Stupid Projects

So in our classes, your grade is made up of a project and the final. Intense, yea. And it just happens to be that 3 of our projects are due this week. And they're group projects, which makes it that much more difficult to coordinate and stuff. So the weekend was basically full of work and frustration. One project was due today at noon, and most people were working on it until 11:30. What he asked us to do is absoultey ridiculous. We had to get information on a hotel that hotels don't publish. Like, occupancy rates, customer records, etc. And he was so damn specific about exactly what he wanted that it made it very difficult to actually remember it all. Also, Glion all together is so freaking anal about referencing, format, cover pages, and anything else they decide to do to make our lives a living hell. Geeze! And we only have 5 classes! I can't imagine how other people do it with 7, or even 10 classes!

Everyone is looking foward to this weekend very much, since all of our projects and work will be over for now. Most projects have 2 parts, but at least the ones due this week will be finished. And celebrate we will! Caitlyn, Elyse and I are going to plan our spring break sometime this week, so that will be the next exciting thing to tell you all.

Still missing Lynn and Brett. She posted almost 250 pictures. They're all great! If you're not on facebook, just e-mail Lynn to see them. And if you are on fbook, but not friends with my sister, friend her. Believe me, if you're friends with me, she'll friend you back. Hahaha.

.love and chocolate.

Visitors!

Last week Caitlyn's parents came. On Wednesday night they took us (me, Caitlyn, and Elyse) out to dinner. Cute place in Bulle with amazing food. We ate like we had never been fed before. It was fabulous.

Thursday was Valentine's Day. The Glion students step up a nice little get together. We all had one glass of wine and were in bed by 10... orrrrr something like that. The rest of the weekend was normal. Out at night, homework/shopping during the day. But then there was Sunday.

Lynn and Brett came on Sunday!!!! I had set my alarm at 8:30 to get a 9:13 train. Work up at 9:12... realized that I had set it for PM, not AM. I paniced. Ended up getting a train that took me all over this freaking country, and finally to the airport an hour and a half later than I had planned. Lynn and Brett's plan had been delayed out of Logan, so they had 20 min to get their connecting flight in Amsterdam (Amster Amster Dam Dam Dam!) Thankfully, they made their plane. But their luggage didn't. They were told that it would be on the next flight, leaving Amsterdam around 3, and then would be brought to Bulle. Brought them back to Bulle with me, where they got to their room and showered before I toured them around. Went to my room to meet people, over to campus to show them the classes, then walked around Bulle for a while. Had dinner at this great little place in town and went back to my room to check e-mail and figure out plans for Monday. As I walked them out to go back to their hotel, I was praying I would meet them in the morning and they would have all their luggage.

No such luck. Met them at their room Monday morning to take them on an adventure, with still no luggage. Apparently the airline had 2 of their 4 bags, and would be delivering them at 2pm. We got a train over to Gruyeres to see the town and the Chateau. Spent a little while up there (so beautiful) and then Lynn wanted to tour the cheese factory. That was fun, and we got samples. On the bus to our next destination, we all tried the cheese. 6 months, 8 months, and 10 months of aging. Lynn tried the 10 month first... EWWW. At that point, I just went straight for the 6. Brett was daring and tried all three. Lynn convinced me to try the 10 (gotta love sisters). It was... an experience. One that I would never want to try again.

Next stop was Moleson, our token mountain, and the tallest in the area (2002 meters). From the bus we took a Funicular (SOOOO COOL!!) up part of the mountain. There, there was a ski station and restaurant. We then took a scary-ass cable car up to the summit. Mom would not have liked that. There was another restaurant and observation area up there. Along with ski slopes! People are such crazy skiers in Switzerland. Lynn and Brett then wanted to climb to the VERRRRY top. I didn't think we were allowed to... but we went anyway. 2002 meters is beautiful!!!!
Back at the bottom, we had about 2 1/2 hours before our bus... with nothing open. We basically just bummed around before getting something to eat and then bummed around again. Finally we got back to Bulle, and Lynn asked the receptionist if their bags had come. She didn't speak very good English, and said something like, "No bags. 2 bags at 10". Lynn was livid as we went up to their room. Opened the door aaaaand.... 4 bags! Everyone was much happier at that point. Even me, because all of the stuff I had requested from home was finally here! I left them to relax and shower before going to dinner. Apparently Kebabs are very popular in Switzerland, so I took them to our favorite place for dinner. Delicious as always. Brought them back here to check train schedules for the rest of their trip, then had to say goodbye :( I had a great couple days with them... it was very much needed!

Elyse's parents and 2 brothers came this weekend. We're going out to dinner with all of them tonight and I'm definately looking forward to it. Who wants to take us out next week??? :)

This weekend is going to be full of work. We have 3 projects due next week, so it doesn't look like "fun" is on the agenda... though I'm SURE we'll find time for that. Gotta keep up the Glion Spirit!!

.love and chocolate.

No longer trendy

I'm making a list of all the thing that don't matter/aren't popular over here, that were in the states. I'm sure this list will get longer as the semester goes on.

- Vera Bradley (sorry sister)
- North Face jackets
- Headbands
- Nalgene's
- Being considerate (not many people say excuse me)
- Eating large meals
- Pick-up trucks (sorry roomz)
- Saving trees (teachers give millions of handouts)
- Enormous mansions that could house 60, but only house 2 newlyweds and an infant
- Tap water

That's all I can think of right now. Stay tuned for more thrilling updates.

.love and chocolate.

"I don't even want a beer... I just want a chairlift"

This past week was uneventful. Classes are going, projects are in the process. Most of them are due in 2 weeks, so everyone is working hard. Thursday night was the welcome party - that was certainly interesting. I may or may not have had one or two drinks, and began missing UNH. Once I got back here, I had to call someone from home to talk to. So, I chose my mom. It was about... 3:30 here, so 9:30 at home (just before my mom's bed time). We talked for a while as I calmed down, then I was able to go to bed. Friday night was a normal night. We went out to a bar, and then to a club. Nothing too exciting. Saturday was just homework and hanging out during the day. My goal was to actually go out for only ONE drink that night, and I did! I was back and in bed by 12:15.

The only reason I was in so early was because a big group of us went skiing! There were 9 of us - 6 skiing (me, Elyse, Aura, Francisco, Ana, Valery) and 3 boarding (Caitlyn, Loric, Vianney). I was the only one who had skied before, and Caitlyn and Loric had boarded before. I figured the place would have bunny hills... not so much. And unfortunately, I'm not the best teacher. The day was filled with screaming and falling. We had fun though! Elyse and Vianney tried their respecitve sports, but ended up just staying in the lodge. The views were absolutely INSANE!!! Gotta love the Swiss Alps! Oh, and the title of post is due to the fact that my boots were about 2 sizes too small, and all they had were j-bars to get you up the mountain (yea, doesn't make sense to me either). So Caitlyn and I were on one for 2 people and were both in extreme pain. I said, "You know, I don't even want a beer. I just want a chairlift". And that's where it came from, and it was so true.

This week is just going to be more classes and working on projects. The majority of them are due in 2 weeks, so I'll be much happier then. Thursday, as you SHOULD know, is Valentine's Day (along with Dan's 21st birthday!). Glion has set up a nice little get together (*cough*) for the students. So that should be a good time.

LYNN AND BRETT COME ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!! I will call upon my tour guide skills to keep them entertained through Monday. Ohhhh don't worry. There will be MANY pictures.

.love and chocolate.

Florence and Milan

We made it through out first trip together! And we're still talking! Yay us.

Thursday- Got a train out of Bulle and took lots of stops (3 in Switzerland, one in Milan) before finally arriving in Florence. We took a taxi to our hostel, and arrived there around 11pm. The hostel was basic. My mom would have freaked at the shower (some serious mold growing), but that's ok. We got what we paid for. It had a "king" bed (2 double pushed together with king sized sheets) and a single. The first night there we all slept in the king. It was cozy :)

Friday- This day was spent exploring the incredible city. The morning started off rainy, but when you're only there 2 days, no weather can stop you. We walked around taking pictures, and our first stop was the Uffizi Gallery. It was so amazing... but after a while, all the art starts looking the same. They had a patio on the 2nd floor, and when we got there the sun was out! Left there and continued walking. Stopped in the Piazza della Signoria where one of two replicas of "David" is, along with the Palazzo Vecchio and some famous fountain. Next was the Duomo, which is the third largest church in the WORLD. It is an absolutely breath-taking building. We went into the cathedral, then walked up to the top of the dome. Wait, I mean we CLIMBED to the top of the dome... 450-something steps! I was freaking out the majority of the time. But the view was INSANE. Wanna see it? Well, it's at the top of the post. It's not letting me move the picture down here. Anyway, then we went trying to find a local food that our friend suggest. Tripe? Trype? Yea. All I know is that it's some foreign animal body part that I was NOT about to eat. But she was adverturous. Go her! ANNNND while Caitlyn was pumping herself up to eat it, we ran into our friend from UNH!! So random. But awesome to make a connection to someone from home. Made it seem like we weren't the only ones gone from UNH.

After that we went to the Galleria dell'Accademia. That's where the "David" is. It was HUUUUUGE. I had no idea. It was really incredible to see it in person. There was other stuff in the galleria, but nothing worth seeing after that. Then we headed back to the hostel to hang out for a little bit. The owner suggested a restaurant for dinner across the street, so we went there. It was reeeally good. It was our "splurge" dinner. After dinner we decided to test out the night life in Florence. We had planned to meet up with our UNH friend, but things didn't end up working out. We went to a pub and I met a girl from Framingham! (UNH people, that's the town next to my hometown, and where I work over the summer) She goes to Endicott, and is in Florence for the semester. We hung out with her, Suzy, and her friend Katie for the evening. Next we went to a dance club down the street. It was super crowded but fun. And there we saw ANOTHER UNHer!! Our friend Juliet was there and seeing her was equally amazing! We think that we also saw 2 other UNH girls, but no one we really know.

Saturday- Left the hostel with all of our things to go shopping in the market. Obviously we all bought leather bags. Duh, it's Italy! But we haggled!! I was very proud of myself. After walking around a little more, we headed to the train station to get a train to Milan. Arrived in Milan and took a taxi to our hotel. It was a little bit in the ghetto, but nicer than the hostel. After checking in we got on the metro and explored Milan. Saw the equally amazing Duomo there. Along with a famous fountain and a famous arch (no clue what they're called or why they're famous). We cruised the shopping section, of course, because we were in Milaaaaano. Dinner time finally rolled around and we asked a doorman at a hotel for a suggestion (very Rachael Ray or Samantha Brown). He directed us to this restaurant which was absolutely amazing. I had some sort of pasta with pesto that was ALMOST as good as Mrs. Wyant's. After dinner we were way too tired to go out, so we went back to the hotel. Got in our PJs and "watched" italian TV while chatting. A nice, relaxing night.

Sunday- Checked out of the hotel, but left our bags so we wouldn't have to schlep them around the city for the day. Took the metro to the Piazza Castello. The castle was so beautiful. There was a huge park behind it, and at the end was another famous thing in Milan. I feel that really all that matters is that I know it's famous... I don't need to know the names :) After strolling through the park, we went back to the Piazza Duomo to find lunch. Got lunch at this random place that was like an a la carte restaurant, but exactly what we needed. Went shopping after lunch, and totally lost track of time. We basically had to run back to our hotel to get our stuff and run back to the train station. But we made it!

All in all, a very successful and fun weekend. The next few weekends we'll be staying around here. Lynn and Brett come on the 17th!!!! Can't wait for that. I think our next big trip will be Paris in early March when Caitlyn's sister and cousin come.

As always, all of you are MOOOORE than welcome to come visit me. Bulle only has a day's worth of things to do, but Geneva is fabulous. Get crackin on those plane tickets!!!

.love and chocolate.