my new habitat

I guess since I am now settled in Switzerland, I should tell you a little bit about where I'm living.  I'm living in a village , Corcelles, just outside of Neuchatel, the city where I go to school.  It's just a short bus ride into Neuchatel, and I go there for school every day and on weekends at night usually.  I have a hilarious roommate named Emily from Toronto, and we share a tiny little room with two beds really close together, but it's not too bad.  It is very easy to get around here, the public transportation is unnaturally on time, and you can take the bus, tram or train ANYWHERE.  I don't have to pay for the bus or train because I got a bus pass when I went to school, and I got a card that gives me a half-price train ticket to anywhere in Switzerland (ie. if I decide to go to Zurich, or Geneva or anywhere else ... in Switzerland) which is great!  

This weekend was Fetes des Vendanges, which is a festival celebrating the harvesting of the grapes.  Which means it is a lot of drunk people in downtown Neuchatel.  But there is also a lot of reeeally great food, which I spent a lot of money on, and there are parades and confetti EVERYWHERE.  It was really enjoyable, we went both nights.  There were a bunch of outdoor dance floor area type things set up where I obviously busted moves. Fun.

Anyways, things are still going well here.  I hope everyone who reads this is having a wonderful time, whatever it is you may be doing!

SEEEE YAAAAAAA

Hello all reading the jill blog!

I decided to start this old thing up so you could all see what I'm up to on my year abroad, traveling and such.  

I arrived in Neuchatel on Tuesday after a week of traveling to Grindelwald (in the German part of Switzerland) and Locarno (in the Italian part of Switzerland).  

Grindelwald was very scenic, there were mountains all around, and usually every morning I would wake up facing the window and be shocked when I realized that i was not looking at a postcard, but alas, I was surrounded by mountains!  We did a lot of outdoor activities and a few hikes, one particularly beautiful one where we took the gondola up to the top of a mountain and hiked all the way down (I did manage to get a rather nasty scrape when I tripped like the typical Jill I am while walking/running down  - did you know that running down a hill is the greatest feeling in the world?)  There were cows EVERYWHERE and they actually wore cowbells and you could hear them all around and it was actually very calming and pretty sounding and not as loud and obnoxious as you would think....

Okay, so.  Then we headed to Locarno which felt JUST like being in Italy - there were piazzas and cobblestone streets and gelato and all the Italian trimmings.  

It was here that our teachers gave us permission to have 'a glass of wine or beer' which turned into a really fun and hilarious night.  And then, of course, the permission was revoked for the rest of the orientation trip.  Blast.

We did a hike in Locarno on our last day there, which actually felt a lot like hiking in Southern Ontario, minus the fact that there were crystal blue rivers and waterfalls and little hobbit houses everywhere.  It was nice.

So, anxious to get to Neuchatel and meet the people we would be living with and see where we would be living, we hopped on a four and a half hour train to Neuchatel (very cold.)  And finally we were here!  We took a tour of the school, which was very short, because it isn't huge, and then went for a tour of the town of Neuchatel during which I had delicious crepes (banana and chocolate ahhhhhh).

So here I am!  My new home for the next while.  Weird thought.  I'll get used to it though!

Thanks for reading, friends.