to say, we took the opportunity to do a little shopping in Konstanz.

Me in front of Jungfrau mountain

For my birthday, my host family very generously gave me a home made "coupon" for a trip up Schilthorn mountain, and to Chateau Chillion. So later in my first week of vacation, my host mother took me to Schilthorn! It was a two hour train ride, then a series of different buses and special mountain trains before we arrived at the base of the mountain, and then we had to take four different gondolas before we reached the top! The whole was the view was very scenic, and the whole travel experience was an adventure! My host mom said that we came to Schilthorn because it had the best view of Jungfrau, Eiger, and Monch mountains- three of the most famous in Switzerland! Schilthorn is also famous for being the site where the 1969 James Bond "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"  was filmed. Rita and I ate our swiss cheese sandwiches while sitting on the rocks, looking out over the mountains. Afterwords, we went up the the rotating restaurant and sat down for a tea. The mountains and mountains in all direction as far as I could see were absolutely breathtaking,  and certainly different than  the gentle rolling hills of PEI!

  

Danielle and I met up on the weekend to go to Aarau's annual Fall Market. It was already chilly out, but we got to sample some great food (wood fired pizza, cheeses, crepes...YUM) and it is always nice to be out in Aarau. When everyone is out in the streets talking and chatting, it really reminds me of market day in Charlottetown!

My Week in the Swamps- an unforgettable 18th

At my school, all of the second year classes (there are four grades in highschool) have a "Soziale Woche" which translates to 'Social Week' but is really more about community service. Each class travels together and is given a place to stay, and a task to do for the week.

My class and I were sent to "Wengimoos" a kind of swamp/moor area near Bern to help a local farmer. We stayed in an old army base that had a hostel-like set up for sleeping, as well as our own kitchen and eating area. We took turns being part of the "kitchen team" which exempted us from a morning of field work, in exchange for cooking meals for the group that day.

We were woken for breakfast at 7:30 and left at 8:30 by bicycle, so that we were working by 9:00. In the swamps, we had pitchforks and linen sheets (brought from home) which we used to rake dried hay into piles, then shovel it into the sheets, and carry the full sheets across the field into one big pile. Although it wasn't too complicated, the work was tiring! By the time the kitchen team arrived with sandwiches for lunch, we were all more than ready for a break! And when we finished at 4:30, the half hour bike ride home (of course, all uphill) seemed like an almost unbearable thought! After we all made it back to homebase, we showered, ate, and then played cards for most of the evening!

Monday was my group's turn to cook, so I was saved from the swamp that morning, which also happened to be my birthday! That evening they sang happy birthday and we had birthday cake which some of my classmates had baked at home! Working in the rainy swamps and birthday cake with my whole class sure made for an unforgettable birthday!

Of course it wasn't hard work all week, we had Wednesday free, so we all took a train into nearby Bern and spent the day! It was my first time really getting to see Bern and I loved it! The parliament building, and national bank very regally overlook the river, the market had lots to offer, and the shopping was great!

By the time the week was finished, I ended up working only Monday afternoon, and all day Tuesday and Thursday (Friday was our cleaning and travelling day). I felt I definitely moved forward on my German because I was continually questioning my classmates as we worked! I had a lot of fun with my class, and they are all great people to spend a week with! I understood -some- of what they said, and guessed the rest. Overall, my week in the swamps was a great experience both because I got to experience Swiss farming, and because I really enjoyed bonding with my classmates!

Coming soon, to a blog near you

Sorry to keep you in suspense (is it too much to assume you're sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for my blog postings?), but I haven't yet had a chance to write anything about my week in the swamps! You might ask, "Why doesn't she just do it now instead of apologizing/promising ?". Answer: Sleep. I take my sleeping very seriously here in Switzerland (German is a lot harder when I'm tired) and I have to get up early tomorrow morning!

So I had a great week working with my class, and I am now a week and a half into my three week school break! Tomorrow morning I am going to my host family's cottage in the mountains, with my host mother, and I will return on Wednesday all set to tell you about the swamp and about my first week off!

In the meantime, I will leave you with a picture of my week. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Photos

This blogging site isn't the greatest for uploading large numbers of photos, but I have started a facebook album. I changed the setting so that you don't have to be my friend on facebook to see the pictures, but I'm not sure, you might still have to sign up for a facebook account. In case you're interested, here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150754203745162.726334.597035161&l=4ca7f75a72&type=1

It's official

After a month of practice, I can ride my bike between the bus station and my house with no hands. There's a catch. I can only do this if my school books are in the basket on the back of my bike for balance. The Swiss have so many bicycles, that I think there are more bicycles than cars!