Switzerland has remained top of mind for me after returning in June 2005. In November a number of Swiss students from this year's class came to UHS and San Francisco. As I read stories about Switzerland I want to remember, I tag them in del.icio.us as Zurich (del.icio.us is down at the moment).
This evening my family and I went to The Matterhorn, an authentic Swiss restaurant in San Francisco. We had excellent fondue! It was nice seeing pictures of Switzerland on the walls and re-living the experience. When I was in Zurich, I only had raclette once, a kind gesture by my family since raclette (and fondue, for that matter) are usually only eaten during the winter time.
I highly reccomend The Matterhorn to anyone in SF looking for good Swiss cheese!
Everywhere I look it's Swiss something....my trip over the summer has definitely made me more aware of this fabulous country. My friend Massimo, a family friend of the family I stayed with in Zurich, has been in San Francisco for the past month and I've spent a bunch of time with him. A few days ago we went to a Swiss ragtime festival put on by the music director of the school I went to in Zurich. He came to my school - UHS - to do a little mini performance. It was a lot of fun and brought back memories of our trip.
The Zurich-SF connection continues...
This evening there was a reunion of the Bay Area students who went to Zurich in June. Since we go to different schools, we all got to see each other before we head back to the trenches. One girl made a DVD of hundreds of pictures in slideshow format, music, and narrative text. It was amazing! The power of iMovie indeed. It is great to have all the memories on some durable media like a DVD.
As more time passes from my trip to Zurich, I am appreciating more and more what a life changing experience it was as my first time out of the U.S. Moreover, it is an interesting experience in the process of memory - we forget things we want to forget and remember things we like. As time passes, I will remember only certain bits of the trip. The memories will still be there, but farther back in my brain. The amazing thing with technology and digital pictures is that I can recall them any time.
The other thing the reunion reminded me of is how shared experiences forge common bonds among uncommon people. When people go through things together, they become closer, even if they would have never talked to each other before the event.
It was a great evening of recollecting, laughing, and cherishing those three marvelous weeks.
Friday 7/1 - I got up at 5 AM, had my last breakfast in my Swiss home, took a shower, and then promptly departed for Zurich Unique Airport. My emotions were mixed - happy to be returning to the Bay Area I love, sad to be leaving my host family and others from Switzerland. The saddness for some people stems from the fact that we know we're probably not going to see some of those people for years, if ever.
My attempt for an exit row seat at the airport failed so I was crammed into coach for 11 hours. The flights were uneventful. On the plane I read, listened to an audio book, caught up on some emails, and spent some time just thinking about the trip. When you are immersed in something so foreign and new, the transition of stepping outside of that and leaving is pretty intense.
Saturday 7/2 - Up at 3:45 AM, still on Zurich time, so I will post my concluding thoughts and reactions from the trip:
All the cliches about travel are true. It does open your eyes. It does force you to consider things in a new light. It does make you understand the benefits of a foreign langauge.
It made me grateful that I am an American living and working in San Francisco. People condone the American work ethic as nuts, but compared to the alternative I love it. Here at home, people dream big, work hard at school and at their jobs, and go on and change the world. In Switzerland, they work hard and change the world too....but my impresson of the European culture versus the American culture is that the students aren't as ambitious. Maybe because there's not a whole lot going on right around them (Switzerland is, after all, a pretty small country). Maybe it was a wrong first impression. But I love the fact that at my high school and the people I'm surrounded by all dream big things and then work their ass off to accomplish their gradiose ideas.
The trip affirmed how important it is for me to take one year off, at least, after high school to travel the world. I'm vulnerable in my lack of understanding of global cultures. I've read a lot about globalization, but until you see and smell it firsthand, it means nothing.
I will never forget this trip - a first time out of one's home country is always memorable. I am immensely grateful that this trip had so many positive memories. Thank you to everyone who made it possible. And thank you for following me on these adventures - this blog will now be more or less dormant.
All Swiss and American students, the Swiss families, teachers from the school, and next year's Swiss exchange students gathered for a BBQ on the final evening. It was a good time. My entire host family was there and they could meet the other Americans. We were treated to Swiss Alp horn players, which was pretty funny. Tons of food, final pictures, final goodbyes. Afterwards we went to the Lake for the last time and had final conversations. Everyone was feeling good about the program and the experience. Emotions were running high.
Our last "excursion" of the trip was a few hours at the Zurich Zoo masked as a German lesson. Our German teacher came with us, but mostly we just wandered around and checked out the animals. I haven't been to the zoo in ages - if ever - so it was kind of fun. Made me to want to get out to those countries where these animals usually reside!
After I return home in a couple days I will post some general comments, thoughts, and reactions that may be more coherent because I will have time to ruminate. After that, this blog will be pretty dormant unless I sporadically have thoughts about the Exchange and want to "put them down on paper" somewhere.
