Friends, Fondue and Fribourg!

Salut!



Upon leaving my apartment yesterday, I spent 3+ hours driving around... Yes, that means I could have made it to France and back, but I probably drove the same 40 km 3 or 4 times... it was laughable the trouble I was having with directions! I must say, signage in the United States is waaaay better... Sometimes the signs only face one direction, so you have to pass them, look in the rearview, and pull a U turn, which is somewhat disconcerting after the 10th time!! Plus there are roundabouts everywhere. I am no good with them in Massachusetts, and I'm no good with them here!

Anyway, I made it to a "Migros" mall (I know Mom, Dad, I confused it with Micros too) which is essentially a big Target fused with a big Safeway (great combo).. I bought a SIM card and some groceries, and on the way out, attempted to buy some stamps from an ATM looking machine. I couldnt figure out how in the heck I was supposed to use it, because all the directions were in German.. Nina, I attempted to channel my German roots as your cousin, but my ancestral history failed me...


So I asked some nice people, and they explained that you put in coins, press the number of how many stamps you want, and out they come... Well I thought this was a grand idea, and put in all the Swiss coins that I had.. almost 7 francs worth. While I was attempting to figure out how to press the numbers to correspond with wanting 7 stamps, a big package sticker worth 6.90 popped out. Oops.. I decided that I should just go to the post office next time.

After lunching on a meal from home (pasta with red sauce, yum!) I mentally prepared for the ensuing practice. I got super nervous, and I tried to pretend it was just like going to prac at Santa Clara. I showed up 30 minutes early, thinking about times where I showed up 1 hr + early to the Leavey, but there was no one there and the doors were locked. I panicked for a sec, wondering if I had royally screwed up the whole 24-hour clock thing (18:30= 6:30 pm?? wtf mate??) but soon enough people arrived..



Practice was pretty good, and I wasn't as rusty as I could have been. Some of the girls are still abroad for vacation, so it was a pretty small group, but still pretty fun. While I was really unsure of what to expect, once we started playing volley I calmed down a bit. Santa Clara girls, you'll never believe it, but we did the 10 and 10 drills (front back, side to side, digging, but alas no fists) and Eva/ Kelby exercises to start off, then continued with Serve/Pass and a competitive game of deep court. So fun!


After practice, our libero, Francine, invited me to her house for a fondue dinner. She is a couple years older than me, and she has a husband and 2 children, so our worlds are a little different, but she is super cool.. She played at American University in DC in the 90's and has kind of taken me under her wing. Her husband, Pascal, is a ridiculously good cook, and we dined on delicious fondue and drank swiss wine and had a dessert of apple tart and cheese and green beans (random, I know, but so good!!). Then she revealed that she had a jacuzzi outside under the stars, and we sat in the hot tub for an hour or so chatting...

I returned to my apartment (Chemin de Petrovray 1)at almost 1 in the morning, which seems extremely late for a couple with a 3 year old to be hanging out.. But apparently stuff goes late around here, and anything before midnight is early!!

We had no practice today, so I experienced my first taste of boredom.. I decided it would be a great time to explore Cheseaux by foot, so I walked for around 2 hours, taking pictures of everything worthwhile. The most popular Christmas decoration was a Santa clinging to a ladder. On my way home I stopped at Francine's house, where we had tea and the rest of last night's pie. I asked about the Santa/ladder thing, and she explained that tradition says that instead of coming down the chimbey, Pere Noel climbs a ladder to deliver presents! That explains the decorations, and I realized I'm really lucky to have found a friend so quickly!


Tomorrow Crystal and Jeff arrive from the states and we're planning on organizing some sort of adventure for New Years. Jac is having a soiree at her house in Fribourg tomorrow, so she invited us over for Tapas and drinks before the New Years celebrations. We might stay around there or possibly venture over to Lausanne to find some bigger New Years festivities. Should be exciting either way!


Boredom is making me miss home and everyone there a little more, but I'm still feeling very good about my chances to make this a really fun experience. Plus, I'm eating delicious Swiss chocolate with tiny bits of grilled cocoa beans in it, which gives it a little toffee-like crunch. Let's just say I'm most often content with chocolate nearby!






(I'm sure this blog thing will get old for everyone soon, but I'm using it as a way to help myself remember, so bear with me and my wordiness for the moment :)



LOVE LOVE LOVE, Anna

Cheseaux, CH

Hello friends and family! I'm writing this from my desk in my new apartment in Cheseaux, Switzerland. I arrived yesterday after a long day of travel, accompanied by seemingly endless nerves about what to expect in Geneva. When I passed customs, however, all of my anxiety was relieved!

The general secretary of our team (Bernard) came to pick me up at the airport, and taught me that in Switzerland, its customary to exchange 3 kisses on the cheek (instead of 2 like in France, duh Anna!!). He was pretty quiet because I think he is somewhat self-concious about his English, so our ride to Cheseaux was dotted with random topics like whether I've ever studied winemaking (this is a big winemaking region, the hills are covered with vineyards!!) and my opinions about Obama's election...

It took us about 35 minutes to get from Geneva to Lausanne, and another 10 to get from Lausanne to Cheseaux. Lausanne is a pretty large city with a university and "beaucoup des jeunes personnes" (lots of young people) according to Bernard. Cheseaux is a very small suburb to Lausanne, and it is laid out almost entirely surrounding one street.

Bernard first took me to the gym, where several of my teammates were just leaving that evening's practice. All three were very very nice, and I'm excited to meet the rest of them tonight! The gym is a little different than the hardwood courts of Leavey, but Bernard said they have a great fan following here in Cheseaux and it gets packed for matches!

We then went to pick up the president of the club, whose name is Georges. His wife will be giving me french lessons, and they both seem really nice. They brought me to my apartment, where I was introduced to my new blue hatchback car (automatic!! yes!!!!!!) and my home for the next few months.

I was scheduled to live with another american on the team, but she got sick and is returning to the states, so for now I'm living by myself! I have a bathroom, laundry room, and full kitchen, and it's all under the house of a nice couple named Erica and Louis, who said I could come and hang out with them whenever I want!

After putting my bags away, the Mr. Pres and Bernard took me to dinner at a local Italian restaurant, where the cook took me into the kitchen to introduce me to his mother and the rest of the family that works there! The food was delicious, and I was excited to find a delicous restaurant so close to my home!

After a really whirlwind day, I returned home and slept for almost 12 hours. I woke up, found out that the shower does use hot water (yes!!!, again, because I was afraid it would be cold!) and munched on some Special K red berries for breakfast. Today I'll adventure out in my little blueberry car and find a phone store so that I can recieve and make local calls. Then I have practice at 6:30 pm, which should be verry intersting!

OK, I wanted to get my blog set up, and let you all know that I've arrived safely and am so far enjoying my time here! I hope you're all doing well and that I'll talk to you soon!


Love, Anna