snowy week

The past week flashed by in a blink.. and made me realise, that i've already been here for 3 weeks, almost one fifth of my time here switzerland.. i've to make better use of my time here! cos i definitely don't wanna look back after this experience, and say 'how i wish i did this, and did that..' 5 months, from a moment's perspective is one long time, but barely makes up a fraction of my lifetime.. still, i can and should make this 5 months a memorable one.. so far, i'm adapting well and have had some fulfilling experiences, definitely.. :)

Yup, so the uni semester started officially this week.. With anxiety weighing down my excitement, i made my way to my first lecture.. alas, i was super early, and settled down at the end of a row somewhere in the middle.. wrong choice.. the lecture theatre setting was soooo impractical.. the rows were marked by entire rows of table that streched across the whole LT, and chairs were folded up like in the cinema, placed rather closely to each other.. that meant that, if the whole row was occupied, but someone in the middle wanted to get out, the entire half row had to get up, move out to the side of the LT, so that this person can make his/her way out.. do i make sense? hmm haha maybe i should take a picture if i can..

so.. my first lecture, and the lecturer started speaking.. gosh.. i started fretting.. ALLES AUF DEUTSCH! (everything in german).. i've been, in my whole life, attending lessons in which i understood the lecturer (even if i didn't know his content), but suddenly, this man (with such a high forehead you'd think he can beat Einstein in a debate of physics or something), who was supposed to be my lecturer for the next 3 months, was speaking this language i've barely got a grasp of, in which i was supposed to learn something else like econs!

I just stoned, not quite knowing how to react, and trying hard to catch what he was saying.. but hey, i've only learnt things like "Ich esse Pizza gern" (i like to eat Pizzas) or "Ich bin eine Studentin und komme aus Singapur" (i'm a student and come from Singapore) or those vocab used on a frequent basis.. however, i had to deal, in the lecture, with things like "Steuerungseffizienz des nationalstaatlichen Systems" or "Pluralismus von Rechtssystemen und Wertegemeinschaften" etc...

Haha but i just have to convince myself, that all will be fine.. if others survived exchange, i can too :) just gotta put in a bit more effort, and maybe do some translation.. no problem.. really, no problem.. *nods*

And it wasn't all school.. on Tuesday, we had a party organised by the ESN student network for all students, but especially for exchange students.. There were so many ppl squeezed into that small space.. but quite a few of the peeps from our intensive german class met and were together.. it was not bad too, given the more opened attitude, and i met this girl who said she was born in Singapore.. but who now lives in london.. but still, yippee!! finally, someone who knows a bit more Singapore.. we exchange numbers and promised to meet up someday.. Eiko, Yuki and I were taking a break from the crowd and noise in the toilet, when we chatted up with this girl from Finland, and later another girl joined our toilet gang too..

Just some pictures from my cam that night.. more from others' cam, but they haven't sent any yet..

More importantly, this week was SNOW-week!! haha my first experience was on Tuesday, when i woke up in the morning, and jumped at my window view! all white and it was still snowing.. The picture below was taken on Thursday, when the snowfall was even heavier, and more obvious in the photo.. My first time walking, as snowflakes fell everywhere from the sky, and i had to tret carefully in accumulated snow in the streets.. It was especially slippery, where the ice was compacted by someone else's footstep, so i had to be careful where i took each step.. anyway the snow was rather wet, cos it was like, way below freezing point, and the strong winds made me feel like the blood in my face would freeze.. So, the picture below was taken from my room on Thursday morning..

And the picture below was taken from the tram stop where i take the tram to school everyday..

On Friday, i took a train to Moutier, to spend the weekend with the Hofers.. and caught some impressive views from the train.. There was definitely more snow in the mountain-sides.. and they all looked just magical..

Haha Aunty Brighit's house was covered in snow too.. and Uncle Jean didn't drive to work that day cos the risk of skidding on the ice was too high that day.. So, a relaxing and typical (hopefully) lazy european weekend it was..

Saturday, we went to Delemont, to shopped a bit.. then later in the afternoon, we went bowling.. haha great fun, cos it's been some time since i last did that.. :) Oh and from Sat to Sun, the whole of Europe's time was adjusted one hour ahead, so now, we're just 6 hours, instead of 7, behind Spore's time :)

Sunday, we just ate, chatted (haha i did more listening ;) and took walks around Moutier.. So now, im geared up for a new week in school.. The weather will become warmer from tomorrow, and Spring's officially here.. can't wait for full bloom of the flowers and the lovely colours.. :)

"Was hast du am Wochenende gemacht?'

That's one of the questions most frequently asked in german class when we had to practice past temse grammar, and means 'What did you do over the weekend?'

So, my first weekend in Zurich is over.. what did i do?

Yesterday, saturday, was a 'for myself' day.. tidied up my room, which was getting a bit disorganised.. then went out shopping for groceries as well as Yuki's present.. Mid-afternoon, chatted with everyone back home.. Yay!! the webcam's finally put to use! :) Later, for the first time in my life, i attempted to do my own laundry in a washing machine.. haha let's just say it was a learning experience..

Today's Yuki's 21st bday.. so in the morning, i had to make a trip to the Hauptbahnhof because i had forgotten to buy eggs.. such a bother to travel all the way there just to get a carton of eggs.. sheesh.. what's with not working on sundays??

After that, Yuki, Fumi and i started our baking session at my apartment.. We fixed a quick lunch of mushroom soup with croutons and some bread while the cake was baking in the oven.. The cake later cooked to perfection, and we decorated it with some icing before setting off the Yuki's apartment..

It was also a Personalhaus of some Uni-clinic, and was nearer to the Uni than mine.. But the walk from the tram station in was so long! Also, her room's much smaller, has less cupboards, and a smaller common kitchen for 15 people.. oh, and it's 100 francs more ex!! *shake head*

Oh, just a side note: the flowers are blooming all over the city now, and it's such a pretty sight!! Flowers of all colours and shapes really make the city so much more lively and cheerful than the gloomy winter.. here's what i saw outside Yuki's apartment..

I helped a bit here and there as they prepared some japanese food for dinner, as they had invited a few other friends over to celebrate.. So there were altogher 6 of us, to finish quite an amount of food, but it was super yummy and was snapped up in between chit-chat..

After dinner, we sang Happy Birthday and Yuki blew out the candles on the cake..

I was so tired that i requested to leave earlier... It was FREEZING tonight.. it was literally teeth-chattering, even though i wore my thermalwear.. hmmm looks like gotta pile on lots more in the coming 'cold spell' week..

Anyway, come tomorrow, and the new semester starts.. yet again meeting new people and learning new things.. *yikes*

Tierpark Langenberg

Today was the official last day of the Intensive german course, and we all took an excursion to the above place (meaning Animal Park), which is a park/forest/hill with animal enclosures scattered here and there.. It was located a bit out of Zurich, so we took the train there in the morning, and hiked up to our destination..

The entire hike took probably 1 and 1/2 hours and we were quite shagged when we reached the top of the hill.. Good exercise, though.. Cos we were all removing our outer jackets along the way.. Oh and the weather was great too! The picture below was taken halfway..

So when we reached the top, first thing we did: take a group photo! haha so this my class for the past 2 weeks, though a few are missing from this picture, cos they couldn't make it today..

The teachers started a fire, while we prepared the food.. Haha below, Marta taught us how to make slits in the wurst such that they'll 'open' up like a flower when cooked..

Sitting around the fire, cooking our wursts.. Such a campfire setting reminded me of my Girl Guides' days.. "Campfire's burning, campfire's burning, draw nearer, draw nearer..."

Oh and here's Yuki and i... :)

And my wurst when it was done, dusted with some ash (unintentionally) and topped with mustard.. Tasty!

After lunch and enough rest, we set off downhill to take the ship, which sail in the Zurich See to bring us back to the city.. The view was marvellous, but a pity there was some slight fog, so it wasn't all that clear.. Took this picture while we were waiting for the ship..

On the ship, I collected everyone's email and numbers so that I can send a contact list to everyone, together with some of the group photos in my camera. We reached the city at Burkliplatz.. It was supposed to be good-bye here, and we presented the card we all wrote for Marta. She was so touched.. haha oh but thank god we got her as our teacher, cos i got a feel of the other teachers today, and they were far from motherly, cute, humorous and friendly as she is.. So we took a final picture..

We later bought a drink and sat by the river to chit chat for a while more, before we finally said our goodbyes.. Oh, but it seems to be always the case.. Just before we say goodbye do we really bond and become that much closer as a group.. Haha but we'll meet up again definitely! Finally, hugs and kisses exchanged, and it was Auf Wiedersehen for the time being...

I'm getting the hang of it...

So... in a blink of an eye, the weekend is just at my doorstep. Wow, 2 weeks in Zurich already, but I seriously haven't seen enough to be considered to have stayed here.. there's definitely more to come :)

Last night, Eiko (another Japanese girl in my class) organised a gathering with her apartment mates and kindly invited me along with Yuki.. So nice of them :) and they were a fun bunch of people, i must say.. Speaking in german, but somehow as time goes by, my ears have been trained to better pick up key words in their language.. And the hosts cooked Japanese! So a type of sushi (which is like the Japanese version of Chinese fried rice) and curry rice! Really yum.. :) but it also made me crave for sashimi, which, where you hardly get fresh seafood, is unbelievable hard on the pockets.

Anyway, the pictures, as promised... here's the view I get to enjoy every weekday the past two weeks, as I walk from tramstop to classroom.. Beautiful, especially when the weather's kind.. This was taken a few days ago, and the weather so far this week has been perfect.. It's still cold in the morning, like 5deg, but by afternoon it warms up to abt 15deg and tt's perfect to sit in the sun outside.. But today we had quite a fog and this view unfortunately was not visible.. and I've read that come next week, there'll be a sudden cold front and there might even be snow!

Often, after lessons, i'll head here with Yuki to settle some admin stuff, post a card, shop, or just to take a walk.. It's the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (Main Station). You pretty much always arrive in and depart from Zurich here. And just infront of it (where I was standing while I took this photo), is the Bahnhofstrasse. So, we often take quite a walk and feel so tired but satisfied at the end of the day. Haha communication between Yuki and I is improving lots! Haha she's trying the learn English too, so we conduct a 'Tandem', whereby a pair is a teacher and student of each other's mother-tongue. So I officially know a few more Japanese words now :)


The picture below was taken on Wednesday (14th March), when there was a food market (like the kind they have at Takashimaya's basement now and then) in the Hauptbahnhof. Many stalls are set up here every Wednesday and Saturday, and they have quite a variety. There was a Gyoza booth, a vegetable (a la wet market Singapore style) booth, and of course, a few cheese stalls. You always know when you're approaching a cheese stall due to the pungent smell that hits you in the face abt 5m from it..


Anyway, Yuki and I took a long walk after lessons today, so that I could take pictures... So there's the Limmat bank, lined with many tiny shops.. I chanced upon a souvenir shop there today and I'm sure i'll be going back there :)


And the Zurich See...

So along it's bank now, pretty flowers are abundant and people sit in the sun to chit chat (an act that would have been ridiculous at this time last year). So, we did what the Zurichers did and sat down to chat and rest from the long walk.

Managed to capture a shot from where we were sitting just before the sun went down behind the mountains.. Once it gets dark, the temperature drops so fast.. Which means, scarfs on standby! So we started walking again after sunset, and sat in the streets of the Altstadt to savour our take-away Kebabs.. Super lecker (tasty, auf Deutsch).

On my way home tonight, I caught sight of the beautiful night scene of Zurich which I had always wanted to take a picture of. So I hopped off the train, crossed a few tram lines and roads, and found an ideal spot. The sight before me was breathtaking, but I somehow couldn't get my camera to shoot what I saw.. This was my best shot... sorry folks, haha a picture is afterall uncomparable to seeing with your very own eyes..



Lastly, my class! haha here's my classroom, and tt's the teacher, Martha, standing in front. Haha she's this very strong Italian accent to her german, and thanks to that, she calls me 'Char-lehhhh-neh'. So, the rest of the class pretty much call me like that too.. haha my swiss name..

and everyone else in class.. we sit in 3 groups of 4.. so there's my seat at the table on the right side of the picture..

Yup, tomorrow, we're heading to a Tierpark (which literally translate into Animal Park) for the official last day of the Intensive Course.. Looking forward to it.. :)

Finally..

great.. i'm finally back in touch with the cyber world! gosh, the long wait was excruciating.. been away from Singapore for 21 days, and only today could i sit down and use the internet at my own disposal on my laptop.. have quite a lot to update but squeezing all i wanna say in one post is quite impossible.. guess i'll just let the pictures do the talking..

23 feb to 28 feb in Vienna was quite alright.. but there were simply too many appointments with parents' business friends that it somehow felt like i didn't quite see the city enough.. still, being around for 5 days left quite an impression..

and so, the pretty hotel we stayed in:

and some sights which brought back fond memories of last year's Deutschland:

a shot of us in front of the parliament house (what this building is.. or so, i think):

Oh and we caught some drama in a popular shopping area, Mariahilferstrasse: while walking there from our hotel after breakfast that morning, we saw and heard so many police cars speeding through the streets. Their sirens blasted through the early morning silence and we were thinking it must have been some hedious crime. Alas, when we came to our destination, a crowd had gathered where the police cordoned off part of the street, and curious onlookers (including us, of course) craned their necks to see what was going on. We later found out from a shopkeeper that it was a bank robbery. Man, with all those police cars, army trucks and what not, it was easy to believe that whoever was/were commiting this crime was not easy to deal with...

After a while, commandos arrived in full gear.. Woho, must be serious, we thought...

We waited in vain to find out what was going on, but were still clueless after 2 hours, so we left.. But later that night, we found out that it was actually a STUPID 'crime'. This mad man held the entire bank at gunpoint and demanded that all his friends be informed of his crime. Oh, and his gun was a plastic one too. Meanwhile, he asked for coke and cigarettes to keep entertained. Haha to think the police force was fooled by his 'crime' and played his game for 5 hours..

Anyway, we also drove to Wachau, and walked some peaceful villages, but everything was closed since it was winter time.. makes one think, what do these people do then??

On the 28th of Feb, we flew to Zurich via Austrian Airlines, and after settling some admin matters, we took a train to Moutier (another part of Switzerland) on the 2nd of March. There, we put up in the house of old friends. What a pretty room they let up for us!

And also travelled to other nearby little villages: At one of them, Murten, a carnival was to take place that evening and we managed to capture some moments before we left:

All the kids and even some adults were all dressed up in costumes of all sorts:

In Neuchatel, thanks to the great weather and clear skies, I was able to see the alps from across a lake.. It was breathtaking..

And so, I was back to Zurich to start a German Intensive Course on the 5th of March. My class has only 12 ppl, from quite a variety of nationalities.. Great fun, I must say, with a nice mix of internationality amongst the students, as well as a cute comical teacher whom we all call by name..

But the apartment where I have a room to myself in Zurich was such a let down for me. I was hoping it'll have the typical campus hostel mood, but my neighbours are all working adults of the nearby Psychiatric Hospital and not very friendly.. The type who just grunt a barely audible 'hallo' or 'morgen' when you try to greet them with all smiles in a cheerful tone..

Luckily I got along especially well with a Japanese girl from my class, Yuki.. Thank god for her, cos she totally understands my situation and has been able to make me feel much better too.. So we hang out quite often and walked Bahnhofstrasse (the orchard road of Zurich) together..

Here's a shot of the Altstadt (old city) of Zurich, where the streets are cobbled, narrow and often inclined at quite an angle..

Zurich's a beautiful city indeed, and i promise more photos! I'd think itll be prettier in spring, since I'm already seeing flowers pop up on lawns and grass patches. Oh! Just now, I saw the exact same flowers, on the lawn outside of my apartment, as those on the 'happy field' where we ate the strawberry cake in Dusseldorf last year too :)

Yup, this weekend, I was at Moutier again.. Haha Saturday (10th March), we went to an ice skating ring and I tried skating for the first time in my life.. Great fun!!! and i'd definitely want to try it again.. I could glide on the ice for abt 20 metres without wobbling, so it could be considered a feat for me..so this's where I skated.. there were other ppl who were zooming around, playing ice hockey, but we pretty much managed in our corner..

The next day, we had lunch at a farmhouse on the mountain top and there was snow all around! Yippee! My first experience with snow this time.. The sights were enchanting too.. Such a peaceful area..

So.. tt's all for now.. cos it's time to start on homework! haha will be back soon with more updates! Miss you all in Singapore!