This is my first post that I am actually awake fully! Maybe this one will make more sense - hopefully. I have done very well writing in this so far - every other day! I finally figured out my pseudo schedule. If you know me, I like to have activities planned months in advance so this whole no plan thing has not been the most comfortable. I am free Mondays, Tuesday afternoons, Thursdays and Fridays to do as I wish. On Wednesday and the weekends I am with the entire family doing different activities. If I want, I can go on long excursions on the weekends as long as I tell the family ahead of time. I got a cell phone and a house key and all that they ask is to let them know if I am not coming home for the night. Oy, this would have been nice to know ahead of time so I could actually take some time to plan different trips! Sitting here today has been nice, but I just don't want to do any SNA work or write scholarship essays - I need to take advantage of my surroundings! I am in Europe, and I
know nothing.
So the plan is - there is no plan. I will just hop on a train and stop at one of the stops, get off...and see what there is? I will pack myself a lunch and snacks but I figure that would be the best way to go about it in my situation. I am hoping to find people who live in each town and know English so that they can show me around and get to know them. I am not sure what I am going to do Thursday or Friday yet - I hate not knowing!
Yesterday, Sunday, was an amazing day. I slept in, had my usual yogurt and granola, read some stories with the children, and then we took an excursion to Aarau, the capital of our Canton, Aargau. Don't ask me how to pronounce it because I slaughter it horribly! It is high above the Aarau River and is about a 7 minute train ride from Staufen. The city was desolate. No one was there at all! This city reminded me more of how I remember a European city to be; complete with all the outdoor cafe's, cobble stone walkways, and tight
walkways between buildings - built before cars were invited. For this reason, cars cannot access most parts of this town easily. Walking down the street I felt like I was in the 1700s. All of the buildings were of the traditional alpine architecture complete with the painted roofs. Because it was so high up, I could see the Swiss Alps in the distance because there was not a cloud in the sky. Aargau Canton is the most flat Canton in Switzerland, but it is still beautiful. We went to Starbucks and I enjoyed my 8 SFr Carmel Frappachino very much. There was also a beautiful church on the top of the Old City built in the 1400s. Overall, this city reminded me very much of my favorite place in the world, Toledo (Spain). We walked along the river for awhile. All around me were people laying the in fields of flowers that were just starting to bloom. The only bad part about this trip is that there is really no one to share it with. The family thought I was a little weird for getting really excited about this amazing drinking fountain because they are used to the gothic architecture.
I love Europe for that reason: everything is old but still in use to this day. The history of all of these buildings is exciting! I get goosebumps walking into a church that was built before North America was even discovered. These landmarks should not be taken for granted. Anyways, there is a 30km pathway (3/4 of a marathon) for backpackers, cyclers, runners, ect. from Aarau to Staufen. It is my goal to be able to run it by the end of my stay here. We were only there for a short while, but I plan to go back on my own next Tuesday. I am talking to a few people who live there and I might go enjoy the nightlife on one of my days off as well. That evening, we had an amazing 2.5 hour dinner outside on the balcony. A family friend who just moved here from Bulgaria came to visit. She does not know German as well and is fluent in English. I was impressed because she only started learning English in 2002. We had the best dinner along with some wine from South France. While, wine still reminds me of Church, I am beginning to
like it. My new goal in life is to become a wine connaisseur complete with all of their flowerly language. How impressive would that be? Psh. Forget Vegas for my 21st birthday in the States - I'm going wine tasting!
It is beautiful here in NE Switzerland today. In fact, we have not had a single day of bad weather since I arrived! I awoke this morning around 730 am and checked to see if anyone was online so that I could yell at them to go to bed because it is way too late in the States :), ate breakfast, and went back to sleep till 1030 when I had some of the worst nightmares. Afterwards, I went out for a jog through the town, some farm fields, across a near-by forest, and then up a large hill. I am alone today, and frankly I am a little bored. There is really not much to do here, plus, all I have eaten today is some chocolate, turkey, and bread. I can't figure out what some of the food in the refrigerator is because its all in German! This afternoon I called my family in that States to touch
base and started looking up things to do on my days off. There is a swiss beer festival coming up along with the Euro 2008 football championships taking place 20 minutes from here. I think I might go down there just to people-watch. Its the world's 3rd largest sporting event after the world cup (not called fifa apparently....thanks Mario) and the olympics so I'm thinking its a pretty big deal. There are a few concerts in June that I will see if I can make it to - but I want to go to the world's largest Techno dance party in Zurich - two days before I leave in August. That has my name written all over it. I am pumped - hopefully I am not in Croatia. Everyone should get home around 8pm tonight so I have about 2 more hours. I think I'm going to go outside and sit on the hill and read Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. I bought it while I was in London a long time ago, but I forgot what it was about! Like my quote says, I need to embrace boredom; I am used to going 100mph and I need to learn
how to relax again!
Next time I post, I promise I will have something exciting to talk about!!
The end.
Switzerland's Flag
Map of Switzerland