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 ---> :)
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Friday, 25 September 2009
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..!
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..!
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Thursday, 17 September 2009
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.
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.
Monday, 14 September 2009
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
- 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
Saturday, 12 September 2009
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.
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.
Monday, 7 September 2009
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..
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..
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Thursday, 3 September 2009
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
