I won't say it's my last day in Switzerland because I'm coming back for three weeks at the end of the summer, but it kind of is my last day... When I come back in two months, it will be more as a visitor, and less as a resident. I'll still have my residency permit, and technically I'll still be a Swiss resident, but it won't feel the same.
I cannot believe that the last eleven months have zipped by so quickly. This time last year, my family and I were frantically packing everything into boxes, making endless trips to the dump and Goodwill, crossing our fingers that our visas would be cleared, and hoping that the decision we just made would be a good one.
It was.
While I feel incredibly nostalgic looking at my California friends' graduation pictures, and really wish I could have been there to share that moment, this year in Switzerland has given me so much. I may not be fluent in French, and may not be able to make fondue from scratch, but I've learned so much living here... and I'm going to miss it so much! I remember writing back in October that Switzerland was starting to feel like home, and how weird it was to have two places feel like that--here and California. Now, I can't imagine Switzerland not being one of my homes.
And next year, Cincinnati will become a new home. And we'll see where it goes from there.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
I'm on a boat and I'm going fast and...
Our prom was on a boat.
Never mind that it wasn't held until the day before graduation, and never mind that they forgot to tell us they weren't serving dinner, and never mind that it was small and the music was mostly French club music.
It was on a boat. It was on a really cool boat that set sail from the Versoix dock, chugged all the way down the lake to Rolle, and then turned around and ended in Geneva. The weather was incredible and the mountains were perfectly clear. Right after the sun set over the Jura, a full moon, tinged pink by the last of the sunset, rose over Mount Blanc.
Best. Prom. Ever.
GRADUATE!!
I am now writing as a high school graduate! While I've been waiting for this moment for four years, it's really hard to believe that it's actually finally happened. I survived high school! (And learned a few things along the way as well, haha)
CDL's graduation ceremony was not the most inspiring... half of it was conveniently in French, and most of the guest speakers chose to speak about the school's 50th anniversary this year, instead of about the amazing class of 2010.
Still. I've graduated! I remember watching my brother Jamie graduate three years ago, and thinking how far away my graduation seemed... but it's happened!
And walking outside the hotel theatre to be greeted by the Jet d'Eau spraying white water 30 stories up into the clear blue sky was pretty amazing.
CDL's graduation ceremony was not the most inspiring... half of it was conveniently in French, and most of the guest speakers chose to speak about the school's 50th anniversary this year, instead of about the amazing class of 2010.
Still. I've graduated! I remember watching my brother Jamie graduate three years ago, and thinking how far away my graduation seemed... but it's happened!
And walking outside the hotel theatre to be greeted by the Jet d'Eau spraying white water 30 stories up into the clear blue sky was pretty amazing.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Hop Suisse!!!
I don't know about the States, but here in Switz, the World Cup is taken veryyy seriously.
Everyday, my facebook feed is flooded with cheers, excited updates, profanities, and predictions about the games. Yesterday, the day Brasil played North Korea, practically every other person I saw was wearing a Brasil jersey or flag (gross exaggeration, by the way. Definitely not every other... Haha).
And today, of course, Switzerland faced off against Spain-- who entered the Cup as the second best team in the world, and one of the favorites to win. Most thought that the Swiss, whose fortes are chocolate and watch making, not soccer, would get slaughtered by the team who beat Poland 6-0 in the last World Cup...
To be honest, the first half of the game was embarrassing enough, with the Spanish team basically playing keep-away and making attempt after attempt on goal (there is something to be said for the Swiss goalie, however, who--besides from being pretty cute--saved about ten trillion shots).
But seven minutes into the second half, Switzerland scored. It wasn't a beautiful shot. It looked more like a carwreck in front of the goal as about six different players tripped over themselves and fumbled with the ball. But the important thing was that the goal was made. And the even more important thing was that the Swiss held their ground afterwards, and actually played much better than in the first half.
And we won!!!!!
Within about five minutes, my facebook feed was flooded with a ridiculous amount of posts that all said something along the lines of "SWITZERLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" From my friend's house, we could hear nonstop honking on the lake road for about half an hour. A little boy I passed was wrapped entirely in a Swiss flag. When the train pulled up, people were hanging out the windows, waving flags and screaming.
For a small, demure, chocolate-loving country, Switzerland sure knows how to celebrate its soccer (or, as the Europeans all insist, football) victory.
Hop Suisse!!!!!!!!
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Everyday, my facebook feed is flooded with cheers, excited updates, profanities, and predictions about the games. Yesterday, the day Brasil played North Korea, practically every other person I saw was wearing a Brasil jersey or flag (gross exaggeration, by the way. Definitely not every other... Haha).
And today, of course, Switzerland faced off against Spain-- who entered the Cup as the second best team in the world, and one of the favorites to win. Most thought that the Swiss, whose fortes are chocolate and watch making, not soccer, would get slaughtered by the team who beat Poland 6-0 in the last World Cup...
To be honest, the first half of the game was embarrassing enough, with the Spanish team basically playing keep-away and making attempt after attempt on goal (there is something to be said for the Swiss goalie, however, who--besides from being pretty cute--saved about ten trillion shots).
But seven minutes into the second half, Switzerland scored. It wasn't a beautiful shot. It looked more like a carwreck in front of the goal as about six different players tripped over themselves and fumbled with the ball. But the important thing was that the goal was made. And the even more important thing was that the Swiss held their ground afterwards, and actually played much better than in the first half.
And we won!!!!!
Within about five minutes, my facebook feed was flooded with a ridiculous amount of posts that all said something along the lines of "SWITZERLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" From my friend's house, we could hear nonstop honking on the lake road for about half an hour. A little boy I passed was wrapped entirely in a Swiss flag. When the train pulled up, people were hanging out the windows, waving flags and screaming.
For a small, demure, chocolate-loving country, Switzerland sure knows how to celebrate its soccer (or, as the Europeans all insist, football) victory.
Hop Suisse!!!!!!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Counting down
2 days until--I go to Paris for five days with Dina.
10 days until--prom... Swiss style! It's going to be on a boat that crosses the lake and then drops us off in Geneva.
11 days until--graduation!! I can't believe I'm finally graduating from high school. Also, congrats to all my Summit buds who graduated on Friday. I soo wish I could have been there.
12 days until--I leave Switzerland! And head to Amsterdam and Prague for a week :]
18 days until--I leave Europe. Wow. Then it's off to a family reunion at Lake Tahoe.
23 days until--I'm back in the Bay. I'm so excited to see everyone!
28 days until--LINES Ballet summer intensive starts... Five weeks of ballet in San Fran.
65 days until--LINES ends.
67 days until--I head back to Switz for a few weeks at the end of the summer.
85 (ish) days until--I go to Mallorca with Caroline and our moms for a joint birthday trip!! Cheap EasyJet tickets are truly amazing.
92 (ish) days until--I leave Switz for Cincinnati... college!!
I can't believe a year has gone by so fast, and I'm about to leave this amazing country. This time last year, I was frantically packing/cleaning/sorting/organizing/freaking out/preparing before our move... it seems crazy that was only a year ago.
10 days until--prom... Swiss style! It's going to be on a boat that crosses the lake and then drops us off in Geneva.
11 days until--graduation!! I can't believe I'm finally graduating from high school. Also, congrats to all my Summit buds who graduated on Friday. I soo wish I could have been there.
12 days until--I leave Switzerland! And head to Amsterdam and Prague for a week :]
18 days until--I leave Europe. Wow. Then it's off to a family reunion at Lake Tahoe.
23 days until--I'm back in the Bay. I'm so excited to see everyone!
28 days until--LINES Ballet summer intensive starts... Five weeks of ballet in San Fran.
65 days until--LINES ends.
67 days until--I head back to Switz for a few weeks at the end of the summer.
85 (ish) days until--I go to Mallorca with Caroline and our moms for a joint birthday trip!! Cheap EasyJet tickets are truly amazing.
92 (ish) days until--I leave Switz for Cincinnati... college!!
I can't believe a year has gone by so fast, and I'm about to leave this amazing country. This time last year, I was frantically packing/cleaning/sorting/organizing/freaking out/preparing before our move... it seems crazy that was only a year ago.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Room with a view
Thanks to the many holidays that the Swiss observe following Easter, we were able to escape to Italy this weekend for a three day vacation on the shore of Lake Maggiore.
The drive itself was stunning. It took us about three hours winding through the Alps on a brilliant clear day.
We stayed in a small, colorful B&B right across the street from the lake, with a fantastic view of the three islands. The first day we took a cable car to the top of Mount Rosa (I think that's what it was called... It's the second highest point in Europe!). From the top, we could see seven different lakes. It was gorgeous, but all the photos are on my dad's camera, so you'll have to wait. I'll post a photo journal of the trip ASAP.
Later, we drove to Lake Orta and the town of Orta, which was a quaint, quiet town next to another gorgeous lake.
On Sunday, we drove around Lake Maggiore, stopping in the cute little towns along the way, before taking a ferry back across the lake to Stresa. Monday, we toured one of the islands, Isola Bella, before heading back to Switzerland.
It was an amazing couple of days. The weather was perfect, and the area reminded me of a cross between Hawaii and the Amalfi Coast. I love living here, as it's so easy to travel to a huge amount of amazing places. Next on the agenda... Paris again, but for longer, and with warm weather!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The drive itself was stunning. It took us about three hours winding through the Alps on a brilliant clear day.
We stayed in a small, colorful B&B right across the street from the lake, with a fantastic view of the three islands. The first day we took a cable car to the top of Mount Rosa (I think that's what it was called... It's the second highest point in Europe!). From the top, we could see seven different lakes. It was gorgeous, but all the photos are on my dad's camera, so you'll have to wait. I'll post a photo journal of the trip ASAP.
Later, we drove to Lake Orta and the town of Orta, which was a quaint, quiet town next to another gorgeous lake.
On Sunday, we drove around Lake Maggiore, stopping in the cute little towns along the way, before taking a ferry back across the lake to Stresa. Monday, we toured one of the islands, Isola Bella, before heading back to Switzerland.
It was an amazing couple of days. The weather was perfect, and the area reminded me of a cross between Hawaii and the Amalfi Coast. I love living here, as it's so easy to travel to a huge amount of amazing places. Next on the agenda... Paris again, but for longer, and with warm weather!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Fine dining with friends
Last week, our friends Joe and Leslie visited us from New York. Though I had school, babysitting and ballet to keep me too busy to accompany my parents and our guests on most of their excursions, I did get to spend Saturday evening with them eating what was probably the best meal of my life. We went to dinner at a restaurant called Auberge de l'Onde that was in a small town near Vevey and had a Michelin star.
First off, I met everyone at the restaurant a little late because I was in Geneva watching my ballet school perform the little mermaid (I was supposed to be in the show too, but unfortunately I fell down the stairs a couple weeks before and sprained my ankle pretty badly. Don't worry, it's just about better now!). Anyways, I took the train to the tiny town the restaurant was in. As you go past Lausanne along Lake Geneva, the mountains get steeper and run right into the lake. So, the towns along the lake there are built practically vertically, reminiscent of the Amalfi Coast (we vacationed there in summer 2007, and it seemed like there were more stairs than sidewalks). The train station at St-Saphorin is practically built on the lake. When I got off the train, it was just past sunset; even though it was hazy, I was still pretty amazing. I'm continually awed by the beauty of this place, despite having lived here for ten months.
The restaurant was elegant and old and amazing. The meal was the best I've ever tasted in my life. Not kidding. And after having tasted food from a restaurant with only one Michelin star, I'm itching to experience a three Michelin star meal.
First off, I met everyone at the restaurant a little late because I was in Geneva watching my ballet school perform the little mermaid (I was supposed to be in the show too, but unfortunately I fell down the stairs a couple weeks before and sprained my ankle pretty badly. Don't worry, it's just about better now!). Anyways, I took the train to the tiny town the restaurant was in. As you go past Lausanne along Lake Geneva, the mountains get steeper and run right into the lake. So, the towns along the lake there are built practically vertically, reminiscent of the Amalfi Coast (we vacationed there in summer 2007, and it seemed like there were more stairs than sidewalks). The train station at St-Saphorin is practically built on the lake. When I got off the train, it was just past sunset; even though it was hazy, I was still pretty amazing. I'm continually awed by the beauty of this place, despite having lived here for ten months.
The restaurant was elegant and old and amazing. The meal was the best I've ever tasted in my life. Not kidding. And after having tasted food from a restaurant with only one Michelin star, I'm itching to experience a three Michelin star meal.
Gruyeres
A couple weekends ago, we took a day trip to Gruyeres... it's the place where they make cheese. Yeah, gruyere cheese. It's in a really beautiful valley about an hour drive from where we live. Down below is a factory that you can tour, with SO MUCH CHEESE.
)
I have never seen that much cheese in my life.
Then, up on a hill is the medieval town of Gruyeres. It's definitely a tourist town, but that doesn't stop it from being impressive.
It's a very well preserved and very cute medieval town centered around a castle that used to be the home of the counts of Gruyeres (that is, until they went broke in the 1500s).
While the weather was not the best (May weather in Switzerland is cold, wet, and gray), it was still a really interesting look into Swiss history and cheese making.
By the way, the French claim that they are the producers of gruyere cheese. Don't believe them; they don't have a town called Gruyeres.
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I have never seen that much cheese in my life.
Then, up on a hill is the medieval town of Gruyeres. It's definitely a tourist town, but that doesn't stop it from being impressive.
It's a very well preserved and very cute medieval town centered around a castle that used to be the home of the counts of Gruyeres (that is, until they went broke in the 1500s).
While the weather was not the best (May weather in Switzerland is cold, wet, and gray), it was still a really interesting look into Swiss history and cheese making.
By the way, the French claim that they are the producers of gruyere cheese. Don't believe them; they don't have a town called Gruyeres.
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Monday, May 3, 2010
death by exams
It's that time of year.
No matter what country I live in, I can't escape the imminent doom of the AP exams. And while last year I had it easy with just one exam, I'm not quite so lucky this year.
I may have brought it upon myself when I signed up for four AP classes, but pure bad luck has all four of my exams scheduled in a row. Tuesday = Spanish, Wednesday = Calculus, Thursday = Literature, Friday = European History. The nice thing is that I'll be finished with my exams by Friday afternoon. It also doesn't give me very much time to panic. But the not so nice thing is that I have much less time to hunker down and study. Though looking at my current amount of excessive procrastination (ahem... I probably shouldn't be blogging right now... it has nothing to do with Spanish verb conjugations), more time to study might not actually result in more studying.
So, I'm getting ready to dive right in and do my best. After this week, I'll only have to go into school for Philosophy and French 1, so life will be a breeze. Many hours spent at the beach and pool is anticipated, as well as more time in the ballet studio. I just have to get through the next four days...
Good luck to everyone suffering through exams right now... I'll see you on the other side!
No matter what country I live in, I can't escape the imminent doom of the AP exams. And while last year I had it easy with just one exam, I'm not quite so lucky this year.
I may have brought it upon myself when I signed up for four AP classes, but pure bad luck has all four of my exams scheduled in a row. Tuesday = Spanish, Wednesday = Calculus, Thursday = Literature, Friday = European History. The nice thing is that I'll be finished with my exams by Friday afternoon. It also doesn't give me very much time to panic. But the not so nice thing is that I have much less time to hunker down and study. Though looking at my current amount of excessive procrastination (ahem... I probably shouldn't be blogging right now... it has nothing to do with Spanish verb conjugations), more time to study might not actually result in more studying.
So, I'm getting ready to dive right in and do my best. After this week, I'll only have to go into school for Philosophy and French 1, so life will be a breeze. Many hours spent at the beach and pool is anticipated, as well as more time in the ballet studio. I just have to get through the next four days...
Good luck to everyone suffering through exams right now... I'll see you on the other side!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Playdough is a universal language
While I have been vaguely considering job hunting since we moved here, I never really put any effort into it until school and college apps calmed down. Now that that's happened (I only really have two more weeks of school before I don't have to go to any of my AP classes!!), I decided making some money might actually be a good idea.
However, the process for a non-citizen to get a job permit in Switzerland is apparently pretty nasty (think a combination of drivers' ed and wisdom teeth removal... or something equally unpleasant), not to mention lengthy. So I decided to turn to my fall back of babysitting, which doesn't require a permit.
Now, I kinda just assumed that babysitting in Switzerland wouldn't be different then babysitting in Menlo Park... kids are kids no matter where you go, right? What I didn't anticipate was that I might find myself babysitting a four year old who is fluent in French and Italian... and not English.
Don't get me wrong, I definitely made sure the mom knew that my French language skills are still minimal, but she didn't seem to care. And to tell the truth, it didn't actually make that much of a difference. The first ten minutes of having a hyperactive toddler yelling in Italian was a little disconcerting, but once he realized that I understood him much better in French, he calmed down and promptly gave me a tour of his house with in depth descriptions of everything.
I managed to get through the night surprisingly easily. He spoke mostly in French, and I used a combination of French, English and random gesturing (which he found pretty amusing). I'm actually really pleased to have this job, because I think it will be really helpful with improving my French!
And luckily for me, when my poor French just doesn't cut it, Playdough is a universal language.
However, the process for a non-citizen to get a job permit in Switzerland is apparently pretty nasty (think a combination of drivers' ed and wisdom teeth removal... or something equally unpleasant), not to mention lengthy. So I decided to turn to my fall back of babysitting, which doesn't require a permit.
Now, I kinda just assumed that babysitting in Switzerland wouldn't be different then babysitting in Menlo Park... kids are kids no matter where you go, right? What I didn't anticipate was that I might find myself babysitting a four year old who is fluent in French and Italian... and not English.
Don't get me wrong, I definitely made sure the mom knew that my French language skills are still minimal, but she didn't seem to care. And to tell the truth, it didn't actually make that much of a difference. The first ten minutes of having a hyperactive toddler yelling in Italian was a little disconcerting, but once he realized that I understood him much better in French, he calmed down and promptly gave me a tour of his house with in depth descriptions of everything.
I managed to get through the night surprisingly easily. He spoke mostly in French, and I used a combination of French, English and random gesturing (which he found pretty amusing). I'm actually really pleased to have this job, because I think it will be really helpful with improving my French!
And luckily for me, when my poor French just doesn't cut it, Playdough is a universal language.
Monday, April 19, 2010
♪♫ leaving on a jet plane ♪♫
Thanks to Iceland, about negative three percent of the planes that usually fly in and out of European airports are currently allowed to fly. I like Iceland, so no hard feelings, but this whole volcano thing is a tad irritating, not to mention devastating to the aviation industry (which has lost almost $1 billion).
Luckily, I haven't been directly impacted by the flight deadlock, but a lot of people around me are. My history teacher couldn't attend a conference in Britain over the weekend (a short, 2 hour flight), and my friend had to take a taxi back from Lugano (Seven hours!). And I know there are people all over the globe who are stranded.
Hopefully this mess of ash will clear up soon. I know some of the airspace above Europe is being opened again, despite the fact that the darn volcano is still erupting. And last time it erupted, it continued for around fifteen months... :/
Luckily, I haven't been directly impacted by the flight deadlock, but a lot of people around me are. My history teacher couldn't attend a conference in Britain over the weekend (a short, 2 hour flight), and my friend had to take a taxi back from Lugano (Seven hours!). And I know there are people all over the globe who are stranded.
Hopefully this mess of ash will clear up soon. I know some of the airspace above Europe is being opened again, despite the fact that the darn volcano is still erupting. And last time it erupted, it continued for around fifteen months... :/
Friday, April 9, 2010
Paris, je t'aime
While I did feel like an incredibly blatant third wheel, I still had a great time in Paris with my parents. I do believe, however, that one should never be allowed to be single in Paris. My parents were returning almost exactly 22 years after their honeymoon trip--talk about romantic--with one of the products of their marriage unromantically in tow. Being in the third wheel in the city of love was not ideal.
In the grand scheme of things, however, our Paris trip was amazing.
It did rain at least 60% of the time, but if you ask me, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Personally, I will take any excuse to spend another hour sitting in a Parisian patisserie, drinking café au lait and eating pain au chocolate. Plus, the rain gave us a chance to spend large chunks of time in the Musée d'Orsay (which I LOVED), the Louvre (which I didn't love quite as much. Sorry, but why is la Joconde such a big deal again?), and l'Opera Paris (in which I could hardly bring myself to take my classic arabesque picture because I felt so humbled by the idea of all the legendary ballet dancers who have danced there).
And when it wasn't raining, we managed to visit all those cliché tourist-y places--la Tour Eiffel, l'Arc de Triomphe, la Place de la Concorde, Notre Dame, and so on.
Now, however, there is the slight problem that I am utterly in love with that city. Fortunately, I live close enough that it's not too hard to get there. I've already got another trip planned for June :]
À bientôt!
Monday, March 15, 2010
...knock knock?
Hi. Remember me? That one girl, who used to post some things about her life in Switzerland?
I'm back :]
As some of you know, I was away in the US for an epic, month long trip, auditioning for a bunch of different college ballet programs and visiting some other colleges. It was a pretty incredible experience; I literally traveled from New York to California. I experienced everything from 0*F in Des Moines, to 65*F in Menlo Park. I went to four new states, and saw the Midwest for the first time. I had a really amazing time.
I've been back in Switzerland for two weeks now, and am dying under a Matterhorn sized pile of schoolwork, and the impending doom of exams. Spring is finally beginning to creep into the mountains, though! It snowed a couple days ago, but today it was a beautiful 10*C. I was ready to go picnicking or swimming, but I noticed there were still copious amounts of ice around the fountain across the street from our house, and decided to wait another few weeks.
We're planning to go to Paris over Easter, and I am *so* incredibly excited. My French teacher--whose French, not Swiss--has been teaching us about Parisian culture all year, and I've been dying to go (not to mention that I am completely and utterly in love with the movie Amelie, which may or may not have had some influence on my desire to see Paris). We'll only be there for about four days, but I know it's going to be amazinggggg.
Here's some photos from the past six weeks...
Sunset in the middle of Iowa
Iowa is proud to be the location of the World's Largest Truck stop.
Somewhere in Colorado/Utah (on Amtrack)
Utah/Colorado
Utah/Colorado
On the train from Des Moines to Salt Lake City (27 hours!)
The Botanical Gardens in Des Moines (it was 0*F outside, but felt like summer inside)
Salt Lake Union Pacific Depot
Amtrack station in Grand Junction, Colorado... after nearly 20 hours on a train, with 8 more to go!
I'm back :]
As some of you know, I was away in the US for an epic, month long trip, auditioning for a bunch of different college ballet programs and visiting some other colleges. It was a pretty incredible experience; I literally traveled from New York to California. I experienced everything from 0*F in Des Moines, to 65*F in Menlo Park. I went to four new states, and saw the Midwest for the first time. I had a really amazing time.
I've been back in Switzerland for two weeks now, and am dying under a Matterhorn sized pile of schoolwork, and the impending doom of exams. Spring is finally beginning to creep into the mountains, though! It snowed a couple days ago, but today it was a beautiful 10*C. I was ready to go picnicking or swimming, but I noticed there were still copious amounts of ice around the fountain across the street from our house, and decided to wait another few weeks.
We're planning to go to Paris over Easter, and I am *so* incredibly excited. My French teacher--whose French, not Swiss--has been teaching us about Parisian culture all year, and I've been dying to go (not to mention that I am completely and utterly in love with the movie Amelie, which may or may not have had some influence on my desire to see Paris). We'll only be there for about four days, but I know it's going to be amazinggggg.
Here's some photos from the past six weeks...
Sunset in the middle of Iowa
Iowa is proud to be the location of the World's Largest Truck stop.
Somewhere in Colorado/Utah (on Amtrack)
Utah/Colorado
Utah/Colorado
On the train from Des Moines to Salt Lake City (27 hours!)
The Botanical Gardens in Des Moines (it was 0*F outside, but felt like summer inside)
Salt Lake Union Pacific Depot
Amtrack station in Grand Junction, Colorado... after nearly 20 hours on a train, with 8 more to go!More posts soon folks, I promise!
Monday, February 1, 2010
the Prix de Lausanne
Switzerland isn't exactly known for it's ridiculously amazing ballet training, but they do have the Prix de Lausanne, and I think that makes up for their lack of the Swiss versions of the Bolshoi Academy or SFB or something.
This year, the Prix was held from January 26th to 31st, and my parents and I went to see the finals. It was really incredible. It's this competition for ballet students ages 15-18 from all over the world, and they were really really amazing--it was pretty humbling, actually.
The boy who won was Argentinian, but he trained at the Houston Ballet School. He was really incredible--he won both the official Prix, and the audience vote!
This year, the Prix was held from January 26th to 31st, and my parents and I went to see the finals. It was really incredible. It's this competition for ballet students ages 15-18 from all over the world, and they were really really amazing--it was pretty humbling, actually.
The boy who won was Argentinian, but he trained at the Houston Ballet School. He was really incredible--he won both the official Prix, and the audience vote!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
beautiful weather
Yes, this is a post about the weather. I am talking about the weather.
I think my perspective may have changed just a little. I still think anything below 60*F is too cold. I still get overly excited about snow. I still dress about four times more warmly then anyone else in this country. I still get laughed at by my Swiss and Canadian and Russian friends.
However, now I can walk outside when it's 2*C out, sigh and say, "Omigod, it's so nice out!"
I think I've mentioned before that Swiss weather is entirely unpredictable. When we left right before Christmas, it was pouring rain. When we got back, it was freezing, but no snow. A week an a half ago, we got 8 inches of snow in one night--which is really rare here, and shocked everyone. About three days later, the temperature rose to 8*C, and it's hovered between 2* and 4* ever since.
It even got nice to the point that the Jet d'Eau was turned on again!
On my way to ballet.
I think my perspective may have changed just a little. I still think anything below 60*F is too cold. I still get overly excited about snow. I still dress about four times more warmly then anyone else in this country. I still get laughed at by my Swiss and Canadian and Russian friends.
However, now I can walk outside when it's 2*C out, sigh and say, "Omigod, it's so nice out!"
I think I've mentioned before that Swiss weather is entirely unpredictable. When we left right before Christmas, it was pouring rain. When we got back, it was freezing, but no snow. A week an a half ago, we got 8 inches of snow in one night--which is really rare here, and shocked everyone. About three days later, the temperature rose to 8*C, and it's hovered between 2* and 4* ever since.
It even got nice to the point that the Jet d'Eau was turned on again!
On my way to ballet.But... all good things come to an end. The forecast for tomorrow? Snow.
Not complaining, though. I still love snow.
Not complaining, though. I still love snow.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
the joys of applying to college from a different continent
I knew that applying to be college would be stressful. I knew that auditioning for all the college dance programs would be stressful. But I didn't anticipate having to coordinate and complete it all from 6,000 miles away.
The applying to college part wasn't too bad... once I arranged for letters of recommendations (BIG thank you to Ms. Dudley :D ) and transcripts sent from both California and Switzerland, and once I realized that I would have several extra hours on all the deadlines because of the time difference, and once I stopped panicking about express mailing applications from across the world (and my mom stopped panicking about the price of express mailing applications across the world), it turned out hardly more stressful than your average college application process.
Auditions are another story. First of all, it just seems to be a pattern with ballet that there are always conflicting auditions. Luckily (luckily??) I'm only auditioning for 6 programs, so you'd think it wouldn't be too difficult to arrange. Had I still been living in California, though, it would have been plausible to fly out to Indiana or Utah or New York or wherever on Thursday or Friday, audition that weekend, and get back in time for school on Monday morning, but it doesn't work like that since our move. So we've had to figure out how I can make it to the most auditions while missing the least school... not an easy task... especially since my last audition is conveniently on my first day of ski week, so I can't even use my vacation to audition. So I'm taking three weeks (!!) off of school to fly all over the United States visiting colleges and auditioning. I'm really excited, but I'm also sooo nervous. But that's another story.
I'm also really excited because I'll get to spend my ski week in California. While I loved my winter break in California, it was disappointing because there were still so many people I wanted to see! So I'm really looking forward to catching up with more of you.
On an entirely separate note, we got about 6 inches of snow yesterday! Apparently that was a really big deal, and it hasn't happened in recent years. Up until now, we've only had light snow, a couple inches. But this was incredible... I love it! (I'm ready for some warm temperatures, though. Why isn't it possible for it to snow when it's, say, 80*F out?)
The applying to college part wasn't too bad... once I arranged for letters of recommendations (BIG thank you to Ms. Dudley :D ) and transcripts sent from both California and Switzerland, and once I realized that I would have several extra hours on all the deadlines because of the time difference, and once I stopped panicking about express mailing applications from across the world (and my mom stopped panicking about the price of express mailing applications across the world), it turned out hardly more stressful than your average college application process.
Auditions are another story. First of all, it just seems to be a pattern with ballet that there are always conflicting auditions. Luckily (luckily??) I'm only auditioning for 6 programs, so you'd think it wouldn't be too difficult to arrange. Had I still been living in California, though, it would have been plausible to fly out to Indiana or Utah or New York or wherever on Thursday or Friday, audition that weekend, and get back in time for school on Monday morning, but it doesn't work like that since our move. So we've had to figure out how I can make it to the most auditions while missing the least school... not an easy task... especially since my last audition is conveniently on my first day of ski week, so I can't even use my vacation to audition. So I'm taking three weeks (!!) off of school to fly all over the United States visiting colleges and auditioning. I'm really excited, but I'm also sooo nervous. But that's another story.
I'm also really excited because I'll get to spend my ski week in California. While I loved my winter break in California, it was disappointing because there were still so many people I wanted to see! So I'm really looking forward to catching up with more of you.
On an entirely separate note, we got about 6 inches of snow yesterday! Apparently that was a really big deal, and it hasn't happened in recent years. Up until now, we've only had light snow, a couple inches. But this was incredible... I love it! (I'm ready for some warm temperatures, though. Why isn't it possible for it to snow when it's, say, 80*F out?)
Friday, January 8, 2010
the faceoff
After having some time to get adjusted to Switzerland, I feel like I can give a comparison with a lot less bias. Of course, I'm not really comparing the two--they are soo different. Mostly, I'm just making a list of who does it better, Switz or Cali.
Chocolate:
Hands down, Switzerland. Sorry, California, you can't even compete. Okay, See's is decent. Ghiradelli is a force to be reckoned with. But have you ever tried Swiss chocolate?? Even the Hershey's status brands here are incredible. Hershey's just kinda tastes like plastic.
In-n-Out: Until Switzerland imports them, California wins. No competition.
(btw: I know In-n-Out is a burger joint, and I'm vegetarian, but animal style fries are pretty much the best thing ever)
Coffee: There's no real winner here. If you want to enjoy a nice cup of joe that will last you a good half hour, then go to California. If you want an espresso that will wake you up faster than you can say "espresso," go to Switzerland. For everyday purposes, I like Swiss coffee better... high school does that to you. But Switzerland fails on the chain coffee store front. They don't have Peet's, and while they do have Starbucks, it's about 10USD for a frickin' tall latte.
Peanut butter: do I have to say this again?
Shopping: Again, this is a draw. Switzerland has some pretty amazing fashion. There are kids at my school who won't wear the same outfit twice. Anything strange and edgy is in fashion (including my dad's 40 year old sweater that I wear all the time... I get lots of compliments on it). On the other hand, it is so expensive. Geneva is one of the most expensive cities in the world, so I guess that's no surprise, but it is pretty bummer that there is so much great clothing, but it's so expensive. California may not be caught up with Switzerland fashion wise, but at least it's cheaper!
Trains: Okay, before I left for Switz, everyone raved to me about how incredibly amazing the Swiss train system is. It turns out it is pretty amazing, except for the stretch between Geneva and Lausanne. Luckily for me, I live smack in between Geneva and Lausanne. Thanks to the "amazing" train system, I've missed my first period class way too many times due to late or no-show trains. However, when I got back to California, I was reminded of how inadequate Caltrain is. I can't really give my opinion of BART or Amtrack, since I take them so rarely, but Caltrain is almost never on time, the trains are dirty, the schedule is patchy, and they've got way fewer stops than they should. So Switzerland does win, but I won't give it its trophy until it fixes the stretch between Geneva and Lausanne.
Enough for tonight. I hope you enjoyed your barrage of blog posts that finally came. My new year's resolution is to update more frequently. I'm not promising anything, but I'll try.
Chocolate:
Hands down, Switzerland. Sorry, California, you can't even compete. Okay, See's is decent. Ghiradelli is a force to be reckoned with. But have you ever tried Swiss chocolate?? Even the Hershey's status brands here are incredible. Hershey's just kinda tastes like plastic.
In-n-Out: Until Switzerland imports them, California wins. No competition.
(btw: I know In-n-Out is a burger joint, and I'm vegetarian, but animal style fries are pretty much the best thing ever)
Coffee: There's no real winner here. If you want to enjoy a nice cup of joe that will last you a good half hour, then go to California. If you want an espresso that will wake you up faster than you can say "espresso," go to Switzerland. For everyday purposes, I like Swiss coffee better... high school does that to you. But Switzerland fails on the chain coffee store front. They don't have Peet's, and while they do have Starbucks, it's about 10USD for a frickin' tall latte.
Peanut butter: do I have to say this again?
Shopping: Again, this is a draw. Switzerland has some pretty amazing fashion. There are kids at my school who won't wear the same outfit twice. Anything strange and edgy is in fashion (including my dad's 40 year old sweater that I wear all the time... I get lots of compliments on it). On the other hand, it is so expensive. Geneva is one of the most expensive cities in the world, so I guess that's no surprise, but it is pretty bummer that there is so much great clothing, but it's so expensive. California may not be caught up with Switzerland fashion wise, but at least it's cheaper!
Trains: Okay, before I left for Switz, everyone raved to me about how incredibly amazing the Swiss train system is. It turns out it is pretty amazing, except for the stretch between Geneva and Lausanne. Luckily for me, I live smack in between Geneva and Lausanne. Thanks to the "amazing" train system, I've missed my first period class way too many times due to late or no-show trains. However, when I got back to California, I was reminded of how inadequate Caltrain is. I can't really give my opinion of BART or Amtrack, since I take them so rarely, but Caltrain is almost never on time, the trains are dirty, the schedule is patchy, and they've got way fewer stops than they should. So Switzerland does win, but I won't give it its trophy until it fixes the stretch between Geneva and Lausanne.
Enough for tonight. I hope you enjoyed your barrage of blog posts that finally came. My new year's resolution is to update more frequently. I'm not promising anything, but I'll try.
Christmas in California
The first thing we did when we got to California was go to In-n-Out. Typical. But I definitely think we deserved it... our trip back was stressful once again, thanks to AirCanada. Why they make everyone go through Canadian customs, pick up their luggage, go through American customs, re-check their luggage, and re-go through security any time you have a layover in a Canadian airport, I do not know! But you'd think they'd give at least three hours to go through all of that, right? Haha. No. On our flight over in August, we had 55min. On our flight on the 23rd, they oh-so-generously gave us 1h25min. But, of course, both times our flight was 45min late. Needless to say, we missed our connecting flight in August. The only way we managed to make our flight from Calgary to San Francisco this time was because they held the plane for us and the three others who were running across the airport like mad people.
So In-n-Out was well deserved.
We spent the next few days at my grandparents' house in Petaluma, and had a really fun holiday with my extended family. I then spent a couple days visiting friends before heading off on a blissful mediation retreat in the Santa Cruz mountains.
We spent the last few days of our time in California frantically trying to see everyone before we left. While it was a really fun trip, it was also really busy, and not exactly the much needed relaxation, if you know what I mean.
Now, though, we're back in Switz (with my brother!), and have a few days before school starts to relax... and write those ten AP Euro essays that I've been procrastinating (I'm serious, though. We have to write ten).
Happy New Year, everyone! 2009 was a pretty incredible year for us, and we're hoping the same for you, as well as in 2010.
So In-n-Out was well deserved.
We spent the last few days of our time in California frantically trying to see everyone before we left. While it was a really fun trip, it was also really busy, and not exactly the much needed relaxation, if you know what I mean.
Now, though, we're back in Switz (with my brother!), and have a few days before school starts to relax... and write those ten AP Euro essays that I've been procrastinating (I'm serious, though. We have to write ten).
Happy New Year, everyone! 2009 was a pretty incredible year for us, and we're hoping the same for you, as well as in 2010.
Christmas in Switzerland
No, we didn't spend Christmas in Switzerland. We spent two beautiful weeks in California for the holidays, seeing as many of the friends and family there that we could manage to fit in! But apparently, the Swiss love Christmas. This became apparent when, two days before Halloween, I noticed the grocery store had Christmas decorations up, and heard carols while walking to ballet. And when I say that the Swiss love Christmas, I mean they really love it. If you thought Americans went overboard during the holidays, please come to Switzerland to see the real thing. Besides les Marchés de Noël that are held in just about every decent sized town starting the last weekend of November, there are special chocolates, visits from Père Noël, and so many decorations. To name a small portion, there were Christmas trees in train station, my ballet studio, my school, and about every three feet in the Geneva airport. Any tree outside that looks remotely like a pine or fir is decorated. There are lights in every single window, and little Père Noëls on ladders hanging off balconies. All the towns--even the smallest villages, like Perroy--have huge glowing Christmas decorations hanging above the main drags. Christmas is EVERYWHERE.
So, merry (super belated) Christmas :]
So, merry (super belated) Christmas :]
SNOW
I'm from California. I can probably count the amount of times I've seen snow on both hands. So, it's very, very exciting for me. I kinda turn into a six year old every time I see snow.
So, in the middle of December, after an unusually "warm" (as in, the temperature hung around 0*C for a good month and a half without snowing) autumn, I got reallllyyyy excited when it finally snowed.
So excited it's SNOWING!
Unfortunately, it didn't stick that day. But about two days later, the last day of school for the semester, we woke up, and the world was white! OK, this may not be a big deal for all y'all who grew up in snowy places, but it was like as amazing as Christmas, my birthday, and the first day of summer vacation combined for me.
CDL in the snow
So, in the middle of December, after an unusually "warm" (as in, the temperature hung around 0*C for a good month and a half without snowing) autumn, I got reallllyyyy excited when it finally snowed.
So excited it's SNOWING!
Unfortunately, it didn't stick that day. But about two days later, the last day of school for the semester, we woke up, and the world was white! OK, this may not be a big deal for all y'all who grew up in snowy places, but it was like as amazing as Christmas, my birthday, and the first day of summer vacation combined for me.
CDL in the snow
Perroy in the snow
This doesn't mean I wasn't really looking forward to wonderful California weather for the holidays. I can only handle so much.
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