26 July, 2011 Tuesday 5:47 PM T-Bar
Today is another list day. Hooray!
- wake at seven
- shower
- change
- b-fast at eight
- yogurt, canned peaches, granola, milk/coffee/chocolate
- opening ceremony
- INTROS
- pack shindigs for backpack check
- gather
- divided into groups
- went places
- crafts - made woggles (these things you can put on your bandanna - most scouts/ guides wear theirs around their neck rather than in their hair, hence the need for woggles)
- orienteering
- went around and found the names of the fifteen peaks
- our team got all of them
- we got the most, so we won an Our Chalet Song Book
- lunch
- weather got really cold
- hung out until two
- finished doing stuff
- environmental
- percentage waste thing
- carbon footprint thing
- fun fact quiz
- campfire cooking
- lots of shaving of wood
- had to build up fire high enough to break through yarn
- my group won awesomeness
- had food
- had to sing for matches twice (you only got one, and if the fire died you had to sing a Scout song to get a new match)
- came back
- did our group chore (sweeping)
- came inside
- removed shoes
- got stuff
- came to T-bar
- made hot chocolate
- sat on couch
- drank hot chocolate
- began writing
- finished writing for now
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Entry # 11, Europe Journal
Monday, 25 July, 2011 10:17 PM Our Room, Our Chalet
Well, we finally made it! Adelboden is probably the town that should have the tag line, "We Are The Town That Is On Your Postcard From Germany/ Switzerland/ France/ Italy." It's nestled in a valley among three (maybe four) mountains, though you can see around fourteen *actually fifteen* from the Chalet. There's one mountain almost entirely covered in snow.
I'm short on time so I'm going to bullet today.
- woke up about half an hour after everyone but Paige
- Paige and I change and are the first to breakfast. score!
- I hold everyone up with my last-minute packing.
- this is because nobody told me we were leaving at eight thirty, not eight forty-five.
- we still make it to the rail car and train WAY early
- went to a bakery, got chocolate-embedded rolls. SCORE!
- catch train.
- lots of photos from train.
- first incident of me wondering WHY Lord of the Rings wasn't filmed in Switzerland.
- this becomes a regular occurence during day. Insert this aside as you will.
- we take a bus to Adelboden
- we nom on our rolls
- we meet people from the Chalet at the Adelboden bus stop
- they take our luggage; we search Adelboden
- we see a British Group (they turned out not to be at the Chalet, but still were British Girl Guides)
- we eat
- more touring of Adelboden
- hike to the Chalet
- HIKE to the Chalet
- I do well on hills. Score!
- this doesn't last long.
- we arrive
- we meet people
- we eat
- we chill
- I write a letter
- we tour the Chalet and learn cool stuff
- I finish my letter
- I do this journal entry
- I go to bed, prepared for adventure
*not recorded: Leila accidentally breaks the string on her lamp when she tries to turn it off at the end of the night, so it's on and we have no way of turning it off. We thus spend around an hour trying to switch Leila's bulb with the one two beds down that doesn't work.*
Recurring Thoughts:
1. WHY wasn't Lord of the Rings filmed here?
2. We're staying on a bloody POSTCARD!
3. The word 'cute' is entirely overused, so by the time it can be used in a valid context, I am so sick of the word that I promptly disregard the context it was used in and get really annoyed at hearing the word 'cute.' (please do not ask why I dislike the word 'cute,' because I WILL go and rant about it).
4. This place is awesome!
Occurrence of the Day:
We met a group from outside of Boston that is similar to us.
We say we're from DC because we're really close, and nobody's heard of us in Switzerland/ Canada/ Britain (some from the US don't even know about us, I think - I don't blame them. We're the smallest county in the US.)
They say they're from Boston, because who's heard of their town twelve miles out?
(in that respect, some of the UK girls are similar too - few people have heard of their town, even in Britain).
Verbose Quote of the Day:
Me: May I express my need to relieve the contents of my bladder?
Mom: ?
Me: I gotta pee. Is there a bathroom?
*Aside: from here on out, a lot of my journal is bulleted, so I will be typing stuff up in prose, but most of it will be based off of notes. So it's journal recording but not journal recording. FYI.*
Well, we finally made it! Adelboden is probably the town that should have the tag line, "We Are The Town That Is On Your Postcard From Germany/ Switzerland/ France/ Italy." It's nestled in a valley among three (maybe four) mountains, though you can see around fourteen *actually fifteen* from the Chalet. There's one mountain almost entirely covered in snow.
I'm short on time so I'm going to bullet today.
- woke up about half an hour after everyone but Paige
- Paige and I change and are the first to breakfast. score!
- I hold everyone up with my last-minute packing.
- this is because nobody told me we were leaving at eight thirty, not eight forty-five.
- we still make it to the rail car and train WAY early
- went to a bakery, got chocolate-embedded rolls. SCORE!
- catch train.
- lots of photos from train.
- first incident of me wondering WHY Lord of the Rings wasn't filmed in Switzerland.
- this becomes a regular occurence during day. Insert this aside as you will.
- we take a bus to Adelboden
- we nom on our rolls
- we meet people from the Chalet at the Adelboden bus stop
- they take our luggage; we search Adelboden
- we see a British Group (they turned out not to be at the Chalet, but still were British Girl Guides)
- we eat
- more touring of Adelboden
- hike to the Chalet
- HIKE to the Chalet
- I do well on hills. Score!
- this doesn't last long.
- we arrive
- we meet people
- we eat
- we chill
- I write a letter
- we tour the Chalet and learn cool stuff
- I finish my letter
- I do this journal entry
- I go to bed, prepared for adventure
*not recorded: Leila accidentally breaks the string on her lamp when she tries to turn it off at the end of the night, so it's on and we have no way of turning it off. We thus spend around an hour trying to switch Leila's bulb with the one two beds down that doesn't work.*
Recurring Thoughts:
1. WHY wasn't Lord of the Rings filmed here?
2. We're staying on a bloody POSTCARD!
3. The word 'cute' is entirely overused, so by the time it can be used in a valid context, I am so sick of the word that I promptly disregard the context it was used in and get really annoyed at hearing the word 'cute.' (please do not ask why I dislike the word 'cute,' because I WILL go and rant about it).
4. This place is awesome!
Occurrence of the Day:
We met a group from outside of Boston that is similar to us.
We say we're from DC because we're really close, and nobody's heard of us in Switzerland/ Canada/ Britain (some from the US don't even know about us, I think - I don't blame them. We're the smallest county in the US.)
They say they're from Boston, because who's heard of their town twelve miles out?
(in that respect, some of the UK girls are similar too - few people have heard of their town, even in Britain).
Verbose Quote of the Day:
Me: May I express my need to relieve the contents of my bladder?
Mom: ?
Me: I gotta pee. Is there a bathroom?
*Aside: from here on out, a lot of my journal is bulleted, so I will be typing stuff up in prose, but most of it will be based off of notes. So it's journal recording but not journal recording. FYI.*
Friday, August 19, 2011
Entry # 10, Europe Journal
Sunday, 24 July, 2011 Room 320, Hostel, Bern 8:55 PM
This afternoon was relatively uneventful. We hung out at the museum, then made our way through a nearby corn maze (which was really easy) before catching a bus home to the hostel.
For dinner, we ordered pizza - one cheese, one veggie. We each had two pieces and and it wasn't very filling.
Towards the end of dinner, we started to watch a couple play ping-pong through the super massive windows. We thought it was a mother and son, but then they started to make out profusely every few points.
Allison, Leila, and I bought some ice cream and continued to watch the cougar couple. When the guy glanced our way while they were taking a break, Leila gave him a thumbs-up, which was kind of funny.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Adelboden, which is extremely exciting - we're finally going to the place that we came to Switzerland for! WOOHOO!
Also, funny/ awkward thing: after my shower when I was brushing my teeth (it's essentially a public shower room... also, I was decently dressed when this occurred), the female half of the cougar couple entered the shower rooms. I'm pretty sure she recognized me, because she was just like, "Oh," and then left.
Also, Enya is still dead, which makes me very sad. Mom is letting me use my memory card on her camera, though, which is nice. I also accidentally deleted all my photos from today, though, which kind of sucks.
I learned this new way of weighing/ buying bagged fruit, but I need to write letters.
It basically involves weighing, punching in the store-assigned number for whatever it is you're buying, and then the machine printing out a ticket to put on the bag for the person to scan.
Right. Letter Time.
This afternoon was relatively uneventful. We hung out at the museum, then made our way through a nearby corn maze (which was really easy) before catching a bus home to the hostel.
For dinner, we ordered pizza - one cheese, one veggie. We each had two pieces and and it wasn't very filling.
Towards the end of dinner, we started to watch a couple play ping-pong through the super massive windows. We thought it was a mother and son, but then they started to make out profusely every few points.
Allison, Leila, and I bought some ice cream and continued to watch the cougar couple. When the guy glanced our way while they were taking a break, Leila gave him a thumbs-up, which was kind of funny.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Adelboden, which is extremely exciting - we're finally going to the place that we came to Switzerland for! WOOHOO!
Also, funny/ awkward thing: after my shower when I was brushing my teeth (it's essentially a public shower room... also, I was decently dressed when this occurred), the female half of the cougar couple entered the shower rooms. I'm pretty sure she recognized me, because she was just like, "Oh," and then left.
Also, Enya is still dead, which makes me very sad. Mom is letting me use my memory card on her camera, though, which is nice. I also accidentally deleted all my photos from today, though, which kind of sucks.
I learned this new way of weighing/ buying bagged fruit, but I need to write letters.
It basically involves weighing, punching in the store-assigned number for whatever it is you're buying, and then the machine printing out a ticket to put on the bag for the person to scan.
Right. Letter Time.
Entry # 9, Europe Journal
24 July, 2011 Sunday 2:19 PM Paul Klee Museum, Bern
Paul Klee is a really cool Swiss artist who is basically the Picasso of the Non-Cubists. He also made a lot of puppets for his son, and did a lot of sketches and stuff. I don't mind his work, but after we went to the train station (for bus tickets and lunch and cash. Enya (my camera) became officially dead while there, so I'm using Mom's until we can find a place that will sell a camera for around 100 Francs (the equivalent of what I spent on Enya)), we came here, and we've been here ever since, and it's kind of boring. One can only take so much art labelled in two languages that are both foreign before getting really, really bored.
The one good thing about to day is that I will most assuredly be a ble to remember all we did today, because the Museum is one of the only places open on Sundays.
We'll probably have to get me a new camera in Adelboden - we leave at 8:30 tomorrow, and a guy at a tech shop at the train station said a lot of places open at 9:00 or 9:30, or are completely closed on Mondays. If we can't find a replacement/ Enya doesn't fix herself/ the cameras are all too pricey in Adelboden, Mom and I will wind up sharing her camera. I sort of don't want to do that - somehow it feels wrong to be using a camera (or anything, really) that isn't mine. I think a hazard of buying a camera here is that there is the risk that Switzerland tech stores stock entirly different brands than American stores do, so if I break my next camera, I'll have to buy a new one instead of fixing it. Again. Hopefully, whatever I DO wind up doing, the next camera will last me more than a year.
As a matter of fact, I think it's been almost exactly a year since George (my last camera) decided to go swimming in a toilet in Raliegh. Moral of the story: I need to use more carew ith my cameras (though George's death was partly due to gravity at the wrong moment).
Anyway, more on this later.
Time to go off and inspect more art.
Paul Klee is a really cool Swiss artist who is basically the Picasso of the Non-Cubists. He also made a lot of puppets for his son, and did a lot of sketches and stuff. I don't mind his work, but after we went to the train station (for bus tickets and lunch and cash. Enya (my camera) became officially dead while there, so I'm using Mom's until we can find a place that will sell a camera for around 100 Francs (the equivalent of what I spent on Enya)), we came here, and we've been here ever since, and it's kind of boring. One can only take so much art labelled in two languages that are both foreign before getting really, really bored.
The one good thing about to day is that I will most assuredly be a ble to remember all we did today, because the Museum is one of the only places open on Sundays.
We'll probably have to get me a new camera in Adelboden - we leave at 8:30 tomorrow, and a guy at a tech shop at the train station said a lot of places open at 9:00 or 9:30, or are completely closed on Mondays. If we can't find a replacement/ Enya doesn't fix herself/ the cameras are all too pricey in Adelboden, Mom and I will wind up sharing her camera. I sort of don't want to do that - somehow it feels wrong to be using a camera (or anything, really) that isn't mine. I think a hazard of buying a camera here is that there is the risk that Switzerland tech stores stock entirly different brands than American stores do, so if I break my next camera, I'll have to buy a new one instead of fixing it. Again. Hopefully, whatever I DO wind up doing, the next camera will last me more than a year.
As a matter of fact, I think it's been almost exactly a year since George (my last camera) decided to go swimming in a toilet in Raliegh. Moral of the story: I need to use more carew ith my cameras (though George's death was partly due to gravity at the wrong moment).
Anyway, more on this later.
Time to go off and inspect more art.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Entry # 8, Europe Journal
Saturday, July 23, 2011 Room 320, Youth Hostel, Bern, Switzerland 8:18 PM
It has been a long day - not by hours, but by the sheer amount of stuff we did today. Seriously, I've had longer-houred days at home where I've done far less stuff.
Today, I woke up at around 8:15 (others in the group woke up earlier) and was changed and ready to eat by 8:30. For breakfast, I had a whole-grain (I think) chocolate cereal with milk and a cup of milk/ coffee/ chocolate-ness (I had about three of those). I also had bread with cherry jam.
After breakfast, we went to Parliament to book a tour for later in the day. Then we made our way (slowly) to the Cathedral. We were slowed down by the cool shops (we didn't buy anything).
The cathedral was really cool. Since it was built in like the thirteenth century, it's freaking GINORMOUS adn there are a bunch of religious symbols carved into the stones and sculputres and ginormously huge stained glass windows. The windows sort of told a story, but not entirely - there were a bunch of small groups of scenes within each window.
The setup of the sanctuary was also different from where I go to church - there was a baptism thing in front, a pulpit mounted on a pole in the middle-ish, and the organ mounted in the back of the place. It's hard to explain, so this merits a diagram of the place (bird's-eye view).
*not sure how to do this, so I'm going to go with not doing it*
It was really cool. that is a really lame drawing, by the way, and it is NOT DRAWN TO SCALE. The blocks are columns and the lines are dores. And by doors I mean pews. There was also a sculpture of a dying Jesus (that had holes in his feet... as in the person who did the sculpture decided that Jesus would be dying and bleeding from foot wounds) and a depressed Mary Mother near the front of the place.
After we left, we learned some cool stuff about this supermassive door sculpture that was in front of (and by 'in front of,' I mean 'around') the door. There were angels, disciples, virgins (smart and foolish), sinners, winners, apostles, church-door-carving-designers, more angels, some demons/ imps, a drumming demon, and the Archangel Michael (who carried a sword and scales for judgement (I assume) and looked like Joan of Arc since he had hair that looked like a girl's and a face to match). I'm pretty sure there was some sort of connective thread, but I'm not entirely sure what that thread was. Let's just say the common thread was a religious theme to adorn a church door. Also, there were some cool gargoyles around the upper perimeter of the cathedral. I can't explain their exactl location, but it ws kind of above the door but close enough to take photos of them.
After we left the cathedral, we went slowly meandering towards a clock tower that apparently had a 'show' that started at five to noon. While we were meandering, we were also sort of window shopping. I spotted a yarn place and I really wanted to go in, but we only had ten minutes until the show, so I didn't, which made me VERY sad. Mostly because when we finally got around to going back, it had been closed for half an hour. Mom insists that it's not a big deal, but honestly, I'm probably never going to get another chance to get yarn from Switzerland.
Anyway, enogh about yarn.
By the way, it was NOT worth msising the yarn to see the clock. Some bears on a wheel turned around, an impish statue banged a gon, and a bearded stature flipped an hourglass and opened his mouth. The end. It was really boring and I could have gotten some cool Swiss yarn (or I could have found out that they're charging far too much for synthetic wool in lame colors. Either one. Just saying.) while were were on the street, but we didn't stay on that half of the street.
Instead, we passed through the archway under the clock and proceeded into the snazziest McDonald's I have ever seen in my life. I mean, I'm talking all windows, carpeted floors, TWO LEVELS, flat-screened TVs, and a winding iron staircase between the two levels. We all had to pee, which is why we were there, but Mom had to get a coffee in order to get us into the bathroom.
After our bathroom break, we got lunch. I had pizza.
But just BEFORE lunch we saw some fountains, including one of an ogre eating babies.
Allison deemed it inappropriate, but hey, it's an ogre! Ogres in Europe are notorious for their consumption of underage kids! *I'm pretty sure I made that up* Besides, there wasn't any blood or anyhting, just some miserable-looking kids and an ogre holding an infant with the kid's head in his mouth. Because of this, Allison declared this 500-year-old fountain to be a public display of vulgarity and was ready to start a petition for its removal.
Anyway, after lunch, we went and did some browsing, and I got theser really cool trousers and a skirt/ dress. Then we toured Parliament, which was cool, and then we went to see some bears and then we went to dinner (which was really good), and now we're here at the hostel. Before Parliament, Mom sorted out train tickets for Monday.
And now I'm gonna take a shower. Bye.
It has been a long day - not by hours, but by the sheer amount of stuff we did today. Seriously, I've had longer-houred days at home where I've done far less stuff.
Today, I woke up at around 8:15 (others in the group woke up earlier) and was changed and ready to eat by 8:30. For breakfast, I had a whole-grain (I think) chocolate cereal with milk and a cup of milk/ coffee/ chocolate-ness (I had about three of those). I also had bread with cherry jam.
After breakfast, we went to Parliament to book a tour for later in the day. Then we made our way (slowly) to the Cathedral. We were slowed down by the cool shops (we didn't buy anything).
The cathedral was really cool. Since it was built in like the thirteenth century, it's freaking GINORMOUS adn there are a bunch of religious symbols carved into the stones and sculputres and ginormously huge stained glass windows. The windows sort of told a story, but not entirely - there were a bunch of small groups of scenes within each window.
The setup of the sanctuary was also different from where I go to church - there was a baptism thing in front, a pulpit mounted on a pole in the middle-ish, and the organ mounted in the back of the place. It's hard to explain, so this merits a diagram of the place (bird's-eye view).
*not sure how to do this, so I'm going to go with not doing it*
It was really cool. that is a really lame drawing, by the way, and it is NOT DRAWN TO SCALE. The blocks are columns and the lines are dores. And by doors I mean pews. There was also a sculpture of a dying Jesus (that had holes in his feet... as in the person who did the sculpture decided that Jesus would be dying and bleeding from foot wounds) and a depressed Mary Mother near the front of the place.
After we left, we learned some cool stuff about this supermassive door sculpture that was in front of (and by 'in front of,' I mean 'around') the door. There were angels, disciples, virgins (smart and foolish), sinners, winners, apostles, church-door-carving-designers, more angels, some demons/ imps, a drumming demon, and the Archangel Michael (who carried a sword and scales for judgement (I assume) and looked like Joan of Arc since he had hair that looked like a girl's and a face to match). I'm pretty sure there was some sort of connective thread, but I'm not entirely sure what that thread was. Let's just say the common thread was a religious theme to adorn a church door. Also, there were some cool gargoyles around the upper perimeter of the cathedral. I can't explain their exactl location, but it ws kind of above the door but close enough to take photos of them.
After we left the cathedral, we went slowly meandering towards a clock tower that apparently had a 'show' that started at five to noon. While we were meandering, we were also sort of window shopping. I spotted a yarn place and I really wanted to go in, but we only had ten minutes until the show, so I didn't, which made me VERY sad. Mostly because when we finally got around to going back, it had been closed for half an hour. Mom insists that it's not a big deal, but honestly, I'm probably never going to get another chance to get yarn from Switzerland.
Anyway, enogh about yarn.
By the way, it was NOT worth msising the yarn to see the clock. Some bears on a wheel turned around, an impish statue banged a gon, and a bearded stature flipped an hourglass and opened his mouth. The end. It was really boring and I could have gotten some cool Swiss yarn (or I could have found out that they're charging far too much for synthetic wool in lame colors. Either one. Just saying.) while were were on the street, but we didn't stay on that half of the street.
Instead, we passed through the archway under the clock and proceeded into the snazziest McDonald's I have ever seen in my life. I mean, I'm talking all windows, carpeted floors, TWO LEVELS, flat-screened TVs, and a winding iron staircase between the two levels. We all had to pee, which is why we were there, but Mom had to get a coffee in order to get us into the bathroom.
After our bathroom break, we got lunch. I had pizza.
But just BEFORE lunch we saw some fountains, including one of an ogre eating babies.
Allison deemed it inappropriate, but hey, it's an ogre! Ogres in Europe are notorious for their consumption of underage kids! *I'm pretty sure I made that up* Besides, there wasn't any blood or anyhting, just some miserable-looking kids and an ogre holding an infant with the kid's head in his mouth. Because of this, Allison declared this 500-year-old fountain to be a public display of vulgarity and was ready to start a petition for its removal.
Anyway, after lunch, we went and did some browsing, and I got theser really cool trousers and a skirt/ dress. Then we toured Parliament, which was cool, and then we went to see some bears and then we went to dinner (which was really good), and now we're here at the hostel. Before Parliament, Mom sorted out train tickets for Monday.
And now I'm gonna take a shower. Bye.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Entry # 7, Europe Journal
July 22nd, 2011 Room 320, Youth Hostel, Bern, Switzerland 8:56 PM
Well, okay, let me PROPERLY summarize the day because I did not do it justice earlier.
So after we disembarked from the train, we proceeded to get thoroughly confused by the directions to the hostel (though they were relatively straightforward and we got to the Hostel eventually. Also, when I say 'WE got turned," I mean "THE MOMS got turned." The teenagers just followed them around.) But we got to the hostel, dumped our stuff, and proceeded to walk around Bern (this was around noon). We did a touristy photo op in front of Parliament (which, due to my tiredness, I often feel inclined to call it 'Palisaides,' 'Pandora,' and 'Pagoda' before remembering its official title) before deciding that it was time to eat food (aka lunch), which we got at the Co-op (that's the name of the supermarket. Most people in our group call it the 'coop' like chicken coop, but I'm pretty sure it's co-op). I had couscous, iced tea, a really good roll, and a paper box/ bowl of a local berry called Stachelbeerne that we got at the open-air market. That's German and I forget how to pronounce it - I just know it sounds rather dissimilar to how it's spelled. It's sort of like a pommegranite that's the size of a grape and tastes like a full-sized pommegranite ate a little tiny blackberry. (that's a lousy way of describing it... I just added that sentence in August).
Anyway, we went on a meandering walk around Bern for the rest of the afternoon. We crossed several bridges, went though a park, took lots of photos on the grounds of the Einstein museum (which was eighteen Francs for admission inside). We didn't actually go to the exhibits (partly because of price, partly because we would have been confused by the German info plates) but we DID Get some much-needed caffeine and hung out outside a lot.
Then we had dinner, and then everyone showered, and I wrote some letters, and now I'm the only one still awake in my room.
This is awkward.
I'm only staying up to let my camera finish charging - it gave me the 'low battery' mark by noon today.
Oh, wait, Mom's still up. I think my light is bugging her.
Well, then, goodnight. Will write tomorrow.
Well, okay, let me PROPERLY summarize the day because I did not do it justice earlier.
So after we disembarked from the train, we proceeded to get thoroughly confused by the directions to the hostel (though they were relatively straightforward and we got to the Hostel eventually. Also, when I say 'WE got turned," I mean "THE MOMS got turned." The teenagers just followed them around.) But we got to the hostel, dumped our stuff, and proceeded to walk around Bern (this was around noon). We did a touristy photo op in front of Parliament (which, due to my tiredness, I often feel inclined to call it 'Palisaides,' 'Pandora,' and 'Pagoda' before remembering its official title) before deciding that it was time to eat food (aka lunch), which we got at the Co-op (that's the name of the supermarket. Most people in our group call it the 'coop' like chicken coop, but I'm pretty sure it's co-op). I had couscous, iced tea, a really good roll, and a paper box/ bowl of a local berry called Stachelbeerne that we got at the open-air market. That's German and I forget how to pronounce it - I just know it sounds rather dissimilar to how it's spelled. It's sort of like a pommegranite that's the size of a grape and tastes like a full-sized pommegranite ate a little tiny blackberry. (that's a lousy way of describing it... I just added that sentence in August).
Anyway, we went on a meandering walk around Bern for the rest of the afternoon. We crossed several bridges, went though a park, took lots of photos on the grounds of the Einstein museum (which was eighteen Francs for admission inside). We didn't actually go to the exhibits (partly because of price, partly because we would have been confused by the German info plates) but we DID Get some much-needed caffeine and hung out outside a lot.
Then we had dinner, and then everyone showered, and I wrote some letters, and now I'm the only one still awake in my room.
This is awkward.
I'm only staying up to let my camera finish charging - it gave me the 'low battery' mark by noon today.
Oh, wait, Mom's still up. I think my light is bugging her.
Well, then, goodnight. Will write tomorrow.
Entry # 6, Europe Journal
July 22, 2011 Room 320, Youth Hostel, Bern 6:18 PM Swiss Time (12:18 EST)
Well, here we are. It's been a LONG day, and we're not allowed to sleep for another three hours so we can conk out ad overcome jet lag at the same time.
It'll be easier than walking all over Bern running on nothing but coffee and adrenaline and an hour and a half of fitful non-sleep. I am utterly EXHAUSTED, even though it's only noon back home. I've tried to nap, but something (or someone) has woken me up (probably on purpose) from the slumber I crave.
From the train station, we went to the hostel, which is a rather nice place, though a bit cramped. In my room is me, Paige, Mom, and Jean. I sort of wish the two Motivated Moms (aka nit-picky, can-sometimes-be-annoying-to-travel-with, I'm-going-to-be-with-you-for-three-weeks-so-why-can't-I-get-away-when-I-have-the-chance (that's my feelings on the topic) moms) weren't the moms I would be staying with in Bern, especially as one of them is mine (no offense to Mom...) but I'll just have to deal. I also have to write a LOT of letters.
And Paige and I are being summoned for dinner. Will write later. Probably.
Side note:
what I've noticed, looking back on this, is that I'm really pissy when I'm tired but I write really well (in a non-straightforward flowy, enhancy way, that is).
Well, here we are. It's been a LONG day, and we're not allowed to sleep for another three hours so we can conk out ad overcome jet lag at the same time.
It'll be easier than walking all over Bern running on nothing but coffee and adrenaline and an hour and a half of fitful non-sleep. I am utterly EXHAUSTED, even though it's only noon back home. I've tried to nap, but something (or someone) has woken me up (probably on purpose) from the slumber I crave.
From the train station, we went to the hostel, which is a rather nice place, though a bit cramped. In my room is me, Paige, Mom, and Jean. I sort of wish the two Motivated Moms (aka nit-picky, can-sometimes-be-annoying-to-travel-with, I'm-going-to-be-with-you-for-three-weeks-so-why-can't-I-get-away-when-I-have-the-chance (that's my feelings on the topic) moms) weren't the moms I would be staying with in Bern, especially as one of them is mine (no offense to Mom...) but I'll just have to deal. I also have to write a LOT of letters.
And Paige and I are being summoned for dinner. Will write later. Probably.
Side note:
what I've noticed, looking back on this, is that I'm really pissy when I'm tired but I write really well (in a non-straightforward flowy, enhancy way, that is).
Entry #5, Europe Journal
July 22nd, 2011 9:10 AM (Swiss time), 3:10 AM EST, train to Bern
Well, last night... argh. I got about an hour and a half of not-exactly-sleep, and breakfast was a cold, packaged apple turnover and some blueberry yogurt.
Getting through customs was relatively easy, but I nearly left my suitcase outside the bathroom.
We accidentally sat in first class when we boarded the train. There's not much difference between here and there, except here the seats are blue and they're red and a bit bigger (though not a lot) in first class.
Now Leila wants me to record an exchange that just occurred between her and Emily (as dictated by Leila after a super-long Photo Op Break):
Leila: when's lunch?
Emily: well, it's 9 AM, which means that it's 3 AM at home... so... it's NOT lunchtime!
The scenery here in Switzerland is amazing. Clouds hang low over the Alps, easily viewed from basically anywhere, because nowhere is more than several kilometers away from them. It seems like we're in rolling farmland one minute, and then two minutes later (like, literally two minutes), we're in suburbs/ urban areas that have French and German graffiti on the insides of tunnels. The only difference in graffiti here and graffiti in the US is the language - the big letters and hard corners in them are the same. But here, I've noticed, there are a lot more pictures in the graffiti as opposed to just words.
The hardest thing about being here is that everyone speaks French or German (in Geneva, mostly French). Luckily, a lot of people speak English too, but their first inclination is to ask you to move in French rather than in English.
I'm going to try sleeping before Bern.
Paige and Emily's French Ordering Lesson:
Can I have a coffee, please? = es-que e peu une cafe, si vu play?
Sugar = sucre
Je voudrais un cafe = I would like a coffee
cafe au lait = coffee with milk
Well, last night... argh. I got about an hour and a half of not-exactly-sleep, and breakfast was a cold, packaged apple turnover and some blueberry yogurt.
Getting through customs was relatively easy, but I nearly left my suitcase outside the bathroom.
We accidentally sat in first class when we boarded the train. There's not much difference between here and there, except here the seats are blue and they're red and a bit bigger (though not a lot) in first class.
Now Leila wants me to record an exchange that just occurred between her and Emily (as dictated by Leila after a super-long Photo Op Break):
Leila: when's lunch?
Emily: well, it's 9 AM, which means that it's 3 AM at home... so... it's NOT lunchtime!
The scenery here in Switzerland is amazing. Clouds hang low over the Alps, easily viewed from basically anywhere, because nowhere is more than several kilometers away from them. It seems like we're in rolling farmland one minute, and then two minutes later (like, literally two minutes), we're in suburbs/ urban areas that have French and German graffiti on the insides of tunnels. The only difference in graffiti here and graffiti in the US is the language - the big letters and hard corners in them are the same. But here, I've noticed, there are a lot more pictures in the graffiti as opposed to just words.
The hardest thing about being here is that everyone speaks French or German (in Geneva, mostly French). Luckily, a lot of people speak English too, but their first inclination is to ask you to move in French rather than in English.
I'm going to try sleeping before Bern.
Paige and Emily's French Ordering Lesson:
Can I have a coffee, please? = es-que e peu une cafe, si vu play?
Sugar = sucre
Je voudrais un cafe = I would like a coffee
cafe au lait = coffee with milk
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Entry #4, Europe Journal
July 21, 2011 Airplane over somewhere 8:11 PM EST
Well, I COULD get out, and my bladder is now empty. HOORAY! I probably should go to sleep soon if I want more than five hours of rest. If I'm asleep by nine, I'll get... okay, yeah, five hours of sleep. But it's better than nothing, right? But I've only written five pages today... darn.
TIME TO REPORT on CURRENT ACTIONS:
Right now I am writing, and Leila is watching "Cars."
Well, no, she's now sketchily watching me write this and laughing along.
"I like how many times I'm mentioned in this," she said. "It only does good things for my ego."
"Only twice," I pointed out.
"oh, true..." she said.
I went to finished the sentence. Since I need to fill space, I decided to put dialogue in here.
"I'm quoting you," I informed her.
"oh, SWEET!" she exclaimed.
Aaaaaand the cabin lights just went out. I am writing this by the light of the map on the mini TV embedded in the seat in front of me.
I think I'm going to curl up and "sleep" once Leila gets back from the bathroom.
Goodnight.
Day 1 summary:
Major things: boarding of plane, beginning of a SUPER AWESOME JOURNEY!
Entries: 4
Total: 4
Pages: 6
Total: 6
Foreshadowing of tomorrow: No clue. Geneva?
Well, I COULD get out, and my bladder is now empty. HOORAY! I probably should go to sleep soon if I want more than five hours of rest. If I'm asleep by nine, I'll get... okay, yeah, five hours of sleep. But it's better than nothing, right? But I've only written five pages today... darn.
TIME TO REPORT on CURRENT ACTIONS:
Right now I am writing, and Leila is watching "Cars."
Well, no, she's now sketchily watching me write this and laughing along.
"I like how many times I'm mentioned in this," she said. "It only does good things for my ego."
"Only twice," I pointed out.
"oh, true..." she said.
I went to finished the sentence. Since I need to fill space, I decided to put dialogue in here.
"I'm quoting you," I informed her.
"oh, SWEET!" she exclaimed.
Aaaaaand the cabin lights just went out. I am writing this by the light of the map on the mini TV embedded in the seat in front of me.
I think I'm going to curl up and "sleep" once Leila gets back from the bathroom.
Goodnight.
Day 1 summary:
Major things: boarding of plane, beginning of a SUPER AWESOME JOURNEY!
Entries: 4
Total: 4
Pages: 6
Total: 6
Foreshadowing of tomorrow: No clue. Geneva?
Entry #3, Europe Journal
July 21, 2011 on the airplane, over Canada 7:55 PM EST
Well, we just ate, and for plane food, it wasn't that bad. It could be worse. Having survived a week on cold meals and trail food, I've definitely had worse (I'm not saying I enjoyed it, though).
And the guy in front of me just tilted his seat WAY back.
This is just great. Not.
Anyway, the two hours we've spent in the air have been relatively uneventful, except for some turbulence and the kid three seats over having hissy fits every half hour.
And now the seat belt lights are on, which means I am not allowed to go pee.
Not that I could. The guy in front of me has leaned so far back that I probably can't get out.
The light went off again. Awesome.
I'm going to empty my bladder while I have the time and the need, and hopefully there will be very little turbulence and the guy ahead of me won't lean back even more.
Also, I will hopefully be capable of exiting the seat. This remains to be seen.
Until I write again, farewell!
Well, we just ate, and for plane food, it wasn't that bad. It could be worse. Having survived a week on cold meals and trail food, I've definitely had worse (I'm not saying I enjoyed it, though).
And the guy in front of me just tilted his seat WAY back.
This is just great. Not.
Anyway, the two hours we've spent in the air have been relatively uneventful, except for some turbulence and the kid three seats over having hissy fits every half hour.
And now the seat belt lights are on, which means I am not allowed to go pee.
Not that I could. The guy in front of me has leaned so far back that I probably can't get out.
The light went off again. Awesome.
I'm going to empty my bladder while I have the time and the need, and hopefully there will be very little turbulence and the guy ahead of me won't lean back even more.
Also, I will hopefully be capable of exiting the seat. This remains to be seen.
Until I write again, farewell!
Entry #2, Europe Journal
July 21, 2011 5:35 PM, the plane
We are on a PLANE! WOOHOO! It's one of those super-huge planes where they play classical music ALL THE TIME (or for the twenty minutes we've been on, at least), have pillows AND blankets ON THE SEATS, and seat seven people to a row with two aisles. A diagram is in order. [Unfortunately, I cannot recreate this diagram. My apologies.]
I have no idea why they decided to be lame and remove the letters D, F, G, and I from the alphabet, but they did.
Okay, I will write later - I need to deal with my pens. I may write later today; I may write tomorrow; but I will write again. My logging-of-trip skills are not dead. Yet.
We are on a PLANE! WOOHOO! It's one of those super-huge planes where they play classical music ALL THE TIME (or for the twenty minutes we've been on, at least), have pillows AND blankets ON THE SEATS, and seat seven people to a row with two aisles. A diagram is in order. [Unfortunately, I cannot recreate this diagram. My apologies.]
I have no idea why they decided to be lame and remove the letters D, F, G, and I from the alphabet, but they did.
Okay, I will write later - I need to deal with my pens. I may write later today; I may write tomorrow; but I will write again. My logging-of-trip skills are not dead. Yet.
More Europe!
Okay, I KNOW I've been super-lame at posting. And I'll try to improve while still telling you what I did in Europe. So I have an idea of sorts. And it's a good idea. What is this good idea? To type up, on the blog, exactly (okay, not exactly, because some of it wound up being me being moody) what I wrote in The ItalioSwiss Chronicles. (I just made that title up, but I like it).
Well, I sort of already passed the first four entries, but here they are again. Because I can.
Entry #1 July 21, 2011 4:51 PM the airport
Well, after two years of planning and nearly two hours of going through security, we are finally awaiting boarding the plane to SWITZERLAND! THe troop has shrunk massively; our current group going to Switzerland (plus Mer, who went a few weeks ago) is only 1/6 (not counting Mer, or Liza, Mary, or Jordan, the last three of which aren't going) the size of the original troop.
Who is going?
Paige
Leila
Emily
Allison
Me
Moms:
My mom
Mrs. W
Mrs. K
It was a rather stressful morning. Well, I take that back. This morning was okay for us, until 11:30 when Mom's panic started to set in and I essentially had to half-repack my suitcase about twelve times. The panic exponentially increased from there.
Right now, after getting through security and having a while before boarding, most people's stress levels are relatively low, except for Allison, who is panicking because Jean is off getting some food and Allison is trying to tell her that she doens't need to (since it's an international flight, we're getting fed).
Now Jean is back, and as far as I can tell, stress levels are back to normal. Now Leila and Emily are arguing about whetehr whole grain goldfish are better than regular Goldfish (Emily is arguing in favor of whole grain Goldfish). Now we're all discussing Goldfish flavors.
The discussion ahs now progressed to snack foods, honey mustard, bacon, combos, and smell vs taste. Also, bacon and chocolate. And now I'm getting really hungry.
And avocados, pickled eggs, and the apparently strange food habits of one of the fathers.
Also, furbies.
And Leila's opinion of mashed potatoes (only at one place will she eat them). Paige doesn't normally eat potatoes.
Emily doesn't like bananas or raisins by themselves. Or celery or eggplant, period. But she likes craisins. But she DOES like celery with peanut butter OR salmon (but not together). Paige doesn't really like eggplant.
We are boarding now. Will write later.
Well, I sort of already passed the first four entries, but here they are again. Because I can.
Entry #1 July 21, 2011 4:51 PM the airport
Well, after two years of planning and nearly two hours of going through security, we are finally awaiting boarding the plane to SWITZERLAND! THe troop has shrunk massively; our current group going to Switzerland (plus Mer, who went a few weeks ago) is only 1/6 (not counting Mer, or Liza, Mary, or Jordan, the last three of which aren't going) the size of the original troop.
Who is going?
Paige
Leila
Emily
Allison
Me
Moms:
My mom
Mrs. W
Mrs. K
It was a rather stressful morning. Well, I take that back. This morning was okay for us, until 11:30 when Mom's panic started to set in and I essentially had to half-repack my suitcase about twelve times. The panic exponentially increased from there.
Right now, after getting through security and having a while before boarding, most people's stress levels are relatively low, except for Allison, who is panicking because Jean is off getting some food and Allison is trying to tell her that she doens't need to (since it's an international flight, we're getting fed).
Now Jean is back, and as far as I can tell, stress levels are back to normal. Now Leila and Emily are arguing about whetehr whole grain goldfish are better than regular Goldfish (Emily is arguing in favor of whole grain Goldfish). Now we're all discussing Goldfish flavors.
The discussion ahs now progressed to snack foods, honey mustard, bacon, combos, and smell vs taste. Also, bacon and chocolate. And now I'm getting really hungry.
And avocados, pickled eggs, and the apparently strange food habits of one of the fathers.
Also, furbies.
And Leila's opinion of mashed potatoes (only at one place will she eat them). Paige doesn't normally eat potatoes.
Emily doesn't like bananas or raisins by themselves. Or celery or eggplant, period. But she likes craisins. But she DOES like celery with peanut butter OR salmon (but not together). Paige doesn't really like eggplant.
We are boarding now. Will write later.
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