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Jackie in Switzerland: Coming Home

August 5, 2015

Hi there, remember me? I have officially been home for about three weeks, and it is weird! I have waited to write this post because it took me a little while to figure out what it’s really like to come back after 6 months abroad. I still feel the same, but the biggest struggle has been the little things that I now notice in the U.S. after seeing completely different things abroad. For example, I find that after being in Switzerland, I take a more liberal view point on a lot of social issues in the U.S. Coming from a generally conservative town, it’s sometimes difficult to find a balance between what I thought was ‘normal’ before and how I fit into that normal with all of my new opinions. And by this I mean that I’m finding it harder to bite my tongue, which has led to more than a few political arguments with my father (sorry, dad).

In truth, it surprised me how little my life had an effect on those back home when it seemed like I was having the eye-opening experience of a lifetime. I expected my friends and family to have been following my travels, anxiously awaiting my return so that they could hear all about it. What actually happened was that I returned to find that people had been doing other things while I was gone (how dare they have lives without me?) and that my returning home was more of a return for me than for anyone else.

I have some awesome pictures from all across Europe, and I can still remember the taste of my Swiss chocolate, Italian coffee, and Greek souvlaki. Oh my, the separation anxiety is real. But while all of that stuff really matters to me, for everyone else in my life, these things are remotely cool and interesting, but nothing life changing. I don’t know if I was expecting people to absolutely freak out and bombard me with questions, but I have spoken surprisingly little about my experiences since coming home.

What I’m basically trying to say is this; never, ever, EVER live your life for someone else’s interest. In the end, they’re probably not going to care nearly as much as you do, and in the process, you’re going to miss out on what you love trying to be the cool, interesting traveler that you think everyone wants.

The person you should be trying to impress is yourself. Studying abroad gives you the best experiences ever, but those experiences are YOURS and no one else’s, so you need to spend your time/money/energy figuring out what you want to do, even if it may be boring to someone else.

This blog has given me the chance to be honest about what it’s really like to study abroad and I hope that you all enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing about it! Good luck to all of the students studying abroad this fall; you’re in for a great time. 🙂

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Jackie in Switzerland: The (almost) End

June 26, 2015

Leaving Lausanne did not feel entirely real. I think after spending so much time in one place, it is hard to imagine that you might never be back. For the whole last week in this town, I have been living in total denial, which is really the easiest and (clearly) the most mature way to handle things. I’ve mostly been doing the exact same things as normal, refusing to pack, and actually ignoring anyone who tries to remind me that I’m leaving. If someone insists that I should actually start getting my things together, I kindly tell them to stop talking. Very mature.

Luckily, I do not have to say goodbye quite yet, since I will be traveling around Europe for a month after leaving Lausanne! I am really excited for that, since I will be seeing many countries in Eastern Europe that I have never visited before. I also do not know a single word of Czech, German, Hungarian, Greek or Italian so I’m sure that will create some funny/embarrassing /awkward beyond belief stories along the way. I’m sure it will be a whirlwind experience, but for now I’m reflecting on how crazy this past semester has been.

This is one of my favorite things in the city.

Walking through the streets of Lausanne, I remember the first time that I arrived here and the name Ouchy (the area by the lake) meant nothing to me and I was ‘not all that excited’ about the chocolate. Total newbie mistake.

Being at the end makes me think of the beginning and how I showed up somewhat terrified and completely over my head. I had never had to do all that much for myself, even though I had always thought of myself as independent. I can now say that the word has taken on a whole new meaning after having to beat down the doors of the housing administration just to get my security deposit back (I did get it back!).

It really strikes me how the actual city of Lausanne hasn’t changed, but the people in it have. I promise not to make this into a sappy “this semester has changed my life and I will never be the same” drama, but I will say that studying abroad is like nothing else in this world. I wouldn’t say that it changed me, but more that it made me feel alive. It made me feel more secure in the person that I am at the same time that it made me feel small in comparison to what is out there. It is so easy, especially at a small school like Richmond, to get into a groove and never realize how much there is out there.

Being in a city with so many religions, colors, cultures, languages and people has made me so much more certain about who I want to be. It is almost as if I am taking all of these differences surrounding me, picking which ones I like best, and inserting them into my own life. My friend Amanda said it the best; it’s like leaving little bits of yourself behind in every place you visit, but also picking up little bits that others give you.

This is turning sappier than I intended, but all in all, I will say that I have never been more proud of myself than I am in this moment. Not because I passed all of my classes (yay!), not because I made super awesome amazingly cool friends and not because I necessarily got to do all of the things that I wanted to. I’m most proud because I let this experience grow me. If I could give one piece of advice about study abroad, it would be to let the experience take you whatever way it wants to take you. If you want to meet the same people and say the same things and feel the same emotions, stay at home!

Study abroad will offer you bits of the entire world, but that means nothing if you don’t take them. If you do choose to go abroad, do not leave without making an impression and do not leave without letting the experience make an impression on you.

One last lovely view of these mountains.

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Jackie in Switzerland: Flashback to the 1920’s

June 8, 2015

The 1920’s party was AWESOME. The party took place on a giant boat that started in Lausanne before sailing around Lac Léman for a few hours. The party was called “Titanique Lémanic”, the theme was 1920’s/Gatsby, and I was so impressed with the atmosphere.

It was so fun to dress up for the night and go out for something special!

First of all, I am a total nerd and absolutely LOVE the 20’s (and The Great Gatsby) and so I was all over this party from the very beginning. I went shopping at consignment shops in the area with my friends to find anything to wear that would fit the theme. In the end, almost everyone at the party got really into the theme and it truly looked like a fabulous 1920’s party when we arrived.

I dressed up in 1920’s style, and my friend Maeve dressed up as a Titanic passenger… I wonder if the party organizers ever questioned having a party entitled “titanic” on a boat?

The boat had a casino, a magician, and a dance floor. The decorations looked really extravagant and you could tell that everyone at the party was having an amazing time and that it was one of the last times that we would all be together. It obviously felt fabulous to be on a boat, in one of the prettiest countries in the world, dressed up like Daisy and Jay. But even more than the extravagance of the party, it was incredible to all get together at the very end of the semester and see how far we have all come.

The Jay to our Daisy.

I knew that this was the last time that I would see many of the friends I have made since the beginning of the semester and it made the experience even more magical. We still had our “wow this is real life” moments, but we also realized that this might be one of the last times we could stare in awe at the beauty of Switzerland all together. The boat gave us the best view I have ever seen of the Swiss Alps (and as you know, I have seen a lot) and the sun seemed to set just for us.

Exhibit A in the “wow this is real life” feeling.

This was the first moment where I felt that the end was near. I will be leaving in less than a week and I feel like I have just started getting comfortable in Lausanne. I am realizing that while I post awesome pictures of my travels and I get to learn another language and meet simply amazing people, study abroad is not easy. Yes, in the beginning it was very hard to get used to the country, but now it is hard to imagine not living here. When I arrived, I expected to make a few friends from cool places and then to be okay in returning home.

Pancakes with my friends.

I have been combating the feeling that time is slipping by organizing pancake breakfasts on my hall (and forcing everyone to come!) These are some of my close friends that I have made in my dorm, and they were all excited to try ‘American pancakes made by a real American’. Feel free to call me MasterChef.

I am finding that the hardest part will be saying goodbye to the people whom I have met here. I have not just found “friends for now” but rather friends for life and people who I will miss terribly. Whether it’s my Chef BFF Amanda who cooks me the most amazing dinners because I am awful in the kitchen, my French hall mate who regularly (and adorably) throws around the American slang that I teach him, or even my friend Ayumi who I will see at school at Richmond, I am realizing that I will not be able to see them on a regular basis and that I have grown so attached to my friends here that I do not know what I will do without them. The hardest part of studying abroad is creating this new comfort and this new home for yourself and then having to leave it as soon as it feels okay.

As I get closer to the end, I have been taking more and more photos like this one, Lausanne is a gorgeous city!

I am unbelievably grateful for the fact that I have found my “people” here in Switzerland, unbelievably relieved that the majority of my work is over, and unbelievably excited for the next chapter. I feel all of these things at the same time, and the result is such a mix of emotions that I don’t even know what to feel anymore. While I knew that I would love my time abroad and that of course I would get comfortable here, I never thought that I would have such a hard time saying goodbye. That being said, I will be traveling around Europe for about a month after my semester officially ends, and so the adventure is not quite over yet.

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Jackie in (Italian) Switzerland

June 1, 2015

Study abroad keeps getting better and better.

This past week, I got the chance to go to Ticino, which is the Italian region of Switzerland and it was absolutely amazing! Well, actually the entire trip went wrong from the very beginning, but it ended up being a trip to remember.

I got to see 8 hours of this view, so I can’t complain!

First, we got to drive through the countryside and see all of the beautiful scenery of mountains and lakes. However, it turns out that since our travel day was a national holiday, a lot of highways were closed and we had to go through Italy in order to get to our destination back in Switzerland. Weird, I know. The result was a 4-hour-turned-8-hours bus ride with 65 people.

Jackie over the city

The view was 100% worth it.

Luckily, the views were really amazing and I got to spend time with other awesome students. When we finally arrived in Ticino, we went on a “little hike” (please note the sarcastic quotation marks). Turns out that the hike was about an hour long straight up a mountain and when we got to the top, we were all exhausted, but once again Switzerland shocked us with its beauty and it was all worth it.

This was the posh restaurant were we acted like complete savages and got some appalled looks from the Swiss.

That night, the exchange network in Ticino organized an apéro with drinks and dinner in order to celebrate our arrival. We all arrived in our comfy workout clothes, starving and absolutely gross after an 8 hour bus ride and a big hike in the heat. We discovered that the restaurant was actually a very posh and fancy place, just along the lake. Our group of 65 showed up and I have never felt more out of place in my life. All of the Swiss were just staring at us and sipping their overly priced drinks as we took over the place.

We got to see the beautiful city of Lugano at night as we scrounged for food.

We were also famished and were all so looking forward to dinner, but the restaurant was not prepared to handle ravenous students and chaos ensued. We now refer to this night as the Hunger Games because each time that the waiter brought out more food, people literally RAN up to the tables and took all the food that they could get. It was every man for himself. I have never seen people move so fast. And I do not think we will be invited back to the restaurant.

While the scenery wasn’t o great in the rain, I was still struck by some of the beautiful little things, like this gate. It’s so cool how the different regions of Switzerland (French, German, and Italian) all have their own personal style.

While the scenery wasn’t so great in the rain, I was still struck by some of the beautiful little things, like this gate. It’s so cool how the different regions of Switzerland (French, German, and Italian) all have their own personal style.

The next day, the rain was incredible. Someone had told me that this part of Switzerland was “the sunniest part of the whole country”, but on this particular day, it was pouring and windy like crazy. We still got to enjoy the day because we visited a really cool old castle and we got to go out and celebrate with the Swiss students from Ticino. This night, we got lots of delicious food and did not feel like absolute savages.

On our final day, we packed up and headed toward home, but not before enjoying the brilliant sun and warm weather. We stopped at a mountain spring and got a chance to swim in the water that came directly from the very top of the Swiss Alps. Of course it was freezing in the water, but the rocks surrounding it were so warm and the views were like nothing I’ve seen before.

Although it looks amazing, the water itself was so cold because it came directly from the peaks of the Alps. That being said, the water was so fresh and clean, we still went swimming!

It was all fun and games until someone decided to jump from the giant bridge above the water. Why someone thought that it was a good idea to jump from a bridge into a freezing water, the world may never know, but at least I got a video from my nice warm spot on the rocks.

This is the bridge that a few other students jumped off of (it was MUCH higher than it seems in this picture).

After another 4-hour-tuned-8-hour bus ride home, we finally got back to Lausanne. It was hard to go from this amazing vacation immediately into study mode, but now it is the final push and I can see the end in sight. I have 3 papers due this week and then I am officially done with all of my work for the semester. For now, I am living in denial and trying to pretend that I am not leaving in a week. Thankfully, the exchange network is throwing a 1920’s style party this week as a sort of goodbye send-off. I can’t wait and will be sure to post updates soon!

One of the coolest things about the mountains is that you can go from enjoying the warm sun in one moment and drive into the arctic tundra the next! This photo was taken on the same day as the previous one, in the middle of May!

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Jackie in Switzerland: Putting the Study in Study Abroad

May 19, 2015

I am happy to report that Switzerland has turned me into a total French beast. Last week, I gave a presentation in a Contemporary History class that was 75 minutes total (with a partner, I’ll admit). I was so incredibly nervous for this presentation, I was literally shaking before I began. As I told the other students about the absolutely thrilling topic of Swiss books in the United States, I felt more and more at ease, even answering a few questions from other students. After I finally said my last sentence of the presentation, I glanced over at the teacher with that “I’m sorry that I don’t speak French and ruined this presentation” look. I was absolutely shocked when she congratulated us for our great performance and me especially for my French! She said that I was clear, understandable, and that my French was actually very good!

So happy to be done with one big assignment and to never have to read this book ever again (look how big it is!)

Studying abroad with the intention of learning a new language is very weird. I can tell that overall, my level of language is getting so much better. At the same time, there are moments where I get so discouraged in talking to people who speak perfectly that I have the impression that I will never speak French with complete comfort and fluency. I have some amazing hall mates who have been speaking to me in French and teaching me how to use new words and phrases, which has actually helped me more than any of my other classes.

One of the fun things about language learning is being able to read the multi-language signs at the museums. Especially when you find this gem in a Medieval Castle

The problem is that speaking in another language is so uncomfortable that if people are willing to speak to me in English, it is really hard to force myself to change to French. Almost everyone here knows English very well, and they want to learn it and so they would rather speak in English. I have found a few amazing friends who make me feel totally comfortable in speaking (and making really stupid mistakes in) French. Still, this has been the hardest part of study abroad for me; feeling like I should be mastering French but at the same time being hesitant to force myself to converse with French and Swiss people. I am just starting to find this balance and looking back at the beginning of the semester, I am still blown away by how much better I have gotten.

This baby might not look all that impressive, but it is 22 pages (single spaced!) of French research paper on the problems of European integration and multi-level governance. Still cannot believe that I did this, and I’m feeling really accomplished.

I might be struggling a little with speaking, but I have gotten so much better at my written work! So proud of my first grade in Switzerland. It’s a 6/6!

I still cannot believe that I am almost done with this semester, I really think it has gone faster than any other 4 month period of my life. I will be done with classes on May 29^th, and I will be leaving the same day. I feel like at the beginning of the semester, I really didn’t appreciate the fact that I was halfway across the world in a really cool city with really cool people. Now, I have been hanging around Lausanne a lot more and have been getting to know my hall mates. That being said, I will be travelling to Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland for a weekend trip with the student exchange association of UNIL. I am so excited to see this new part of Switzerland, and I will be sure to post lots of pictures of the delicious Italian food I will be eating!

This is where I will be spending my long weekend, the Italian part of Switzerland.

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Jackie in Switzerland: Cheese, Chocolate, and Cows

May 5, 2015

This week, I learned what Switzerland is really all about: cheese, chocolate, and cows.

I got the amazing opportunity to go to Gruyères, which is the town that actually makes Gruyère cheese, the staple of Swiss cuisine. Of course because this is Switzerland, the town itself was charming and adorably and obviously had an amazing view of mountains and nature (the number one criteria for Swiss cities).

This was the train that took us from Lausanne to Gruyères. I have never in my life experienced something so adorable that it almost didn’t seem real.

This picture explains how the views in Switzerland are still amazing no matter how many times you have seen a snow covered mountain.

While in Gruyères, I got to sample all of the different types of Gruyère and I could not believe how one kind of cheese could have so many different tastes. We learned how the cheese is made, and how these different types of Gruyère result from the aging process. I also got to try the cheese just before it was put into the rounds, at the very beginning of the process. It was DISGUSTING.

This is the very first stage of cheese making, where the milk gets churned until it makes this gummy type-substance that will be aged to make cheese. This is the gummy stuff that I tried. Very appealing, I know.

It was gummy and white and totally flavorless and I cannot imagine how the beauty of Gruyère cheese is made from such an unappealing thing. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the samples throughout the day. The Swiss cheese makers clearly know what they are doing.

This man told us all about how he crafts his cheeses, and then proceeded to jump into the giant vat where he made the cheese.

After trying loads of cheese, we walked it off on our way to eat even more chocolate at the Cailler chocolate factory! On our path, we came across more cows than I have ever seen in my entire life. I finally felt like I was in a traditional, small Swiss village. I have made it fairly clear that I am not a super outdoorsy type of girl, so while some other students got a closer look at the cows, I chose to use the ‘zoom’ setting on my camera.

Lots of cows.

Okay, so they are kind of cute, but they are still livestock and therefore I kept a fair distance.

First, we got to walk through a ‘history of chocolate’ interactive museum that showed us how chocolate has evolved over the past few centuries and where chocolate originated. Then, we got to see how Cailler, Switzerland’s major chocolate producer, came to dominate the chocolate world. While this was all well and good, the best part did not come until the very end.

Il était une fois: Evidently, the Swiss take their chocolate very seriously.

After the tour, we got to try some of the raw products that go into the chocolate, like almonds, hazelnuts, and raw cacao. I obviously ate as much as I possibly could, which backfired in the end. After this stage of the tasting, we actually got to taste some of the final product Cailler chocolate.

Le chocolat, c’est quand? C’est toujours Cailler, always.

We saw how a certain type of their chocolate is produced and then a factory worker handed us some samples. I expected one or two, but thanks to a very generous worker, we all got a TON of these samples. I was regretting eating all of the raw cacao in the beginning.

But wait.

There’s more.

After this stage, we got an unlimited tasting of all of the Cailler specialties. Yes, you read that correctly, unlimited free samples! These chocolates had caramel, hazelnuts, creamy nougat centers, and coffee infusions. Again, I ate as much as I possibly could but there is only so much chocolate a girl can take. Here in Switzerland, people often eat chocolate as a part of their daily diet. For example, if you are about to go workout and need some pre-exercise fuel, the Swiss would suggest eating a small bar of chocolate. I would like to note that I approve of this mindset.

First round of samples.

I could have eaten every single chocolate on these tables if I wanted to. It was tempting…

Although I could barely move after so much chocolate, the experience was amazing and despite my declarations that I would “never eat chocolate again”, it took me all of one day to return to my pro-chocolate mindset.

It was easy to forget in such a cool place that I am an actual student with actual responsibilities, but now I am getting into the swing of final assignments. I do not have any final exams after the class period, but I have a lot of papers and in-class exams to finish in the next couple of weeks. But with the help of the best chocolate in the world, I think I will be able to make it through, wish me luck!

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Jackie in Switzerland: le mal du pays

April 27, 2015

Homesickness has hit. I have had the sense of missing my family and friends for this whole semester, and I thought that this was homesickness [the French call it “le mal du pays”]. It was only after my Spring Break trip that I learned what homesickness really is.

The French call it le mal du pays, which seems to be a better description to me. Obviously I have been having an amazing time studying abroad and I wouldn’t change my situation for the world, but that doesn’t stop me from missing my home. After seeing Snapchats, Instagrams, and tweets about socials, away weekends, and of course Pig Roast, I realized how much was going on in Richmond without me. After talking to my parents, I learned that my little cousin has started walking and talking. No matter how incredible it is to study abroad, it is impossible to not miss all of the things from home.

The snow is gone and Lausanne is brightening up! Even when I feel homesick, it is hard not to fall in love with this view

I had thought that the hardest part of studying abroad would be the classes, cooking for myself, and especially the French! But in the end, the balance between home and here has been the most challenging obstacle for me. I want to stay involved in Richmond and keep up all of my relationships with friends, but at the same time, it is hard to keep up at home and really immerse in life here in Switzerland. Luckily, I have the most amazing friends in Richmond and in Pittsburgh who make me feel loved and missed.

Even though sometimes I feel so far away from Richmond, I love staying involved in any way I can. It was so fun to take the pledge in support of the Start by Believing campaign halfway across the world!

After talking to a lot of other study abroad students, we realized that there is this idea that we all want to show the very best side of study abroad. We want to travel to the coolest places as much as possible just to let everyone at home know that we are having a good time and that we are okay. There’s almost an invisible pressure to have an absolutely perfect study abroad experience that we forget to actually experience it without worrying about what our friends back home think or about what we are ‘supposed’ to think.

Me and Amelia

Me and Amanda

I am so incredibly lucky to have met so many amazing people from all around the world!

I think that in my blogs, I have always highlighted the positive, once-in-a–lifetime experiences of study abroad, but there are also parts that are not so easy. I am getting better and better at really getting into the experience instead of worrying about what I’m ‘supposed’ to be doing (of course I learn this towards the end of the semester). That being said, I think that it is a skill that everyone has to learn, and studying abroad has helped me do it. It’s hard sometimes to do what you want to do, instead of what we are expected to do, but you have to do what makes you happy.

For example, some of my friends went hiking the other day, and despite my adventurous rock climbing and skiing skills, I really don’t like nature all that much. I almost went to the hike, just because I felt like since I am a study abroad student, I ‘should’ be out and about seeing the country. BUT instead I stayed in, watched Scandal, and ate Ben and Jerrys. Such an exciting study abroad life. In the end, I had to realize that studying abroad is an experience for me and no one else.

The less glamorous, but equally fun, part of any study abroad experience. And YES its totally okay to do this instead of jetting off to Paris for the weekend!

After getting over my wave of homesickness and eating way too much ice cream, I am getting ready for the last month of classes, which means lots of papers and tests. I haven’t mentioned this in a long time, but my French is actually improving! My hall mates are amazing and insist on speaking to me in French, and my conversations with them have helped so much.

Next week I have an hour long presentation on the Swiss Book as a vector of Cultural Diplomacy in the United States (thrilling, I know). Just before the trip, I will be visiting Gruyeres and the Cailler chocolate factory. Rumor has it that at the end of the factory tour, there is a 10 minute, Hunger-Games style all you can eat extravaganza. This makes me happy, and you can expect a detailed blog about this as soon as I get over the sugar high.

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Jackie (Not) in Switzerland: Spring Break!

April 16, 2015

You have not done spring break until you have done spring break in Europe. A few weeks ago, all of my friends at Richmond were on Spring Break – at the beach in warm, sunny weather. Meanwhile, I was still wearing a winter coat here in Lausanne. But it was all worth it. For my Spring Break in Europe, I went to Nice, Monaco, Venice, and Milan and they were all amazing!

I am always happy to be back in France, and Nice was the perfect place to go. Heading from the cold temperatures in Lausanne and seeing people in bathing suits on the beach in Nice was a huge shock! I had another one of those “wow I am really here” moments as I took a nap on the beach on the French Riviera (!!). Other than the amazing weather, the city itself was incredible. It was definitely a touristy beach city, but it was very clear that only the wealthiest people actually vacationed there. I am proud to say that I had the time of my life, even living on a student budget.

This picture of the Cote d’Azur is iconic, I couldn’t believe how blue the water was!

While we were in Nice, we decided to head to Monaco for a day to see the Monte Carlo and more amazing clear blue beaches. While we thought that Nice was a city for the wealthy, it was nothing compared to Monaco. Everywhere we turned, there was a new luxury car or limousine. Every building looked like a palace, and the stores were all the best European designer brands. I’ve decided that I need to live there one day. I think my love for Monaco was quite apparent to my friends, as I repeatedly explained how I would become the future Princess of Monaco (let me dream!)

Ayumi and I decided to recognize the fact that we were in one of the classiest cities in Europe. This was the result. Very mature.

After visiting Monaco, it was time to head to Venice. Before coming to Europe, Venice was the one city that I really wanted to visit, so I was unbelievably excited to see the city! I arrived at the airport and had to take a water taxi onto the island of Venice, which was one of the coolest things ever. What other city has water taxis and waterbuses? My friend and I stayed in an old, traditional Italian building that had been converted into a hotel, and that experience was amazing! The whole city felt so lively and filled with history, and there were hardly any modern buildings.

In Venice, it is hard to get anywhere. You need to take a boat to get to the mainland, and you can only get to some places on the island by boat. Still, it was an amazing place to visit

Of course I had to be a super tourist and take a gondola ride in the Grand Canal. Even though I knew I was WAY overpaying for the experience, it was totally worth it! We got to see a lot of the city from the water, which was a completely different experience than seeing it from walking around! Our gondola driver didn’t sing to us (which was probably for the best), but my gondola experience was amazing nonetheless.

The gondola ride was actually my favorite part! It was so cool to see the city from the water.

After Venice, we made it to our last leg of the trip; Milan. This city was so totally different from Venice with its modern skyscrapers and sleek, new buildings. It was definitely the most cosmopolitan city that I have been to recently, and the change was nice.

We climbed all the way up to the top of the Duomo, the church in the center of town. The view was amazing and we spent about an hour just lying on the roof of the building.

As the fashion capital of the world, there were plenty of designer stores throughout the city. Prada was begun in Milan, and this is the first ever store!

And now for the bad news. I was being the most American tourist in the world, eating a snack in McDonalds. A few girls came over to our table asking for food or money and it was shortly after they left that I realized that my phone was missing! I went through the whole trip feeling like a savvy traveler, not falling for any of the tourist traps that would make me a target for pickpockets. In the end, I really was *that* tourist that doesn’t notice that their phone was stolen. I never thought that it would actually happen to me, and I thought that I would be smart enough to recognize what was happening, but it really is so easy to get caught off guard. I reported the theft to the police (who were DEFINITELY sick and tired of hearing of phone thefts from American tourists), but I know that my phone is gone.

I think that I handled my first pickpocketing experience pretty well, with minimal tears, but it still feels horrible to feel like something was taken right from you. In the end, the process of getting a new phone hasn’t been too stressful, so I really am just lucky that I didn’t lose anything more important!

In addition to the theft, our train home was almost 2 hours late and I didn’t end up getting home until 1am on Sunday night (before my 10am Monday morning class). Needless to say, I was so overwhelmingly happy to come back home to Lausanne! I really missed being ‘home’ and I’m really excited to spend some time going back to normal life with school and friends.

P.s. There was a slight delay in this post because while I had all of my pictures of my trip all planned out, they were all saved on my phone! I’m crossing my fingers and hoping against hope that all of pictures were somehow miraculously saved onto iCloud even though I have no clue what that even really is (I am clearly a tech genius). Stay tuned for the verdict on the state of my pictures, but for now, special shout out to Ayumi for letting me use her pictures of our trip!

Comments Off on Jackie (Not) in Switzerland: Spring Break! | Jackie in Switzerland, Spring 2015 | Tagged: Adventure, France, Italy, Public Transportation, Sightseeing, Travel | Permalink
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Jackie in Switzerland: A Weekend of Adventure

April 6, 2015

Disclaimer: No photo shopped postcard photos were used in the making of this post. They are all actually real, no matter how unbelievably perfect they appear to be.

This weekend, I embraced my inner Swiss and decided to fill my time with some outdoor activities! On Friday, I participated in an indoor rock climbing event organized by the ESN, which is the group that makes events specifically for exchange students. I have only been rock climbing a few times before, but I was excited to try again. It turns out that I am horrible at it, as in, bad enough that two 4-year old Swiss kids were mocking me because I couldn’t make it up the wall. I eventually made it up to the top of some of the walls, but I spent most of my time “chalking up” my hands and trying to act like I knew what I was doing.

This is a picture of the people who actually knew what they were doing

One of the weirdest things about this event was that it included three free beers as part of the cost for participating. I am getting used to the European mindset that alcohol is not necessarily bad, and that most Europeans drink a glass of wine with friends in order to enjoy the drink, and not to get drunk. I didn’t even consider the fact that our school was sponsoring an event that served alcohol until I realized how odd this would be at Richmond. This is just one of the things that I’ve gotten used to here that will be totally different when I get back home!

After attempting to climb and falling a few times, I decided that rock climbing was not quite my thing, but I got to meet some awesome people.

Expectation

Reality

On Saturday, I decided to try my hand at skiing and that was even MORE disasterous than climbing. I am not exaggerating when I day that I spent more time laying in the snow trying to stand up after falling than I did actually standing on my skis. My brilliant friend Amanda was an absolute pro and went down from the very top of the mountain. I did my best, but in the end I actually cheated and took the lift down the mountain (whoops). To be fair, I had to I’m giving myself credit for at least trying, I think it would be a study abroad sin if I live in Switzerland for 4 months and don’t even try to ski!

Ceci n’est pas une carte postale. It’s real!

My friend Amanda was an absolute pro, she made it all the way down and she hasn’t skied in years!

Apart from the actual skiing, the view was absolutely incredible and I just cannot put into words how amazing it was to just be there and soak it all in. I see the mountains everyday going to school, but being on the very top was something totally different. I will definitely never forget it!

You don’t see this everyday (unless you study abroad in Switzerland! 😉

I should probably mention that I am actually terrified of heights and did not realize how absolutely frightening the ski lift would be. Really, it is just a tiny little box held up thousands of feet in the air by a little cable. Totally not scary at all. Even at the top of the mountain, I was so scared looking down and seeing how high up we were. They say that studying abroad helps you overcome your fears, and that is the truth.

Absolutely terrified in the ski lift.

This is a beautiful background, but more importantly, you cannot see the fact that I was terrified. This ledge was about 200 feet from the ground below and after some serious peer-pressuring, my friends convinced me to face my fears and climb up for the picture. It was totally worth it.

Finally, I figured I couldn’t end my weekend of adventure with a lazy Sunday, so I decided to go hiking with the exchange group on Sunday! We took the train to Interlaken, which is a notoriously sporty region of Switzerland. The hike was great and pretty relaxing until we got to the last half hour. We were running late and had to practically run up the steepest part of our whole hike. Despite the pain in my legs, the view from the top of the mountain was worth it, once again.

After spending the whole day in the woods, I realized that I’m not so much of an outdoorsy girl, but I still had fun!

These are the kind of things that you think people exaggerate about when they describe Switzerland’s natural beauty. I can attest: it’s really real.

After a long weekend of nature sight-seeing in Switzerland, I am looking forward to exploring something new for Spring Break! This week, I will be going to Nice, France and then to Venice and Milan in Italy! I have never been to Italy before, so I am really excited to see what it is like! Speaking French every day is becoming more and more comfortable for me, so I think it will be strange to find myself in a country with a foreign language. I will definitely be taking a lot of pictures and videos! Be prepared for a fan-girl freak out in my next post, I am already anticipating the pizza, pasta, gelato food coma.

Another amazing Switzerland weekend with amazing friends!

P.s. I forgot to mention how cool it is that John Kerry and other world leaders are here in Lausanne for the Iranian Peace talks! I have actually seen heightened security in certain places in the city. I just learned that the talks are being held at EPFL, another University in Lausanne that is right next to UNIL. Even more, my apartment building is between the city and EPFL, so I see the entourage of secured vehicles pass by our building every day. It is really cool to be in a city that has so much international attention and importance right now!

Comments Off on Jackie in Switzerland: A Weekend of Adventure | Jackie in Switzerland, Spring 2015 | Tagged: Adventure, Nature, Sports, Switzerland | Permalink
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Jackie In Switzerland: More lakes and mountains (still beautiful)

March 25, 2015

After so many weeks of hard work in Lausanne, I decided that it was time to get out of the country for a little break! My friend Ayumi and I picked the small French town of Annecy to spend the past weekend. We had heard that people called it “Little Venice” and it definitely did not disappoint. Canals and rivers crossed the entire city, with countless walking bridges that gave the most perfect picture of the old, colorful buildings which lined the canals. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we found the lake. You would think that a giant lake would be easy to find, but it took us about 5 minutes to get completely lost, and then another 45 minutes of walking to find it. And it turns out, it was about 15 minutes from our Airbnb! We are clearly seasoned travelers.

This town definitely felt like Venice with all of the tall buildings lining the canals. It was the perfect place to spend a relaxing weekend!

That being said, the view was worth all of the exhausted-walking in the world. I hate to be repetitive, but I really don’t think that I will ever get sick of mountains and water. We sat in front of the lake and ate our nutritious breakfast of cheesy quiche and macarons (which, by the way, are my absolute favorite food on the entire planet) and got to look at this amazing view. The weather was beautiful and so many families were out enjoying the lake with their families. We couldn’t stop talking about how lucky we were to be experiencing this, and how unreal it felt. It finally hit us that we are really here, thousands of miles from home, seeing the things we dreamed about seeing for our entire lives. At the same time, I can’t help but think of all the places I still have to see, all of the places that are on my list and all of the incredible places that haven’t even made it onto the list (yet).

For as much as I love food, I have to say that macarons are my favorite food in the entire world, no exaggeration. Here, there are 2 raspberry macarons, a salted caramel and a violet macaron.

As much as I would love to eat macarons for breakfast, the quiche was so fresh and amazing that it was almost as good as macarons for breakfast (almost).

Voilà our view from breakfast! This was about the moment when we realized how awesome our lives are.

And now onto a slightly embarrassing confession. During our time in Annecy, surrounded by all the beautiful canals and bridges and old buildings, we spent a solid hour in Monoprix, the French equivalent of Target. We had gone in to find snacks, and we left with about 100 euros worth of groceries to take home. I have not mentioned this before but Switzerland is PRICEY. For the first time in my life, I have to shop like a real adult and unfortunately after a month in a half here, I can tell you which brands sell the cheapest pasta sauce per gram (I really sound like a middle-aged mom now and its beginning to scare me). When we finally got to France and saw that everything is about 3 times cheaper, we went absolutely crazy. We came to France for the mountains, but the best find was the cheap groceries.

Words do not do justice to my love for Monoprix.

After calming our thrifty grocery-shopping selves down, we finally got back to the city. We visited all of the little boutiques in town and really just walked around to see all of the amazing old architecture and bridges. Of course, we got a classic tourist picture on “Le pont des amours” and another with the mountains and lake in the background.

[Picture of the city] Caption: Annecy felt like the perfect historic little town, each building had its own character.

So touristy, but so pretty.

With all of our walking and shopping, we were starving and decided to have dinner in a French fast-food restaurant, Quick. I know it sounds weird to pick fast-food while in France, the center of all culinary genius, but all we really wanted was a burger and fries. As an American, I am proud to report that McDonald’s is a much tastier choice for greasy, unhealthy food, even though Quick was throwing some major shade with the caption on their boxes.

This phrase was all over Quick. It means ‘This isn’t the American burger’. Cue the fast food burger battles.

On the more sophisticated side of food, we also visited the Sunday market in Annecy, which was special because almost everything is closed in Switzerland on Sundays. We were expecting a small market with mostly fruits and vegetables, but what we got was so much more. Throughout the streets, there were stands with cheeses, meats, pastries, spices, and wines in every direction. The market was amazing because of all of the food, but even more so because all of the people. It was easy to see that this market was a weekly event that brought the whole town together each week to enjoy lazy Sundays together. The French use a term called “la convivialité” that is basically all that makes life enjoyable and happy. This market was the definition of convivialité!

All in all, we had a great relaxing weekend in Annecy, and it made us really appreciate how lucky we are to be spending a whole semester in one of the most beautiful places in the world. That being said, on Sunday afternoon, we were beyond relieved to be heading to our temporary ‘home’ in Lausanne, high prices and all.

Loving Annecy, but looking forward to making it home!

Leave a Comment » | Jackie in Switzerland, Spring 2015 | Tagged: Food, France, Friends, Nature, Sightseeing, Switzerland | Permalink
Posted by jackieinswitzerland

Jackie in Switzerland: Coming Home

Jackie in Switzerland: The (almost) End

Jackie in Switzerland: Flashback to the 1920’s

Jackie in (Italian) Switzerland

Jackie in Switzerland: Putting the Study in Study Abroad

Jackie in Switzerland: Cheese, Chocolate, and Cows

Jackie in Switzerland: le mal du pays

Jackie (Not) in Switzerland: Spring Break!

Jackie in Switzerland: A Weekend of Adventure

Jackie In Switzerland: More lakes and mountains (still beautiful)

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