A one month anniversary present-- to myself.

In some ways its hard to believe I've already hit the one month anniversary of my arrival in Switzerland, and in other ways it feels as if I've been here for ages!

My reflection on this "anniversary" resulted in some interesting observations:

a. My "culture shock" and/or adjustment phase to Switzerland has been basically non-existant, at least compared to Honduras. In a matter of days I felt at home on the campus. Its only in my rare ventures off campus when I realize that I am in a different country and I don't know how to communicate.... which leads me to observation b.

b. I do not speak Italian. My miserable failed attempt at the (lame and not-recommended) summer Italian course resulted in frustration and a lack of further effort until this point. However, starting Thursday I am joining a beginner Italian class that meets right here on campus. I'm hoping to be beyond simple greetings by next month's anniversary!

c. The number of times I've been off campus for non-school related events could be counted on one hand. I literally could spent 24 hours working or doing work/dorm related activities.... and its been a challenge to set some personal boundaries, especially when on week one I had 9th graders knocking on my door at 2:30 am asking for permission to go to the bathroom! Argh!

In attempt to remedy that problem, I finally took a much needed trip with friends up to the Interlaken area in north central Switzerland. We spent an unbelievable weekend hiking the Eiger glacier which is located by the Monch and Jungfrau (for those of you who are adventure literature or geography fans) and the Schilthorn (for those of you who are James Bond fans!) We hiked for over 7 hours on Saturday and experienced a wide variety of terrain and weather conditions. The conversation, girl-bonding, and sheer beauty of the whole experience was unbeatable.

Laptop is still broken.... sigh..... but as soon as its back I will post a link to some pictures. Its some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world. We kept saying that it was as if God had invited us over to his house to play on his playground in the clouds :)

I hope everyone is doing well. I'd love an update or two from home. It means a lot to hear what you're up to, even if its brief.

Happy birthday to my padre this past weekend! I was sorry to miss this one, but loved catching up on the phone.

all for now- more pics coming soon!

Luzern revisited

It has been 8 years since I wandered the streets of Luzern on the City High orchestra trip! I was absolutely extatic to return as a chaperone for one of our middle school day trips. We were soaked after a day of wandering around in the rain, but a chai from Starbucks afterwards almost made up for it!

Being back in such a wonderfully "Swiss" town really helped this experience sink in. The cutesy architecture, the German, the drizzly fall weather, the waterfalls cascading down the mountains, the concert hall that inspired me to be a music major, etc. It was a gorgeous trip!

I wanted to post this as a tribute to my wonderful high school travel mates-- I certainly missed them being there.... playing in shopping carts, listening to German techno, acting like rediculously fun-loving girls before we had to go our separate ways....

Cheers to Luzern!

Things that are rugged: the mountains here... and the start to the school year

So I've entered my second full week of teaching, and finally feel that I am almost caught up with myself! When I first arrived here things were basically in shambles. I had no classroom, no workable schedule, and no one knew what I was supposed to be teaching! I was a little surprised that a country as seemingly well organized as Switzerland could throw me into a mess.... but a school is a school..... is a school... right?

After weeks of never ending meetings (literally.... all day every day), we've entered a somewhat normal schedule. I have an actual job description, and I even have managed to get off campus a few times- which is always a lovely gift! I'll post photos of that soon.

My job description

Music Program Coordinator

General music teacher, Grades 3-8

Cultural events co-coordinator (taking trips to concerts, etc.)

Private Lesson Coordinator

Dorm Parent (which is not quite as strenuous as being a real parent....but almost)

My job description is NOT:

Music Teacher pre-K through Grade 2. YAY! What a relief!

Work here tends to be a 24/7 ordeal, which seems typical of boarding schools. If you're not teaching, you're eating meals on campus, putting kids to bed, sponsoring field trips, etc. It was overwhelming at first, but I've actually enjoyed the close relationships I'm developing with the students and faculty. (and I also really cherish my 30 minutes of alone time each day!)

Well its 10:15 pm... I'm finally wrapping up my work for the day. Word on campus is that my laptop has returned from Zurich- and i'm desperately hoping to find it in working condition tomorrow.