December 28

I was supposed to pick my boyfriend Sam up this morning at the airport, but he had connection issues, which delayed him for a day. After having not seen him in over three months, I was sad, but at least he was safe and able to come the next morning.
My family and I started our day off with a boat tour on the Seine. It was a neat experience that allowed us to have a quick glimpse of a number of the main attractions. Megan and I tried to brave the cold by sitting on the open deck, but had to go into the glass enclosed area every once in a while to warm back up. After the boat we walked through the Latin Quarter and had lunch at a nice little Italian restaurant. After lunch, we wandered on to, passing the Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore on our way to the Ile de la cité to tour the Notre Dame Cathedral where Papa's mind continued to be "boggled."
We spent our evening visiting the Louvre. I learned that Swiss army knives are not acceptable to bring into the museum. I totally forgot I was carrying it in my bag. Luckily they were kind enough to hold it for me to pick up upon exiting. Megan and I got into the museum free. We hadn't planned that, but we showed up on the evening when it was free for students. We didn't stay at the museum terribly long, we were all pretty tired, but we got to see a few of the most famous pieces. Most notably, the Mona Lisa. I was unimpressed. What makes her so famous anyway? Now, it's mostly her fame itself that makes her so popular. But where did that start? The mystery, the artist, the curious smile? Who can tell?

December 27

Sadly, today was rainy, foggy, and cold. We started the day riding the funicular up to Sacre Coeur. My grandfather was whole time we were touring the basilica. He kept saying, "This is mind-boggling, my mind is just boggled!" After, Sacre Coeur, we hopped on a metro to go visit the Eiffel Tower. It was still foggy when we got there, so we didn't go up to the top right away. We wandered around some more, then Megan, Papa, and Mom got in line to go to the top. The line was really LONG. Grandma is not a fan of heights, so she and I went in search of a cafe. We finally found a little Chinese cafe, but found out we'd have to get food if we wanted to be able to stay. We ended up with a small assortment of desserts and rice. We weren't really hungry, we just wanted a warm place to sit for a while.

December 26

We left bright and early this morning for Paris. We took the TGV, which was an interesting experience. Once arriving in Paris, I let my troops down as a tour guide. I knew where the hotel was and where the train station was, but I failed to realize the importance of knowing how one finds their way between the two. It was an interesting journey to say the least. Upon first arrival in a new city, one is at their most vulnerable state. I am always a bit disoriented and a little stressed at first and it is very obvious that one is a tourist when they are dragging along a suitcase. I always feel like easy prey for thieves or con artists. This was very stressful for me when I felt responsible for the safety, comfort, enjoyment, and general well being of four of my loved ones. Eventually, with the assistance of an old French lady, we made our way through a slightly seedy neighborhood. The woman ushered us through the gate at the metro stop and told us it was free and to get off at the next stop to find our hotel. In retrospect, I realized that by “free” the woman meant that we were entering through the exit and riding the metro without tickets. This is slightly illegal, but I was a bit oblivious at that point. Words cannot express the shear relief I felt when we finally managed to make it to the hotel.


Our hotel was located in Montmartre right at the foot of Sacre Cœur. It was a fun location to be. We spent the afternoon and evening getting a feel for the area and resting up and making our plans for the rest of our visit. After dark, my mom, sister and I walked down the street to see the Moulin Rouge, the cafe from the movie Amelie, and the red light district after dark. It was really neat, but I'm glad my grandparents stayed at the hotel. I think it may have been a little too shocking for them.

December 25

Merry Christmas! This was a very unusual Christmas for me, just because there was nothing traditional about it at all. I got up at a decent hour and met my family at the apartment. When I got there, they were all still sleeping! As they got themselves ready for the day, I prepared a breakfast of crepes.
After breakfast we exchanged gifts. I had knit a hat for my mother and a hat and scarf for my sister. We also gave a hat that we had purchased in the Christmas Market to Papa. Since Grandma didn’t get a hat for Christmas, she made do with her new doily.


I took my family on a tour of my campus, and then down to Ouchy to see the lake. Sadly it was cold and very foggy, so we couldn’t even see the mountains across the lake. I was disappointed about that, because they are very majestic this time of year with their snowy peaks.
For dinner I prepared raclette, a melted cheese and potato dish. Megan was unsure about it at first, because she tried the cheese unmelted. The flavor changes completely when it’s melted though, so later she decided that she liked it very much. I really like raclette as well, more than I like fondue.

December 24

I took my family on a tour around downtown Lausanne today. I showed them all of the main sites, which are now quite commonplace to me. We visited the Christmas Market and tasted roasted chestnuts and churros. The Lausanne Christmas Market is much less grand that the Montreux market that I had visited earlier in the month.
It was of fun for me to be able to speak French around my family, just because they’ve never really witnessed me do it. Maybe that’s vain of me.
In the evening we relaxed in the apartment and I prepared rosti, a dish similar to hash browns served with meat and a gravy sauce. After dinner, we attended a Christmas Eve church service at St. Francois, an old church downtown. It was a really neat experience for me, but since it was in French, it was rather boring for my family. I told Papa ahead of time that it was ok if he dozed off, just so long as he didn’t snore and he tipped his head forward instead of back so that it would look like he was praying. He heeded my advice.

December 23

Today was mostly a travel day. We made our way back to Frankfurt to return the car and catch our train. The train ended up being 45 minutes late, so we had to wait around the station for a while. I was shocked. This is quite rare for German trains. We ended up missing our connecting train in Basel, Switzerland, so we had to wait there a while too. It was already evening by the time we got to Lausanne. A friend of mine had gone back to the US to spend the holidays with her family, and had offered her apartment for us. It was very generous of her. It was perfect for us, because there was enough sleeping space for my four family members (I just slept at my place,) and then we also had a kitchen at our disposal. I was excited to have the chance to make some traditional Swiss fare for my family.

December 22

The objective of the day was to find a castle for Papa. It was a frosty and sunny morning, which made for a beautiful drive. I continued to offer up my map reading skills, and we soon found ourselves in Koblenz where the Moselle and Rhine rivers meet. From a bridge we watched an amazing feat of both engineering and steering as a riverboat full of cargo made its way through the locks. For lunch we tried some delicious German food at an Imbiss. Then in the afternoon we sought out a castle. We saw many castles on the cliffs surrounding the city, but sadly it was the wrong time of year to be able to enter any. We did get out and walk around one though. It was a neat experience to realize that hundreds of years ago these strongholds were actually more than just neat-looking, moss-covered, stone structures.
On our way back to our hotel that evening, we realized that we were on the wrong side of the river and the red lines crossing the river on the map were ferries, not bridges. We would have had to backtrack back to our starting place to get to a bridge, so we ended up taking a ferry. I’d never been on a ferryboat before. It was strange for my perceptions. I was sitting in a car, moving backwards, but the cars beside me weren’t moving. Sort of like the feeling you get when the car next to you in the parking lot starts to back out.


We stopped for gas on the other side of the river. Unfortunately we didn’t realize until after the tank was full that the car required diesel. Luckily we didn’t start it. The gas station was tiny, and the clerk was not all that excited about helping us out. They had no telephone, only his cell phone. Also, it was a Saturday evening, and we couldn’t get a hold of any mechanics in the area. We finally got through to the rental company, and they sent a van and a tow truck for us. I got to ride in a German tow truck! It was quite exciting for me, even with all the other stress.

December 21

We rented a car today at the Frankfurt train station. It was t VW Touran. I liked the vehicle. It fit all five of us as well as our luggage comfortably, but was still smaller than a mini-van. After getting the car, we set off into the wilds of Germany with my mother driving, myself navigating from the passenger seat, my sister and grandmother suffering the effects of jet-lag in the back, and my grandfather being amazed by everything that passed his window. Our destination was the area surrounding Hahn, where my father was stationed during his time in the Air Force, and the area where my sister and I were born. We left Germany before I was even 2 years old and Megan sister was not yet three. The base in Hahn is no longer in use, but the runways have been converted into the Frankfurt-Hahn airport.
We arrived too early to check into our hotel, so we took a driving tour around the towns in the area. She told us stories about her time there and the places she frequented; places I had been to as well, but was too young to remember.
When my parents lived in Germany, they rented a basement apartment in the little village of Laufersweiler. They became good friends with their landlords Gunter and Monica who lived right above them. We had tried getting in contact with Gunter and Monica before coming, but our letters never received a response.
My sister’s suitcase key fell into a compartment on the floor of the car, so we needed a screwdriver to get it out. My mom suggested that we go into a hardware store where Monica had worked when we lived there almost 20 years ago. She was also curious as to whether or not Monica still worked there. Sure enough, when we walked in the door, Monica was behind the counter helping a customer. I could tell my mother was nervous; Megan and I were nervous as well. This is a woman whose name is very familiar to us, but we have absolutely no memory of. After the customer was gone, my mother shyly walked up to the counter. All she said was “Monica?” It took a few seconds, but I could literally see the recognition come across Monica’s face. She was so excited that she forgot any English that she knew. Luckily her colleague helped her out, and she invited us to their house that evening. It turns out that our letters had never arrived because the zip code has changed, so Monica had no idea we were going to be coming. Imagine her surprise. It was a day like any other, working at the same place that she has been for almost 30 years, when out of the blue your American friends whom you haven’t seen for almost 20 years show up in front of you. No wonder she was speechless!


It was such a wonderful experience to meet Gunter, Monica, and their family, and to see the apartment where my family lived when I was an infant. I feel as though these people are part of my story. They knew me before any of my family outside of my sister and parents had ever even met me. As a child I would often boast that I was born in Germany. It made me unique among and slightly exotic among my Nebraska playmates. Germany was an idealized world to me, with fictional characters, my forgotten past. I had no memory of anything there, but I always treasured the stories my parents would tell me, no matter how many times I'd heard them before. Going back to Hahn and meeting Gunter and Monica for what felt like the first time, was like discovering that your favorite storybook was a reality; my own reality.

December 20

I left on the train this morning to meet my family in Frankfurt, Germany. This is the first time I’ve left Switzerland since coming here. It’s always very different crossing the language borders, even within Switzerland. I’m pretty confident when I stay around the francophone area, but I feel very ignorant once everyone around me is speaking German or Swiss-German. The train ride was beautiful. The fields were frosty and sparkled under the rising sun. There were also some very impressive icicles hanging from the cliff faces.

I met my mother, sister, and grandparents (maternal) at the Frankfurt Airport. I waited in anticipation with all of the arriving travelers. When they finally came through the doors, it was a very happy reunion indeed. This was my grandfather’s first plane trip and my grandmother’s first time being outside the US. I presented the weary and jetlagged travelers with Swiss chocolate, and then we made our way into the city. We stayed the night in a hostel in Frankfurt. We were not a very exciting bunch, as we turned in around 7:00 pm.

Forgive me!!!

Wow, it's been quite a while since I last posted! I got busy and got behind, and instead of being a fun form of communication, blogging suddenly became a chore on my list of things to do. It's surprising how much less enjoyable it seemed once I was two months behind with so many things to write about. For the sake of chronology, I'm going to start about where I left off, with my Christmas break travels. I'm dedicated the rest of today to blogging, so I will hopefully be caught up to the present soon. Happy reading!

December 1-3

On Sunday I went to a marché de Noël (Christmas Market) in a town called Montreux. It's only about 20 minutes away by train. I was reading on the train on my way there, so I wasn't paying close enough attention to the announcements. I ended up getting off at at Vevey, the town between Lausanne and Montreux. So, I walked around there for about 30 minutes for the next train to come. The view of the mountains was beautiful from where I was at though, so I wasn't too annoyed.

I met my French conversation partner in Montreux. We walked around with some of her friends for a while, then they left and I stayed longer. I found one Christmas present that I needed to get. I was there more for the ambiance than the shopping though. There were so many neat things to see and buy and eat. They were selling a lot of hot wine, chestnuts, waffles, and cheese. The market consisted of rows of little chalets lined up along the lake. The vendors were mostly selling crafty things and decorations. There were a lot of ornaments and decorations made from wood, ceramics, and glass, as well as several stands selling soaps and candles. For some reason there was an "Ice Age 2" theme, so there were a bunch of statues made from evergreen branches in the form of the characters from the movie. It was pretty cool. There was also an American Indian band from Ecuador. It was really neat music. I considered buying their CD, but it was a little too expensive.
I went back to Montreux on Monday, but for a very different reason. One of my Materials Science classes took an Industry trip. We visited a small company called "Decision." They use composite materials to design boats. The company dynamic was very different from what I experienced at DuPont. This was also the first time I've traveled outside of Lausanne without taking the train. We took a huge double-decker charter bus. I'm not really sure why we took such an enormous vehicle though, because we only had about 24 people. It seemed a bit excessive, but I'm not the one calling the shots. Better too big than too small I guess.

November 26-30

I spent a good part of this week working on traveling plans for the Christmas break. I was also on the phone several times about my visa. I did all the paperwork before leaving, but I didn't get the mark in my passport. I naively didn't realize that you needed this BEFORE you entered the country. Luckily, with a US passport, I can stay here for 3 months without a visa. Sadly though, my 3 months is up in about a week and a half. So after talking with the consulate general in Chicago, I thought I was going to have to make a quick trip to Lyon, France (3 or 4 hours away by train, but the closest consulate of Switzerland) to get the stamp in my passport. Everything worked out though, so I don't have to go. I have my residence permit now too, so it's all good, I'm not going to be deported or anything. That's a relief. Actually, with a US or European passport, you can pretty much go anywhere in Europe with no problem. If your passport is from Asia or Africa though, it's a bit more difficult. I really am lucky, because I've realized what a pain visa's can be after talking to some of my friends from Beijing. They have to get a visa for any country they want to visit and I can pretty much roam around free with no question. It doesn't quite seem fair, but I don't really know the politics behind all of that.
I got to play with babies this week! Actually it was a 3-year-old boy and a 16-month-old girl, so they weren't really babies. It was fun to be around kids though. I was having tea and cookies with their mother at their home one evening. The little girl is working on walking right now. She's not quite there yet, but she's close. She held my hands and walked with me. Her mom was kind of surprised, because I guess the little girl doesn't really like anyone except her family. That made me feel pretty good. For some reason, dogs and babies have a tendency to like me, but I'm not as popular with the kids once they start talking. When my sister and I used to babysit together, she'd always take the older kids and I'd always take the babies. Little boys really like her. I think it's because she is more active and I am kind of quiet.
I've also been watching more TV then I like to admit. It's really only on the weekends though. I've been watching some Internet episodes. This weekend I started watching "Ugly Betty." Not a bad show, but it reminds me a lot of "The Devil Wears Prada." It's basically the same root story. Betty's personality reminds me of one of my friends.

November 18-25

This week was the first time since coming that I've REALLY felt homesick. There were times before when I was missing certain things, but I never really wished I was home. This week was different. Had I still been residing in the US, it would have been the first time of the semester when I would have gone home. All of my friends back at ISU were on Fall break and spending the whole week with their families. It was my first Thanksgiving away from family, I that made me kind of sad.


Even though I was away from my family, I was not without Thanksgiving. In fact I may have had more Thanksgiving than I would have if I had still been in the States. I took part in two dinners, and was invited to another that I was unable to attend. Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) I had a Thanksgiving dinner with a group of international students that I meet with. As one of two Americans I had the opportunity to explain the history and some of the traditions of Thanksgiving. I also offered to bake pumpkin pie for the dinner. I made it from a slice of real pumpkin that I bought at the market. The baking and the dinner were both a lot of fun. It was a neat experience to be able to explain the significance of Thanksgiving. I don't think that's something I've ever had to do before. It really made me think about the holiday more, and the importance of "giving thanks."
Since there is no Thanksgiving holiday in Switzerland, there is also no "Black Friday." I can't say that I missed that. It's definitely not one of my favorite days of the year, both in principle and because I don't like shopping in crowds. Instead of waiting in long lines for a sale at 5:30 in the morning, I instead spent my afternoon in Geneva touring the DuPont facilities there. The tour was for any female students at EPFL and was hosted by the Equal Opportunity Office. I didn't realize it was an all female tour until I met with the group and noticed the demographics. It was interesting to experience the professional life of Switzerland, since mostly I've just been experiencing the academic and religious sides of the culture. The two most notable facts from the tour: DuPont is VERY dedicated to safety (they have a company wide rule about holding the handrail when taking the stairs) and the Swiss take salary confidentiality very seriously.
Most of Saturday was spent baking apple pies with a classmate for Sunday. It was my first opportunity to teach someone to make pie. Since coming to Switzerland, I have made 7 pies. It seems than once someone finds out you come from the US, there is a preconceived notion that you are have the innate talent of making apple pies, thus, when I am invited to dinners, I am often asked to make apple pie. Sunday I had another Thanksgiving dinner. I, along with 5 other exchange students from the US, hosted this dinner for some of our Non-American friends. There ended up being about 20 people in attendance along with a bounty of food. It was fantastic. Along with apple pie, I also made green beans with French-fried onions (but not in casserole form) and stuffing.

Sunday morning, before the dinner, I attended a new church. It was an international church, meaning it was in English. Each canton in Switzerland supports a protestant and a catholic church. Since these denominations are state-supported the pastors/priests are essentially government employees, and there jobs are pretty secure. The congregations are becoming rather old, and the churches don't seem to be reaching out well to younger generations. I think this is a serious problem, and I think it emphasizes one of the important reasons for separation of church and state. The church I attended is not a state-supported church. It is non-denominational, and is a satellite congregation of a church that is located a couple of towns away. The congregation started meeting in Lausanne a year or two ago. They don't have there own building yet, so they rotate between 3 rented spaces for the Sunday morning services. This was really my first experience of being part of a church that was not associated with a church building. Before, in my vocabulary, I've always used "church" for the building and not the congregation. It was an interesting new perspective. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and I found the message thought-provoking. It seemed like a place where I could build community. The only drawback is that it's quite far. It took me over an hour to get there. I don't want that to be my deciding factor, but it is something that has to be considered.

November 17

Today was a fantastic day. It counteracted all of the Monday mishaps. This morning, I met a friend downtown to go shopping. Every Wednesday and Saturday morning there is an open market. I had only ever seen the produce stands before, so I was under the impression that they were the extent of the market, but I was wrong. There was a whole open area for the meat, cheese, bread, and antique stands. It was fun to walk around these while waiting for Elizabeth. I saw lots of interesting things. I bought a slice of pumpkin to use for my pie.
The first place we went after the market was Salvation Army. Yes, that is right, there is a Salvation Army here. It was interesting and was full of really cool things. Some of the things probably wouldn't be seen in US Salvation Armies, but since Switzerland is a very ecological country, everything is reduced, reused, and recycled. For example, half-bottles of soaps and detergents; very practical, but likely not seen in the States. There were also quite a number of jelly-type jars on the shelves. Another surprising find was some Chemistry lab glassware that I pointed out to Elizabeth. She kindly informed me that it was actually a bong. Interesting.
During our shopping adventures, I found a really beautiful scarf for a really good price. Elizabeth also found a great long green wool coat at a second-hand store for only 10 Francs!
With the excitement of both of our good deals, as well as the beautiful sunny weather and general joyful bustle of the market, we were both in really good spirits. We bought lunch from a bakery vendor and then returned to my house to have hot cocoa and watch a movie. We also roasted chestnuts. This was a first for both of us. I bought them last weekend, but I just hadn't gotten around to using them yet. Some of them had gone bad, which was unfortunate, but the ones that were salvageable were quite fantastic. All in all, it was just a really nice, relaxing, fun day.

November 13-16

On Tuesday nights I go to a bible study in French. It is called "Groupe des Disciples," and we are studying the New Testament, specifically Jesus' teachings to the disciples. This past Tuesday night's discussion on forgiveness was really good. Maybe it's because my French is improving and I'm understanding more. That is probably partially true, but I think also that I just had a lot to think about in regards to how it related to my own life. So forgiveness has been on my mind quite a bit this week. Forgiveness is very simple and very complex at the same time. It is something that I need to practice more in my own life.
Wednesday, I put my nose to the grindstone and caught up on a bunch of studying. It was beneficial and necessary, but not too exciting. This past week felt more like a normal week as a student, much more like ISU. Some of the novelty of being here is starting to wear off. Not that I don't like it, I'm just starting to feel more settled in and less like I'm on vacation.
Thursday I had a Thermodynamics test. The first test for this class didn't go so hot, but then again, that was only my fourth week of classes in a foreign language. I think this test definitely went much better. These tests actually don't count though, only the final exam. Thursday evening I met with some classmates for a crepes party because two of the guys in the group had birthdays last week. It was a lot of fun. We had crepes with ham and cheese, strawberry or blackberry jam, Nutella, or just plain sugar. We also played some Foosball (baby-foot). It was fun to see some different student housing arrangements, as well as interact with some of these people more. One of the girls in my class and I have begun to become pretty good friends, and it was good to talk to her about some of the difficulties of long distance relationships. This is something that she has experienced as well.
Friday morning, I met a woman for tea at her home. She is in charge of one of the international student groups that I'm in. The group is having a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, and as one of two students in the group from the US, I offered to make a pumpkin pie. I'm really excited about this, because I'm going to make it from real pumpkin! Anyway, I went to this Karin's house to borrow some pumpkin pie spice from her. It was really nice to visit her home to drink tea and chat. She has two small children, and it was really nice to be around them. I think it is the first time I've really interacted with kids since leaving Nebraska. Karin is from Northern Switzerland and therefore speaks Swiss-German, English, and then French. Her husband is from the US and speaks English and German. Karin's a pediatrician and she said that the latest research says that it's better to speak to children in just one language at a very young age, so the kids speak Swiss-German. I wasn't really sure what to say to the kids, since I don't speak the same language as they do, but at the ages of 3 years and 16 months, they don't do a whole lot of talking themselves.

November 11-12

I want to learn Indian cooking. I've already begun to experiment with curry, but I want to expand my knowledge. I'd been thinking about this past week and then on Sunday evening (November 11) a friend of mine from India invited me to dinner. It was fantastic. I want to explore this more. I also met with a few people in the evening to work on planning a Thanksgiving dinner. I'm in charge of green beans and apple pie. I'll also be teaching one of the other people in the group how to make apple pie. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to buy the crust or try to make it. Buying it is less fun, but I don't have a pastry blender, rolling pin, or Crisco, so a pre-made crust might be a bit more practical.
Monday was truly a day of mishaps. It started out while I was preparing my lunch in the morning. I was slicing some cheese and the wire of the cheese slicer snapped. I'm pretty sure that it was not my fault. It was just old and I just happened to be the unlucky one using it when it broke. I bought a new one to replace it though. Then later, while walking downtown, a pigeon flew right up in my face out of nowhere. It was terrifying and I'm sure I looked ridiculous as I flailed around to avoid it. The next mishap happened while I was heading to watch Stargate with a couple friends. I had something to put in the mail. The mailbox is on the corner about 50 meters from the bus stop. I forgot about it as I was passing by, then remembered and turned around to put my mail in the box. As I was walking back to the stop, the bus came and since I was like 10 meters away, and no one was actually waiting AT the stop, it didn't even slow down, it just went right on by, even though I was jogging to get to the stop. If it had stopped, I would have totally been there before it could have even opened the doors. I was a bit annoyed, I'd never had this problem before. The final mishap happened while I was getting ready for bed Monday night. I broke my toothbrush. Seriously. Have you ever heard of such a thing? The handle just snapped! Since there's this rubbery grip on it though, the two pieces are still connected, but it's more difficult to hang on to. What a day!
So, this is going to come as a big shock to all of you I'm sure, but I'm kind of a nerd. After I broke my toothbrush, I got to thinking about the structural and material properties of it. I drew a Free Body Diagram in my head accounting for the points in which I apply force to the toothbrush and the couple resulting from the brush pressing against my teeth. Then I thought about the Young's and shear moduli of the molded plastic polymer that is my toothbrush and I considered the forces required for elastic and plastic deformation as well as critical failure. From all this, I decided that I must grip my toothbrush too forcefully for it's design. I kind of knew this already, because I had a dental hygienist tell me one time that I brush my teeth too hard and should hold my tooth brush differently in order to brush more gently. Since I am cheap, and the bristles of my toothbrush still have life left to them, I'm continuing to use the broken-handled toothbrush. Although it is slightly inconvenient because it is somewhat more difficult to hang onto, this may actually be better for my oral hygiene. Due to the nature of how I must now hold the toothbrush, I'm applying less force to it. Also, the shorter handle creates a shorter moment arm and applying the same force on this shortened moment arm creates less torque and less force being transferred to my gums. As I said before, I'm kind of a nerd.

November 5-10

I've been doing quite a bit of cooking, since I have the time. I've really enjoyed it. I've been trying out new vegetarian dishes, sometimes with new ingredients. This weeks new ingredients were eggplant, zucchini, and curry. I've had all of the before, but not often, and I've never cooked with them, except for zucchini bread. It was interesting. I really liked the eggplant, but when I was trying to fry it, it had a tendency to soak up the oil, and then get soggy. I didn't really like that. Any tips? I also made some fantastic curried carrot soup. It was great on a cold day.
Saturday, November 10, it was snowing. It was very pretty, but I wasn't quite prepared for the beginning of winter yet. It snowed a lot more up on my hill than it did in downtown. It all melted though when it hit the ground.
I went to the market in Centre Ville in the morning. I really like open air markets, and I wondered if it would still be going on this late in the year. It was. I had fun just walking around an looking at things. I ran into a friend of mine, almost literally. It was nice to see her. We, along with a couple other Americans, are going to be hosting a Thanksgiving dinner the weekend after Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to that.
When I returned home, I spent the day making travel arrangements for my family's trip, and then made my carrot soup. It was a laid back day, but I think I accomplished a couple things.

November 4

I went to a Methodist worship service today. The building is relatively large and pretty old. It is built in an Anglican fashion (or so I was told). I believe it is the only building like it in Lausanne. Also, it is the only Methodist congregation in Lausanne. I thought that the building would reflect the congregation size. I was wrong. The building is actually shared by several congregations of differing denominations. There were only about 20 people in attendance at the Methodist service. Mostly retirees I believe. It was a nice service with an interesting sermon, but there really wasn't anyone else there my age. It made me miss Collegiate UMC in Ames.
I was curious about how communion would work. It was a Methodist church, but it was also in wine country. I was curious if wine or juice would be served. It was juice, I was actually a bit surprised. It wasn't Welch's obviously; I think it may not have been straight up grape juice, maybe cran-grape. It was served the same way that communion was served when I visited St. Francois. Everyone went up to the front and formed a circle. Then the servers walked around with the bread and a common cup to each person. The pastor addressed everyone by there name. I was wondering what he would do when he came to me. I thought he would probably just not say my name, but say "this is the body" or something like that. No, he actually just flat out asked me what my name was. I've noticed that when serving communion, people often whisper, or speak in quiet voices, but not in this service. The servers spoke in normal voices or at least normal amplitudes.
There was a flute accompaniment for all the music instead of a piano or organ. That was neat. Some of the songs were familiar, but the words were all new. It was kind of fun to sing in French. While we were studying poetry last semester in my French class, I learned that the last letter of the last word of each line of the poem is pronounced. Usually the last letter in French words are not pronounced. It's kind of hard to explain in writing. Anyway, songs work the same as poems. The pronunciation is a bit more phonetic. Sounds more like Latin or maybe Spanish, than it does French.
I talked to a man for a while after the service. Pretty old guy. Retired teacher. I think he taught in a primary or secondary school. Maybe music, I think he said he studied music. He told me some interesting things about Switzerland and some stuff about churches. I guess every canton is basically in charge of it's own denomination. For example, the biggest denomination in Vaud, the canton in which I am living, is Vaudois Reformed. This denomination is supported by tax and government money and the pastors, I believe, are government employees. Interesting. Independent denominations are supported by the denomination though. Methodist congregations are not common in Switzerland. Neither are catholic churches actually. For the most part, people attend some form of Protestant Reformed church. Turns out the Cathedrale, the very large, old cathedral in Lausanne, is actually no longer Catholic. I believe it is Vaudois Reformed. I didn't realize that. I had just assumed since it was called a cathedral, it must be catholic.
It was nice to go to this church this morning. It started at 10. I think a lot of services start at that time, because I often hear bells like 10 minutes before 10:00 on Sunday mornings. I think that the ringing of the bells is to call people to the service or something. It's not a song or melody or anything. Just ringing bells. I kind of like it. Bells seem to be quite prevalent in many parts of Swiss life.

November 1-3

Wow, I've gotten a bit behind here. Well I'll take this opportunity to catch you up. Mostly I've just been doing school (gets busier and busier every week), with a little reading, knitting, and movie watching on the side. I won't write about all that though, I'll just write about the more interesting things I've been up to.
Saturday November 3, I went on a wine tasting tour with the Xchange student group. The email I received said to be at the train station at 11:20. I arrived about 11:15, and I then realized that the train to the city we were going was departing at 11:20. It was like 11:18 when I arrived at the platform, and I couldn't find anyone I recognized. I figured they must be on the train already. Since my passage had been purchased with the group, I didn't have an actual ticket, and thus couldn't get on the train. The train left, and I was disappointed, but not too bad, because I had only paid 5 francs (about $4.50). I thought maybe I could just take the next train, but I didn't know where to go after I got to the town, so I decided not to do that. So, since I was already at the station and ready to go, I just decided I would take the train someplace else. I watched a guy playing a harp for a while, then I was going to the entry of the station to buy a ticket. When I got to the entrance, I saw someone I recognized! The group hadn't left yet, 11:20 was the meeting time, not the departing time. The train next left at 11:48.
It was a really fun day. Yeah, I paid 5 francs for my passage and everything I ate and drank all day. At the beginning, everyone received a wine glass, and that was the entrance ticket. I might have visited like a dozen or more "caves" or cellars. I won't lie, I drank a bit too much wine. I wasn't like, falling on the floor drunk, but I was definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol a little bit. I really had now idea what my limit was, and the proprietors just kept bringing the wine. At the last few places, I didn't drink anything. I also made a point to drink water periodically and eat too.
There were so many delicious things to eat. For the most part, everyplace had something to eat. I had several kinds of soup, including pumpkin, carrot, and leek (not all the same soup). I also had cheese, bread, a bit of chocolate, roasted chestnuts (fantastic), little pastries, and mini-sandwiches. Each thing was small, but the grand total was quite a bit. And it was all free!
The specialty of the tour was tasting the Borru, or the new wine. Since the grapes were just recently harvested, the wine has only been fermenting for about 3 weeks. They let people taste the borru and explained the processes a bit. It was kind of carbonated and acidic, interesting to try, but not something you'd really want to serve. White wines are the speciality of that region, but there were also quite a few red wines. I also tasted "ice wine," which is a dessert wine. It was a very sweet white wine that is served chilled. It was alright, but it was a bit too sweet for me.
So this may sound strange, but I think my French improved after I'd had a few glasses of wine. I told this to a Canadian guy I met, he said it was probably because I was more relaxed and confident. He also said my cheeks were rosy. That's when I realized that maybe I should hold back. I wasn't trashed, I just realized that if I were to drink much more, I probably would be, and I didn't want to get to that point. I hope you all don't think less of me for this, or think less of my morals or principles or anything like that. It was a neat and educational experience in a safe environment. I learned a lot about wine as well my alcohol tolerance, but I don't plan to do it too often though.

October 26-31

Happy Halloween!
Due to an influx of American culture, Europe has recently been celebrating Halloween. This change has come about in probably the last 10 years. Trick-or-treating is not too popular yet, or at least not too productive since there are few people that hand out candy. Halloween parties, on the other hand, are becoming more and more popular for adults and children alike. People dress up and get together to have a good time in an age-appropriate way. Candy corn is and unknown obscurity here, and it wasn't until I shared some with some of my friends here(compliments of a care package for my awesome former-roomie!, did I realize that, you know, it doesn't really even look like corn.

Speaking of food, I had my first Swiss fondue last night. Not my first fondue ever, just my first since coming here. There was a free dinner for the exchange students. It was fantastic, and not only because it was free. (Fondue from a restaurant runs at 20-25 francs/person.) After a while though, the white wine taste of the cheese gets a little sickening; too much of a good thing I suppose.

To continue with the food theme, I had Pakastani food for the first time on Saturday. It was terrific. A friend of mine from my Mechanical Engineering classes invited me to her home in Geneva for a Birthday dinner. There were about a dozen or so other students, mostly MechE's, there as well. It was nice to get to know a few of my classmates a little better. It was also nice to communicate almost exclusively in French. My friend had asked me to bring an apple pie, which was fun for me because I got to make another pie (not quite as pretty as the first.) It was also nice, because before she asked for the pie, I was not sure what would be culturally appropriate to bring. It's apple season now, so I had purchased some really cheap apples (about $0.70/lb). Since I had a bunch of apples left over, I made some applesauce (compote in French) on Sunday. It was delicious.

In other news, I've arranged to do an internship with a professor here. For the next 10 weeks I'm going to work 6 hours per week on a research project under his supervision. For the other half of the internship, starting next semester, I think that I am going to work for two PH.D. students in a Turbomachine laboratory. This semester's project is part of a larger initiative to recreate the "Dufaux 4." The Dufaux brothers were aviation pioneers from Geneva; essentially the Wright brothers of Switzerland. Their original aircraft is on display in a transportation museum in Luzern, Switzerland. I intend to visit the museum in the near future. If you want to read more about their plane, you can check out this link:
http://www.verkehrshaus.ch/en/museum/luftfahrt/bestof.php#dufaux
The project I'm collaborating with is called "Faux Dufaux." (http://lin.epfl.ch/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=43) My part is going to involve computer modeling of the "Dufaux 4" airfoils. There is a lack of quantitative information about the aircraft, since the Dufaux brothers were more entrepreneurs than they were scientists. Before designing airplanes, the Dufaux brothers owned a motorcycle business, which is ironic, because before their debut as aviation pioneers, the Wright brothers ran a bicycle shop. Apparently two-wheeled transportation inspires people to build airplanes. I really enjoy biking, I wonder...
Anyway, to get back to my point, it is unknown whether the wing design used on the plane was original or existing technology. It is more likely the latter. I am going to use information collected from a laser scan of the nearly 100 year-old biplane to model the two-dimensional wing profiles and compare them with other airfoils from the time. I'm pretty excited about this project. I will eventually create a report and presentation of what I learn, in order to earn credit from Iowa State. Ironically, this internship is for my French degree, not my Aerospace Engineering degree.

Other than that, my week has been pretty laid back. I watched a couple movies, did some knitting, took a few walks, ran a bit. I'm continuing to improve my French. I have good French days and bad French days. Usually the bad French days are also the days I have trouble staying awake in class. It's tiring to think in another language, and my French comprehension is closely linked to how much energy I have. It's a vicious circle, but it's getting better and better all the time.