10/7/10

Although we went out the previous night, Susan and I were on the early breakfast shift. We actually had a very enjoyable early morning breakfast experience. After breakfast, we went to morning meeting and luckily Karen was the only senior staff member working. Karen is young so she enjoyed hearing about our shenanigans of the night. I vacuumed and mopped Main Chalet and then took a 30-minute catnap before lunch. I was very tired. After lunch cleanup, I took a 3-hour nap and woke up just in time for dinner preparation. I have the next two days off and I plan to go to Paris. I am very excited. After dinner cleanup, I went to the office to go print out my hostel and train ticket information for my 2-day holiday. I was very excited. But, as soon as I walked back to Stockli the entire server crashed and I was unable to access internet. Therefore, I could not research about Paris or update my blog. But luckily I had got the necessary information printed before the server crashed. I packed my bag for Paris and then went to bed as my train was leaving tomorrow at 7am. 

9/7/10

I gave a tour to a group of guides from Scotland in the morning. They were very lovely ladies and they were eager to learn about the history of the Chalet. I opened the shop after the tour and then the bell for lunch rang. We enjoyed another lunch outdoors. Jane and Emma built a tent while we were preparing for dinner, since we had planned to sleep in a tent/camp overnight. We wanted to earn more staff challenge points. After dinner clean up, some of the vollies wanted to go to Boden a town south of the chalet about 40 minutes away by foot. It was the annual ‘Schwingest,’ which is a wrestling festival. Therefore, they had tents, restaurants and events set up for the festival. We hung out at a barn that was turned into a bar. Elaine and I went over to the big white tent and saw a yodeling festival. It was a very fun night and there were lots and lots of people in Boden, which is a town that barely exists. We walked back from the festival and camped in the tent, it was great fun.

8/7/10

I was on the 8am breakfast shift. It was a normal day on guest services, I was in charge of laundry and doing the floors of main chalet. During the afternoon break, Christina, Jane and I went to town to get some snacks and such from Coop. It was very hot outside and my shoulders got a little bit sunburned. After dinner cleanup, I enjoyed watching some episodes of the Unit and then I went to bed. 

7/7/10

This event I am working guest services. I woke up to help with the late breakfast shift. It was opening ceremony for the new event, which began at 9am. We finished washing up in the kitchen and then it was morning meeting time. Today, I vacuumed and mopped Main Chalet. I took out the trash and recycling and did laundry. We had bratwurst and veggie patties for the BBQ lunch. And since it was sunny, we had lunch outdoors! After lunch cleanup, I had an afternoon break. I worked on some of my staff challenge points that I will hopefully get signed tomorrow. Emma and I are planning on building a tent tomorrow evening so we can camp and get more staff challenge points. We have to cook for 95 guests this event, so it does take some time to prepare dinner. I sliced ham and cheese for 2 hours, it was tons of fun let me tell you. I sat and enjoyed dessert on the veranda with Jenny after we finished dinner cleaning. It was nice to observe the beautiful mountain scenery. Emma and I even had a nice chat with Christoph about tent building. I then relaxed in my bed until I fell asleep.

6/7/10-Vevey/Montreux/Jazz Festival!

Its my day off!! Elaine, Agus, Jackie and I decided to all take part in an adventure. Our first stop was Vevey, a small quaint city situated on Lake Geneva. We walked around a bit and then decided to have lunch by the lake. We also went shopping as well. After spending a few hours there, we hopped on a train to go to Montreux. Our first destination was Castle Chillon, it is about 3km south of Mountreux and it was only a 10 minute bus ride. The castle dates back to the 12^th century and was in a perfect location on the water and tucked away in the mountains. It took about an hour and a half to walk through the entire castle; we saw prison chambers, dungeons, chapels, sitting rooms, dining halls, fortifications, watch towers and even a defense bridge. It was a very beautiful castle and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. It was even a little bit crowded by other tourists. After the castle, we took a boat across lake Geneva to Montreux. It was a beautiful day and the boat ride was lovely. We arrived in Montreux and I was ready to go see the Jazz Festival. It was the 44^th annual Montreux Jazz Festival and I was really excited to see live music. We walked along the river and there were lots and lots of market venues, shops and food. We finally got to the park and we were able to enjoy live music. It was very nice to sit down and relax for a few hours and enjoy some groovy tunes. We enjoyed bands from the USA, Switzerland and Australia. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed my day off and glad I was able to go to a music festival.

5/7/10

It was the final day of program and Susan and I were off to the Woodcarvers for the morning and then in the afternoon we were going to repel down a gorge. I have not been to the woodcarvers since training so I had to challenge myself and lead the hike by memory. I luckily knew where I was going…for the most part. The hike is a lot easier now than it was for the first time. It takes about 2 hours to get to the woodcarvers, it is downhill then across the road and then uphill. After the downhill portion, it took about 30 solid minutes to climb stairs and very steep hills, but once we got to the end, it was a flat walk to the woodcarvers, thank goodness. After the guests had time to browse and buy some wood items, we went next door to the Café to enjoy some Lemon cake. It was delicious, but it did ruin my appetite for lunch. After our mid-morning snack, we walked to go eat lunch at picnic tables by the river. It was very sunny and the weather felt great. After lunch, it was time for repelling down the gorge, horray. I went first so I had to go all the way to the bottom by myself. I was not nervous although some girls are scared to get to the bottom platform. I stayed at the bottom for about two and a half hours until all the guests finished repelling. I was wearing my rain pants and still managed to get them very muddy. Although it is bright and sunny outside, it feels like it is raining inside the gorge, especially at the bottom. After everyone was done, the staff allowed Susan and I to have a candy bar! I had peanut M&Ms. We walked back to the chalet, I did some laundry before dinner and then it was campfire for the evening program. The Australian guides gave me their sunhat; it has the Australian flag on it, I was very excited to receive their gift!! It was a very good day and I am very excited to go to Montreux for the Jazz Festival tomorrow!!

4/7/10

It was an adventure day today, and I had a very adventurous day. Susan and I led the high-route hike to Elsigenalp, and it only took us about three hours to get there. It was a very nice hike and it was not as difficult as I originally thought it would be. Our hike ended just by the lake, so we enjoyed a picnic lunch sitting on the rocks right next to the lake. Katie, a guest from Virginia and I, decided that we wanted to hike all the way to the top of Elsighorn. It was an additional hour and a half to get to the top. We met a very nice Belgium family on the way. We were kind of following them, since they too were traveling to the top. It took about 2 hours to get there, since we did not follow the path correctly and we hiked an additional 30 minutes, whoops. When we got to the top which was 2,341m high, and the view was so lovely. We saw Lake Thun, Niesen, Adelboden, Kandersteg valley and many more mountains that I do not know the name of. I have attached some photos of the lovely view. This morning, it was raining, but before we began our hike, the weather cleared. And by the time we were hiking back to Elsigenalp from Elsighor, the sun came out. It was the perfect weather to go swimming. We only had about 30 minutes to swim, since we had to take the gondola down at 4:30. The water felt great, and I finally was able to swim around! We then walked to the gondola, I was still wearing my bathing suit under my clothes so I was a little bit cold. We arrived at the base of the station and then waited for the bus to come pick us up. We went back to the chalet to prepare for evening program, which was games night and we played a PIRATE game!! It was so fun. The staff dressed up as pirates and then we had 3 minutes to hide and then the guests had to find us. I climbed up a tree and I was hiding very high up, so it was difficult for the girls to find me. I finally got bored after 30 minutes and climbed down so the guests could see me. I then only got found by 2 groups, horray I did not have to forfeit myself. It was a very fun game, and at the end the winning team had the chance to splash us with water. We had to 'walk the plank' and get hosed down in the process. This then turned into a gigantic water fight. It was tons of fun, and the guests loved to get the staff soaking wet. I was drenched from head to toe. After the water fight and mopping the main chalet building, it was shower time. After my shower, I enjoyed some all-American homemade apple pie to celebrate the 4th of July. It was made especially by 2 American volunteers =). I had a very good 4th of July. I am very tired, we have one more adventure day tomorrow and then I am off to Montreux for the Jazz Festival and to see a castle, yip-pay!