German Musik

Last weekend on a road trip to Neuchâtel with some German friends, I heard this song for the first time and really liked it. It's about a house by a lake - check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMqIuAJ92tM

Some Confirmed First Impressions

So now that I've been here almost 4 weeks, I think it's safe to confirm some of the first impressions I had of Fribourg and Switzerland:

1. If you're not wearing a watch, you're doing it wrong.

2. A text message sent in French can use abbreviations (i.e. dropping vowels in long words) but if you type out the whole thing, it is uncouth to leave out accent marks. Switzerland is very couth.

3. In Switzerland absolutely NOTHING is open on Sundays. On every other day of the week, all shops (including grocery stores) close between 18h and 19h. The Swiss do this because it is culturally unacceptable to stay at work or school late, as this neglects the family and personal rest, both of which are strongly valued here. Similarly, most students leave Fribourg on the weekends to go home and spend time with family. This explains why it has been difficult to find a weekend nightlife crowd under age 40. Instead, the student clubs get crazy on Mondays, once all the students are back in Fribourg.

4. Life is definitely more chill here, especially coming from NYC and Boston where people are constantly occupied, stressed, and moving. On the one hand I absolutely love the busy city life because it makes me feel fulfilled and productive, moving toward my goals. Here, life is a lot slower, as evidenced by the early closing times. In particular, the library closes here at 10pm! (But let's be honest, I don't really miss those 3am Tisch nights.) At first this really freaked me out because I felt like I constantly needed to be progressing in school or that I needed to be always busy in order to be fulfilling myself and justifying my time abroad. However, I am coming to realize that it is just as fulfilling to absorb and live this slower, more balanced culture. Of course people work hard here - how else would Switzerland be so economically successful? The difference, though, is that people here only work hard until 7pm, at which point they go home to their families or go out for a drink with friends. No wonder people are generally happy here! This also explains how the three distinctly different cultures living in the same small country can get along so well. People work hard, but equally prioritize downtime.

5. It is NOT okay to wear sweatpants outside of your bedroom. Not even in the communal dorm kitchen.

6. It is impossible to find milk that is less than 3.9% milkfat. Not sure how I feel about eating cereal with cream, but hey, things could definitely be worse.

7. I need to learn German ASAP.

First Week of Classes en Français

Today marks my third day of classes at the University of Fribourg!  Classes have been good, though I haven't finalized my schedule yet. Shopping around for classes is fun because they have been super interesting, but it's also a bit stressful because very few history courses here are worth enough ECTS credits to transfer as Tufts credits. It's too bad because ALL the history courses are awesome. I've been  getting so excited about these courses because I think it is fascinating to learn about history from a European perspective and compare it to what I've learned from the American perspective. #historynerd

Un petit truc...all my courses are taught in French. This is definitely going to take some getting used to. So far, I've been able to mostly understand professors, but it definitely helps when they speak up and clearly. Usually I catch about 75%. This has been a little frustrating, but I know my French is improving rapidly so I think I'll get used to it. Tonight I have my first German class at the university - Guten Tag! 

Ben and I just booked flights to London for next weekend! I have no class on Fridays and my only class on Mondays is in the evenings, so traveler lifestyle, here I come! So stoked. 

Last night there were a bunch of back-to-school parties in the Old Town. We met a ton of students, some local and a lot of other exchange students (mostly European). Mad GTs.

The European exchange students are really interesting and awesome. Yesterday I had an intense political discussion with a Latvian girl, a Belgian guy, and a Spanish guy. We talked about the future of the E.U. and the American role in world politics, especially in terms of the pending election and relations with China. It's been so interesting to get global perspectives on these issues. And, of course, there's nothing better than sitting around with other young people discussing real, important, global issues. Tufts would be so proud. #globalcitizen

First Two Weeks in a Nutshell

My new home - Fribourg, Switzerland

It has been just over two weeks since I have arrived in Switzerland. I have not blogged since my arrival for several reasons; among them are the availability of Internet (or lack thereof), classes, and adventures. 

I'll start with the Internet thing: Switzerland is impressively forward-thinking (as expected) with regard to most aspects of life: transportation, education, economics, political neutrality, and, of course, punctuality. Not included on this list are environmental sustainability and Internet availability. It is difficult to find recycling bins, and most people seem only remotely aware of the concept of reducing our carbon footprint. Considering the efficiency of infrastructure in this country, this is surprising. In my humble opinion, the political and economic climate give Switzerland a lot of potential to become a trendsetter in environmentally-aware lifestyles including green construction. 

Similarly, I have no Internet in my dorm room. No Wifi, no ethernet, nothing. This is shocking considering the effect that the Internet has on globalization today, and considering that Switzerland is so globally significant in its involvement (or, rather, un-involvement in international relations). Alas, I will have to regress to what feels like the Ice Age and actually go to the library to get an Internet connection. That said, it is a nice break from menial distractions when one does not have constant access to online garbage. 

The "speed limit signs" in the Vallée du Gottéron
on the outskirts of Fribourg are pictures of the dragon
from the legend (my research paper topic). 

In continuing with excuses for the lack of recent blogging: CLASSES. The first two weeks that I was here consisted of language-intensive classes through the exchange program that I am on, the American College Program (ACP). I took lots of French classes (and am working on submitting a research paper in French - written on the Legends of Fribourg, how exciting!) and a few introductory German classes. These were hard, but I am determined to at least learn a little German since I am attending a bilingual university (students choose to take classes in either French or German). This week marks the beginning of real courses at the University of Fribourg. All my classes (mostly history and music) are taught in French with the exception of an introductory German language class. Granted, Swiss German is a little different from the High German taught at the University, but I will at least have some clue as to what is going on when I walk around the German-speaking sections of Switzerland. 

La Vallée du Gottéron - tellement belle!

Speaking of walking around the German-speaking sections....ADVENTURES. Part of the two-week language course with the ACP has been excursions. We have taken "field trips" to several other cities in Switzerland. The most shocking part about these excursions is the language difference in each city. Here in Fribourg, most people speak French, but some also speak German (usually a dialect of Swiss German) and courses are in either French or German. In Lausanne, hardly anyone speaks German. In Bern, just 20 mins away from Fribourg, nobody speaks French! I tried speaking French to somebody, and he asked me to switch to English! People there really only speak German and English - shocking. Here are some of the photographic highlights of these city excursions: 

Zurich in the rain

   

Fribourg

Bern - the capital of Switzerland

Lausanne - also rainy but SO beautiful and full of character!

Besides ACP-conducted excursions, the other Americans on the program and I have done a bit of exploring on our own. Last weekend we went hiking in Grandvillard, a town 1.5 hours from Fribourg, in the foothills of the Alps. We tried to summit Le Vanil Noir, but I think we took a wrong turn somewhere because we ended up at a barbed wire fence with lots of cows behind it (as well as some people dressed in traditional Swiss costumes). 

View of the Vanil Noir from Grandvillard

That evening, we went to a village outside of Fribourg for Bénichon, the annual harvest festival. It was somewhat like a block party, but with lots of traditional Swiss food and drink. It lasted all day and all night (for 3 days!) and was a ton of fun.

This weekend, one other American student and I did an ambitious hike in the Alps. It was incredible! We left Fribourg at 5am on Saturday and took the train to Interlaken. At Interlaken, we asked the advice of a rail travel agent for the best place to start a beautiful hike. He suggested we take the train to Grindelwald and ask for better advice at the tourist office there, so we did. Grindlewald is about 20 mins west of Interlaken. There, with advice from the tourist office, we embarked on a hike up into the mountains. It was a LOT of ascent on Day 1, but with beautiful views everywhere. We spent the night in Alpiglen, at a hut in the mountains. The hut was the home of a family with space for hikers in a dormitory (hostel-style). The kids of the family were running around shepherding cows, whose cheese we ate for breakfast the next morning. It was so awesome and local and beautiful. The next morning we continued hiking past Kleine Schiedegg into the next valley, and down into Lauterbrunnen via Wengen. It was so incredibly beautiful. The mountains here are unlike anything I have ever seen before!

Map of the area where we hiked this weekend - just south of Interlaken!

View from our Day 2 lunch spot -
We actually saw an avalanche happen here! 

This week will be my first real week of classes at the University of Fribourg. I have been meeting more and more students, both international and local. All are very interesting and bring new perspectives to discussions.

SPARKNOTES: Switzerland is awesome. Many more pictures with detailed captions soon to be posted via Facebook. I promise my next blog post will be sooner and thus a little less bulky.