Fasnacht is coming....

I wanted to wait and talk about Fasnacht, after it happened officially....but the anticipation is killing me!!!!

In the dead of the winter, it can be so hard to keep up a cheery and energized disposition. When it's cold and snowy outside, all you really want to do is cuddle up in bed and read a good book. At least that's what my "boss" said, smiling. Bad weather day = lazy day at home. Especially when it comes to a cold February like the one we're having here in Luzern, where it's been around a chilling -14C all weekend (a lovely 7° F). Who would want to go out in that???

But February, despite its cold weather and cloudy days, is a special month in the Catholic cantons of Switzerland, because it marks the time when everyone prepares for one of their favorite holidays of the year: Fasnacht, or as we know it, Carnival. Although the festival only lasts for a few weeks, the endless amounts of preperation and preparties involved make the entire month exciting.

I can already claim to have gone costume shopping, 2 huge parties, and of course, seen the famous loud, drunk, and bad marching bands, parading around the city and joining in the festivities. It's just one party after another, livening everyone's spirits, especially since the school holidays are starting now, just in time. As strange as it sounds, "fasnacht" has awoken the spirits of the cold, tired, and overworked souls of Luzern. Everyone is so excited and ready.....I can't help but feel excited too.

Luzern, the perfect city?

During my travels I've noticed that people tend to fall into one of two categories: either they are a city fanatic, loving the fast paced life, or a countryside/nature dweller, who prefers the calmer quiter side of life. It's easy to satisfy both people, but what about a person who likes both? That's always been my problem. I love the excitement and bright lights of a city, full of people and things to see and do....but I also love the mountains, and the ocean, and those quiet moments where you feel like you are far away from everything....Whenever I lived in the countryside I craved the excitement of city life, and whenever I lived in the city, I only longed for those quiet peaceful nights with stars in the sky....what a dilemma.

And then there was Luzern. Although I don't know this city very well yet, I can already tell it has the makings of being an incredible place to live: not only are there plenty of bars and concert venues, with plenty of old city charm, but you also have the lake to jog next to, with breathtaking views of the mountains. And where I live near the Verhkerhaus Museum, we have the peaceful views, but only a 20 minute walk from downtown. It's a win win situation.

The best part perhaps is that when you ask the locals if they like Luzern, the answer seems to be a strong "Yes!" I've asked many friends and people I've met around the town why they like their city so much, and the answers tend to be pretty similar: good views, beautiful city, and then for an added bonus: "The people are friendly and nice here." Admittedly I haven't met too many people here, but noone has disproved this theory yet (although I've met very few mean Swiss people to be honest). Although Luzern hadn't been in my plans until recently, I think it appears to have turned out for the better. Only time will tell.

London Revisited

Coming to London is almost like a rite of passage for those American travelers on a shoe string budget headed towards Europe. Aside from that sneaky Air Berlin flight from time to time, I've found myself in London Heathrow, Gatwick, Lutin, and Stansted Airports....But unlike in the past where I was often stranded or alone, I've made some great friends who not only live in the city, but also let me crash on their floors. So now it's time for London, to appreciate this city which I never truly appreciated before. Time to wipe away my misconceptions, which I so mistakenly placed those first brief visits to London. London calling.

Misconception 1: London is a modern concrete jungle. Whenever I came to London, I always saw sky scrapers, the London Eye, and miles and miles of shops with glamorous lights and billboards outside. The downtown area struck me as too sterile, with little tradition or quaint familiarity.

Then I discovered the reality: As soon as you walk outside of any neighborhood in London, any 'burrough,' you find a unique charm. Each district has that something special, some with their bright lights and flashy stores, but others with that cozy feel that I love so much. Like Clapham, in the south, which has plenty of nightlife, but also has cutesy brick houses that line up the cheery streets, always clean and colorful. I discovered that it all depends on what you're looking for, but London seems to have many different sides to see.

2: Everything is expensive in London. The first time I went to a pub in London, I probably spent a good 8 pounds on a pint of beer (roughly 12$ US). Yikes! I didn't even want to go out to dinner, or see any concerts after that.

Wrong. It's all about going to the right place. In Brixton, for example, I went to a great free live concert at 'Hootananny's,' where there were so many people dancing and partying it up, I could barely move. As for food, I discovered that if you go to Tesco's, the local supermarket chain, you can get a sandwich and 'crisps' with a drink for 2£ (3.00 $ US). Not too shabby!

Everyday I learn something new about this incredible city, which makes me appreciate it more. I think the most exciting thing about it is that every corner you turn you can very likely run into an Italian, French, or Egyptian, or people from even further away, all of them locals, all of them trying to make it work in the big city. It's exciting to hear people's stories, and learn from them. And of course, there's nothing better than having an authentic Italian meal at a restaurant where English is only spoken by half of the customers. It helps to be friends with the waiter, who serves you wine for free of course.

Breaking through the rules....

One of my favorite lessons for my Russian students was on rules and customs from around the world. There was this great exercise where students look at a list of strange rules from around the world, and try to guess which 3 were incorrect. No one ever guessed correctly, except for perhaps "One should never tip a taxi driver in New York." Obviously that's false, even for a Russian to see.

But a funny little custom that I never quite believed was one about Switzerland: "In Switzerland, you should not mow your lawn on Sundays, it's against the law." I knew the book said it was true, but I never really believed it. Come on, I thought, everyone has to mow their lawns sometime, and the weekend is the best time to do yardwork. How could that be? Then one evening my boyfriend got up from his computer in a shock, as if he had forgotten something. He insisted he had to cut the wood for his architecture project, right then, before it got too late. "I can't do it tomorrow," he explained, "because it's Sunday." As if he had been a recording from the textbook. I shook my head in disbelief.

This incident, however, made me reflect on previous experiences. For example, one day the puppies at the house where I work encountered someone else's dog, and started barking furiously. Although it only lasted for a few minutes, it was a few minutes too many for the neighbor who came over and insisted that the noise must stop. Although I apologized, he explained "We all want peace and quiet, madame, (much to my dismay I was not considered a "mademoiselle"), and we all should have it."

I suppose this somehow reflects on Swiss people and how they have a reputation for being rather....inflexible. But on the other hand, it does make logical sense to have laws like that, since everyone lives rather close together in this tiny country, with the only breathing room out on the mountains, far from anyone's house. And it is nice to know that if someone is having a loud, noisy, party, you don't have to feel guilty knocking on their door and demanding them to stop, because you probably won't even be the first neighbor to do so. All of this is logical, and reasonable.....maybe too much so for my comfort, but then again I think about all of my crazy Swiss friends, who despite all the rules and customs are quite illogical at times. I guess it's ok to break the rules...I turned to my boyfriend and asked if Sunday was the only time you should be quiet. "Well, no noise past 10 o' clock, and usually not around noon on all days." Noon??? "Well, you shouldn't," he hedged.

Living in Switzerland, a whole new perspective

Sometimes in life we do the right thing, and let logic and reason work out what is the best way to go. But if we always followed our mind, we would never leave room for risk, or adventure. I guess that's why I decided to move to Switzerland, not for money, or for a career changing job, but to follow my heart. Plus as a country, Switzerland isn't half bad, and I can think of worse places to move to.

So although I have been to this country countless times before, I believe this time will merit some blog posts, because living in a place is very different from visiting as a tourist. What little I know about Swiss life and culture will hopefully be expanded upon, which I hope to share with you, dear reader, as I au pair in a Swiss family and make new Swiss friends. Wish me luck!

Oslo in the summertime

There are some things in life that shape how we understand things: the media, books, friends and family....how we view the world can be shaped by outside sources and can be formed in really warped ways. I for instance, had always associated Sweden with ABBA....my image of the country was based on what I knew, thanks to Ikea, ABBA, and ....Ikea.

Although it's very important, in my opinion, to push these preconceived misconceptions asside, I have to admit it can be really difficult. As little as I knew about Oslo, or Norway for that matter, there was always one thing that shaped the city in my mind, and it all came back to my college days, where I spent many a evening in the library attempting to study as I listened to music. One song often came on my iPod, because it was a monotonous, heavy rythm, which fit in perfectly with my political science readings. A song titled, "Oslo in the Summertime," written by the lead singer of one of my alltime favorite eccentric bands, Of Montreal. His image of his time spent in this city was placed in the lyrics of the song, talking of the hot, slow summer days where the sun never sets and everyone "is away on holiday." I wondered what kind of place this Oslo would truly be.

Oslo turned out to be a new and improved city from whatever it was before. As evidence from the construction sites scattered across the city, the new architecture wowed everyone of us, especially the architecture student in our group. We were all glued to the extremely reflective and enticing Opera house, a completely glass structure overlooking the sea with a modern style that made it scream out "photograph me, I'm gorgeous!" The sunshine along with 5 marching bands outside made it even better, with light being bounced from the building to the brass instruments, blinding everyone in sight. I suppose the Norwegians had to invest all of their money somewhere.

The city itself was much nicer than everyone claimed it would be, and the gardens were spacious with plenty of interesting stone sculptures to check out. With such nice weather, we were tripping over tourists right and left, but it didn't matter too much, because we had some locals, friends from Fredi's travels, showing us around their favorite haunts, and explaining the sights. As we wandered across the wealthy "Beverly Hills" of Oslo, we became even more aware of how well off Norway seemed to be. "It hasn't always been this way," explained our guide Julia, "Norway had its tough times too. But now that we have all of that oil, we are doing quite well."

Fortunately the splendors appear to be shared with everyone, unlike many oil countries, where only a few benefit. Julia and Ingvild explained that every student in Norway is given a stipend to help them pay for their living expenses as they study. In other words, they get paid to go to college. "I think in a way that makes us more independent from our parents," explained Ingvild. "We don't have to live at home, and we don't have to ask them for money. We can take care of ourselves much earlier." An interesting concept, which would seem bizarre in many countries, especially in Europe. And no student loans? That would make almost any American student crazy with jealousy.

It was important for us to spend some time in the capitol, and ask our questions to the locals. A burning question that had been on the tip of my tongue was finally answered. The difference between Norwegians and Swedes? According to many of my sources, the stereotype goes, that Norwegians are more connected to nature, and are more down to earth. This is probably due to their significantly smaller population, and smaller cities. I could definitely believe it when I looked at my friends, who although seemed very stylish, I could imagine them backpacking their way through a forest, enjoying the dirt and bugs and all. And of course, they had, and enjoyed every moment of it, something in their looks far off in the distance, away from their trendy and modern Oslo.

In the breadbasket of Norway

One of the best aspects of being a traveler is that you can make friendships just about anywhere. It's easy to make friends with a big smile and open heart, and even easier to keep in touch with them these days, thanks to skype and facebook. I tend to keep contact information for everyone I meet if I can, because you never know when it might come in handy. Like one day, when I searched through my contacts, looking for a friend to visit in Oslo, Norway. I came across two very unlikely candidates: an old classmate from elementary school, and a Polish friend of mine that I hosted in Budapest, over a year ago. I immediately contacted both of them, and was fortunate in that they both positively responded, Kramar taking it even a step further, inviting my 3 friends and I to stay on his farm for 2 nights.

I felt extremely fortunate the night that we all came together with our friends in Oslo, catching up on old times, and recounting new adventures. Kramar drove us all back to his farm (well, his collective housing that was a farm in the recent past) and we began a new adventure in the only aerable part of Norway, with rolling hayfields and corn rows. During the next few days he had us exploring the countryside, as well as the island fortress where he worked.

We learned that Norway didn't grow just any corn: the corn we picked was so delicious, we swore we'd never tasted anything so sweet. As we cooked, cleaned, and meandered around Kramar's house, we experienced the simple joys of living in the countryside: picking our own vegetables, grilling them over a barbecue as Kramar played the guitar and we sat outside watching the stars slowly appear in the sky. It was an exciting moment for all of us, Kramar included, since we were all foreigners, appreciating a new lifestyle in a new land. It seemed silly, but at that moment, we were all so happy to see time pass us by, without caring to measure it. All we needed was each other and a little bit of conversation to make the moment worthwhile. And I thank my lucky stars every day that I have friends like Kramar, that after one selfless act on my part, will always return the favor, years later.