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.