Hello Friends and Family!
It's Friday morning here, and warm enough to be drizzling instead of snowing. I usually would be really bummed by the clouds, but the warmth makes me excited to maybe even go for a run outside! AMAZING!
We played a match last Saturday against Zeiler Koeniz, the #1 team in our league. They have 2 Americans from the University of Washington, and it was fun to chat with them after the game. We lost in 3 pretty badly, but fortunately we had already locked in our spot for playoffs, and the loss didn't really count too much against us. While I don't like losing, it was interesting to see what the top level of competition looks like in Switzerland, and some of their girls were amazing to watch!
I spent Sunday coaching in a small town called Fully, with the same group of girls. After a full day, I went to the chalet of our club's president and his wife, who put together a delicious meal of Fondue Chinoise (Chinese Fondue) for our group on Sunday night. Their chalet is in Nendaz, a beautiful ski town in the alps, from which you can ski in 4 different valleys of ski runs.
On Monday, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and set off for the telecabin, en route to which I saw license plates from basically every country in Europe. After buying lift tickets, we headed up the mountain with a small group of skiers/ snowboarders, and watched as we got higher and higher up the mountain. I was amazed to see some chalets in the middle of the forest beneath us, where the people can take the lift and ski down to their house!
Due to my inability to ski (or snowboard, or do anything that involves balance and coordination and slippery surfaces), Genevieve and I took off hiking which Georges decided to spend the day skiing. Upon reaching the station at the top of the first telecabin, one can choose to ski down multiple runs, some which lead you to different lifts up different mountains. I
t's like a maze of mountainy snowy heaven for all the snow sports people out there!
t's like a maze of mountainy snowy heaven for all the snow sports people out there!Genevieve and I hiked to another lift, and ended up at the top of the mountain, from which we could see the peak of Mont-Blanc not to far away. There is a restaurant at the top, and Georges met us for some hot chocolates and a meal of soup! It was an amazing day and my pictures don't even begin to capture the beauty of the area!
After practice on Tuesday, I went to Neuchatel to visit Crystal, and we spent the evening making videos for our friends on Facebook (we are indeed 13 years old sometimes). On Wednesday morning, we woke up to head to her fitness center, where we would try a fitness class called "Body Pump." We were possibly the youngest people in the class, but everyone around us was using more weight than us and not sweating nearly as much!! After an hour of hell, we left the gym feeling like we had definitely put in our day's work!
On Wednesday, the girls reminded me that there was a men's game after our practic
e. The men's team plays in Lausanne, at the gym where I go to do fitness. Watching the guys play is almost like watching an entirely different sport, because they are so much more powerful than women. Our team won against the team from Geneva, and it was a fun time!
Yesterday I gave an English lesson to a woman from Cheseaux who is looking to improve her conversation skills. It was fun for me to be on the other side of a lesson for once, and definitely fun to be able to switch back and forth between languages. When she couldn't think of the right word, all I could think was "THAT IS MY LIFE," not being able to think of silly things like "car" or "banana." We're going to be meeting once a week, so I'm excited to help her improve her English!
e. The men's team plays in Lausanne, at the gym where I go to do fitness. Watching the guys play is almost like watching an entirely different sport, because they are so much more powerful than women. Our team won against the team from Geneva, and it was a fun time!Yesterday I gave an English lesson to a woman from Cheseaux who is looking to improve her conversation skills. It was fun for me to be on the other side of a lesson for once, and definitely fun to be able to switch back and forth between languages. When she couldn't think of the right word, all I could think was "THAT IS MY LIFE," not being able to think of silly things like "car" or "banana." We're going to be meeting once a week, so I'm excited to help her improve her English!
Tomorrow is our first match of playoffs, against Volero from Zurich. Their setter is Robyn Ah-Mow Santos, who was the setter for our US National Team for a long time. We lost last time we played them, but we took a set off of them, so we know it can be done. Hopefully we can find a way tomorrow!
This weekend I'm headed to Loeche, another ski town in the Alps. I'm going with Kristel (our setter) to her grandma's chalet, where there is not only skiing but also thermal baths. I think I might invest in a good book I can lose myself in while the others go skiing, and I'll get myself ready for the thermal baths!
Hope all is well at home. I miss you all!
Love, Anna
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