20/8/10

I had the day off with my parents, yay! In the morning, we walked about 2 hours to the woodcarvers shop. My mom really wanted to visit the shop, since she saw my pictures and really liked that place. We spent our time browsing throughout the store and buying souvenirs and gifts =). We then headed over to Kaffee Blatti to enjoy some coffee and lemon cake. It was very yummy. The weather was very nice outside and it was not too hot and it was not too cold. The view from all around was phenomenal as well. Next, we went to the gorge; we started all the way at the beginning which is at the bottom of the gorge. My parents loved the breath-taking views and natural scenery. They liked to sit at the benches and just listen to the water run and observe their surroundings. I was happy that they liked the gorge! We then ate lunch by the river; it was nice to sit and relax, my dad even was acting like a kid and throwing rocks into the river. My mom and I thought it was funny. We then walked along the river and through a beautiful forest; our destination was first the alpen garden and then Tschetenalp! The view and hiking trail was very pretty to the garden, we saw so many creeks, streams and waterfalls coming from the mountain. We picked lots and lots of berries and ate them along the way; my dad really liked picking the berries. We then made it to the alpen garden; we sat and relaxed in the garden, observed the flowers and smelled the lavender! I really like gardens, so this was one of my favorite parts of the day. Our next journey was a lot steeper as we had to ascend 400m to get to the top of Tschetenalp. We took our time, paused, enjoyed the views, had snack breaks and water breaks and even watched the cows. By then it was after 5pm and I decided to look at my map to see when the gondola closed....well it said it closed at 5pm. Uh oh, we still had about 30 minutes to get to the peak. But, I wanted to get to the top so I could climb my 3rd mountain and get my 5 staff challenge points. So, my parents were kind and walked with me to the top, and yes, it was very quiet at the top as there was no one there and the gondola station was closed =(. I felt horrible that I did not look at the times in advance, but our only option was to walk down  back to Adelboden. We relaxed at the top in an abandoned ski building for about 45 minutes, it even had cushions so my parents laid down. I walked around and ate some snacks. Randomly, the gondolas from the station started moving downward toward Adelboden, and then they went back up. I ran to the station thinking that someone was there, but it was all locked up and no one was at the top; I think they were controlling it from the Adelboden station. Anyways, after our break, the downward journey began. It took about 2 hours to get to Adelboden and boy were my parents happy to sit down, eat and drink a beer. I felt really bad the whole way and I kept thinking that I wore them out completely and that they are going to be so tired the next day. But, my parents were pleased with the day and they said that they enjoyed themselves, which made me happy. We ate at my favorite burger joint, Kiosk Treff, we had hamburgers and fries and beer and it was yummy. I called a taxi so we could get a ride back to the chalet. My dad said that was the best 24 francs he ever spent on a taxi. The taxi brought us basically right to the door of the chalet, my dad and mom were happy. Horray, we made it back to the chalet before 10pm. I was exhausted as well so I took a shower, wrote my blogs and went to bed. Goodnight all! I only have 2 more days of work and then I am outta here. xoxo

19/8/10

It was my sixth day of working in a row, but I did not mind it because my parents were coming in the evening! I gave a morning tour to a group of guides from the UK, they seemed to enjoy it. I even met Rainbows and Brownies (the younger girl guides). I helped Sarah in the office and I got a 4 world centers fundraising pin, it was the last one so I felt special. Next was lunch and lunch clean up. I decided to start packing, because I knew I was not going to have much time to pack once my parents got here. I seemed to fit alot of clothing/items in my suitcase...but I still have a few days worth of clothes that need to go somewhere as well, hm. But, I worked on organizing my clutter, writing postcards and working on my end of the season evaluation. I got a lot done on the break which was very nice. It was then time to head to the kitchen for dinner preparation. I made the chicken carbonara, the veggie carbonara and the lactose free carbonara so that was fun. And, my parents arrived just in time for dinner! It was so good to see them! After dinner clean up, we hung out, I showed them around the chalet, but since they were tired from traveling they went to bed around 10pm. We were going hiking the next day, so sleep was needed. It was a typical day working guest services at the chalet.

18/8/10

It was my last time to work on-site day, and I was in charge of my favorite station -- Orienteering! At opening ceremony, Agus and I got to raise the flag. =) Jackie left this morning, so we had a goodbye muffin celebration in the dining hall just after the ceremony. Then, the bell rang and we were off to begin the day. The girls are from the UK, Japan and Canada...this is the only event with no Americans, crazy. The girls seemed tired and quiet, but they seemed to enjoy the activity. We had BBQ lunch, inside, because it was raining. We also had a bread crisis, someone in the office forgot to order the BBQ bread, so we had to use the regular bread for the BBQ, hm oh well. During the next session, I worked on the Our Chalet summer video I have been working on. I also folded laundry and made sign up sheets for the hikes during program. During orienteering, you have a 45-50 minute break, so I occupied my time wisely. After our second session, 3 girls still had not come back from orienteering. So, I put my rain jacket on and decided to go look for them. I wandering on the road uphill and into a forest looking for them and I stumbled upon the magic tree! The magic tree (I am going once more before I leave with a camera) is a tree that you can go inside, it is very cool. The forest was breath-taking and in the end I really enjoyed my walk/hike. I picked berries on the way back to the chalet, and luckily the girls had made it back just 2 minutes before I returned. Thank goodness we did not loose guests during the first day. We had once last session and then I helped the guests with their patrol duties. I worked on the video some more before dinner time as well, and I can not wait til I am finished! I decided to lend a hand in the kitchen, since Kate was sick and there were only 3 girls working. So, I got excused from evening program set up and helped with the washing and cleaning. I then went to International night, which was lots of fun! I got 4 patrol pins from a UK guide; they were the flowers from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland! It was a good day/night and I am exhausted so I going to bed. I am excited for my parents arrival tomorrow!!!

17/8/10

Today: Guest services. I was back to guest services, which is my last event I will be working. I leave the chalet in just 6 short days, and my parents are arriving in 2 days, horray! I was on the early breakfast shift, but it was a changeover day so it was quite slow in the morning. I was the laundry queen again for the changeover day and I did loads and loads of laundry, really. The autumn volunteers have arrived and they help out on guest services so I was training Mette when we were doing rubbish and recycling. We sorted the paper and food out of the rubbish bins. We emptied all of the paper, rubbish and recycling bins from both buildings and did laundry in between. We also had time to re-stock bathrooms, so I showed her how to do that too. We brought the 2 green bins down to the silver bin, Mette jumped on the silver bin to fit about 10 more bags in the container, it was great and she earned staff challenge points. Luckily, Christoph was coming up the hill in the chalet van, so he put the containers in the back and we got a ride up the hill, just in time for lunch. Since we had a lot of extra bread at the chalet, Lesley made individual pizzas on bread for lunch, it was yummy! I then continued to do laundry after I helped out with lunch cleanup. I even did my laundry as well, which was much needed. After that, Susan had an outdoor picnic and she made crepes, they were so yummy! I had a nutella and banana crepe. It was then time for dinner preparation, and since the autumn vollies are helping, I was sent back to the laundry room to do laundry. I tidied up the laundry room, folded and put away all the laundry and continued to do wash, I as busy until dinner time, it was crazy. After dinner, we cleaned up. I taught an autumn vollie how to 'Vim;' I love vimming, its one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen, but I love washing dishes as well. I hung out with Susan and Renee and we chatted and gossiped for a little bit. I then fixed my necker, after Renee re-tied my friendship knot; I added all my pins to my necker, horray it looks neat! Anyways, it was a long day and I have 2 more working days until I have a day off. I am working program tomorrow since it is on-site day and I get to run the orienteering session, ya ya ya!

16/8/10

Oh sweet summer, how it has seems to be already vanishing/gone. It was a high of 12C today, it was very cold. I began the adventure day with our hike to the adventure park with Jackie. It was cold and windy so I had a warm hat, scarf, gloves, long sleeve shirt and fleece on, how crazy is that. We get to the adventure park, we get our equipment and then we begin! After we finish the practice course, we go to the zip lines and then it starts raining and the wind picks up. I go grab my rain jacket so my fleece does not get wet. I watch the girls go back and forth on the zip wires, laugh, shout and throughly enjoy themselves. It was fun, we also went to the high zip line, which is always tons of fun. Next stop, was the high ropes course. I was freezing cold, as I was standing around waiting in line. So, I decided to walk up and down to keep myself warm. Then, it was my turn for the high-ropes course; I went forward on the wooden part, but when I got to the actual wire, I decided to go backwards, it was fun. Then, I got to the flat wooden steps and decided to go backwards with no hands, I wanted to challenge myself since I fell off last time when I tried. I made it to the end without falling and I was going backwards the entire time, wahoo! We then abseiled off the bridge. The Japanese girls were really funny, because they were having fun, but were slightly scared at the same time. It was then time to jump off the bridge, and I finally have a video of me diving off the bridge, yay! It was my favorite part of the adventure park, but as I was swinging, I was so cold, it was crazy! We walked in the rain to the indoor climbing wall to have lunch. Thank goodness for being indoors. It was a lot of fun at the climbing wall, I climbed the slanted wall which is really hard and I climbed up the rope ladder. Now, my arms are very tired. After the fun and games at the indoor climbing wall, we walked through town on our way back to the chalet. And, one of the guests bought me a peach tea! It had stopped raining so the walk back to the chalet was just a little chilly. It is my last day of program and we are having a campfire tonight for evening program and I am running it/in charge!! =)

15/8/10

I woke up to rain beating on the window, oh joy I can't wait to go hiking today. I am a bit tired from going out with some of the vollies for Emma's last night; but I had a lot of fun at the dance club, especially since they were playing great American (english) dance club music. I got up later than usual, but I still managed to get ready, pack my lunch and eat my breakfast before morning meeting. Agus and I were on the high road together with guests from Montana, New York and Japan. It was a lot of fun, the weather was cool and a little rainy, but we made it to the alp in 2.5hrs. It is about an 8 mile hike to Elsigenalp, but it was a good hike. I then put on gloves, 2 jackets, my rainjacket and a head warmer and ate lunch by the lake. I tend to cool down very rapidly after hiking, so I knew in advance I was going to freeze. After about an hour outside, I was so cold that Koka, Agus and I went to the restaurant. There was some kind of mini festival going on, so a cheesemakers hut was open, there was a petting zoo, and there was constant music -- yodelling, alpine horn players or some sort of Swiss music with musical instruments of course. We had 5 hours on the alp, but it was so cold outside, and I was tired, that I did not want to do anything. I sat in the restaurant, enjoyed a nice large cup of coffee, socialized with guests and made a friendship bracelet. It felt like a very long day, and I am not quite sure how I kept myself occupied without going crazy. It was about 4:30 and we headed to the gondola station. We road the gondola down to Elsigbach, and the bus was waiting for us, horray! Thank goodness we did not have to wait in the cold. We made it back to the chalet in about 20 minutes and I changed into clean clothes and began blogging. For evening program, it is games night and we are playing indoor Clue, I am excited. AND, my parents are coming in 4 days!!!!!! I can not wait. Bye for now readers.

14/8/10

Weather forecast: Rain. Final destination: Oberhofen Castle. I woke up earlier than I expected, so I decided to take a shower so I could be more awake for the morning. After my shower, I made my lunch and got some coffee from the kitchen. It is not the best coffee in the world, but I drink it. My mom sent me some instant Starbucks coffee which has been wonderful, I only have a few left so I use them when I really need a morning boost. I then sat at the Stockli table, watched many vollies go to and from, and quietly ate my breakfast and drank my coffee. Mornings are normally quiet and loud, quiet because everyone is too tired to speak and loud because we are frantically slamming doors, showering and busily preparing for the day. It was almost 8:30am and so I headed over to Spycher for the morning meeting. We discussed the happenings of the day, received sign-out sheets, programme phones, maps, scavenger hunts and the infamous motion-sickness bucket. We have the motion-sickness bucket just in case a guest may need to use it, hmm. The bell rang just 5 minutes before nine. I dropped off my dirty mug in the kitchen so it could be cleaned. We then gathered in a large circle, told the guests the plan of the day and then we were ready to head down the hill. On town days, we only have to walk down the driveway, because that is where the bus picks us up and drops us off. Our first stop was Neisen; we rode the funicular train for 30 minutes until we reached the top. It was about 7C at the top and raining, so staff decided to head inside to the restaurant. I enjoyed a hot cup of coffee and ate my lunch. We chatted and observed guests to kill time. By then, it was noon and it was time to head back down the mountain. We next went to Spiez to catch a boat that we would ride all the way to the castle. It was not raining in Spiez and the weather was warmer than the top of the mountain, thank goodness. After our boat ride, we landed at Oberhofen Castle. I had not been inside the castle since training, so I decided to have one more look. I discovered another room on a floor I had not been before and I discovered some more rooms as well. I saw an old 'barn' room as well as the chapel and sacristy. There was a wedding reception in the courtyard, so that was fun to watch from the windows. After the quick castle tour, Jackie and I sat out in the courtyard gardens, chatted and listened to the music that was playing for the reception. It was nice to hear some live music and just relax, enjoy the flowers and the beautiful view. After sitting for about an hour, we decided to wander into the other gardens. My favorite garden, viney arch now had sunflowers which was very cool. I enjoyed the nice serene walk through the gardens. It was then time to leave the castle, we met the guests at the entrance at 3:45. At the same time, the wedding reception had come to a close and they were all walking out. We seemed to be in the way as they kept inching closer so we moved to the park just across the street. The wedding paraded to the end of the dock all carrying red balloons. The bride and groom were carrying a heart-shaped 'Just Married' balloon, and then they all let the balloons go together. It was kind of funny watching it happen, I took a photo of the balloons as they were in the sky. Our bus finally arrived, we then departed to Thun to pick up the other guests and we were on our way back to the chalet. It was Emma's last day of work and there was a cake made in celebration (we bake for every occasion). It was a good day in the office =).