We are all getting ready to head to the airport today. We have had such a wonderful time in Switzerland, and I know many of the students are desirous to see more of this lovely country. In many respects, we are excited to come home an embraced loved ones, as this week has been anything but normal or routine. Watching the news has made Boston seem like some type of movie, and I know that while we have enjoyed our time, in many regards, there truly is no place like home.
We want to thank our Swiss hosts for such a wonderful and lovely visit, and we look forward to fostering a long-term relationship with Gymnasium Leonhard.
So, until tonight! So long for now Switzerland! Bis spöter!!
We awoke yesterday morning to the troubling news about gunfire and possible explosions in Watertown. We briefed the students, and explained that we didn't know much, but it seemed that they had found the two potential suspects from the Boston Marathon bombings. It has been an unreal week for everyone, both here and back home, and the news reports felt more like something from a film rather than from our city. While we had Boston and Watertown on our minds, we wanted to make the most of our last full day as a group.
Fondue
The morning began with a final Swiss "crash course" where Osi talked about four staple dishes of Switzerland: Raclette, Fondu, Geschnezeltes Kalbfleisch, and Rosti. Many of the students have had a chance to taste these dishes, and they now have the instructions for how to prepare these dishes, so get ready for some cheese!
Cathedral in Freiburg
After our crash course, the students had a chance to look at the portfolios that the Swiss students prepared during their time in Reading. The portfolios were intriguing and informative, and gave many of the students a chance to see Reading through a Swiss student's eyes. Many of the portfolios were really well done, and it was compelling to see the completion of all of their hard work.
Freiburg
After our class, we headed to the German train station to take a train to Freiburg. Freiburg is a German town about an hour away from Basel. The architecture is much different from Basel, and our students enjoyed some time to explore a more "German" city. We spent several hours in Freiburg, as the rain held off for us, and we navigated the cobble stone passage ways, the channels, a the various markets that are strewn about the city. We were happy to be able to explore a bit of Germany during our time here. We then took the train back to Basel, and the students had a couple of hours to relax and explore Basel before we headed to our farewell party.
The famous 'croc' of Freiburg
Much like we all had a chance to come together at the Sadwick's back in the fall, American and Swiss students, parents, and teachers were all able to meet at a parent's house in Basel to come together as a group one final time before our departure. The food was bountiful, and it was wonderful to hear great reports from host parents about our students. We had chance to say thank you to both the host families and to Laura and Osi for making our stay here in Basel so great.
The students have one final day in Basel with their host families, before we will all meet at the airport on Sunday. I am hopeful that our students will be able to make the most of the day, and it is already off to a good start, as we learned of the capture of the one suspect in the bombing and the death of another. It has been a trying time, but we are all gladdened by the news.
We have seen much of the German speaking part of Switzerland, from the spectacular Alps to tranquil lakes, but today we ventured for the first time into the French speaking part of Switzerland: Geneva. Our students are becoming quite the travelers, and I think a few will be happy not to have to sit on a train again for a while after this trip is over, but train travel is by far the most convenient mode of transportation for city to city travel. It also offers an amazing perspective of the landscape here, and we again we treated to great views of the Jura mountains, Lake Biel, and Lake Geneva.
St. Pierre Cathedral
Flower clock
When we arrived in Geneva, we were greeted again with warm sunshine. Our first views of the city were spectacular. We had a couple of hours of free time, where students did some shopping and explored the streets of Geneva. Geneva definitely has the French feel to it, a little bit more laid back, and has architecture that is quite different. The city sits on the shores of Lake Geneva, and all of us were wishing we had a bit more time to spend in such a lovely city. I took the opportunity to climb the St. Pierre Cathedral, which gives a good view of the city.
Students feeding the swans
Original Red Cross Building
After our free time, we boarded a bus and headed to the United Nations building. Originally the home of the League of Nations, the current United Nations is situated atop of a hill that also offers spectacular views of the city below. We had a guided tour of the facility, and explored meeting rooms both old and new. We had a chance to see the humanitarian conference center, and also the Grand Assembly Hall. It was a humbling notion to think that so many countries around the world come together at this place in the name of equal rights for all. With the recent tragedy in Boston, it was a positive place to be, especially when seeing the decorated signs desplaing the articles from the Universal Declaration for Human Rights. It made me think that there are so many wonderful people in the world striving for peace, and we cannot let a few ruin it for the rest of us.
We arrived back in Basel, and we have made slight change to our itinerary. We were planning on heading to the Rhinefall, but due to service to the railways, we instead are going to head into Germany tomorrow to Freiburg. It will give everyone a glimpse at a true German town. Auf Wiedersehen until tomorrow!
After our invigorating walking tour of Basel yesterday, many of us have seen a good deal of what the city has to offer. It is funny how quickly one can get acclimated to a new surrounding, and I feel that before we know it our kids will be able to give a walking tour of their own. We had promised to show the students as much of Switzerland, and today we set forth towards the prize gem of the country: the Alps.
The Swiss Alps are one of the most recognizable landscapes that this country has to offer, and while a few of our students had already ventured to the mountains before, today was the first time for most of our students to see the majestic beauty of Europe's most famous mountain range.
We left the train station early for a two hour ride down to Interlaken. Interlaken is one of the most picturesque towns that I have ever seen. We rode along the shores of Lake Thun, and the aqua water that lolled up along the shores of the sleepy villages offered a different sort of tranquility that cannot be found in a city. The mountains that began to emerge around us in every direction were a majestic juxtaposition to the serenity of the lake. Our students were busy snapping photos, but I fear that photos cannot do the scene justice.
We then boarded a new train in Interlaken and began our ascent up to the mountains. It is not an easy task getting to the peaks of the Alps, and we found ourselves traveling by train, bus, and, ultimately, cable car to reach the peak of a mountain named Schilthorn. While the ride was a bit daunting for a few, we were all amazed by the views we were witnessing. Schilthorn is most famous for its role in the James Bond filmOn Her Majesty's Secret Service, where the restaurant,Piz Gloria, was used in the film. The cable cars even
play the 007 theme while you are ascending.
View from the rotating restaurant
Ali, Victoria, Logan, Serena, and Phoebe atop Schilthorn
We had about an hour and half when we reached the top of the mountain (nearly 10,000 feet), and the students were in awe of the multitude of mountains that could be seen in every direction. After snapping photos, students at lunch in and around the restuarant. The restaurant is slowly rotating, and it offers patrons 360 degree views that words cannot justify. Perhaps the best sight is the chance to see one of the most spectacular views of three of Switzerland's most famous mountains: Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau. We were lucky to have another spectacular day of beautiful weather that allowed us to see for miles (or kilometers, as the metric system is becoming much more familiar to us).
We then descended back down the same way we came up, by cable car. Here is a view of part of the descent.
We arrived back on the more level ground before boarding our bus and trains back home. We had to hurry a bit to make one train connection, as we had less than five minutes to switch trains, and it provided a moment fitting for Home Alone when they are all rushing to the airport. Luckily we all made it safely.
Bern
Capital Building in Bern
On the way home we had a quick stop in Bern, Switzerland's capital. Bern is a different city than Basel in many regards, but we had enough time to see their version of the Capital Building and to do a little bit of shopping before heading back to Basel. It was a long day, but I know that our students thought the journey was worth the effort. Tomorrow we have another lengthy journey down to Geneva, but who are we to complain! We hope all are well and safe in Boston and Reading, and we still have you all on our minds.
On a lighter note, I couldn't resist film this, Patrick's long await meadow frolic:
With heavy hearts we met this morning as a group. Of all the potential dangers that we planned for, no one saw this coming. We arrived at school, many of us still in shock. Coverage was on the front page of the local newspapers here, and it was the last thing any of us expected to see. By the time we were all together again, most of the students had contacted family members, and as usual with the Marathon, each person had some sort of connection. That is the beautiful thing about Marathon Monday, it brings so many together to celebrate a true Bostonian holiday. It is a helpless feeling being so far from home when tragedy strikes, but to our students' credit, they were able to put everything in perspective, and it was a good feeling to be able to come together as a group. Some of the Swiss students even wore their Boston attire to show support. A thousand thoughts were running through all of our minds, but upon hearing fortunate news that all immediate friends and family members are safe, we did our best to make the most of the day.
Our morning session consisted of us hearing the conclusion of the famed Swiss children's story, A Bell for Ursli, and we also read about the legend of William Tell, who is a founding father of sorts of the Swiss nation. After our Swiss course, students had two periods to shadow their host brothers and sisters, before we met up as a group to head to a music museum.
The museum is housed in an intriguing building, to say the least. Adjacent to a church and directly across the street from the school, the museum is located in a a former prison. The exhibition rooms are actually in the former cells. They even left on cell in tact, and I hope that this is the only time our students will be "in jail."
Students rather despondent,
except for Patrick, to be "in jail"
Logan playing an oddly arranged piano
After the museum, we had lunch back at the school. Lunch time is a bit different here, as Swiss students have the option to head out into town, eat at home, or eat at school. We have lunch provided for us for free at the school, and the students will attest that the food is quite delicious. All of it is made fresh on the premises, and there is a wide variety to choose from.
While we were eating, a news station called the school asking about our perspectives on the bombings in Boston. The same news channel had covered our reception the day before, and they wanted to know our opinions about what had happened. I was able to catch the news channel later in the evening, and below is the news report. Brendan and I certainly would have liked to make our Basel television debuts in much another way.
Three Country Corner
After lunch, we had a walking tour around the city of Basel. Osi is somewhat of an expert on seemingly everything in Basel, and he was quite informative on the tour, but our host brothers and sisters also had a chance to chime in along the way and deliver short speeches about various points of the tour. The highlights of the tour included a stop at famous Cathedral (literally called the cathedral in German), the three country corner (where France, Switzerland, and Germany meet), and a stop atop the 31st floor at the exhibition center at a place called Bar Rouge (don't worry, only sodas were served, but Annie did go wild with a Shirley Temple).
Annie with here Shirley Temple 31 stories above Basel
It is has been a long and trying day in many ways, but the solace I took from today was found in the resolve our students have, in the resiliency of not letting senseless acts of violence dampen our spirits, and in the joy of the communal bond that of being Americans, and, more importantly, Bostonians. We are thinking of all those afflicted, and we know that we may be going home to a very different state, but we know that one thing will be the same, the pride that all people from Massachusetts will have, no matter what.
*I apologize for the previous blog post lacking pictures or video. I heard the news in the middle of putting the blog post together, and I will try and upload pictures later.
I just heard the news about Boston and am sickened by it. Students are all home with their host families and I am not sure who has heard. We are meeting tomorrow morning at 7:30am to make sure we get in contact with everyone at home. We are all safe, and we hope you all are too. I will update you all tomorrow morning.
If you need to contact me for an emergency, please call my cell phone here at: +41 079 488 96 46. For other inquiries email me at brian.mcvety@reading.k12.ma.us.
As we journeyed back to Basel from Lucerne on Friday, the students began discussing some of their plans for the weekend. I sat back and enjoyed listening to our students who were eager to spend time with their host brothers/sisters and see what Swiss life is really like. Today, I had a chance to catch up and see what the weekend had entailed.
Many of the students were able to make it a soccer match between FC Basel and the club from Zurich. Traditionally, these two teams are rivals, although Zurich's team has not been as strong in the last few years. Students thought the experience was rather interesting and intriguing and loved the atmosphere of the game. Other students headed to the Alps, to the Nestle chocolate factory, to Gruyere to eat cheese, and some ventured also into Germany and France. The weekend also was time for students to relax and explore Basel, and many also did some shopping around town. The students were well-rested this morning when we met back at school, and it was great to be together as a whole group again.
To start the day today, we continued with our crash course on Switzerland. The students completed a sort of fill-in-the-blank comparison between the United States and Switzerland, and also had the chance to read a classic Swiss tale called A Bell for Ursli. It is an interesting way to get to understand some parts of Swiss culture, and each student took part in reading. We only read half of the story, and we will have to wait to hear the gripping conclusion tomorrow.
After our crash course, we headed to the Basel city hall. In Switzerland, there are twenty-six different cantons that are sort of like our states, so the city hall is really more like a state house. Osi, one of the directors of the cultural exchange, is also a member of parliament, and he has a strong understanding of the history of the city hall. We had a through tour before heading our way up the bell tower to get a great view of Basel.
It was during this tour that we were able to meet some fellow exchangers, as a school from Natick is also here visiting another school. In honor of both schools being here, we had a reception held in our honor. We heard from on of the goverment officials from Basel, a representative from the U.S. Embassy, another teacher from a neighboring school, and from Osi. Our students also took part in the reception. Logan and Annie volunteered to share their thoughts and opinions about Switzerland so far, and both did a good job in quite an ambitious setting. They shared views about the welcoming nature of the country, the strong relationships they have been able to form with their host brothers and sisters, and Annie used the idea of the various drinking water fountains found around town as a way to represent both the foreign nature of the country but also the intrigue that Switzerland has to offer. After the speeches we had a chance to have some lunch, before a bit of free time to explore a bit of the Old City of Basel.
When we met back up, we headed to a museum on the outskirts of Basel known as Fondation Beyeler Museum. Ernst Beyeler was an avid modern art collector throughout his life, and his collection is on display to the public here. The museum houses some of the most famous names in the art world, from Matisse to Giacometti to Monet to Van Gogh. The students explored the museum for about an hour before we got to explore the work of art that is outside the museum: the Swiss countryside.
The museum is in a part of town that is rather lush and bucolic, and we strolled through the green fields with the hills of Germany to our backs. The weather was perfect today, with temperatures rising into the low 70s and the sky cloudless. It felt wonderful to have found Spring over here in Switzerland.
Students headed home with their hosts and we are back at it tomorrow with some more lessons, a visit to a music museum, and a walking tour of the city. Until then!
Not that the students weren't excited to be spending a full day in a new school, but it is safe to say that most students were even more excited today since we were going to be having our first trip away from Basel. Basel is a city of of nearly 180,000 inhabitants, and while it has the intricacies of a Swiss urbanity, it does not necessarily have the same sort of natural panorama that is often associated with Switzerland. Basel's city center is alive with serpentine alleyways, distinct architecture, and the pulse of city life, all of which the students are starting to consider their own, but we headed south today to experience a different part of Swiss culture, to the lake city of Lucerne.
Our journey began at the train station. Train travel is one of the most popular modes of transportation in Switzerland, and it is an hour's ride time to Lucerne. Most students were a bit sleepy, but the ride offered us our first views of the lush countryside and our first peek at the Alps, although they were still mostly covered by early morning clouds.
We arrived in Lucerne, city of approximately 80,000, and were amazed at the breathtaking views of the lakeside buildings and the picturesque beauty of Lake Lucerne. We had a guided walking tour of the city and had the chance to explore the Chapel Bridge, the oldest covered bridge in Europe (first constructed in 1333) and to see the Water Tower (which served as a prison/dungeon). Our guide informed us this was one of the most photographed sights in Switzerland, and our students were happy to add to the total.
Our walking tour ended in the Old Town, where students had some free time to get a bite to eat and do a bit of shopping. We then took a short ferry ride across the lake. By this point, the sun was shining and the clouds had dissipated to provide some great views of the Alps. While these are not the highest peaks in Switzerland, they gave us our first glimpse at the majestic beauty this country has to offer, although the pictures never seem to do it justice.
After our boat ride, we arrived at the Verkehrshous der Schwei (the Swiss Transportation Museum). A large museum located on the shore of the lake, the Swiss Transport Museum offers visitors the chance to learn and interact with all kinds of transportation. From the air, to the ground, to the sea, there seemed to be a little something for everyone.
The most popular attractions seemed to be the parachute simulation, the flight simulator, the scooters, and the numerous games set up in the outside portion of the museum. Some of our students proved that you really are never too old to play:
We took a bus back to town and hopped on our train back to Basel. It was quite an fascinating day, and our students are excited to spend the weekend with their host families. Each family has planned on some different activities for their students, and it will be exciting to reconvene as group on Monday to hear all about the weekend. We will be attending a reception at the Basel City Hall on Monday, and we are excited to be proud ambassadors from Reading.
Today was our first full day in Basel. Some students were still a bit blurry-eyed this morning as jet-lag seems to be setting in, but all were in bright spirits for the first full day at school. Students shadowed their host students throughout the school day getting to see first hand what a typical day at Gymnasium Leonhard is like.
The morning started with a crash course on Switzerland. We will be doing this several times throughout our stay to try and learn as much about Swiss culture as possible. This morning had our students working hard on a map of Europe, playing a guessing game that involved identifying as many countries as possible. Ali, Serena, and Logan proved to be our geographic whiz's for the day.
While there are some big differences as far as the cultural norms around school, the classes I had a chance to observed offered insights into the school`s pedagogical approach. Students are encouraged to first comprehend material and then offer some keen critical and analytic insights into their information. It was intriguing to see the parallels between both their school's of our school's philosophy.
While some of the classes were taught in English as a part of the English immersion program, others were in German, which made the lesson a bit more difficult to say the least. Students seemed to have some interesting thoughts about the school life at Gymnasium Leonhard. Here are some of the responses from the students about their first day in school.
After lunch, we had the chance to do a little bit of exploring around Basel. Our first stop was to an old paper mill. The mill was constructed in the mid 16th century, and still had a functioning water wheel. Students had the chance to learn about the history of both paper and the written language. They were also able to write with calligraphy and to even make their own paper. The process was fascinating, and both Serena and Ali were quite skilled paper producers.
Our next part of the afternoon had us crossing the ferry to the other side of the Rhine, (the river that flows through the center of Basel). The ferry man reminded me of how I'd picture Charon on the River Styx, but fortunately for us, we made the other side without incident and avoided any signs of three-headed dogs. We strolled along the Rhine, dodging a few rain drops, on our way to our second museum of the day, the Tinguely Musem.
Jean Tinguely was a Swiss sculptor and painter, and he is most famous for his large-scale operational sculptures composed of "junk" he would find and turn into art. The museum was a bit strict about playing with the sculptures too much, but the students enjoyed being able to interact with the art by stepping on buttons on the floor.
Tonight is a major football (their football, not ours) match between FC Basel and Tottenham Hotspur FC. There are many Tottenham fans in town as this is a Europa league semi-final match. One can feel the energy in the air, as all seem to have an opinion about the match. I know a couple of students have the chance to head to the game tonight, and we are all pulling for a Basel win.
Tomorrow we are heading to Lucerne for our first outing with all of the Swiss and US students. Until then!
