This is a collection of things that I’ve been meaning to talk about but haven’t figured out a clever way of getting them all into my posts.

Electricity: The Swiss, it seems, are nuts about conserving power. Nearly everywhere you go around there the lights are on timers. Push the button…lights stay on for about 10 minutes, then off. I have to admit that is pretty damn high on the annoyance scale…especially when taking a shower.

Liquid: The water out of the tap is pretty good…I’ve no real complaints about that. But there is a nasty lack of variety in your beverage choices around here. At school…for lunch and dinner…you have your choice of water or…well, water. That’s it. There are a couple vending machines around here that have Coke, Coke Light (diet), Fanta and chocolate milk. That’s it. Of course coffee and coffee related drinks are very easy to find…and beer…well beer drinking is more common than water drinking…but I’d soooo love an ice cold glass of apple juice, or a 7up, or…oh dear lord…MILK. I would kill for a tall glass of icey cold milk. I know someone out there that would be struggling with that bit of information hardcore. Don’t worry…I do know where to get some. ;)

Eating: The Swiss operate on a whole different sort of business schedule that us Americans are used to. I’ve talked about this before but…Sunday = NOTHING open. Well some restaurants are but that is about it. During the week nearly everything closes at 6 (even a large chunk of restaurants…except Fri/Sat). Lots of stores don’t open until 9-10…and nearly everything is closed for 1.5 hours for lunch. It makes things very inconvient for us people that are used to just going and getting when needing. You’ve got to plan things out a little better. Let’s say you skip lunch…well you sure as hell better have dinner planned out. It’s not like you can blast over to 7-11 for a snack, or drive through, or even go to a 24 grocery store. Around here things like that just don’t exist. Granted I am in a TINY village…but still, it’s a complication.

If anyone has any questions…feel free to send ‘em.

College is the same the world around. School…education…for a large chunk of people is secondary to the whole atmosphere, the friends, the parties, etc. I certainly remember that. As it all begins we don’t sit around and talk about our classes…we talk about women, beer, parties, music, etc.

But there is a difference here at Les Roches. Perhaps it is the international nature of the school and students. Perhaps it is the style of education and what we are learning. But it is different. I just can’t quite put my finger on it.

Tuesday is the official “first” day of school…and man, I can’t wait for it. Today is Swiss Day so it’s a day off for the whole country. It kinda sucks ’cause I’d like to get out of the village for a bit…but eh, it’s no biggie.

So I’m sure a lot of you are very curious about the other students here….about what they look like, how they act, where they are from. Well I guess I better post some pictures eh?

Here I am at the late night club Absolut (yep, just like the vodka). It’s the only place in the area (Bluche/Montana/Crans) that is still serving drinks after 2am. As a result…one beer…one freaking bottle of Corona…is 13 Francs. 13! BASTARDS! I avoid it like the plague.

Love is in the air… Yep, college kids + lots of liquor + far from home = randomly hooking up. This is Alex (from London) and…um…a girl who’s name I forget. She’s Brazillian though.

Granted the picture is a bit…ahem…this guy is actually a hilarious guy, and very friendly. His name is Callum (Scotland) and has worked as a chef for many years. By his side is another cool person Andrea (Norway). Oddly enough she has a very strong New Zealand accent. Odd. Anyway this is at San’Nick the more popular restaurant/bar in Bluche. 0.5L of beer (some boring Swiss/French stuff) for 6 Francs. Not too bad.

Ah, Magnus. This lunatic from Sweden is a real character. He’s one of the older guys and lived in the US for a couple years…and is my neighbor. It seems all the Swedes (and Scandanavians in general) are pretty much insane. He’s a great guy…but a bit high strung. He bit my head that night. I dunno…maybe it’s some sort of Swedish thing. The guy you can barely see in the background is Carl…a friend of his from Sweden and another student here. Carl is a GIANT, silent, and was Swedish Special Forces. In other words…a good guy to have in your corner.

Pierre (Italian/Kuwaiti) and Ethan (New York). Pierre turned 19 yesterday. Crazy huh? He’s a bit of a wild man himself…and Ethan…well…he is a New Yorker. No doubt about that.

There is a HUGE amount of South Americans here…it blows my mind! The girl on the right is Sophia, a Mexican girl who’s lived nearly her whole life in Europe. She’s a real sweetheart and a definite partier. I met her on the train ride to school…and she absolutely freaked out about my age (she’s 19). The girl on her left is….um…crap, I can’t remember her name. She’s from Panama.

Ah…Pierre’s Birthday celibration at Absolut. Pierre is perhaps the funniest drunk on the planet. At one point he was dancing on a table singing Backstreet Boys…and even doing their lil dances. The girl holding him is Rita (Lithuania). Once again we have Callum in back.

Ethan in the middle, Callum at the end and Susan on the other…another Swede that is probably the nicest person here. She’s down to earth, not out of control…and has a car here. In other words, an asset ;)

The kid on the right is from Dubai. I forget his name. He JUST turned 17, has the WORST handshake known to humankind, and can’t stop talking about getting drunk and having fun…drinking drinking drinking. I give him 3 months max.

Hey, a picture that has me in it! Imagine that…too bad I’m just barely there. The new faces are Alex (Paris)…closest to us. He’s another HOIII direct entry guy and a pretty good friend. He’s no dummy but drinks rather strange French cocktails. Europeans! Opposite him is Tanya from Russia. She is silent and very shy…but her best friend here (Rita, sorta in the middle) says “Tanya is the devil. She party much. Be careful”.