Translation for those of you who don’t speak German: Heidi and the Goats. Story to come later in this post. I haven’t updated in awhile because I have been out of town for the past week, so I have a lot to tell! Last Tuesday night I went to Nyon to celebrate my friend Anusha’s birthday with a bunch of other people from the program. It’s nice that there are only 27 of us, because I feel like I know everyone at least decently well. We had a great time, and it was really my first time going out with a large group since I arrived in Switzerland. It’s funny, because I later discovered that some people initially thought that “the party scene just wasn’t my thing,” because I spent the first few days in Switzerland sleeping off jetlag… They quickly realized that they were wrong, and needless to say we have been having a grand old time since then.
Wednesday morning I got up early and had a nice breakfast with Martine before leaving for Bern. We had delicious bread and cheese and yogurt and muesli—a very Swiss breakfast! The train ride to Bern was only 1 hour 40 minutes, and I spent most of it listening to my iPod and looking out the window. One of my favorite parts of the trip is at the end of Lac Léman when the train goes up high above some of the vineyards and you can see the water shimmering down below and the Alps rising up dramatically across the lake…it never gets old. When we arrived in Bern, I got lunch with Kaity and Alice, and then we wandered around the Old Town before our guided tour at 2. Bern is very interesting because it is the capital of Switzerland, yet it is very small, quiet, down-to-earth, and feels nothing like an international capital. The Old Town is actually a UNESCO world heritage site because it looks much the way it did in the 18th century. Oh, and there are 4 live bears that are kept in an enclosure by the river, because bears are the symbol of Bern (like they are in New Bern, NC!) Sadly the weather was cloudy, so my pictures are not as pretty as they could have been. Our tour guide was funny because she was always worried about being exactly on time and making sure we didn’t lose anyone…oh Switzerland, I felt like a 5-year-old being led around, but the tour was interesting. The giant clock with the rooster is really cool, and on the hour it chimes and the little statues do different things. The Münster is also really pretty, even though a lot of the decorations were removed during the Reformation and have since been restored. The view of the river in Bern is beautiful, and on clear days you can see the huge, snowy Alps in the background.
The Alps are the view in the other direction :)
Some of us decided to get Thai food for dinner, which was more expensive than America but comparable to all the other food in Bern, so it was worth it for a spicy food fix! It was weird seeing a Thai menu written in German and hearing Thai people speaking German… I guess it’s no different than Thai people moving to America and speaking English, but it felt strange! After dinner we had a little wine and then headed to the bar/restaurant next to the bear pen. We had some delicious beer that is made in a brewery right below the restaurant, and Sara met a Romanian boy who turned out to be a little bit of a stalker. We didn’t stay out too late, because we had classes early the next morning.
Kaity and me trying the beer at the bear restaurant!
Thursday morning we had three briefings/lectures: one about being a diplomat for Switzerland, one about the military, and one that I can’t remember because it wasn’t memorable! The first two were very good though, and I especially enjoyed hearing about the reasoning behind (and implementation of) Switzerland’s neutrality. It would NEVER work in the United States, but I can understand why it’s a good policy for Switzerland. After lunch we were free to explore, and my favorite thing was going to see the bears. There are 4 of them: a mother, father, and two babies. The father is in a separate enclosure though, because papa bears in the wild don’t stay with their families. By the end of the afternoon, we were very much in need of naps and showers. A large group of my friends wanted Indian food for dinner, but Kaity and I decided to try traditional Swiss-German food instead. We headed back to the restaurant by the bear pit and ordered Spätzli and beer. It was DELICIOUS. After that we met up with a bunch of other people to go to a bar/club called “Propeller.” All I can say is that it was SO MUCH FUN. We met a lot of Swiss-German people (all boys, because I swear there are WAY more boys than girls here!), and it was interesting talking to them and hearing about Bern. A few of them were in the army (and in uniform!), so that was cool. We stayed out a lot later than expected and were exhausted the next day, but it was worth it. So many funny stories and good memories.
Kaity and me with Sven, one of our new army friends
Friday a group of us headed to Luzern for the weekend. I stayed two nights with 3 other girls, and a group of 5 girls only stayed Friday night. My friend Sara’s friend Matt, who is studying abroad in St. Gallen, came to visit us Friday night, so it was nice to meet someone new. Friday night all 10 of us went out for Italian food…I ordered gnocchi and it was delicious! Back at the hostel we had the interesting experience of meeting people from all over the place: Israel, Canada, California, etc. and then went out to a British bar for the rest of the evening. Unfortunately the weather was bad on Saturday, but since we had already bought our passes to go up to the top of Mount Pilatus we decided to go anyway. After getting a delicious breakfast at a street market/fair, we took the bus to the nearby town of Kriens and took GONDOLAS up to the top of the mountain. Sadly the clouds made it nearly impossible to see the view, but it was still really cool. There is a restaurant/gift shop complex on top of Mt. Pilatus that is similar to the one at the Jungfraujoch, but Mt. Pilatus is not covered in snow yet because it is only 7,000 ft tall. There is a nice hotel up there, though! It was actually kind of fun walking around in the fog and catching glimpses of the view whenever we could…not as good as a clear day, but still an experience. Before taking the cogwheel down the other side of the mountain, we decided to get hot drinks at the restaurant inside. To make a long story short, we ended up meeting a group of Swiss-German guys who played the ACORDION for us, sang traditional drinking songs, and played cards with us. They didn’t speak much English, but we were able to communicate in a combination of French and regular German. They started laughing at me and calling me Heidi because of my blonde French braids…they kept pointing and saying, “Heidi! Heidi and the goats!” My friends figured that THEY must be the goats and were not too pleased. I asked “Heidi Klum?” but no, they meant Heidi as in yodeling Heidi. Funny.
Thomas and me ("Heidi")
Sidra, Sara, Melinda, and I ended up taking the cogwheel down the mountain with two of the guys, Mike and Thomas. Mike gives helicopter tours to tourists on the weekend, and Thomas is (I think) someone who keeps cows? We took that to mean “cowboy,” and he thought that was funny. He is also apparently a wrestler, but who knows if that is true. Anyway, it was really cool to speak to them in a mixture of three languages and hear about their lives. Unfortunately my ears were popping the entire way down the mountain because the cogwheel moves so quickly, but it was better at the bottom. When the 4 of us got back to the hostel we slept for 2 HOURS, until I woke up at 8:30 and said we all needed to get dinner before going to sleep for the night. We ended up finding a little traditional Swiss restaurant called “Stübli,” which I think is the Swiss-German word for pub. Our chef was a little old man who I’m pretty sure was drunk, because he was sitting outside drinking with his friends when we arrived, and he messed up a couple of the orders. I got fondue with hot tea, Sara got soup, and the other two got Rösti. All around a delicious meal! We even got a picture with our chef, who wore a Switzerland hat and held a Swiss flag. Priceless.
Us in "Stübli" with our chef
Sunday morning we woke up rested after a good night’s sleep (finally). Sidra had read about a really cool military museum in the nearby town of Stanssad, so we decided to go see it before heading back to Geneva. It was SO COOL. The museum used to be a military fort/bunker that was built at the beginning of World War II and used until the end of the Cold War, when it was turned into a museum. I was amazed at the intricate system of passageways, chambers, hidden arsenals, weapons that could shoot up to 12 km, etc….and all of it INSIDE A MOUNTAIN. The Swiss really are amazing, and it’s crazy to think that all of these military measures are just a precaution! No wonder no one ever wants to invade Switzerland.
Sidra, Melinda, and me inside one of the many chambers in the bunker
Last night I had the opportunity to go to a Swiss Military concert with Martine, and I’m so glad that I did! The concert was in Gland, at a theater/auditorium in one of the schools. There were a lot of people there, mostly elderly people but a few my age. Apparently in Switzerland there are two military bands (“fanfares”): one for French Switzerland and one for German Switzerland. This one was the French one, obviously, and it was the brass band (trombones, trumpets, bassoons, tubas, etc.) and percussion. It is very difficult to become a member, and the musicians have to take all sorts of tests that are very competitive. The show opened with the “drumline,” which was AWESOME. The drums were wooden, not metal, which added to the authenticity. The Swiss flag was hanging on stage for the entire concert, and the second song was the Swiss national anthem. It kind of reminded me of that scene from the Sound of Music when Captain von Trapp plays Edelweiss hahaha. The show lasted a little more than 2 hours, and I loved it. It's interesting to note the differences between the American and Swiss militaries. In fact, Switzerland is really a militia because EVERY male is required to serve. Very different from America, and I guess very old-fashioned, but it sure seems to work for such a small country.
All in all, the past week has been AWESOME. I've become better friends with a lot of other people in the program, and honestly I LOVE studying abroad with such a small group, because you really do know everyone. It's impossible to best friends with 26 people, but it's definitely possible to be pretty close with everyone. I can't believe I have already been here for a month...time is FLYING.
miss & love you more than ever!
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