Snow II

Woke up yesterday morning to a lot of snow! So everything around here is looking very festive and pretty. Of course, the main difference is that here the snow doesn't cause absolute chaos- yesterday I travelled to Konstanz in Germany and not one single bus or train was delayed.

It's been ridiculously cold here lately. It hasn't been above about -3° since I got back from Brighton- I think it was about -9° or so this morning when I got up. Nothing like a blast of cold to wake you up..! Anyway, I went for a walk this morning to a forest thing nearby, so click here for photos. The one above is my personal favourite!

BOREDDDD

I am updating this simply because I am ridiculously bored, and have run out of news stories on my most visited sites (BBC.co.uk, MailOnline.co.uk & a couple of celebrity gossip sites.. I only read the Mail because it's funny! I don't see it as serious journalism, honestly..). Anyway, I'm stupidly bored. I'm also quite excited about tomorrow, because tomorrow night I shall be off to Brighton to have the merriest of weekends. Fin said that the food they'd ordered from Asda arrived today- complete with Yorkshire puds- so I'm really looking forward to the dinner. And the drinks (cocktails and whatnot).

I had beans on toast today, on small toast (Swiss bread seems to be very small). The beans weren't very nice. Like everything here, they were ridiculously salty, and the beans themselves were suspiciously large. I bought them in the Spar hoping that they might be at least similar to the Heinz variety but apparently they mess them up especially for the Swiss. Grrr.

Did I mention that I'm ridiculously bored? No? Well, I AM. I did a bit of work on my dissertation & pedagogic report earlier (ie I retyped the basic outline which I will eventually email to my supervisors). Also emailed a woman who seems to be some sort of super Swiss-German expert to ask for her advice on my dissertation. So I think now I'm going to write about the relationship between Swiss German and High German (the normal kind), historical attitudes to Swiss German (everybody hates it, basically) and the influence of other languages on Swiss German (they all say "merci" and "sorry" here instead of "danke" and "es tut mir leid"). There, I summed up 66.6% of my dissertation in one sentence. Glad I can't do that for the pedagogical report, which is going to be on bilingual education (woo). I actually think both topics will be very interesting, it's just going to be a pain getting them off the ground. I think the dissertation is going to be entirely based on reading (so just a standard essay I guess, with the question dreamt up by me) whereas I think the pedagogic report is going to require a bit more independent research on my part- I'll probably have to do some case studies on pupils, some who are taught in bilingual classes and others from monolingual classes. Fascinating stuff I tell ye.

On the plus side I'll probably sleep well tonight as I got out of bed an hour early for no apparent reason. I normally have a lesson on a Wednesday morning with a Maths teacher (he teaches in English, or at least he will be in the new year) so I meet him every week for a bit of conversation practice. Alas today he did not show- don't know if that's because I'm stupid and forgot to write down that he wouldn't be here, but I don't think so. Ah well.

Well, that's the end of that, I think I've used up all my words for today. I think it's almost time to finish off the horrible beans. I think I might treat myself and have them with the bizarre tasting potato wedges I bought yesterday.. oh well, it's almost Brighton time. I am otherwise happy because a) I'm going to Brighton tomorrow b) Jay is coming over at Christmas c) I have a lovely new sequinned skirt d) I'm going to get my eyes tested hopefully on Christmas eve so soon I may even have the gift of sight. I've had to explain to a few classes that if I ignore them in the corridors, it's not because I'm rude but because I can't make out their faces until it's too late, and walking about the place squinting is not a good look.

The End.

Weekend

This weekend Alex and Fin visited. They were here from late Thursday night until this morning, and a splendid time was had by all. I think they liked it here- Alex was especially pleased that there was snow (even though it didn't actually snow. The snow from Monday just hasn't melted yet) and they were generally impressed by how festive it was over here.

After I met them at Zürich Airport, we got the train back to Wil and walked to Rickenbach, stopping off at McDonalds on the way- with great self control I managed to not get something, instead I just stole a few chips. Wahey! On Friday then we just went into Wil to have a nosy around the town, although I had to teach a lesson in the afternoon so I just left them to their own devices, leaving them with a lovely map of how to get to the school, so I could give them a very quick tour of it. Then we went to Arts pub, (place we went before, mum) and had a couple of drinks and food. They both had burgers, I had chips, and then we staggered back (we weren't drunk!) here and watched the most terrible film in existance, "I Could Never Be Your Woman" or something like that, a seemingly plotless film with random appearances from people such as Graham Norton and David Mitchell- the main "stars" were Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd. It was absolutely bloody awful. I actually fell asleep. It had absolutely no redeeming features.

Anyway, on Saturday we went to Konstanz for the day- there's a nice Christmas market there- and it was all lovely and festive. I took Fin to Woolworth, and she seemed to be fairly impressed by it. Alex was just very pleased at all the lovely festive things. The place was absolutely packed- hundreds of people weaving their way in and out of the stalls- but it was very nice, and Alex & Fin managed to buy some lovely festive things (such as gingerbread and decorations). When the crowds got too much (after about an hour!) we went to Latinos for some nice Mexican food, did the market again, then went to a cafe hidden away from the market by the end of the Bodensee to have some glühwein (which Fin was not a fan of..). We left Konstanz around 7 and then went to Arts again for a drink, walked back here, watched When Harry Met Sally, had some glühwein and festive snacks, they decided to watch Hocus Pocus, which I wasn't really that into (sorry!) and then this morning we had to get up early so they could get the train to the airport. Unfortunately bus timings meant it made more sense to walk, and we underestimated the amount of time needed to get to the station, so as soon as we got there I comandeered two ticket machines, punching in the appropriate details for the journey, as the train arrived at the platform. Fin got her ticket without any problems but the machine did not want to accept Alex's money, so I sent Fin up to the platform and shoved my debit card in, willed the machine to hurrrry UP! and when it eventually printed the tickets my goodbye to them was something like "GO GO GO THAT'S THE TRAIN THERE GO GO GO SEE YOU ON THURSDAY GO GO GOOOOOOOO!!!".

Anyway I had a very enjoyable weekend, and now I'm looking forward to next weekend, as I'll be in Brighton from Thursday evening until Sunday afternoon- can't wait! Christmas dinner time! And of course I'll get to see the wonderful Fin & Alex again, as well as Toby, and Jay of course, and enjoy a few cocktails..

It snowed today!

So here are some pictures.

Tis the season to be jolly!

Feeling quite festive today, because I went to a Christmas market yesterday, and have just spent a while finishing off the Christmas wreath thing I'm making for mum (I'd call it a holly wreath, but there is no holly on it).

Anyway, the Christmas market! Went to Basel (it's about 2hours away by train) to check out their market, even though I was rather hungover from my trip the previous night to Schaffhausen (one of the Swiss cities bombed quite badly in WW2- look it up on wikipedia!). I just about
managed to drag myself out of bed in time for the train, and met Elaine there around midday. She was in a similar state, having been out the previous night- although I think she hadn't quite managed to get to bed at all, so I was definitely better off.

It didn't take too long to find the market, and it was lovely- some really gorgeous stalls, mostly quite traditional things. There was a fantastic stall selling authentic German stollen, but it was ridiculously expensive so I couldn't buy any. Sorry mum, will get some before I come back though, I promise!

We didn't buy very much, and what I did buy, I can't really disclose here, because it may have involved Christmas presents, haha. I did get some lovely glühwein though, and the best bit is you paid 4fr for the drink itself (£2.40) and then you had to pay an extra 3fr (£1.80) as a deposit on the mug- basically, you could keep the mug, and if you didn't want to, you got your 3fr back. We kept ours, of course.

We spent a couple of hours at the market and then just wandered about the city itself. It's a nice city, quite big, lots of nice shops and then the normal sort of high street shops. We also took a quick trip on the tram, just for a laugh, and decided to go to the St Louis Grenze (French border!) and had a quick walk around France, haha. It was very strange when all the signs were suddenly in French, instead of German. We did try to find the 3 borders, where France, Germany and Switzerland all meet, but we were unsuccessful. I will do that sometime though!

After our quick trip to France it was back to Switzerland to wander about the shops, then back to the train station so poor Elaine could get the 5hr train back to Lyon. She got some raclette- looked interesting, but I didn't have time for it. So I was back here in my flat by about 7.20, having had a most pleasant festive day- shame it's still so bloody warm here (for November, that is- still 10-13°).

I have my own Christmas tree now though! It's quite small really, but it's fairly festive. Unfortunately due to its small size, the fairy lights I have are a bit big for it.. oh well, it's the effort that counts- it took 3 or 4 goes to get the lights looking half decent so I'm happy to leave them as they are. And I have my festive Christmas music playing, c/o parents- thanks for the cd!

JUST LOOKED AT THE FORECAST FOR TOMORROW AND APPARENTLY IT'S GOING TO SNOW!!!

Although it's set to rain the rest of the week.. boo.

Internet

Well, today I finally got internet in my flat, woohoo! It's perhaps a bit on the slow side but I think it'll be adequate for what I need, so that's good. I got my L-Ausländerausweis last week- it's like my work/short term residence permit thing- so I thought I'd have no problem getting the internet set up here. I WAS WRONG.

Basically, I'd already been into the Orange shop 3 times. Once, shortly after I arrived, when I was assured that it wouldn't really be a problem that I was only going to be in the country for about 8 or 9 months. The guy recommended a connection that cost 19fr a month, plus 1fr per day you use it, so it would cost at the most 50fr a month (£30), meaning that after I left the country I would only have to pay 19fr a month for the rest of the contract period.

The second time I went in, I spoke to a man who seemed to be a bit more senior (well, I assume that cos he was older!) and he said that it was generally possible to break off the contract after 6 months if I had a Bestätigung from the Gemeindeverwaltung (basically a letter from them saying I was leaving the country), so that was all well and good.

Anyway I went in on Tuesday afternoon to see about it again and see how much I'd have to pay upfront and stuff, and the guy there didn't mention any problems, he just recommended a particular product and went through the costs etc. I mentioned the conversation with Man No. 2 but he didn't really make any comment on that, but when I said I could pay for a whole year if I needed to, despite my visa only being valid til May (he saw it, in fact he took it off me to check some details on it), and didn't mention it being a problem.

So, anyway, when I went to the Orange shop today, I thought it'd be no problem, just a case of giving them 80fr for the wireless modem and off we go. I left myself 30mins before the lesson I had to teach just in case. OH DEAR. Unfortunately my timing meant that I was teamed up with the Saleswoman Bitch From Hell.

I went in, and as usual there was a chorus of "Grüezi" from all the staff (Bitch From Hell and another bloke with a pierced nose). Bitch From Hell (BfH) came over and asked if I needed help, so I explained to her that I didn't have an internet connection, I needed one, I had an L-ausweis valid til May, and that I didn't have a fixed telephone line (all important facts in the world of getting internet in Switzerland). So she just looked at me blankly and basically said "No. Not. Possible." I was slightly baffled and said that it hadn't been a problem any other time I'd been in, the only reason I was still waiting was because I had to wait on the L-ausweis arriving before I could get it. I explained that it wasn't really a problem if I had to pay for a whole year, but she was very unhelpful and basically told me there wasn't a chance in hell I'd get them to give me internet. So I kicked her in the face and went to Swisscom instead. Well, that bit didn't happen, but if I thought Swisscom would give me a decent connection (the prices they offered were insanely high, maybe that's what you pay for decent customer service). Anyway, I said again that it wasn't a problem if I had to pay for a whole year. She just glared at me and said "It's not a question of PAYING. It's a question of SECURITY". Psssh. So I just continued to be baffled by the evilness of BfH, and she relectantly went over to a computer and started tapping random keys, to be honest I'm not even wholly convinced that she was typing anything. So anyway on she went typing random things, occasionally pausing to stare into space / watch what pierced-nose-guy was doing / walk about a bit. Then she went off and got a phone, and to be perfectly honest I wasn't sure if she was even calling anyone. But eventually after HALF AN HOUR of her vaguely tapping the keyboard and barking random numbers down the phone at some poor unfortunate Orange employee, she smiled sweetly and said "Yes, it's no problem. So, how do you want to pay for the modem?" - I honestly could've killed her, but I decided to be the bigger person and handed over a 100fr note. The transformation in her personality was ridiculous. I think it was because she saw me as some stupid foreigner, but this stupid foreigner totally owned her.

And the best bit was, even though she could speak English, I did it all in German.

Back to work

School started back last Monday- they'd been off since September 18th or something ridiculous like that, so it was nice to get back and be busy again. So far I've been a lot busier than last time, because I've had a lot more classes to teach and generally more preparation etc. On the plus side, with a few of the classes I'll have the first half for the first half of the term and the second half for the second half of the term, so I can just recycle all the material from the first half.. I'm sure that makes a lot of sense.

Anyway so all week I was just busy preparing lessons and reading various books that I'm going to be looking at with the classes. With one group I'm doing post-colonial short stories, and the first one I've picked is by George Orwell. It's quite interesting. It's going to get quite confusing because I think I'm alternating each week between the classes, so I actually will have a lot of photocopying to do tomorrow.. will have to get up pretty early, aah. I think I prefer the half the class for a few weeks, then the other half format. Easier to keep track of that way, and less boring (it means I'll've looked at the same story 4 times in a week) but oh well.

Weekend was good fun though, I went to Konstanz again. Some of the shops have started putting up their Christmas stuff, plus it's a lot cheaper than Switzerland over there!

Anyway... class time now so better run.

And give us this day...

...our daily bread.


I've been back in Switzerland for just over a week now, and haven't been too bored yet- mostly been spending a lot of time planning lessons and reading things for future lessons, as well as frequently raiding the fine selection of novels and DVDs the school library has to offer. Anyway, I'm in a good mood today because I got paid (woohoo!) and so I'll be able to hopefully go somewhere this weekend- even if I end up going by myself or something, it'll be nice to see somewhere. So I'll probably go to Zürich, Winterthur (where I believe Roman Polanski is, but going by the news today he may not be there much longer) or St Gallen, I shall see what I fancy in the morning. I'll also have to buy some plates at some point.. as I can't quite imagine that mum, Andrew, Gareth and myself will comfortably be able to share two plastic plates (one of which is a strange shape after an unfortunate cooker accident).

That is all.

Photos

DEAR MOTHER

You wanted to see photos of my flat, so, I have uploaded a few. There are also some fascinating pictures of mountains, from the train back from Lugano. They aren't great because the train was moving pretty fast :P There are also a couple of pictures of the sheep that were outside my flat today.

Click me ---> :)

Lugano, again.

Time for a more thorough update, I think! So, here's some fascinating information regarding my trip to Lugano.

On Monday morning we met at Wil Bahnhof, got the train to Zürich, then from Zürich got a train to Lugano. All in all it took just under 4 hours, which isn't too bad considering it wasn't far off 200 miles. Anyway, the train journey itself was quite pleasant- most of the Zürich to Lugano leg went through beautiful valleys, with lakes and mountains all over the place. Anyway, we arrived in Lugano around lunchtime, then got the bus to our hostel. I had been feeling somewhat dubious about what the accomodation was going to be like, but when we arrived there it was absolutely beautiful. The hostel was made up of one older building, which had the kitchens and dining areas, with dorms, and a more modern building which had a couple of dorms, but more private rooms. I stayed in the newer building and everyone else stayed in the older one- my room was great, with a nice double bed, a decent ensuite, a sofa and a table and chairs- more hotel-like than hostel! It was also facing the pool and the beautiful gardens, so it was bloody great! I have to say it was completely different to what I expected so I was rather pleased that we ended up there.

On the first day we just lazed about the place. most of the pupils opting to spend most of the time in the pool. I think I just spent most of the time sitting outside in the sun reading! After dinner though (made by the pupils: Greek salad, some kind of meat thing, and an apple dessert thing from Kosovo) I went for a swim myself, despite not having anything appropriate to wear. I improvised by wearing a vest top and leggings, because it seemed silly to have the pool right beside me and not use it.

On the second day, we spent the day at the hostel again, mostly by the pool, and did some "getting to know each other" type activities. The day was Italian themed, so we played some games based around the theme of Italy, and did an Italian quiz- all organised by the pupils. Dinner was also Italy themed- we had pizza, pasta and tiramisu, which was bloody gorgeous. Oh, this was also the day I pushed one of them into the pool. :) And also the day where we had the fashion show- it was great fun, we had to use bits of rubbish to make outfits. My group had to create a binman and a successful businesswoman (who ended up looking more like a prostitute)- the businesswoman was in fact one of the boys, who seemed to enjoy wearing high heels.

The first part of the third day was Brazilian themed, so we started off the day with a Portugese lesson, then played football. Alas, I did not have decent shoes, so I didn't play, just watched. Lugano is very hilly, and the ball kept being kicked over the fence.. onto the road, so every few minutes someone had to climb over the gate and sprint down the road to retrieve the ball. Had a BBQ for lunch which was great, had a load of salad and corn on the cob.. mm.

During the afternoon then the pupils played waterpolo, volleyball and some other sport.. although I spent most of the day sitting in the sun reading. I went to the supermarket with some of the girls, and sat about with them for a bit- they were all very pleasant and friendly, and we found a bench to sit on and share some snacks. The afternoon and evening were American themed, so we had a bit of a pool party, then for dinner they did hotdogs, burgers and salad- so I had potato salad and the normal green leafy kind. The potato salad was strange, it was basically boiled egg, potato and gherkins with mayonnaise, but it was actually rather nice! After that, we watched American Pie and ate muffins.

On the last day, we got up, had breakfast as usual (at 7.30) then once we'd all packed, headed into the town. Although we didn't have very long there, we did see most of the town centre- it was gorgeous- loads of old buildings, all built around the edge of the lake. Even the McDonalds was in a beautiful old building, complete with chandeliers etc!

We eventually left around 1pm yesterday, and arrived back in Wil at 5pm. I had a really nice time away with the class, as they were really good fun and very pleasant- including the teacher, of course! It was great to see somewhere I probably wouldn't've thought of visiting myself, but now that I have, I wouldn't mind going back to laze by that pool again for a few days..!

Lugano

Don't have time to write a proper update- so here's a link to some photos.

Tripping

Having been to Konstanz in Germany last weekend, I am pleased to announce that from Monday until Thursday next week, I will be going to Lugano, which is near the Italian border with Switzerland. Most of the classes here at Kanti Wil are going on a trip next week- it's some kind of special week before the autumn holidays- to places such as Zürich, Berlin, Amsterdam, and a class are even going to Croatia. I'm going to Lugano with a class of 15 and 16 year olds, so I'm sure it'll be pretty crazy! The idea of the week is that the students can get to know each other better, and learn a bit about the culture of their backgrounds etc.

On Monday afternoon, the them is "Bosnien/Balkan", Tuesday morning is "Kennenlernmodul" which is just a "getting to know each other" thing. Tuesday afternoon is Italian themed, Wednesday morning is "Brasilien", Wednesday evening is "Anglo Amerika" and Thursday morning will just be getting ready to come back / free time. It'll be really good to get to see something different, as I've obviously only been in the German speaking part of the country. Google images have made it look like a really nice place, so, hopefully next Friday I'll have loads of pictures to upload.

So, today and tomorrow are my final lessons before the holidays. Today I've already done the dreaded first lesson, which starts at 7.20am, and managed to survive it! I have another around 3pm and the last one finishes at 5pm. The 3pm will be a delightful introduction to the joys of traditional British cuisine (bangers and mash, anyone?) and then in the later one I'll be assisting the teacher in getting the students to act out scenes from a short story by Roald Dahl that they've been reading. So, all in all today should be a productive day. Then at 5pm I'll be running back to the flat to relax and sleep! I may even be tempted to make another curry: I made an aubergine one last night and it was amazingly lovely and tasty and mmmmm! But I'll probably just end up having pasta. Over here, there are branches of Spar, and they sell the most gorgeous sundried tomato pesto: it's so strongly flavoured and delicious, the main problem with it is that ti is a bit on the oily side.. but it's so good. MMMM. Curry would be good, though.. I didn't think I really liked aubergine until I made my curry. That's how damn tasty it was.

Anyway, it's time to stop blowing my own trumpet, a curry is just a curry after all. Unless I make it.

Konstanz

Yesterday, I went to Konstanz, which is just over the Swiss-German border. I had a splendid day. I arrived at around 1pm, met Kat and John, who gave me a bit of the tour of the town, complete with paddling in the Rhine. It really is a lovely town, and I can see the appeal of living there as a student. Our day went like this:
- walked around the town, over a few bridges, into the river
- walked across other bridges, to the student accomodation (it was pretty decent!)
- stopped off for a quick beer
- walked around the town a bit more, got some cheap Chinese food
- stopped for another beer, went home.

Unfortunately the second beer stop ended up a few hours instead of a few minutes, and instead of a glass of wine (as me and Kat intended) we ended up sharing a bottle, and had a cocktail. It was really nice just sitting out on the street in the sun having a drink and a chat.

Konstanz photos

Weekend

Well, I've been here for nearly 3 weeks now, although it sort of feels like a lot longer (not really a bad thing, sort of), and I have another 3 weeks before I go on my trip to Brighton. The school finish for the holidays next Friday, which gives me some time to do a bit of exploring and things, once I've been paid. Many of the classes are going on trips, but I really have no idea if I'm going on one or not- it sort of seemed like I might be, but it hasn't been mentioned, so perhaps not. Still, I have a lot of time free to do other things.

The main problem I've had is that it can be quite isolating when you don't know anybody, so I've been trawling the English Forum to see if there are many people in the area. The forum is for English speaking people living in Switzerland, funnily enough, and they have a calendar and a program of events they organise, so I might go along to one sometime. Someone also messaged me today, saying they're a 23 year old student from the US, living in St Gallen, the main city in this canton, so I might get in touch with her via email and then maybe meet her and her Canadian friend, also living in St Gallen. (Don't worry mum, I won't be going to any strange peoples' houses..)

I also have a trip to Konstanz planned for tomorrow. Konstanz is a university town on the German border with Switzerland, on the German side. 2 people from my university class are based there, which is nice, so I think we'll spend the day sight seeing around the town, and then maybe go for a pint or something. Hopefully it'll be a cheap day out because I don't want to spend lots of money! At any rate, it'll be cheap compared to here, but bearing in mind the high euro exchange rate, possibly not so cheap..

So, the rest of today: it's 16.40 now, so in a short-ish while I'll start to think about heading back to the flat. Then I'll make something for dinner (I'm thinking potatoes and cabbage), then I shall have a nice glass or two of Swiss rosé, and watch more Sex and the City, my latest obsession. Or I might watch The History Boys.. hmmm!

Anyway, I'll hopefully get lots of lovely photos of Konstanz, and give the general impression of being a good tourist.

Gesundheit!

Every day, I spend quite a lot of time sitting in the staff work room-- in fact, that's where I spend most of the day, doing research and things. And of course, I always end up sneezing. Unlike most people, I haven't quite mastered the art of sneezing quietly-- and every time I do sneeze, silence spreads until someone inevitably pipes up with "Gesundheit!".

Pointless story. Anyway, this afternoon I'm meeting one class, spending 20mins with each half (I think). I've just had lunch, which I got from the salad bar in the school canteen. Unfortunately, most things were terribly salty, and for 10.40fr I only got a wee bowl of salad and a glass of apple juice-- so basically, it cost me about £6. Ouch.

On the plus side, I did get to sit outside with some of the teachers, which was pleasant. The weather is still nice here, not as hot as it was when I first arrived (which is a good thing!) so it was very pleasant to sit out with a salad. Even if the main ingredient was salt!

This weekend I'm planning on travelling to Konstanz, which is just over the border with Germany, to meet a couple of friends from uni, for a drink or something. It'll be nice to have some social activity for once! And hopefully I'll get to meet some of their new German friends. Jay has set me a challenge, to have made some kind of friend and have gone out with them for a drink before I go to Brighton on my little holiday-- so I've got about 4 weeks to do that. I suspect there's a French assistant nearby.. and there's a couple of other English assistants about, but I think they're guys, and I'd prefer to have some female friends around here, personally!

I also ordered a book today on Swiss German, just as something to keep me entertained. It only cost about £6 and with delivery £9. It can be an additional project to prevent me from dying of boredom every evening. I've started walking back from school just because it kills time. I guess it's a good idea too because then I just have to pay for the bus once, in the morning, and when the weather's good, it's a nice way to get some exercise. If I walk, I'll save at least 10fr a week.. so I guess I'll be walking until the weather turns bad!

Anyway, I've planned to visit Brighton from 1st October (Thurs) and fly back here early on the morning of 12th (Monday). The holidays begin here on Monday 28th and the school doesn't go back until Monday 19th Oct, so I'll have a bit of time either side for preparation / going on other wee trips. Once I've been paid I hope to visit Berlin, somewhere in Italy, maybe Vienna and France (Lyon, at the minute, because Elaine's there), and of course encourage others to come visit me.

I should get back to work now..

Wil

Some photos from the town.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42220993@N07/

Switzerland

Okay, so I finally got onto proper internet, wahey! That is great news- and all I needed to do was go on firefox, ahem..

I arrived here last Monday, and today and yesterday have been the first days that it hasn't been ridiculously hot here. Unfortunately it has been rather rainy, which isn't so good. Since I got here, I've mostly been exploring the town and being lazy around my apartment. The school itself is really nice, the teachers are super helpful and have been very welcoming, and today I started to properly meet the students, in preparation for taking classes as of next week.

The only negative things I can think of are that I have no bloody internet connection at my flat and that Jay has now gone, meaning it's very quiet and whatnot. Books seem to be quite expensive as well so I can't really explore that option right now- going to look in a minute and see if I can get something off amazon or something to keep me entertained! And hopefully I'll have some visitors soon too... HINT HINT

Wochenende

Today, for the first time, it isn't ridiculously hot. I also discovered that the Swiss do a great burger in McDonalds: the VegiMac. Yum. Went to the BrockiShop again and got spoons, two chairs for balcony, a colander and a teapot. 20chf, bargain. Also bought some more mugs in Coop, and a nice diary/year planner thing in Manor. Now trying to suss out the weird waste collection system.. this internet is crap. BAH!

Arrival

I'm still alive, yay! Observations:

Grasshoppers. Church bells every 15mins. Smells like cows. Brockenhaus = temple of loveliness (bed, sofa, wok, pan, kettle, knives n forks, chopping board all for 120chf [£100ish]). School lovely, teachers v pleasant, food expensive, hot weather, double decker trains, gruetzi, swiitzertuutsch, Migros, tiny kitchen, rappen and franken, rumantsch, giiiiiant sofa, balcony, zebra crossings EVERYWHERE.

:)

But no visa or bank account yet :(

Moving

So, tomorrow I'm off to Switzerland, with Jay in tow, to begin my illustrious year abroad. Wahey! I am kind of looking forward to it, but of course it's a little bit scary. At the minute my main concern is making sure my poor mum doesn't get too worried about me- here's some of my wisdom for her benefit..

Mother dearest, don't worry too much about me. I managed to go away to university by myself and although it was a little bit scary at the start, it was actually fantastic being away. See me being in Switzerland as the same thing, but with a different language. And I'm a big proper adult now, and I have lots of birthday money to live on. I'm only ever about 1hr away from a familiar face when it gets scary, and until May I'll be your personal European holiday destination. And the chocolate. THINK OF THE CHOCOLATE. And the duty free.

Anyway, my packing is almost done.. just need to put some shoes in really. And maybe squeeze in a couple of bowls..

Other things I need to do: print out flight confirmation, get passport, find laptop bag, make sure I have my big bundle of paper stuff with me, la la la. I am actually a weeee bit excited.

:)

Nebenkosten

OH YES! I was reading on the forum for English speakers living in Switzerland about apartments and stuff, utilities etc.. and I came across the word "Nebenkosten". I recall seeing this word somewhere towards the end of the university term, and I seem to remember thinking it probably meant 'surcharges' or some kind of 'additional costs'. HOWEVER! My research has led me to the word meaning 'utilities'. So, (once I see another copy of my apartment contract, anyway..) I will double check: but I think (and hope hope hope) that it means that utilities are included in the rent. That would make me very happy indeed.

Physik

Latest Switzerland developments: on Thursday 27th August at 10.05 (very precise) I am meeting a chap called Matthias Heidrich in room N101 or N107 (not that I know where that is) to talk about PHYSICS. Yes. The school I'm going to be working in does some of their teaching of the sciences in English, which I think is very interesting (and may make for an interesting pedagogic report) and it'll definitely be good to see the effect this has on the abilities of the students (both in English and the science!).

In the first email I received from the head of English, Katharina Ulmschneider, she mentioned that more than one teacher teaches in English, so I'm looking forward to seeing if any others require my help! I am rather intrigued as to what my role in these lessons is going to be.. hmm. Hopefully no in-depth A level standard knowledge is required.. seeing as I've only studied the sciences up to GCSE level (and everyone knows that everything we learn is lies).

Anyway: 2 weeks to go. S C A R Y T I M E.

Relief..?

Well, although I'm -terrrrrrified- about moving (haha) some things are falling into place, which is making me feel better.

1. The place I have to register is only a 20 min walk from my apartment, and easy to find.

2. The IKEA is only a couple of bus rides away.

3. The second hand furniture store (Brockenhaus) is on the main road near me, and only 1km away.

This is good.

Scary

Having booked my flights yesterday, the reality of what is ahead is beginning to dawn on me.. in 4 weeks' time, I'm going to be packing up the last of my things to take away with me. The whole idea is very bizarre, because it doesn't quite seem real yet!

On Monday 24th August, at around 15.30, I'm going to arrive in Switzerland, and I'll probably not leave there until mid-October or November, because I'm going to concentrate on making people come to see me, as opposed to me going to see them-- I think it'll make settling in easier, as I know for sure that I'm going to miss people a hell of a lot.

On the plus side, when I go, Jay is coming with me and staying until 2nd September. I would love to have him stay longer, but realistically, I think it's better that I don't get used to him being around in Switzerland, because when he goes it'll be even worse. At least this way he helps me to settle in and stuff but I won't get used to him being there when I come back from work! I intend to import him to see me before his university term starts, or slightly after it, once I'm good and settled, and have some money (haha). After that I'll be happy to be a hostel for waifs and strays travelling from the UK, although I couldn't possibly guarantee that I'll have any furniture.

Flights

I have at last booked my flights to Switzerland.. eep. That is quite scary. I leave here on Monday 24th August, flight departs at 12.15, arrives at 15.30.. Terrifying!

On the plus side, Jay is coming over on 18th August, just ahead of my 21st birthday on 19th August, and then he is coming with me, and staying in Switzerland until 2nd September, which gives me a couple of days of having someone there with me at the end of the scary first few school days.

AAAAAAAAAH.

Ich habe eine Wohnung!

Yes: I have finally seen pictures of the place I'm going to live in. To be honest, it's very weird to think that I am actually going to live there in about 6 weeks. So, I thought I'd upload them, as it is a pretty nice place I think. Small, but nice and light, and with a nice little balcony. Wahey!

Exchange Rates

Apparently

1.ooCHF = 0.559597 GBP

=OR=

1.00GBP = 1.78795CHF

Lovely stuff.

Apartment

Yeah, so today I've basically gone post-mad.. In the sense that I keep writing new posts about things that are vaguely linked. Yes. Very good indeed. Anyway, seeing as I'm pretty bored I thought I'd describe my apartment.

It is costing me the rather ridiculous sum of around Fr.690 a month, which works out at about £385. Not that bad I suppose-- it's £100 more than I'm paying now-- but at least I'll be getting paid a decent salary whilst living there. The deposit is pretty obscene, at £670, but the school, being the wonderfully helpful bunch that they are, have said that they can pay both the first month's rent and the deposite for me, on the condition that I pay it back with part of my first month's salary (or something like that). Having read the tenancy agreement and things, the apartment sounds alright: it is 1.5 rooms (whatever that means..) and has a kitchen, bedroom and shower/WC. It also comes with cable TV (here's hoping there's an English language channel somewhere..) and a balcony, which I think is probably the best part. Washing facilities are shared with other tenants in the block I think.. and it is unfurnished. Waah. That's why I'm hoping that I can buy furniture from current tenant.

Sometimes I think I'm mental and should've taken the easy option and just went for the university option: at least they sort everything out for you and everything is lovely and cosy and nice and structured. And they get an Erasmus grant. Bah.

Map

Here is some fascinating information about the place I'm going to. Above, we have the weather averages for the region. Very interesting. It gets even more exciting below..

Firstly, I thought I'd add some maps to show where I'll be in relation to Zurich. Wil (the town where the school is) is circled, as is Zurich.. very exciting stuff. As you can see, they aren't that far apart, especially when you bear in mind that Wil only has a population of 15,000 (I'm saying this to demonstrate that I haven't zoomed out that much)..

Thought I'd also add this: a lovely map showing the location of my apartment in relation to the school. I think it's pretty decent, and although the teacher said it wasn't really walking distance, I might chance it to save a bit of money. Or, I could just buy a bike.. that might be quite useful. Yes, everyone needs a bike.

Latest News

Well, so far I have

- Signed my work contract

- Paid for my travel insurance (thanks, Mum!)

- Signed my apartment contract

And not yet booked flights. I was getting pretty pissed off last night as it was looking as if I was going to have to fly from Belfast to Gatwick, then Gatwick to Zurich, leaving Belfast early morning (around 8am), arriving at Gatwick at about 9.30, then fly from Gatwick around 5pm.. ugh. But, hoorah, Aer Lingus seem to fly direct from Dublin to Zurich IN THE AFTERNOON! which is great, because that way I'd arrive around 3pm, and my apartment is only about 45mins from Zurich. So, I'll be able to collect keys etc pretty easily. I'm just hoping that I can sort out furniture soon-- I've already emailed the current tenant, to ask her about buying her furniture. It would make my life ridiculously easier, I have to say.

The other issue is deciding when to actually leave. I have to be in Zurich on August 25th for a workshop day thing, which I think will be incredibly boring, as I imagine it's about teaching methodology and blah blah blah. I already am qualified to teach English (as of Monday..), but I guess it'll be useful to go over some of the basics? Meh, I don't know. Given that my 21st birthday is on August 19th, I'd rather not go until a day or two after that. I want Jay to come over early morning of my birthday / previous evening too, so that he can accompany me to Switzerland. I think I'd go mental if I had to go over by myself. Plus, it'll make getting to know the area more of an adventure. And if I am forced to buy furniture, at least I'll have someone to help me sort everything out, or make a little bed out of clothes, until I buy a mattress or something, haha.

In general, I am pretty terrified about the whole thing (I don't think I've quite got my head around it) but, on the plus side, it will definitely be useful for me, in that it will definitely help me decide if teaching is for me.. and I might even learn a nice dialect.

Contracts

Not much has changed on the Switzerland front, except I'm waiting on my contracts arriving in the post-- apparently they arrived at my home in Northern Ireland a few days ago, and have since been forwarded to Brighton. It'll be good to see something official in writing- it'll probably make the whole thing seem more real. I also edited my CV earlier, to include my time in Switzerland-- it looked pretty cool like! Got a job for the summer sorted out too, so I won't have to go over completely bereft of money, which is even better. Summer officially begins on Thursday for me.. freedom for 2 months, then absolute terror for a month or two until I get used to living abroad.

Year Abroad: The adventure begins.

Well, I've decided I should keep a blog of all the wonderful Swiss adventures I have, which I suppose have started already, now that I have been offered a post in a school in St. Gallen, in a town called Wil. The school is called Kanti-Wil (http://www.edv-kantiwil.ch/), a grammar school in the town that opened in 2002, it seems.

The town seems pretty nice, pretty old too, quite small (around 15,000 inhabitants), but I can't really find much info on google about it. I guess that shows how small it is!

Anyway, apparently I'll start working on 1st September, for 12hrs a week, and get paid the rather nifty sum of around 3200CHF a month, which after taxes and stuff is still pretty decent. The teacher I have been in contact with seems really nice and helpful; she's going to ring me in a day or two to have a chat about the job and stuff, and she's also said that the school will secure an apartment for me, which is bloody good, because I was a big worried about that. So, I guess the next reasonable time to update will be after I have spoken to her.