A Different type of American

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Not too much has happened over the last few weeks in Kandersteg. Although we still have had a steady flow of guests I have not seen most of them since I have been stuck in bed, recovering from lower and upper respiratory infections.

I am almost all better, but I have a follow up appointment with the doctor on Friday to make sure I am completely healthy.

Since I have been sick I have missed out on two important events.

First of all there was Kandersteg’s annual ice climbing festival. The village is known for their frozen waterfalls and they attract lots of adventurists. We had lots of amateur climbers stay at the Centre during the competition. I wish I could have actually seen the final round of the event. They set up a course along a portion of a waterfall which the climber must navigate to the top before the time runs out. There was a four minute limit to reach the top and if you fell you were immediately disqualified. It sounded like it was pretty neat to watch. Along with that they also had guest lectures and classes about climbing.

The next weekend was the infamous Klondike!!! I think I was the only one here that was excited for a visit from 320 Americans. The Klondike weekend is centered around a sled race which the boys spend months building these sleds for one afternoon. It is meant to celebrate the Alaskan gold rush of 1987.

I was only well enough to spend the first evening with all the Boy Scouts and it was a crazy night as we served dinner to all of them. I was disappointed because I was asked to host the camp fire/ award ceremony for the scouts but had to rest in bed instead.

So I had very little interaction with my own people! These scouts were from the Transatlantic Boy Scout Council meaning they were American Boy Scouts in Europe. Basically they were all military brats so that made the weekend even more interesting.

Europeans sure do like to complain about Americans. Anything they could find they would pick on. This included: the children wasted too much, they were picky eaters, they were messy and trashed the bathroom, and they bought too much in the shop. Some things were just dumb, even though all youngsters waste food, I guess the Americans just do it more. Plus they noted that the Americans would purchase stupid things in the shop and this included kids buying candy and adults getting slippers. Oh well. I guess they just don’t have sophisticated European taste.

It was tiring to hear all the bad things about the Americans but someone reassured me that she did not like ‘them’ but likes me because I am a different type of American! Always good to know.

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