Thursday, 23 October 2014

Hi everyone! Wow, so much has happened in the past two (plus) weeks! Where should I start? I arrived in Switzerland about a week ago. I arrived near the end of a break from the school I'm going to here so I haven't had school until yesterday. I spend the my first few days exploring the city of Zurich and hiking with my family. I've had so much fun! Take a look at what I've been doing:

First, we arrived at the Zurich airport.... with our 11 luggages (minus one because the airline lost one! I guess we were pushing our luck with 12 suitcases!)

^^ some bags in this picture were carry-ons ^^

Next, after our red-eye flight from Boston (I learned that it's called red-eye for a reason guys, seriously, I could hardly recognize my little brother because his eyes were so bloodshot, I thought he was some devil child.. just kidding... I think that all of the time (:   ) My dad, mom, 2 brothers and I, with the help of our uncle, hurled our suitcases onto the Zurich train and rode for ten minutes to our apartment. After dragging our stuff up three flights of stairs (because we live on the fourth floor.. Oh boy!) we met our little Zurich flat!

My Little Zurich Flat bedroom, meet everyone. 
Everyone, meet my Little Zurich Flat bedroom.


I guess you're now probably thinking:


This is my answer to your disappointment ^ :)


Ok, so now that you've met my room.. Do you want to see some pictures from my hiking and city trips? I thought so......


We went to an awesome festival called the Olma. The Olma is really popular in St. Gallen (where it takes place) and surrounding cities/cantons. This... disturbing.... band played some pretty cool music during on of the shows that we watched there.





We also went on a cool little mountain called Pilatus. Mount Pilatus "is a mountain overlooking Lucerne in Central Switzerland. It is composed of several summits of which the highest is named Tomlishorn." -Thanks for clearing that up, Wikipedia. 

This was the view we had from the top.  That little zig-zag trail is the path some people take to get to the top of the mountain.




We didn't hike the five-hour trail to the top, though, we took the steepest cogwheel railway in the world instead. :)



We did hike a little, though. From the top of our hike, we had a fantastic view of the city Lucerne. Lucerne, according to my mother, is the most beautiful city in Switzerland.



At the top of the hike, my brothers fed bread to crows right out of their hands! It was a bit unnerving to have the birds so close to us, especially since they knew we had food.


We visited a zoo located in Zurich as well. I really enjoyed looking at all of the animals, but I have to say that it made me a little sad to see all of the animals in captivity. Nevertheless, look at that gorgeous snow leopard and adorable baby elephant!




On the weekend before my first day of school (which was this last Monday), we traveled by train to a stunningly beautiful place called Flumserberg. This is my place of Swiss citizenship, as I mentioned in my first post. We stayed in this "huete" or hut for one night.



While staying up there, we did a few hours of hiking each day. Although we were baking in the sun most of the time, the views from the top were incredible! The field in this picture is green and flowery in the summer - gorgeous! The mountain range in the background supposedly has seven peaks, although I can't tell exactly which peaks are supposed to be counted.





That's all for now, guys! Thanks for reading, and apologies for the delayed post. I hope you Haligonians and Utahns are enjoying your fall, I know I am. :)




Sunday, 28 September 2014

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog. 
As most you of you know, I'm going to Switzerland for six months while my dad works at the university there. In Switzerland, I plan on learning as much as I can about the people who live there and the language they speak. I'm half Swiss, so going to Switzerland is a great opportunity to learn about my heritage, especially by mastering the language, something that I have been struggling to do my entire life. Stay tuned for pictures and updates about my experience. Thanks for visiting :)



High up on the Flumserberg (mountain), my place of Swiss citizenship. Photo taken during a previous visit.