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Published: January 8th 2010
Wow! So much has happened since I have arrived to Switzerland!
I can’t believe I have already been here a month! It has been a whirlwind of a time; I have learned so much and done things I would have never thought I would have the opportunity to do in a lifetime.
Everyday I gain a little more knowledge from the global staff that surrounds me. And everyday I still get a good chuckle from the miscommunication errors that are never ending.
Some highlight from the past weeks include:
Guiding a hike through the mountains. This Snow Adventure Day started off well until I lost track of the path and was not sure where to take my group. The destination was supposed to be a lake but I got a bit disoriented because the terrain looked different with significantly less snow. So... I took my troop of four Dutch Scouts off piste and on a hike up a mountain in snowshoes. The snow was deep as we were walking on top of a powder filled forest. I had to lead them through a zig zag of a path to reach the other side. It was an intense
climb to the top, but the way to the bottom was a lot of fun. It was steep hike to the base, so we had to go down on our bottoms like a snow slide to safely reach the valley. And somehow, someway we ended up close to where we were supposed to be. I then took them to the lake, and then we made our way back to the gondola to trade our snowshoes for sleds and went sledding! I love sledding and so did my group! We had a great time together, but the conditions were extremely icy which made the decent frightening. It was so bad that I had to roll off my sled to keep from going off a cliff. After a rest we went curling and then headed back home.
I introduced Europe to peanut butter and honey sandwiches. They hated them! First off most Europeans don’t like peanut butter because they are repulsed by the smell and secondly they are not fond of sandwiches that involve anything more than meat, cheese, and butter. I urged all those in catering with me to try it. They all declined and they did not do it
nicely. The only one I actually got to try it was the director and his face said all of his feelings.
Another sandwich story occurred on my second program activity when I was being evaluated for taking groups on the Gemmi Hike and Sled. I got an adventurous Swedish Pinkie to try my pb&h but I had to try his creation of ham, cream cheese, and nutella. It was interesting to say the least, but a surprisingly good combination.
On one of my days off I went to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. When we arrived we saw Parliament and ate fried fruit! It was a beautiful city, yet a bit disappointing. Being a regular Disney visitor has raised my standards to a high level. First off there was a special clock that I expected to do lots of turns, have music, and something flying around; yet as the hour changed a bird flapped its wings and then a bell rang. It was not the tourist attraction I was expecting. Next we tried to go to Einstein’s flat but it was closed. We are planning to make our way back in February when it reopens. It was amazing
just to think about the famous scientist actually being there and all the work he produced while in the city. Our next stop was the bear cage. Bern actually means bear in German. This attraction was a letdown as there was only one bear roaming the grassy area. It was still unique though. After seeing all the sights we of course did a bit of shopping!
On another day off I learned how to ski! My fellow Pinkie, Emil graciously spent the day with me out of the slopes. We did lots of exercises going up and down, up and down the bunny slopes. I was so excited to finally try the sport, but I was awful at it! On our way to the kiddie area we had to go across a blue slope. That was a dangerous! I had already fallen a number of times on the flat land, and now going down the incline proved to be impossible. We held hands as we went traveled across the skiing highway. As we continued to move, I picked up momentum and went flying across the piste into the forest. I was racing down the mountain and when I looked
back Emil was chasing after me, calling me name, and holding my glove in his hand. It wasn’t too bad though, because the area I crashed into was right next to three of the Centre’s staff members. So they were there to help me back on my feet! I was at the bunny slope when I lost control again and sped down the wrong side of the slope and the only way I knew how to stop was to fall. I did get the hang of it after going down a few times. Luckily Emil is a very good skier so he was able to do lots of beginner’s exercises with me. After getting comfortable we went down the blue slope. It was so scary! I didn’t have too much of a problem going down the beginning of the mountain, but suicide drop was ridiculous! I fell at least three times in that short span. Because of the height I was afraid of picking up too much speed and not being able to stop at the bottom. We did the real slope twice before going home. Even though I was terrible at it, I improved by the end of the
day so I was anxious to go again.
On my next half day off Alex and I went to the slopes again! I think I was even worse at the beginning of the second day than I was the first. Once more I was scared and having troubles turning on my skis. We started at the more difficult of the two bunny slopes and I did awful. I had no control, so we went to the easier area. I started to get the feeling back and into the motion. I probably should have done a bit more practicing before going onto the blue slope. We went. And I got stuck. I could not conquer suicide drop. The first run I almost ran into the t-bar lift because I was too afraid to turn and the second time wasn’t much better. Luckily one of the grounds assistants, Chris, was also out skiing at the same time. He helped me get to the bottom and then worked on exercises with me. Turning, putting my skis parallel, stopping, the whole nine yards. He worked with me for the afternoon and I actually had a great time skiing and was doing a bunch
better. On my last run I only fell one time! That was a major accomplishment.
There has also been lots of work at the Chalet.
We have had hundreds of people visit in the last few weeks as there has been lots of events. Keeping everything tidy, people fed, and entertained has been a great undertaking.
Cooking and serving dinner for 200 guests was a major challenge during Ski Week One, the biggest event of the season as well as the ex-staff reunion which was happening at the same time. Dinners overall have been a major ordeal as we had meat fondue for Christmas Eve, turkey on Christmas, and then a mixer for New Year’s Eve.
The food has been delicious as I have experienced lots of yummy treats including chestnuts on an open fire and gluhwein! These were special to Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Additionally for Christmas we had a secret santa complete with a dressed up santa and elf who passed out presents. Before the gifts most of the staff went to church. It was a Protestant church service performed in High-German and Swiss German, French, and English. I even attempted to
sing Silent Night in German. I didn’t get too far. My favorite part about church was the tree. It was a real tree that had been shaved down so there were only seven layers of branches. On each layer there were lit candles which were placed on the outskirts of the branches. The wobbly tree looked very unsafe, especially since it was contained inside a 500 year old wooden church.
An Alpine tradition I got to experience while here was a visit from the town’s monsters! The monsters are all the boys from the town who are turning 18 that year. They come on Christmas Eve to take away all the bad spirits and return on New Year’s Day to bring good spirits. The tradition is hundreds of years old and the costumes are handed down through generations. They spend the entire day causing a ruckus in the small village and along the way the collect donations from the townspeople for upkeep of the outfits and for beer money at the end of the night. They really do not need anymore alcohol at the end of the night because it is customary for them to take a shot at
every place they stop. And the Centre is at the end of their tour, so by the time they reach us they are very rambunctious.
The wood burner has to be lit twice a day, everyday to keep the chalet warm for all the guests in this chilly weather. My third time lighting it, I started a fire in more than just the wood burner. Getting the device going involves several steps which includes cleaning out the ashes; loading it with newspaper, small wood pieces, and then logs; lighting the fire; and then refilling the supplies for the next person who fills it. Well I put the ashes into the metal ash container. There were still embers and little did I know that they could cause so much damage. With the little oxygen in the bin, they were able to start a fire in the container and smoke up the entire basement. The smell then traveled to the ground floor, which sent the director running from his meeting to investigate. The director and two maintenance Pinkies were able to push the container through the basement and outside to the snow and extinguish the fire. The smell made its way
up to the third floor to the staff room. I had no idea it had the potential to cause so much damage!
Things have been chaotic here at the Centre. People keep coming and going and it is just starting to slow down. Overall January will be a pretty busy month but February should be a lot slower.
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Stuart
non-member comment
Sounds like you're having a blast! I knew you would. How is your gear holding up? Need anything? Thanks for the up date; I am living vicariously through your adventures. However, you might want to omit the near death experiences in your future blogs to keep your mom and dad from freaking (just a thought :)