Two weeks of chaos!

Wow the last 2 weeks will go down in history as two of the most exhilarating and exhausting weeks of my life.  I have met so many amazing people from all over the world and have already traveled to two beautiful cities in Switzerland.  Here is a recap of my last two weeks (prepare yourselves for another lengthy one):

Tuesday, February 9th: Last day before orientation.  I went for a nice long run up the mountain (in the neighbourhood by my school), people are definitely not short for cash here.  At 7pm I went to a drop-in volleyball session for St Gallen students.  It was really fun to meet some Swiss students and get to play volleyball again.  I went the following week as well and plan on making this a weekly occurrence.  There is a student who plays on a local team who is the 'trainer' and he puts us through some drills and then we play for about half an hour at the end.  It's co-ed and there is a wide range of skills but it's really fun to be able to enjoy the sport of volleyball in a really casual setting with no expectations (and being able to impress people with my unexpected skills).

Wednesday, February 10th: First day of orientation.  After a brief welcoming speak all of the students with previous knowledge of German took a placement test while the beginners went on a campus tour.  I was really excited when I read the first question and knew the answer...until I realized that it was just an easy example question.  That question pretty much represented the extent of my German knowledge, so let's just say the rest of the test did not go very well.  Once we had all finished the test we went on a campus tour, which took about 15 minutes (not much to see at a school with 5000 people).  After the tour everyone was breaking off to go back to their places and their was a frenzy of getting each other's names and phone numbers so that we could all hang out in the evening.  When there was a lack of suggestions for what to do I may have suggested we have a party at our apartment :)  So I am proud to say that on the first night of exchange we hosted the first exchange party! Not a bad way to start off the exchange experience.

Thursday, February 11th: German classes commenced.  Our teacher spoke only in German with us and everyone seemed to understand...except for me.  When I went to speak to her at the end of class to tell her that I had only taken four months of German she said that the pre-intermediate class was probably too advanced for me but that beginners would be too easy...ok perfect.  She recommended that I stay in the class because it would be more of a challenge.  In the evening we had our first orientation event...what's an orientation week without a bowling night right?  Our group had 4 guys and 4 girls and after playing one game of bowling we decided to make things more interesting.  Up to this point the girls hadn't been playing very well but the guys had shown some pretty impressive bowling skills.  They challenged us to the following: the guys would bowl backwards and the girls would bowl forwards and whichever team lost would buy the other team beer.  Turns out us girls were holding back because half way through the game, after we had bowled about 6 strikes and a couple spares we let the guys start bowling forwards again but it was too late for them to make a comeback.  Victory has never gone down so smoothly ;)



Enjoying some Schnitzel after bowling night.  Fasnachts celebrations are going on behind us.  Throughout the week of Fasnachts celebrations there are constantly marching bands playing and people dressed up in crazy costumes everywhere.  Definitely an exciting welcome to St Gallen!






Friday, February 12th: Another day of German classes was followed by a city tour of St Gallen.  It's a really beautiful city and I appreciate it so much more after hearing the origins and meanings of some of the buildings and statues.  At night, a local Swiss guy who lives with 2 of the Canadian girls was DJing at a local club.  We hosted the pre-party at our apartment (the parties are always on the first floor and I live on the second floor so it's quite convenient for me) and then we had a fun night at the club.

Saturday, February 13th:  Possibly one of the BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE!!! We met at the train station at 7am for a day trip planned by the BuddySystem.  The two hour bus ride to Lucerne was extremely subdued since everyone was catching up on the sleep they had missed out on the night before.  We arrived in Lucerne and had a lovely city tour before stopping at a bakery/chocolaterie for lunch (my dream destination!).  We then hopped back on the bus and traveled to the tiny village of Engelberg which is situated at the bottom of Mt. Titlis.  It took 3 gondolas to get to the top of the over 3000m mountain.  We took tons of pictures at the top and spent time frolicking in the snow.  We then took one gondola down and enjoyed some time at the mid-mountain chalet.  They had traditional Swiss music playing and everyone was lying in the sun relaxing.  The Swiss definitely know how to live the dream.  We enjoyed some Gluhwein (mulled wine - soooo delicious) in the sun for a while.

After taking the next gondola down we arrived at the sledging.  Now, I'm not sure if we have sledging in Canada, but if we don't that is the first thing I am going to suggest we start upon my return.  A sledge is like a toboggan with blades on the bottom.  At Mt Titlis you ride your sledge down a 3.5km track at about 30km/h, passing by incredible views and occasionally crashing.  It was literally one of the best things I have ever done and we are currently looking into going on a day trip to a mountain that has a 7km track!




Preparing for sledging!

                
At the bottom of Mt Titlis (it's to the right of the photo)

At the top of Mt Titlis










Sunday, February 14th: Finally a day with some time to relax!  I slept in until 2:30pm after such an exhausting day on Saturday.  At 4pm we took a bus to a local skating rink and rented skates.  I have never had so much fun skating!  Seeing all of the Brazilians try to skate is something I will never forget.  At one point, after moving from the outdoor rink to the indoor rink one of the Brazilians asked me why his ears were stinging. I proceeded to explain that that is the feeling you get when your ears were really cold and then they start warming up.  It's so weird to think that people have never felt that sensation before!

Monday, February 15th:  Another day of German classes.  The highlight of the day was definitely our fondue dinner though!  We arrived at a big fondue house and were provided with an unlimited amount of bread, cheese and wine.  Needless to say it got quite lively.  I was sitting at a table with a bunch of Swedes and they taught us a traditional Swedish drinking song which is sung while standing on chairs.  I kept the lyrics that they wrote out for us and plan on teaching the ladies of 338 Brock St upon my return to Kingston in the fall :)  

The rest of the week continued with more German classes during the day and social activities at night!  It was quite an exhausting week and I was almost glad to know that school would be starting soon so that I would have more time to rest.

Saturday, February 20th:  Myself and two of my friends (Swedish and Finnish girls) decided to take the morning train to Zurich for a day trip.  We spent the afternoon shopping and although we didn't have time for museums we figured out where they were so that we could find them next time we go.  We went into a big Lutheran church which I found quite interesting.  It was very different from all of the Catholic churches that I have visited.  There is an elevated pulpit at the side of the church that the minister has to climb up some stairs to get into.  The design of the church was much less extravagant than Catholic churches; I found its simplicity quite beautiful.  In the evening we went to see the movie 'Up in the Air' before taking the train back to St Gallen.                      The Lutheran church we visited >

Sunday, February 21st:  I spent the day doing laundry, picking my courses and cleaning my room.

Monday, February 22nd:  Went to my first class!  I attended European and International Energy Law.  The professor was quite good and I found the class very interesting but I think I am going to have to drop it because it doesn't transfer back to my school as a commerce class.  At night, myself, my new roommate and two other girls that I have become good friends with, all went to a pizza place for dinner and then went to the student bar called 'Meeting Point'.  It's a casual place for students to go after classes and isn't too far from my apartment which is nice.

Tuesday, February 23rd:  Today I went to a class called The Function of Games in English and American Culture.  I loved it!  There seems to be a lot of reading for the class but all of the articles look really interesting and the professor is great.  He gave us a brief description of his research, which is mainly focused on linguistics.  More specifically he is interested in pragmatics, which is the meaning of words in certain contexts; for example the words "I do" are much more significant in some contexts than others.  I loved hearing about his research and am planning on asking him more about it throughout the semester.  My afternoon class, Strategic Management, doesn't start until the second week of March but I think I'll enjoy that course as well.  I spent my free afternoon in bed because I am sick :(  I had planned on going to play volleyball tonight but instead I'm going to stay home and recover because tomorrow night we get to meet our Swiss buddies and I am hoping to feel much better by then.

Next up on the agenda: This weekend I'm traveling to either Lyon or Amsterdam. I have a friend studying in Lyon who I might go visit or I might join a group of friends who are going to Amsterdam for a couple of days.  Then March 9th-14th I'm visiting Vienna and Prague with Aliza (who is currently studying in Istanbul).  Should  be a good couple of weeks!

Congratulations! If you have reached this point in my blog post you officially know way too many details about my life haha.  This blog is like a journal for me to reflect on my experiences so I may ramble a bit too much but I hope you find some enjoyment in reading my tales!  Love you all lots and I appreciate all the e-mails and facebook messages. I'm sorry if it is taking me a while to respond but at least now you know why!

P.S. in case you are wondering my roommates are great and I have lots of friends haha

Taking candy from a baby

<- View on my way to school

So I'll try to catch you up on my first couple of days in St Gallen.  First of all our plane was delayed for 3 hours! We taxied around the airport for about an hour and then we had to de-ice the plane (for which we waited in line for about 20 minutes), then we got back in line to depart.  They turned on the engines to takeoff, we moved about 5 meters, and then the engines became quiet again and we started taxiing away from the takeoff lane.  Now folks, for someone who has never been to Europe and is excited to get into the air, this is like taking candy from a baby!  The pilot came on to the announcements saying that the navigational equipment wasn't working properly and that we would have to get a new computer on board.  So we returned to our original gate to get that problem fixed.  By the time we had a new computer on board we had to get back in line to de-ice and finally, 3 hours after our departure time we were airborne.

The rest of the flight went seamlessly.  I had two seats to myself next to the window so I was able to spread out and get a couple of hours of sleep. The plane food wasn't too terrible and I even had a glass of white wine to accompany my dinner.  As the plane was landing two Indian women were singing prayer songs which was interesting.  As we gradually descended through the clouds I had expected to see the great metropolis of Zurich sprawled across rolling hills beneath me...instead there was farmland and a few clusters of houses.  Turns out you don't actually fly over Zurich to get to the Zurich airport.  When we got to the baggage claim there was an exact time for how long our luggage would take to arrive (9 minutes!).  We were already becoming aware of how efficient Switzerland would be.

We took the train from the airport to St Gallen.  Unfortunately the train doesn't pass through Zurich either so I  still have yet to catch a glimpse of the city.  There was four of us traveling together from Queen's and one of our friends who was already in St Gallen met us at the train station.  The rest of the day consisted of lugging our way-too-over packed luggage around St Gallen to find our apartments and a trip to the school to get our keys and welcome packages.

Our first night in St Gallen we had cheese fondue at one of our houses (how authentically Swiss of us!).  We had one of my friend's Swiss roommate to help us make it though, or it might not have turned out so well.  It was absolutely delicious and I'm really looking forward to Fondue Night during orientation week.  The first day we were here it happened to be the annual day when they test the air raid sirens from the war.  All of us Canadians were looking around confused when they started the test but none of the Swiss were even remotely fazed.  Definitely the first of many cultural experiences!

Some important things I have learned since my arrival 4 days ago:

1) The Swiss do 3 kisses when they greet you.
2) When you 'cheers' with someone it's considered rude if you don't make eye contact with them (just found this out yesterday and now I'm wondering how many people I have offended haha)
3) The cheapest drink at most restaurants is 15CHF about $15!
4) They don't accept my visa or my debit at the grocery store (good thing I had cash with me haha or that could have been embarrassing)
5) When you are buying vegetables you have to weigh them yourself at a nearby scale, enter their code, and put the sticker that prints out on the bag
6) It's tough to find milk that has less fat than 2.5% or 3.5%
7) CHEESE.IS.AWESOME.
8) My school is at the top of a mountain....and I live at the bottom.  I have walked to campus 3 times so far and was out of breath by the time I reached the top every time.  I will therefore be taking the bus to school most days!
9) All the students speak several languages!!
10) The food is labeled in German, French, and sometimes Italian.  I am glad I know French or else I wouldn't know what I am buying.
11) St Gallen is a very international town, especially the students who go to the university.  Most exchange students haven't arrived yet but even without them I have already met people from: all around Switzerland (French, German and Italian areas) Germany, Brazil, all over the US, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Liechtenstein and Austria.  Which means that while I have been here I have already had the opportunity to speak 4 languages!!  Most of you probably know how exciting that is for me!

Overall the experience has been amazing so far. My posts won't normally be this long but I felt like so much had happened in so little time that I wanted to share.  I'm off to explore the city now!  I hope all is well in Canada xoxo

My apartment building, it's five apartments, 4 students per apartment.

After many setbacks I finally have internet and am able to start blogging! The following is a post that I wrote on February 2nd.

For those who know we well it will not come to you as a surprise to discover that I finished packing less than half an hour before I had to leave for the airport.  BUT for once in my life I have a valid excuse: 5 days ago I entered into a rare time warp zone.  I’m no scientist but I am sure that the last 5 days have gone by at an unnaturally fast speed.  It seemed that I was spending every waking moment preparing to leave; whether I was packing, filling out paperwork, photocopying documents, saying goodbye to friends or running last minute errands, I was constantly busy.  Yet I still only managed to get everything done with about 20 minutes to spare (my mom would probably argue that I was still doing some last minute packing as we rushed out the door).  

The months leading up to my departure seemed to inch by. January was an especially tough month because most of my friends who were going on exchange had already departed and instead of meeting up in Paris or Berlin with them I was working a 9-5 job.  Having said that, three weeks at a 9-5 job means a lot more traveling for me once I get there!  Also, working at the HR firm (my first experience in an office environment) was a great learning experience and gave me a good idea of what it would be like to work for a small firm.

I am sitting in the Toronto airport now waiting to board my plane in an hour.  You have to pay for internet, which I'm not willing to do for an hour of service, so I’ll post this later.  Even though I’m not in Switzerland yet I’m still trying to make the most of every moment of this experience.  My mom and I both love airports because everyone has a story; where are they going? who are they going to see? where are they coming from? While walking down the long hallway towards the international gates I started talking to an elderly woman who was on my flight from Ottawa to Toronto and who I had overheard saying that she was continuing on to Switzerland.  I soon discovered that Zurich was not the last stop on her travels.  She was on her way to Africa (prepare yourself for the coolest reason ever)because her daughter is in Tanzania studying monkeys for her PhD!!  So this woman is going to Tanzania to visit her daughter for 3 weeks.  How cool is that!!!  That’s pretty much all I’ve got so far for stories...sorry.  I swear I will come up with something more interesting in the next 5 months haha