Here are some pictures from the weekend:
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Chamonix
Hey, two blog posts in one week...I'm doing well!! This weekend I went with three coworkers to Chamonix, France, which is considered to be one of the best ski resorts in the world. After this weekend I would say that it is one of the most beautiful ski resorts in the world, but for the skiing I can't really comment too well...the snow conditions were not that great. But it's easy to imagine if there is good snow, then there will be amazing skiing. Despite the conditions, we had fun skiing, and it excites me to return later in the season. It seems like many of the ski resorts are suffering from a lack of snow, and it seems like my previous two homes are not (Korea and Missouri).
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Looking Back
This evening I had dorm supervision duty, which means that for 4 hours I sit at a desk or wander the dorm and make sure students stay relatively on task. Out of boredom while sitting at my desk I thought it would be kind of fun to look back at my blog. My first entry was some time back in June/July of 2008. I laughed a lot about some of the things I wrote. Two years ago seems like such a long time ago. Lately I've lacked the motivation to write much, but I'm going to try again. This semester should be full of opportunities to take pictures, ski and travel, so hopefully I'll get some of those pics and stories up on here.
This past weekend I went to Gstaad, Switzerland, which is about an hour from here. Normally it has great skiing, but lately the weather has been quite warm and all the ski resorts at lower elevations suck (including Leysin). So we went a bit higher for a little better conditions. A friend from Asia was in town for work with her marketing team. Since she does some work with school counselors, I was written off as a business expense...which means my hotel, lift tickets, and meals were taken care of. A great, unexpected gift! Despite the poor ski conditions it was a fun weekend with a group of people outside of work. I'm waiting on pictures from the people I was with...if I get some, then I'll post them.
This weekend I am supposed to be on duty, but got it switched so that I can go to Chamonix, France with 3 coworkers to ski. I have high expectations for the skiing there, but if the snow is not good, at least the scenery will be. I will take my camera with me.
There's a lot going on in my mind right now about the future. I came here with the intention of staying 3 to 5 years, but as you've read in previous posts I'm not to keen on my school, so I will hopefully be leaving after my initial 2 year contract is up. There are some positives about being here, namely the travel opportunities, riding my bike, skiing, and having worked in a Swiss boarding school, believe it or not, is a huge C/V booster. Part of me would like to stay in Europe, but another part of me would like to go back to Asia...I'm thinking Japan. There are several jobs that I'm interested in that are posted for the next school year, but I will have to hope that some jobs that I'm interested in will be available for the year after (starting Fall 2012). If I stay in Europe I will need to be in a city. Despite my love for the outdoors, I need more than that...I need people, culture, energy, etc. But I need to focus on now, and make the most of my current situation, which really is quite good.
That's enough for now. Pictures to come in the near future...
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Korea Revisited
Much to my surprise and many others, I opted to return to Korea for my Christmas vacation. I had originally planned on traveling Europe during the holiday, but after an exhausting semester I just wanted to see some friends and escape from what was, at times, a sterile life in Switzerland. Rather than returning home for the holidays where the goodbyes never seem to get easier, I came to Korea instead.
After arriving in Switzerland I began doubting my decision to leave Korea. I worked at a great school and had great friends, but my view of Korea was jaded by things in my control as well as things out of my control. In Korea I struggled with living a healthy life - physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. - and that was my number one reason for leaving. I had a love/hate relationship with Korea. My life is the classic case of the grass always being greener on the other side. Anyways, I was second guessing my decision to leave and was even considering a return back to Korea for work.
This trip has brought some closure for me, even though the temptation to return still lurks around the corner. Korea is a fun place. There is an energy that exists there that I haven't experienced anyplace else. But I want to live a healthy life and I want a healthy relationship and I don't foresee myself having/doing either if I returned to Korea. So my three weeks here have confirmed my decision to leave and my thoughts about my life here...but who knows what will happen in the future...I'm known to make decisions that don't make much sense.
It's been great to see friends and to see people who I thought I would probably never see again. When I arrived at the Incheon airport it felt like I never left. I'm comfortable here in Korea and I know how things work here. I know more Korean than I do French (I know zero French), so it's pretty easy for me to get around. I stayed at my friend's apartment, so I had a free place to crash. I spent my first night here throwing up...not because I drank too much, but because I either caught the 24 hour flu or ate something bad on the plane...I think it was the 24 hour flu. Thankfully the school nurse was able to get me to the doctor the next day. It's been bitter cold here in Korea, much colder than in Switzerland. After the stomach issue left, I then caught a cold, which I've had for the duration of my trip. I went to the doctor two times here, and then the other day a filling popped out, so I will go to the dentist before I leave. But despite all this, I've had a good time here, and I'm leaving excited to return to Switzerland.
The start of the semester will be busy, but I'm rewarded with skiing during the school day and then some weekend trips to different ski resorts around Switzerland and France. My friends Peter and Leslie are visiting at the end of January/beginning of February. They will spend a couple of days in my town, and then we're headed to Chamonix, France for a few days of skiing there. I welcome any visitors. Living overseas and not being able to share my life with people close to me gets kind of old, so I'm excited to have some visitors!
Well, there's a brief update of my life...if anyone is still reading this..hah.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Pictures
Here are some links to pictures that I haven't posted on here...
Switzerland:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97744&id=1393045053&l=936805be31
Cycling:
Monday, November 15, 2010
Lacking Motivation
My friend Hayes visited for a few days
Sunset from my window
It's been forever since I last posted. I haven't been in the mood to write anything partly due to the fact that I've been struggling some with being here. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, but where I spend most of my time, at work, is not so beautiful. I've learned some lessons that I will apply when searching for my next job, which may end up being sooner than later...I'm still deliberating. In the future I will avoid working for a "school" which is for-profit. Education does not come first at such places. I will also avoid working at a boarding school that is not independently staffed by someone other than the teaching faculty. We are put through a juicer here...squeezed for every minute and every dime. But being here has afforded some great opportunities when time allows.
Four weeks ago a coworker and I headed down the mountain to watch the first race in the World Cup Cyclocross series. National champions from all of the world kicked off the series in Aigle, which is just 30 minutes from where I live. There were 3 riders there from the USA, so we cheered them on...they were probably wondering who was cheering for them :)
Jeremy Powers at the World Cup race...go USA!
Amongst the snowy days and rain that has been common lately I was able to get out for 2 final rides before the season ended. Now I anxiously await ski season to roll around the corner. I went down to the ski shop last week to check out their "touring" skis, which will allow be to go just about anywhere. It's like a combination between cross country and alpine skiing. Great for fun and fitness!
My favorite bridge to ride across
The month of November is crazy at work since we will be processing about 800 college applications. But despite this I booked 3 of the 4 weekends for travel. This past weekend I went to Milan, Italy (I'll say more in a minute). Next weekend I will be going to Barcelona, Spain and the weekend following that I will be in London.
Since my time here I have been to Italy twice. I'm in love with this place, but will most likely never be able to get a job there because of visa issues. If I were to take a year off from work, I would definitely consider doing a language program in Italy. The people are friendly, the food is amazing, the language is beautiful and there is plenty of cycling all around the country. It's about a 3.5 hour train ride to Milan, which goes by quite quickly. For those of you fashion gurus, Milan is the place to be. I was with one coworker and we stayed with his friend that is studying there, so we had a "tour guide" and a free place to crash. A majority of our time was spent checking out the historical sites...the two most notable places being the "Duomo di Milano" and da Vinci's "The Last Supper." Ancient architecture blows my mind and to see one of the most famous paintings in history was amazing! A group of us then went to see one of the largest European soccer rivalries: AC Milan vs. Inter Milan. 85,000 fans chanting, singing, and yelling. They are emotional about their times. The atmosphere was buzzing with energy! Both teams have played much better soccer in the past, but it was a once in a lifetime experience to be there! We arrived back at Leysin at 3:30am Monday morning...work started at 8am...and I made it there at 9:30am.
Duomo di Milano
At the San Siro Stadium
It looks like the stands are on fire, but just some flares!
Audrey Hepburn and I
Christmas break is starts in about 5 weeks. I never thought I'd say it, but I miss Korea and many of my friends back there. So I'm planning on booking a ticket there for Christmas. I lost motivation to travel here during break. I just want to relax and not bounce around. So Korea here I come (90% sure).
Sunset from my window
It's been forever since I last posted. I haven't been in the mood to write anything partly due to the fact that I've been struggling some with being here. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, but where I spend most of my time, at work, is not so beautiful. I've learned some lessons that I will apply when searching for my next job, which may end up being sooner than later...I'm still deliberating. In the future I will avoid working for a "school" which is for-profit. Education does not come first at such places. I will also avoid working at a boarding school that is not independently staffed by someone other than the teaching faculty. We are put through a juicer here...squeezed for every minute and every dime. But being here has afforded some great opportunities when time allows.
Four weeks ago a coworker and I headed down the mountain to watch the first race in the World Cup Cyclocross series. National champions from all of the world kicked off the series in Aigle, which is just 30 minutes from where I live. There were 3 riders there from the USA, so we cheered them on...they were probably wondering who was cheering for them :)
Jeremy Powers at the World Cup race...go USA!
Amongst the snowy days and rain that has been common lately I was able to get out for 2 final rides before the season ended. Now I anxiously await ski season to roll around the corner. I went down to the ski shop last week to check out their "touring" skis, which will allow be to go just about anywhere. It's like a combination between cross country and alpine skiing. Great for fun and fitness!
My favorite bridge to ride across
The month of November is crazy at work since we will be processing about 800 college applications. But despite this I booked 3 of the 4 weekends for travel. This past weekend I went to Milan, Italy (I'll say more in a minute). Next weekend I will be going to Barcelona, Spain and the weekend following that I will be in London.
Since my time here I have been to Italy twice. I'm in love with this place, but will most likely never be able to get a job there because of visa issues. If I were to take a year off from work, I would definitely consider doing a language program in Italy. The people are friendly, the food is amazing, the language is beautiful and there is plenty of cycling all around the country. It's about a 3.5 hour train ride to Milan, which goes by quite quickly. For those of you fashion gurus, Milan is the place to be. I was with one coworker and we stayed with his friend that is studying there, so we had a "tour guide" and a free place to crash. A majority of our time was spent checking out the historical sites...the two most notable places being the "Duomo di Milano" and da Vinci's "The Last Supper." Ancient architecture blows my mind and to see one of the most famous paintings in history was amazing! A group of us then went to see one of the largest European soccer rivalries: AC Milan vs. Inter Milan. 85,000 fans chanting, singing, and yelling. They are emotional about their times. The atmosphere was buzzing with energy! Both teams have played much better soccer in the past, but it was a once in a lifetime experience to be there! We arrived back at Leysin at 3:30am Monday morning...work started at 8am...and I made it there at 9:30am.
Duomo di Milano
At the San Siro Stadium
It looks like the stands are on fire, but just some flares!
Audrey Hepburn and I
Christmas break is starts in about 5 weeks. I never thought I'd say it, but I miss Korea and many of my friends back there. So I'm planning on booking a ticket there for Christmas. I lost motivation to travel here during break. I just want to relax and not bounce around. So Korea here I come (90% sure).
Monday, September 27, 2010
Work, Riding, and a bit of Traveling
It's been too long since my last post, and although my life hasn't been that exciting I have been doing my best to enjoy life over here. My weeks are long with a lot of work, but I've managed to get some play time in during the weekends.
Three weekends ago a group of us from school did a ride/race to Verbier. This is a famous ski town and has also been featured in the Tour De France. Myself along with 500 other riders went out for a 95km ride that include a 10km time trial up the mountain to Verbier. This is the first time in a LONG time that I've been involved in anything even remotely competitive. I managed to place 47th out of 87 riders in my age group. I was happy with that since I've only been riding in the mountain for a month. Plus I beat some of my colleagues that I've been attempting to catch up with since I moved here. Once at the top we had a pasta lunch, listened to some live jazz, and then headed home. With the ride back home I logged 150km for the day.
Working at a boarding school, the staff members are the surrogate parents for the students. Here we have what's called "Faculty Family" where each faculty member has a small group of students that we meet with on a regular basis to eat dinner, go to the movies, hang out with, etc. My family consists of 3 guys and 2 girls. Three of them are from Mexico, one from Brazil, and one from Azerbaijan. We are a bit dysfunctional, but for the most part we're a good family. Two weekends ago I had a weekend trip with my family. I had arranged some plans, but due to the poor weather we bagged the initial plans and hopped on a train to Lausanne for Friday and Saturday. The students wanted to stay the night in a hostel, which was funny to hear since they normally live a life of luxury. So we booked a couple of rooms for the students and I stayed with strangers. The students slept well, but I did not. Anyways, we spent our time eating good food, doing a bit of shopping, walking along the waterfront, going to the cinema, and hanging out at the hostel. It was surprisingly a fun time.
And this past weekend I went to Paris. I went with four coworkers and our original reason for going to Paris was to see Mumford and Sons in concert. Things didn't go as planned, and our train was delayed for a while on Friday afternoon, therefore we were late to the concert and only heard four songs...but they were four good songs :) The remaining time was spent touring the city. Being there for two days only allowed me to get a taste of the city, so I will definitely go back a couple more times to visit the museums and some of the other sites that I missed.
October is another busy month, with work on every Saturday. So unfortunately I really won't be able to go on any weekend excursions. Damn the man. We already got our first snow here. I had to wear a winter coat today. I'm not ready for the cold weather, so hopefully this was just a fluke.
Three weekends ago a group of us from school did a ride/race to Verbier. This is a famous ski town and has also been featured in the Tour De France. Myself along with 500 other riders went out for a 95km ride that include a 10km time trial up the mountain to Verbier. This is the first time in a LONG time that I've been involved in anything even remotely competitive. I managed to place 47th out of 87 riders in my age group. I was happy with that since I've only been riding in the mountain for a month. Plus I beat some of my colleagues that I've been attempting to catch up with since I moved here. Once at the top we had a pasta lunch, listened to some live jazz, and then headed home. With the ride back home I logged 150km for the day.
Just finishing the climb up to Verbier.
Trying to dry off and get some sun on my blinding, white body.
The group from school.
Being stupid.
Working at a boarding school, the staff members are the surrogate parents for the students. Here we have what's called "Faculty Family" where each faculty member has a small group of students that we meet with on a regular basis to eat dinner, go to the movies, hang out with, etc. My family consists of 3 guys and 2 girls. Three of them are from Mexico, one from Brazil, and one from Azerbaijan. We are a bit dysfunctional, but for the most part we're a good family. Two weekends ago I had a weekend trip with my family. I had arranged some plans, but due to the poor weather we bagged the initial plans and hopped on a train to Lausanne for Friday and Saturday. The students wanted to stay the night in a hostel, which was funny to hear since they normally live a life of luxury. So we booked a couple of rooms for the students and I stayed with strangers. The students slept well, but I did not. Anyways, we spent our time eating good food, doing a bit of shopping, walking along the waterfront, going to the cinema, and hanging out at the hostel. It was surprisingly a fun time.
The Darby Family.
And this past weekend I went to Paris. I went with four coworkers and our original reason for going to Paris was to see Mumford and Sons in concert. Things didn't go as planned, and our train was delayed for a while on Friday afternoon, therefore we were late to the concert and only heard four songs...but they were four good songs :) The remaining time was spent touring the city. Being there for two days only allowed me to get a taste of the city, so I will definitely go back a couple more times to visit the museums and some of the other sites that I missed.
Obvious what this is.
Arc De Triomphe
The concert group eating at "The Pharmacy."
Notre Dame
The only tough looking people in France...the riot Police.
October is another busy month, with work on every Saturday. So unfortunately I really won't be able to go on any weekend excursions. Damn the man. We already got our first snow here. I had to wear a winter coat today. I'm not ready for the cold weather, so hopefully this was just a fluke.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Up and Running
Although students have been here for 2 weeks, classes officially started this past week, and my college counseling classes will start tomorrow. Unfortunately I'm unable to coach or sponsor any outdoor activities here because my college counseling classes take place after school Monday - Thursday which is the same time as team practices and other activities. This will be a change for me as I've always coached a school sport, but I have to do my job and that includes these after school classes with groups of about 15 students each day. Thus far I've enjoyed the other people in the college counseling department. We get along well and laugh quite a bit.
This weekend was a good one. I ventured down the mountain to Lausanne in hopes of meeting some people outside of school. Lausanne has a large expat population with many people around my age. I went down there Friday night with two other coworkers and it ended up being quite fun. I managed to meet some people from England, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Germany. Hopefully I'll have to chance to connect with these folks next time I head to Lausanne. Saturday was spent on my bicycle. A group of 6 of us (3 staff, 3 students) had planned on riding around Lake Geneva, which is a 110 mile ride. About 25 miles into the ride we encountered some construction near Evian, France, so our plan to go all around the lake was foiled. But we caught the ferry to a different point on the lake and started riding again from there. It was a picture-perfect day for riding and we ended up riding the northern part of Lake Geneva twice and logged 125 miles. I'm tired today.
I'm still adjusting to the smallness of the community in which I live and work. Swiss business hours are awful if you're trying to go to the bank or buy groceries. Most shops close at 6pm, even vending machines...and that makes no sense whatsoever. Also, business hours change unexpectedly. If you visit a shop on Monday at 4pm, there's no guarantee that if you visit it again at that day and time that it will be open. Business owners do whatever they want, which is great for them, but at times can be frustrating for others.
The beauty here continues to amaze me. I hope it never gets old!
Looking down on what I rode up.
The group of us on the ferry while out on a ride.
My back yard.
My back yard again.
This weekend was a good one. I ventured down the mountain to Lausanne in hopes of meeting some people outside of school. Lausanne has a large expat population with many people around my age. I went down there Friday night with two other coworkers and it ended up being quite fun. I managed to meet some people from England, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Germany. Hopefully I'll have to chance to connect with these folks next time I head to Lausanne. Saturday was spent on my bicycle. A group of 6 of us (3 staff, 3 students) had planned on riding around Lake Geneva, which is a 110 mile ride. About 25 miles into the ride we encountered some construction near Evian, France, so our plan to go all around the lake was foiled. But we caught the ferry to a different point on the lake and started riding again from there. It was a picture-perfect day for riding and we ended up riding the northern part of Lake Geneva twice and logged 125 miles. I'm tired today.
I'm still adjusting to the smallness of the community in which I live and work. Swiss business hours are awful if you're trying to go to the bank or buy groceries. Most shops close at 6pm, even vending machines...and that makes no sense whatsoever. Also, business hours change unexpectedly. If you visit a shop on Monday at 4pm, there's no guarantee that if you visit it again at that day and time that it will be open. Business owners do whatever they want, which is great for them, but at times can be frustrating for others.
The beauty here continues to amaze me. I hope it never gets old!
Looking down on what I rode up.
The group of us on the ferry while out on a ride.
My back yard.
My back yard again.
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