View from Lugano
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Friday, October 29, 2004
Looking for Heidi...
Bonjour from Lausanne, Switzerland! It is my second day on the road for this trip and I have traveled from one side of Switzerland to the other, switching languages three times. This tiny country has three official languages…(actually four but very few people actually speak that one). I left Lugano hearing Italian, took the train west to the French speaking part of the country and am on a train back to Zurich where the speak Swiss German.
I spent the better part of the day on the train yesterday, making my way across the country to visit some tiny schools up in the Alps. The area that I was traveling to is called the Alpes Vandoises, and is home to a few isolated skiing villages and the two Swiss boarding schools that I was going to visit. The town of Villars, way up at the top of the mountain is accessible by a post bus and also a quaint little Edwardian train. The views from both were amazing as we wound our way both up and down the mountain. I arrived to find a sleepy little town, finishing the last of its hibernation as it prepared for the start of ski season in the next few weeks. The weather had changed dramatically from what I had left behind in Lugano and I was thankful that I had remembered to bring along my winter coat. The counselor at the school that I was going to visit said that it had snowed the day before and that the town would be encased in snow in a few weeks time when the slopes would be open for ski season. Had I been there as a tourist, I could have gotten on one of several gondola’s and skied down the nearby glacier. The counselor said that he skis about 80 days out of the year and often gets in several runs during lunchtime! Short of skiing, there really isn’t much to do in the town…I left for civilization after my presentation because there didn’t even seem to be any place open in the town to get dinner.
I returned about an hour later to the modern town of Lausanne and to my hotel for the night…I am always amazed at just how tiring sitting on a train all day can be! I am on my way back to Zurich for two more visits tomorrow before heading back to Lugano tomorrow evening. The stores stay open late tonight…9 PM instead of the usual 6:30 so I am hoping to do some shopping! I have two days at home before heading out again for my last and longest trip of the recruiting season. I will spend a week in Eastern Europe and then will return to Switzerland to finish out the rest of the Swiss boarding schools. I’m signing off from Zurich and off to find some good Swiss fondue!
I spent the better part of the day on the train yesterday, making my way across the country to visit some tiny schools up in the Alps. The area that I was traveling to is called the Alpes Vandoises, and is home to a few isolated skiing villages and the two Swiss boarding schools that I was going to visit. The town of Villars, way up at the top of the mountain is accessible by a post bus and also a quaint little Edwardian train. The views from both were amazing as we wound our way both up and down the mountain. I arrived to find a sleepy little town, finishing the last of its hibernation as it prepared for the start of ski season in the next few weeks. The weather had changed dramatically from what I had left behind in Lugano and I was thankful that I had remembered to bring along my winter coat. The counselor at the school that I was going to visit said that it had snowed the day before and that the town would be encased in snow in a few weeks time when the slopes would be open for ski season. Had I been there as a tourist, I could have gotten on one of several gondola’s and skied down the nearby glacier. The counselor said that he skis about 80 days out of the year and often gets in several runs during lunchtime! Short of skiing, there really isn’t much to do in the town…I left for civilization after my presentation because there didn’t even seem to be any place open in the town to get dinner.
I returned about an hour later to the modern town of Lausanne and to my hotel for the night…I am always amazed at just how tiring sitting on a train all day can be! I am on my way back to Zurich for two more visits tomorrow before heading back to Lugano tomorrow evening. The stores stay open late tonight…9 PM instead of the usual 6:30 so I am hoping to do some shopping! I have two days at home before heading out again for my last and longest trip of the recruiting season. I will spend a week in Eastern Europe and then will return to Switzerland to finish out the rest of the Swiss boarding schools. I’m signing off from Zurich and off to find some good Swiss fondue!
Monday, October 25, 2004
Technically Speaking...
I am happy to report that things are starting to look up for a change, at least technologically speaking. You would think that life in Europe is pretty similar to life back in the States, wouldn’t you? After all, Switzerland is a pretty advanced country with a firm grasp at least on the watch and chocolate industry! One of the biggest adjustments for me so far has been getting used to how long it takes to do very simple things around here. For example, I have been here for almost three months now and am just now (hopefully) getting a regular phone connection in my apartment. Internet access should soon follow, but I’ve been through this drill before which has ultimately led to disappointment. I have come to learn that the Swiss phone system has recently been deregulated so that are still a lot of hoops to jump through to even get a phone line, let alone choose a competitor who might have better prices. And, just because you choose a competitor, they might not be able to even install service, which is what happened to me…only they forgot to tell me for over a month that the wouldn’t be able to connect my service…ever. Nice.
I seem to have had a string of technology disasters recently that started with the phone/internet connection, or lack there of and have steadily progressed. I returned from my recruiting trip to Rome to find no electricity or heat in my apartment. The smell from the refrigerator was a clue that the power had been off for some time (I had been gone for 5 days). Getting ready for work the next morning by candlelight, I wondered if I had mistakenly been transported back to the days of Little House on the Prairie. I had tried flipping the circuit breakers to see if a fuse had blown which I thought at first was a strong possibility since my parents were visiting and had brought along what was supposed to be a dual voltage hair dryer (it wasn’t). When that didn’t work, I knew that a call to the dreaded landlady was in order…did I mention that she is at least 85 years old and is truly from Transylvania…I thought only bats and Dracula where from Transylvania! She only speaks Italian and French and looks as though she escaped from some cave on a hillside with only the mismatched clothes on her back…seriously. She owns at least half of the apartment buildings in Lugano but knows how to pinch a penny (or a Swiss Franc, to be more accurate) until it bleeds. I am unable to communicate with her because my Italian is still pretty basic (hello, goodbye, how are you) and I certainly didn’t know how to say that I had no electricity! Luckily, one of my coworkers is Italian and offered to make the call for me.
As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, I returned home from work that next day (still no heat or electricity…did mention that the weather had turned cold and that it had stared snowing a ways up the mountain?) to find out that the washing machine was broken. This was about the absolute breaking point for me considering that there is one tiny washer for the entire apartment complex to share and no dryer. For some strange reason, the Swiss don’t believe in using clothes dryers so everything has to be hung to dry. I had been traveling for work for the past week and had about two weeks of laundry to do before hitting the road for work again and a broken washer didn’t fit into my plan. So, I did what all good American expats do when they are stressed out and frustrated and they have no groceries…I headed to Mc Donalds for dinner. A cheeseburger royale meal later and 12 francs poorer (about 10 dollars), I headed back to my candle lit apartment to do the only thing I could in the dark…sleep.
It is now a week later and I finally have heat and electricity again (they were connected two days after I got back from Rome). The washer is finally working as of today and I am trying to catch up on about three weeks worth of laundry which will probably take me the remainder of the evening because each load takes about an hour and a half just to wash.
Tomorrow I am off to Milan again for the second time this week. One of the international schools is hosting a college fair for US colleges and we have been asked to participate. The big Ivy League schools will be there, so I am curious to see if we get many inquiries but also to see their admissions people. I should have some interesting stories to report in my next blog!
I seem to have had a string of technology disasters recently that started with the phone/internet connection, or lack there of and have steadily progressed. I returned from my recruiting trip to Rome to find no electricity or heat in my apartment. The smell from the refrigerator was a clue that the power had been off for some time (I had been gone for 5 days). Getting ready for work the next morning by candlelight, I wondered if I had mistakenly been transported back to the days of Little House on the Prairie. I had tried flipping the circuit breakers to see if a fuse had blown which I thought at first was a strong possibility since my parents were visiting and had brought along what was supposed to be a dual voltage hair dryer (it wasn’t). When that didn’t work, I knew that a call to the dreaded landlady was in order…did I mention that she is at least 85 years old and is truly from Transylvania…I thought only bats and Dracula where from Transylvania! She only speaks Italian and French and looks as though she escaped from some cave on a hillside with only the mismatched clothes on her back…seriously. She owns at least half of the apartment buildings in Lugano but knows how to pinch a penny (or a Swiss Franc, to be more accurate) until it bleeds. I am unable to communicate with her because my Italian is still pretty basic (hello, goodbye, how are you) and I certainly didn’t know how to say that I had no electricity! Luckily, one of my coworkers is Italian and offered to make the call for me.
As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, I returned home from work that next day (still no heat or electricity…did mention that the weather had turned cold and that it had stared snowing a ways up the mountain?) to find out that the washing machine was broken. This was about the absolute breaking point for me considering that there is one tiny washer for the entire apartment complex to share and no dryer. For some strange reason, the Swiss don’t believe in using clothes dryers so everything has to be hung to dry. I had been traveling for work for the past week and had about two weeks of laundry to do before hitting the road for work again and a broken washer didn’t fit into my plan. So, I did what all good American expats do when they are stressed out and frustrated and they have no groceries…I headed to Mc Donalds for dinner. A cheeseburger royale meal later and 12 francs poorer (about 10 dollars), I headed back to my candle lit apartment to do the only thing I could in the dark…sleep.
It is now a week later and I finally have heat and electricity again (they were connected two days after I got back from Rome). The washer is finally working as of today and I am trying to catch up on about three weeks worth of laundry which will probably take me the remainder of the evening because each load takes about an hour and a half just to wash.
Tomorrow I am off to Milan again for the second time this week. One of the international schools is hosting a college fair for US colleges and we have been asked to participate. The big Ivy League schools will be there, so I am curious to see if we get many inquiries but also to see their admissions people. I should have some interesting stories to report in my next blog!
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
When in Rome...
I arrived by train in Rome on Sunday afternoon. It seemed as though we had temporarily left the rain behind us in Florence, at least for awhile. This was my second trip to Rome in about a month and to be honest, I wasn’t that excited about going back. Rome is a city that either you love, hate or some combination of the two. The best way to describe the city is vibrant…sort of like a New York City but with much more history. The Italians in this section of Italy seem to be much more open and friendly then in the northern cities like Milan. All of the guidebooks make it sound like you have little chance of surviving your visit and will more then likely be run over by a taxi or scooter if you are not careful. I found this to be pretty darn accurate after my first cab ride in Rome…the drivers follow their own set of rules and drive wherever and whenever they want. The lines on the road and the traffic lights are only a mere suggestion of driving a car…God help you if you should step out in the road into their path accidentially! I can only liken it to a ride at Six Flags, and that would be putting it mildly!
My trip to Rome this time was purely work related, though I thought I would have time to sneak in a stop at the Coloseum or St. Peters during my three day visit. I was lucky enough to have my parents join me for this leg of the journey and was able to meet them for dinner after my school visits. My parents had just purchased the Rick Steves Italy guidebook and we sampled quite a few of the restaurants that he had suggested.
My visits to the international schools of Rome were very interesting…the makeup of the schools were very diverse with students from all over the world. While I waited to meet with the counselors, I observed recess several times and was amused at the communication between the children. Often, one child would say something to a friend in one language and the reply would be in another language all together. It is amazing how easily children can understand and learn other languages.
Getting around Rome to my different school visits turned out to be more of a challenge that I had originally anticipated. I ended up missing my train to my first school visit on Monday because of bad information and had to take a cab 2 hours outside of the city to a tiny, ancient town called Viterbo. You can only imagine the bill for that ride! On Wednesday, transportation within the city came to a complete halt when the employees of the train system decided to go on strike. The concierge of the hotel told me that I should probably forget about making it to any of my scheduled school visits that day because there were no available taxis anywhere. My determination and desperation to make it to the other side of Rome in my suit, high heels and pulling my luggage must have won over the concierge. After a few phone calls, she was able to pull some strings and arranged for a driver to take me at least into the city. What would turn out to be my knight in shining armor arrived about 30 minutes later in a georgous black Mercedes benz and wisked me off through the confusion and chaos of Rome and delivered me safely to my first appointment. I was two hours early, but I had made it to the school…an almost impossible accomplishment giving the strike.
The driver (who happened to be super cute) and about my age promised to return to get me two hours later, despite his busy schedule of already booked appointments with other clients. I wasn’t quite sure if he would indeed be there when I was finished, but I certainly hoped so considering that my luggage was still in the trunk if the car. Sure enough, he returned as promised and cheafured me to all of my appointments that day. Luckily, he spoke English so we were able to communicate…a luxury that I miss living abroad. It turned out that he was the owner of the car service company and had driven many famous celebrities and Italian politicians…after much begging he finally told me a few of the famous people that he had met including Tom Cruise, Russell Crow and a bunch of Italian politicians that I had never heard of but who sounded pretty important.
What had started out as a pretty discouraging day turned out to be super fun. I was able to hang out with a true local and he even made sure that I saw a few of the sights from the car along the way. I was scheduled to take the afternoon train back to Lugano but was secretly hoping that the train strike would continue so that I could stay in Rome longer and see more of the city...and hang out with Simone, the driver! My time in Rome came to an end when the strike lifted later that afternoon. With my excuse for staying longer now gone, Simone delivered me to the station in time to catch the 4:30 train back to Lugano….if only I could have brought him with me!
My trip to Rome this time was purely work related, though I thought I would have time to sneak in a stop at the Coloseum or St. Peters during my three day visit. I was lucky enough to have my parents join me for this leg of the journey and was able to meet them for dinner after my school visits. My parents had just purchased the Rick Steves Italy guidebook and we sampled quite a few of the restaurants that he had suggested.
My visits to the international schools of Rome were very interesting…the makeup of the schools were very diverse with students from all over the world. While I waited to meet with the counselors, I observed recess several times and was amused at the communication between the children. Often, one child would say something to a friend in one language and the reply would be in another language all together. It is amazing how easily children can understand and learn other languages.
Getting around Rome to my different school visits turned out to be more of a challenge that I had originally anticipated. I ended up missing my train to my first school visit on Monday because of bad information and had to take a cab 2 hours outside of the city to a tiny, ancient town called Viterbo. You can only imagine the bill for that ride! On Wednesday, transportation within the city came to a complete halt when the employees of the train system decided to go on strike. The concierge of the hotel told me that I should probably forget about making it to any of my scheduled school visits that day because there were no available taxis anywhere. My determination and desperation to make it to the other side of Rome in my suit, high heels and pulling my luggage must have won over the concierge. After a few phone calls, she was able to pull some strings and arranged for a driver to take me at least into the city. What would turn out to be my knight in shining armor arrived about 30 minutes later in a georgous black Mercedes benz and wisked me off through the confusion and chaos of Rome and delivered me safely to my first appointment. I was two hours early, but I had made it to the school…an almost impossible accomplishment giving the strike.
The driver (who happened to be super cute) and about my age promised to return to get me two hours later, despite his busy schedule of already booked appointments with other clients. I wasn’t quite sure if he would indeed be there when I was finished, but I certainly hoped so considering that my luggage was still in the trunk if the car. Sure enough, he returned as promised and cheafured me to all of my appointments that day. Luckily, he spoke English so we were able to communicate…a luxury that I miss living abroad. It turned out that he was the owner of the car service company and had driven many famous celebrities and Italian politicians…after much begging he finally told me a few of the famous people that he had met including Tom Cruise, Russell Crow and a bunch of Italian politicians that I had never heard of but who sounded pretty important.
What had started out as a pretty discouraging day turned out to be super fun. I was able to hang out with a true local and he even made sure that I saw a few of the sights from the car along the way. I was scheduled to take the afternoon train back to Lugano but was secretly hoping that the train strike would continue so that I could stay in Rome longer and see more of the city...and hang out with Simone, the driver! My time in Rome came to an end when the strike lifted later that afternoon. With my excuse for staying longer now gone, Simone delivered me to the station in time to catch the 4:30 train back to Lugano….if only I could have brought him with me!
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
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