On Friday morning, I went to the local butcher, bakery, and grocery store to get meat, bread, fruit, and yogurt for my lunch and dinner. With my bag packed, I left work at 12:30 to get to the train station in time for my 12:45 train to Heidelberg, Germany to visit Inka. I bought a 5 day Eurail pass for Germany and Switzerland which allows me to take any train or bus in any of those two countries. It took me about 5 hours and 3 different trains to get to Heidelberg (1 train Lausanne to Basel, 1 train Basel to Mannheim, and 1 train Mannheim to Heidelberg). The train from Basel to Mannheim was an Inter City Express (ICE) train. Normally people on the ICE trains have reservations, but it is not required. Above the seat is an electronic sign which says which cities the reservation is good for. I didn’t know where I should sit so I just sat. I ended up getting kicked out of my seat twice. I finally found a seat without anything written above the seat which meant it was not reserved. I learned the hard way! I finally arrived in Heidelberg and Inka met me on Track 8. We then took the streetcar to here place to drop off my bags and then went to the Kaufhof to buy a costume for the Fasching Party. Fasching is like Halloween, which goes from November 7 to sometime in February. We found a cute sailor suit so I went to the dressing room (small room with a curtain) to try it on. Someone before me must have messed up the cuffs because after I put the outfit on I tried to take it off, but both of my hands were stuck! I felt helpless! I stuck both of my hands out of the dressing room curtain and called for Inka. Very comical! She fortunately was able to help me out of the costume. Before getting ready for the party, we went to the grocery store to get drinks to bring to her friends before the Fasching Party. We then went back to her place and got ready. Inka was a fairy and I was a sailor girl (see picture). We rode the streetcar from her place to Jahnstrasse (see picture).

I met her friends and we hung out until we left for the party. Inka was not feeling well so she ended staying at her friends place while I went with her friends to the party. It was a lot of fun!! At 2:30 AM, we walked back to her friends place and picked up Inka. She was still not feeling well and we still had to make it back to her place. We ended up walking a short ways to get a cab because the streetcars had stopped running and it was too long to walk all the way back to her place. Since everyone after the Fasching Party was trying to find a cab, we had to compete with other people. We were walking along the road and I spotted a cab turning the corner. I ran to get the cab and ended up beating another group to it. The next day, Inka was feeling better so we went to the cafeteria on campus to get lunch. We then walked the old part of Heidelberg (see pictures). It was amazing! After seeing the town, we went back to Inka’s and watched a movie and then I headed to the train station to travel to Neckarsulm.

Week of January 26th

The journey continues! On Tuesday, I went running for 3 miles along Lake Geneva. The weather was great! That same night, I had worst hamburger of my life. Switzerland is not known for its beef. On Thursday during lunch, I went to the train station to meet some of my friends which I had met at L’Abri. Before meeting them, I went to the laundry mat to wash some of my clothes which was a very interesting experience. To do 1 load of laundry is 12 Swiss Francs which is equivalent to about $12.00 (7 Swiss Francs for the washer and 5 Swiss Francs for the dryer). The entire process took 1 hour. For the dryer you had to keep putting money in every 4 minutes. I then went to the train station to meet up with my friends and they ended up not showing up because one of the girls got sick. Later that night, I went to Les Pinocchio ordered ravioli and an icecream sundae (see picture). I also tried to order water, but the waiter said, “No,” and left. I was shocked!

Skiing in the Alps!

On Sunday, I was planning on skiing by myself at Villars which is a 12 minute bus ride from L'Abri. At the last minute, some people from L'Abri said they were also going skiing so I went with them. The day was picture perfect. The sun was out, not too hot, or not too cold. We walked from L'Abri to Chesieres to rent skis, boots, and poles (completely uphill). At the ski rental shop, they asked me my weight and I said 160. They looked at me and didn't know what to say. They thought I meant 160 kg which is over 300 lb. I stepped on the scale and read 80 kg (what a relief)! We then walked to Villars with our ski equipment and bought a lift ticket. The experience was unique!! It had just snowed on Friday and the skiing conditions were great! There were 36 lifts and 100 km of runs including a 6 person lift and many T-bar lifts (picture included).

The scenery was the best part! It was so amazing to stop and appreciate the wonderful opportunity. We skied until the lifts closed at and walked back to L'Abri. From there, I said goodbye to the friends that I met and headed back to Lausanne. The bus stop was the driveway of L'Abri which was convenient. I knew that I had to get the 6:12 bus otherwise I would have to wait until 8:30. When I saw the bus coming, I started to wave my hands to make sure the bus driver saw me. I got on the bus packed with people coming home after a long day/weekend of skiing. So I stood up on the bus around the hairpin turns until we arrived in Aigle. I then took the train to Lausanne. The weekend turned out great! I am glad that I went!

Adventure to L'Abri!!

The adventures continue!

Before I left for Switzerland, I bought a Eurail Pass. This allowed me to travel 5 days within a 2 month time period anywhere in Germany of Switzerland on train or bus. Awesome deal!!

This past weekend I used my Eurail pass and went to Huemoz, Switzerland which is only about 1 hour from Lausanne. A girl at church heard that I was going to Switzerland and recommended that I go to L'Abri which is a Christian Fellowship in Huemoz. So I took the 4:56 train on Friday to Aigle which followed Lake Geneva the entire time until we arrived in Aigle 30 minutes later. In Aigle, I took a Charter bus (picture shown) to Huemoz.

The 20 minute bus ride consisted entirely of sharp hairpin turns, a steep elevation change, ice covered roads, and a bus packed of people. We finally arrived in Huemoz. I was the only one that got off at the bus stop (off the side of the road). I asked the bus driver where L'Abri was and he said, "Just climb that hill over there." I arrived at L'Abri (chalet) in time for dinner and entered a room full of 29 people from all over the world. They asked me where I was from and it was awesome to see that there were some people from Grand Rapids, Michigan (small world). For the most part everyone was in their early 20's, finishing college, and finding what they want to do with their life. The atmosphere was so great! After dinner most people people played games, played the piano, played guitar, and worked on the puzzle.

On Saturday, breakfast was at 8 AM and everyone was expected to be there. During the night, it had snowed 6 inches. Everything was so beautiful and picture perfect. Half the group had a study day in the morning (9:30-1:00) at the Farel House (another chalet down the hill) and the other half had chores in the morning (making lunch, grounds, laundry, cleaning house, etc). I had a study day in the morning at the Farel House (pictures shown).

The study time was great to have. I read my bible, studied for the Fundamental Engineering exam, and enjoyed looking out the window at the Alps.

The view was tremendous (picture shown)! 1:00 PM was lunch time which consisted of a discussion with half of the group. From 3:00-6:30 PM was afternoon chores. I was in charge of helping to make dinner. Cooking for 29 plus people is difficult to do! From 4:30-5:00 PM was tea time. I didn't have any tea, but instead played 3 games of ping pong outside on the porch. Dinner was at 6:30 PM. After dinner, I played spoons with 8 other people and never got a letter! Later that night, 5 people including myself walked to Chesieres (which is completely uphill) to play pool at a pub. It was a great time!!

Fondue!!

The weather yesterday in Switzerland was better than the last few days. On my way to work, I stopped by Migros (a grocery store) and bought lunch which consisted of fresh bread, provolone cheese, salami, blackberry yogurt, and Pepsi. I am really getting used to eating bread and cheese for lunch and breakfast. At lunchtime, I took a walk to Ouchy where the Olympic Headcourters is located.

For dinner, I went to Cafe de L'Eveche for fondue. It was the greatest place! The atmosphere was perfect! I found it on the internet before I left work. They had 10 different types of fondue! I ordered the original fondue with the Gruyere cheese which is made in Switzerland. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and will go back again!

Time to Learn French!

This was a day I wish I knew French!

Yesterday was my first day at the lab. Six people from the Lab (including myself) went to the cafeteria which is not far from the Lab. I had no idea how to order in French and of course I was first in line from our group. So I pointed to another persons plate and said, "I'll have the same." I took a chance and the lunch ended up being good. It worked out!

Just before leaving work (5:30 PM), I went on the Internet to find popular places to eat in Lausanne. A few places came up which said they had good food and I marked them on my map. I then started to walk to the restaurant. On my way, I saw an underground route to the train station so I went down the stairs. It was a different city below. Everyone was hustling and bustling running for their train to go home. I then came back up to street level and continued on my way to the restaurant. The road turned into a brick street and continued to get steeper. Now, I have climbed many steep hills, but this one was a doozie especially with a backpack. Did I mention it was raining? I opened the door of the German Restaurant (door opens into the building) and the first thing I noticed was no one was eating. Everyone was drinking. I proceeded to sit down at one of the open tables. The waiter came up to me and asked in French "What do you want to drink? A beer?" "Yes," I said. So I sat and waited. The bartender eventually came over to me to see if I needed anything else. I said, "Do you all serve dinner." It was about 5:45 PM which is the normal time for dinner in America. One thing I didn't know is they do not start serving dinner until 7:00 PM because the cooks do not get there until 6:45 PM. Unlike America, the restaurants are open until midnight or 1 AM so everyone eats a late dinner. Therefore, I people watched while I waited for my food for a hour. The bartender must have put my order in because at 7:00 my stroganoff came out. I finished my meal, walked down the hill, and caught the Metro bus to my hotel.

Arrived in Switzerland!

It is only the first day and there are already crazy stories to tell!

I arrived in Geneva, Switzerland at 9:00 AM this morning and took the 45 minute train to Lausanne. I was putting pictures on my computer and enjoying the scenery. I must have fallen asleep for only a few minutes and when I woke up I looked out the train window which said Lausanne. I quickly grabbed my things and got off the train. No more than 30 seconds after getting off, the train left. That was a close call!!

Outside of the train station, I was taking pictures and an older lady with a cane starts to cross the street. You could tell that she was having a hard time with the last step. So I took her arm and helped her onto the sidewalk. She said something to me in French which I believe was "thank you."

I walked from the train station to the Hotel Bellerive. My room overlooks Lake Geneva and the Swiss Alps. It is beautiful. Most of the shops are closed today because it is Sunday.

Hope everyone is great! Keep checking in for new posts and pictures!

Preparing for Switzerland

Hi Everyone!


14 days from now (January 17), I will be in the airport on my way to Switzerland. My family and I have traveled a lot, but I have really never traveled by myself. This will be a new adventure in my life!


I will keep you all updated of my trip and the many adventures that will come of it!