17/7/10

I was off for the day since Emma and I were scheduled to hike Bunderspitz in the evening. But, do to the weather the Bunderspitz trip was called off. It was a very stormy and rainy day at the chalet. So I spent the day watching movies and the Unit. I was hoping that the rain would come to a halt so we would still have the chance to go at least half way. But, it did not and it continued for most of the night. Oh well, I still have a chance to go in August. I had a very lazy day due to the weather which was nice since I needed the sleep. After the day of rest, Emma, Susan and I went to Adelboden to go out and socialize. It was a fun night and we danced alot!!! Good bye =)

16/7/10

Emma and I were in charge of leading a group of girls from North Carolina and Maine to the climbing wall and adventure park. We started our morning with an hour hike to the adventure park, we got the appropriate equipment then headed to the climbing wall. It was a very hot day already and at some points I was feeling light headed, so I drank an entire water bottle when we arrived. I was feeling much better, luckily I packed about 2L of water. We spent about 3 hours at the climbing wall and all of the girls really seemed to enjoy climbing. I helped belay girls so that everyone had multiple times to go up the rock. We then enjoyed lunch by the river. We started the adventure park at 2pm. Luckily the adventure park is somewhat shaded by the trees so it wasn't as hot as the climbing wall area. After the girls repelled, zip lined and did the high ropes course, Emma and I got to jump off the bridge! It was my favorite part! And when Emma was coming down from the swinging part of it, the instructor and I were splashing her with water, then he pushed me in the river and lowered Emma into the river. We had a water fight in the river and we were all soaked from head to toe. It was nice to cool off though, since it was such a hot day outside. We had Swiss night for the evening program, which is one of my favorite nights. Fritz played is alpen horn, we sang a swiss german song, we had the William Tell play about Swiss independence and had the Swiss Jeopardy game with chocolate fondue as a surprise prize. It was a fun day. I am off on Saturday because I am hiking to Bunderspitz and watching the sunrise on Sunday morning. =)

15/7/10

Program. Program. Program. If you did not get the memo, I am back on program! Today, we had the opening ceremony for the new guests that arrived yesterday. Agus and I helped with campfire cooking all day. Therefore, I smell of campfire. It was a lot of fun, and I finally was able to try something new. We taught the girls about building fires, fire structure types and fire safety. The challenge was to build a fire and to break the string that was attached to the fire burning bucket. They were given 4 large pieces of wood, 2 knives, 2 gloves and 1 match. If they needed another match, then the groups would have to sing a song all together to receive another match. It was a challenge since many girls have never built a campfire with just one match. After they were able to light a fire, we gave them a flour dough mixture and then they were able to cook over the fire. It tasted like a version of a bread biscuit, but it was very good. The day was lovely although at times it smelled of cow manure. After 3 sessions of campfire cooking, it was time to eat dinner. Evening program this evening was International Night. The skits, songs and games were very entertaining. During the SWAPs session after the event, I have managed to acquire many silly bracelets. All and all it was a good day at the chalet.

14/7/10

I woke up at 5am and walked about 4 minutes to the train station, I grabbed a café and a freshly baked pastry and then boarded the train. I woke up extra early because I did not want to miss my train back to Adelboden. I slept virtually the entire way to Frutigen. I arrived at Oey, the bus stop, at 8:20am; I walked up the hill, changed for work and went straight to the kitchen. I drank another cup of coffee and morning meeting and then the daily house chores began. During the break, I had the urge to complete some staff challenge points. I therefore cleaned all of Stockli house by myself, it took me about 2 hours, it was very dirty. Horray I earned more staff challenge points. After dinner clean up, I briefly checked email in the office since that is the only internet location. Emma, Jane, Elaine, Susan and I all had a games party in the tent to earn more staff challenge points. After our card games, I was finally very tired so I went to bed. I am working a half day tomorrow and I need to be rested. =)

13/7/10

I woke up at 5am and walked about 4 minutes to the train station, I grabbed a café and a freshly baked pastry and then boarded the train. I woke up extra early because I did not want to miss my train back to Adelboden. I slept virtually the entire way to Frutigen. I arrived at Oey, the bus stop, at 8:20am; I walked up the hill, changed for work and went straight to the kitchen. I drank another cup of coffee and morning meeting and then the daily house chores began. During the break, I had the urge to complete some staff challenge points. I therefore cleaned all of Stockli house by myself, it took me about 2 hours, it was very dirty. Horray I earned more staff challenge points. After dinner clean up, I briefly checked email in the office since that is the only internet location. Emma, Jane, Elaine, Susan and I all had a games party in the tent to earn more staff challenge points. After our card games, I was finally very tired so I went to bed. I am working a half day tomorrow and I need to be rested. =)

12/7/10- Paris!

Paris Paris Paris.

Today I woke up and again walked around the Notre Dame, there were many tourists waiting to go in the Notre Dame so I opted to just take photos from outside. The architecture in Paris was so beautiful and it even reminded me of some Switzerland cities I visited in the ‘French’ area. Paris is a city filled with history. I learned that the gargoyles on the outside of the Notre Dame were built to drain the water from the roof since their mouths were open and had openings to let the water drain. I then went to the Montparnasse area and I bought an umbrella since it was forecasted to rain. I even got to see a French university and it was so pretty. Grace and I went to one of her favorite crepe shops so we got a crepe to eat for lunch and it was very good. I wish I had a crepe to eat right now. The nutella crepes were only 2 Euros, the food is much cheaper than the food in Switzerland. After our lunch, we rode the metro to the Eiffel tower since I wanted to maybe climb the tower, but the line was unbelievably to long, and I did not want to wait in that line. Our next stop was Montmarte, it is Paris’ highest elevation, and it once was a farming community with windmills all around. It was a very quaint and pretty part of Paris, with small roads and alleyways, tourist shops and beautiful scenery. At the top, you can see mostly all of France. We then walked over to the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. It has gleaming white domes that tower over Paris like a church of the 12^th century. We walked inside the church and then walked the 326 steps up the tower. The view from the top was pretty phenomenal; there were many buildings and houses crammed all around. You could even see the Eiffel tower in the distance. I actually preferred to see the Eiffel Tower in the distance versus walking up the actual tower. The view was pretty cool, but it is hard to tell what specific things are in the distance since I am not that familiar with Paris. We enjoyed gelato as we were walking around the streets. I even got some souvenirs. There was even an artists square with artists painting and selling their paintings. After our Montmarte adventure, we headed back to see the Arc de Triomphe. It is  the largest triumphal arch in the world; it is 161 feet high and 144 ft wide. The arch was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 and there are hundreds of names of generals who commanded troops in Napoleonic victories. The arc is located at the western end of the Champs-Elysees. Champs-Elysees is the main boulevard of Paris filled with designer shops, many people and shopping galore. After our journey down the Champs-Elysees we reached the place de la Concorde. It is an octagonal traffic hub built in 1757 to honor Louis XV and it is one of the world’s grandest squares. There was an Egyptian obelisk which was carved in 1200 BC, the oldest man-made object in Europe, and was presented to France in 1829 by the viceroy of Egypt. Our next stop was the Jardin des Tuileries. It was filled with statues and chairs to relax and enjoy the scenery. We continued down the path until we reached the Musee du Louvre. We did not go inside, but the gardens outside were beautiful. I even had a picture taken with the glass pyramids in the background. There were gypsy women all around, I was warned to ignore them; they ask if you speak English to try to sell you various things or what not. My friend, Rene, told me that she got approached by a gypsy and got asked if she lost a ring, Rene said no but the gypsy gave here the ring and said she can keep it, then demanded that Rene pay her 2 Euro for the ring. So, I just ignored anyone who asked me if I could speak English, I felt rude but it was safer that way. We then rode the metro back to Grace’s house, so I could get my bag and then eat dinner before I had to leave. I was able to meet the family that she was living with, so that was nice. I even got to meet her roommate from China. It was a very long day and we accomplished a lot of sites to see, I was very pleased. We hopped back on the metro and went to the area of the train stop. We grabbed a bite to eat just before my train departed. I was off back to the land of the Swiss. I had one change over in Strasbourg. The train was 20 minutes late, and after I boarded it did not leave until another 40 minutes later. So arriving in Basel was delayed. I slept overnight, well a few hours, in a hostel, a all female mixed dormitory room, and then woke up at 5am to catch a train back to Adelboden. I was working the next day so I had to be back before 9am.

11/7/10-Paris!

I woke up early because I wanted to make sure I was not going to miss the bus or train for my journey to Paris. Luckily, I made it to Paris on time at about 1pm. The train ride scenery was wonderful, I got to see the yellow/wheat colored foothills and I even saw a few windmills. The view was somewhat tranquil and calming. I did sleep for some of the train ride as well. Grace (a friend from college) met me at the train station and we hopped on the metro and went to the Opera Garnier or place de l’Opera to go see a ballet. Although there are many sites to see, I actually enjoyed seeing a ballet, it was the same opera house where the Phantom of the Opera preformed. The ballet was called La Petite Danseuse de Degas. I have taken ballet since I was 3 and it was very nice to see a ballet in a foreign country, especially a French ballet. After the ballet, we went back home to where Grace lives. She lives in a ‘suburb’ of Paris, so I got to see what a French home looks like. It was small, condensed with many floors. We got a bagette on our way back to the metro stop. The metro system is very big and is probably the dirtiest part of Paris; sometimes the subways smell like urine and if you look around you may find the homeless man producing the odor. There were people playing music in the station, selling fresh fruit, or even women begging for money. It was definitely a city experience. And what I learned on many metro rides is that most Parisians are listening to their Ipod and looking very depressed, unhappy or pissed off. So, to fit in and not look like an American, I did not smile and I just stared at the ground so I would not make any eye contact with any creepers that were lurking about. It was actually kind of fun, Grace and I played along as being ‘French’ people. It was the final match of the world cup!! So in honor to celebrate, we went to the Eiffel tower and sat on the grass to watch the game on a huge big screen. When we switched lines to get on the metro line for the game, there were so many people walking in the station, it was unreal. When we boarded the metro to the park, we were literally stuffed with people, like sardines. We finally got to our destination and there were even more people. There were many people selling flags, blow horns, scarves and random trinkets from Spain and the Netherlands. There were also people selling stuff on the floor, mini Eiffel tower souvenirs, purses, hats and much more. I was flabbergasted as to how many people were already at the park, and we were about an hour early. So we ate dinner on the lawn and enjoyed watching the game from afar. It was a lot of fun because many fans were loud and crazy. Some fans even climbed trees to watch the game. And if I turned around I would at least see a couple making out, and that goes for all of Paris. After the game, we walked along the river and sat and watched the Eiffel Tower light up for the night. It was probably one of my favorite Paris moments. It was still very light outside and it was only 10pm. After it was lit, it then ‘sparkled’ and there was flashing/sparkly lights on the tower. It was very pretty. We celebrated Spains’ victory, we sat in the lawn, watched the Eiffel tower, watched many guests run and scream in celebration with Spanish flags all around. The vendors selling the Eiffel Tower trinkets would walk around and just come up to you and try to sell things. I learned that you have to ignore people to be left alone, because you never know what may happen. We were walking back to the metro and I got picked up by some random guy, thrown over his shoulder and after I screamed he set me down. I was fine, but I think he was very happy about Espanas’ victory. It was an interesting experience, and Grace just said ‘only in Paris.’ My friends Rene and Simone were in Paris and after they were done with dinner we met up to go out for Rene’s birthday. Although it was Sunday, there were still places open. She was staying in the medieval part of Paris. This part is where Paris was born.  On our way to the Latin Quarter, we walked by the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was very massive in size and the detail was beautiful. We went to a little café and enjoyed a glass of wine and talked the night away. We were all tired for some reason, so it was nice to sit and chat. I was even given a rose by someone as they were passing by, I never even saw their face. Anyways, we walked back along the Seine. Paris is the city of lights, and the view down the Seine River was very pretty.