French at Last!

"Sooooooooooooooo" this past weekend I went to Lausanne with IAESTE and it was a blast. Arrived and started meeting people as we sort of tepidly approached each other unsure of whether the other was in IAESTE as well. Pretty soon though as the group got bigger it was obvious who was a part of the program and who wasn't. First we dropped off our stuff and walked around parts of the city, the cathedral, and the old city. Bought a few post cards so some of you should expect some. Had an excellent smoothie. Got a little lost cause we weren't sure where we were supposed to meet the group for lunch. Sat Nav (GPS) was taking us in the right direction but we decided to defer to our trusty leader Marc. Anyway we went back got some pita wrap like thing who's name I have since forgotten but starts with an L. Laura got la meme. Rode the merry go round which was hilarious especially at the end where I tried to get my moneys worth and ride two horses. Then we went to drop our stuff off at the hostel which was pretty fancy. We got a room called timelox, no just kidding timelox was just the card key manufacturer. We had this room where in a hallway full of IAESTE people so even though the bathroom was shared it felt strangely like home? Next we went to try to go windsurfing but the weather wasn't cooperating( thunderstorms were brewing so they didn't think it would be a good idea to go out onto the lake hanging onto tall poles who woulda figured?) So instead we just all swam in and had a massive seaweed fight. I must say that the scarf? I got was pretty good. Although Scott's assassin move was also commendable. We also found/stole/borrowed? a frissbee and bouncy ball and tossed those around for a while. It was like waterpolo all over again. Skipping the ball brought back memories. Got out and tried to just wash my feet. But Laura decided she would just turn on the cold shower full blast... An accident she claims as she runs away laughing her head off. To be fair though I did spray her back with the hose. Next we got ready to go out to the festival. Played some games watched some shows and then partied. Woke up the next day to go to see Castle Chillon and Montreaux. Best parts about Castle Chillon? Definitely the private double toilette that leads directly into the lake and Marc's comment about chests. The Montreaux festival was pretty fun but we didn't have much time to look around. Mostly just saw a break dance competition with maybe three or four really good dancers. Finally took the boat back to Lausanne, which took forever and was late... not such a good end but yea got back in one piece and slept really well. Oh yea and I practiced my french alot over the weekend so that was kinda cool

The House of Mozart

Cooome on. This was the single best phrase to describe this weekend. In its many uses such as "come on" really? this is the best you could do? also come on as in hurry up we need to get to the next spot all the way to the other side of the spectrum as in come on? this is real?! Thursday night I took the overnight train from Zurich to Vienna (Wien) and was lucky enough to get two seats next to the window/power cords/table my own reserved one and the one across from me. I slid both down so that I could actually sleep most of the way there. I arrived in Wien West Bahnhoff. At first I was rather unimpressed with this main train station but then I remembered that Switzerland is rather famous for its transportation while Wien is famous more for the arts. So I arrived at about 730 am and had to wait till 2 pm for the registration to open. After walking for a few hours I realized that it would be alot easier if I just dropped off my stuff at the hostel first. From walking around so much in the beginning and really for the whole weekend I saw that Wien is probably a mecca for girls what with the number and variety of stores. In one designer clothing store I actually watched the designer cut fabric and stitch it together. Truly these things were one of a kind. For me though the best part was the food. Not only is food tasty but it is also presented so ornately similar to the grand stylings of the buildings all over the city. Practically every building has statues of gods, fairies, or mythical beings, in addition to columns and really fine detailing even for very large buildings. So one interesting thing was that some of these buildings housed diametrically opposed tenants. Pictures to come later. Ok so now for the griping. First night the person selecting music (no he cannot be called a DJ) was absolutely terrible. The city rally made us do some fairly mundane tasks to be fair some were quite fun but also it did not really give us a chance to see things. Worst the groups for the city rally were huge so it was hard to get to know your group and people would often be left behind. What was called dinner was really appetizers. I hate being lied to especially when I am paying money for it. I mean COME ON?? who really calls a few cold cuts cheese and bread split between a whole table dinner? Anyway gonna try to focus on the good parts, like meeting new people. At dinner my French friend, Oman friend and I amused our Indian friend with different mosquito killing styles. Although I took revenge on many mosquitoes for the bites I suffered I think they still won. =P Went to a club saturday night with a Slovenian, Indian, Austrian and Hungarian friend. Dug the diversity. Anyway this club was really packed. Partied till about 330got home at 430 slept at 500 woke up at 730 for breakfast. Walked alot more chilled out around the Blue Danube then went home. Really cant describe what I saw beyond this. You just have to go.... I mean come on!

So this past weekend I went to Zurich for the international Zurich weekend where other trainees working in Europe and originating from all over the world meet up for some parties and exploring the city. When I arrived we went to a bar area to watch the world cup. Met tons of people sorry if I messed up or didnt remember your name >.<. After the scavenger hunt I had to go back to work. Why work on a Saturday? because it was the only time that this machine is available. It is called the Swiss Light Source and it is a source of high energy x-ray radiation. We use it to determine the protein structure based on how the radiation scatters upon hitting a crystallized sample of protein. So I observed the post docs using the beam line until about 1 am then one of them decided they were tired and wanted to go home so they very graciously drove me to the train station in the city they live in. From here I took the train back to Zurich and met up with the IAESTE group at ETH ( the local technical university) for a party. After the party we went back to the bunker. I slept for 2 hours woke up and then went to swim in lake Zurich and hang out in the park. At about 4 we went to watch the World Cup again but after Germany scored four goals and England only had one we decided our cheering was a lost cause.

I am at work right now waiting for a centrifuge run to finish. Excited for Zurich this weekend! I will post something about this later. So this week was a pretty good week. The weather started to warm up finally and I am starting to get to know people more. Also I am moving up in our labs World Cup pool. Although I am still pretty far behind the front runners. Yesterdays game with USA vs Algeria was really exciting. There were so many times I jumped out of my seat hoping but then nothing. I can see why some people might say the sport is boring but there are also times when the drama is like that of basketball or other sports. I can definitely see the appeal especially if there are people who want to join in and watch. Watching by myself back at my hotel room is much less exciting atmosphere. Anyway the centrifuge run is about done so...

Books and Cheese

I went to St. Gallen and Appenzell this past weekend. St. Gallen is home to a Stiftsbibliothek, a library housed inside an abbey. They don't let you take pictures inside the library so all I have is pictures of the abbey. But this library is breathtakingly beautiful and it houses books that are over a thousand years old. St. Gallen also has alot of shopping and from the posters plastered around a wide variety of nightlife? But since it was Sunday most of these things were not happening. So from St. Gallen I traveled to Appenzeller where there was this medieval festival. They were giving out free beer and selling really good bratwurst and local cheese. I had something called raclette for dinner. Usually people eat this in the winter but it was just so good. Its a plate of melted cheese accompanied by some potatoes and vegetables. You sorta mix it all up then eat =D. Ive never had so much cheese in my life. I'll probably take a break from cheese for a while haha. Argh slow internet= not many pictures.

So today instead of a weekend long trip I just made a day trip to nearby Schaffhausen which is nearby Rhinefalls, the largest waterfall in Europe! Before I went to the falls I walked around the old German styled city and looked into some shops and picked up some souvenirs because unlike other trips this one only cost 4o francs. This included the trip onto the rock in the middle of Rhinefalls =D.Unfortunately it started raining. At this point though I am not surprised. Weather here changes very suddenly. One interesting fact that I learned from the lonely planet book I got from my sister was that Schaffhausen was actually bombed by allied forces. The US apologized and said it was confused because the city is so close to the border with Germany. Only it was bombed again shortly afterward. So the book speculated that there was a factory there that was supplying arms to the Nazis? I also saw some old castles and did a lot of walking. There was this path I walked down where the houses really reminded me of the levee back at home the only difference was that here the water moved much faster.
So I wish I could put up more pictures but internet is slow so in like a half hour of uploading I only got one.

Pictures

So I think I promised pictures last time and I think my internet can handle it this time.

Group 1! We were followed by group 2 which was mostly composed of soldiers on leave. I think I am the most scared in this picture cause we haven't jumped off anything yet.



This is a picture of me jumping off a ledge and doing a little twist to fall into a little slot carved into the wall that would guide me into the right spot in the water where it was safely deep enough.



This was the jump where if you didn't grab onto the instructors hand after you surfaced the waterfall was strong enough to force you into a little loop. Not terribly dangerous just sucked if you missed his hand.





Look at the smiling faces of people happy to be alive! haha just kidding everyone I talked to was saying how much fun and how amazing this was. I agree.