Apr. 28 – Girls and boys, the letter of the day is: "S"
Some of my favourite words in the English language are: sun, snow, scenery, and snowboarding. I’m incredibly lucky to have experienced all of those words in combination several times in the past few months. On Tuesday, 2 days ago, I went to Engelberg-Titlis with Alex (Western), Jordan (Western), and Laura (Queen’s). I almost didn’t go because the website said that there was only 1 run open in the middle section of the mountain, which made absolutely no sense because if there was snow in the middle, there was definitely more snow at the top.
Jordan and Cora convinced me to go at 1am the night before. I have to thank the both of them, because I would have really regretted it if I hadn’t gone. I went to bed at 2am, woke up at 5am, and got on the train at 6am for a 3.5 hr ride to Engelberg with the rest of the group. Surprisingly, we were all chipper and talkative for the whole ride there. For the last leg of the train ride, there was only one set of railway tracks and the trains had to take turns using it. The train went up like a 15-degree incline/decline (I’m just guessing because I really have no idea what it actually was). I only know that it was steep, because I was sitting facing downhill and I felt as if I was going to fall out of my seat.
We got there at about 9:30am, but we didn’t get on to the slopes for another little while because some of us had to rent and others ran into buddies. Goo says that there’s this alter-ego side of me, which he calls “Snowboard Amy,” who’s really mean. According to him, “Snowboard Amy” comes out when normal Amy is about to go snowboarding, but is unable to get on to the slopes just yet, usually because she’s waiting for other people. “Snowboard Amy” is incredibly impatient, snappy, and has no idea why other people don’t move faster so that they can all do what they came there to do – ski or snowboard or snowblade or just roll down the hill, whatever. Luckily, “Snowboard Amy” was fairly subdued that day in Engelberg.
Soon after we’d arrived, we found out that the entire northwestern side was open! I was SO happy (read that with a French accent hehe)! The snow on our first run was the best snow I have ever been on. It was THE perfect cruiser run, except for the unavoidable t-bar at the end. Alex & Jordan took this off-piste run and didn’t reappear for over an hour, since they had to hike back to the closest lift. Although it did look like the best time ever, I didn’t dare to join them because of confidence issues and the chance of death from falling into/over crevasses and cliffs. Even without the off-piste run, I still had such an awesome time. I’ve got goggle tan, again.
Alex ran into a friend from Western, Mike, who was in the area for a day on a Contiki tour. They had told each other that they’d both be in Engelberg for the day, but it was just ridiculous that two people from Western would meet each other on the one day that they were both at a random resort in Switzerland. We also made instant friends with several other Canadians and Aussies who were on the Contiki tour throughout the day, which was great. Mike came with us for dinner, which was fondue. On the way, we encountered a huge pile of sh*t and a farmer shoveling it (see pic). I’m not sure who’s dirty fantasy it was, but the guys managed to get Laura to consider jumping into it for the bargain price of 70 CHF, which she didn’t end up doing.
Now, it seems kind of wrong to change the subject to fondue following that, but I’m gonna do it. It was the first time I had cheese fondue. Basically, it’s a pot of melted cheese and you dip cubes of bread into it. It was good for the first few pieces and then somehow the pleasant notion of “fondue” twisted itself in my mind into “a dinner of cheese” – which was gross. Interesting experience, but I don’t think I’ll do it again.
Somehow, we all managed to keep a high energy level for the whole day on 3 or 4 hours of sleep. We finally passed out just after midnight on the train home. One of the coolest things happened after that. I took a cab home, out of exhaustion, and I had a small-talk conversation with the cab driver in German!
Transcript of German Conversation with Cab Driver
CD: It’s cold.
Me: Yes, a little bit, but I’m from Canada.
CD: How long have you been here?
Me: Already 2 months. I’m studying here.
(long pause)
CD: I’m originally from Italy – Tuscany.
Me: It’s very pretty. I’m travelling to Italy in the summer – in July. Left here. Thanks & have a good night!
CD: We only say good night until midnight. (Then he said some stuff I didn’t understand). See you again!
I felt like I could discuss even politics or philosophy in German after that!
Jordan and Cora convinced me to go at 1am the night before. I have to thank the both of them, because I would have really regretted it if I hadn’t gone. I went to bed at 2am, woke up at 5am, and got on the train at 6am for a 3.5 hr ride to Engelberg with the rest of the group. Surprisingly, we were all chipper and talkative for the whole ride there. For the last leg of the train ride, there was only one set of railway tracks and the trains had to take turns using it. The train went up like a 15-degree incline/decline (I’m just guessing because I really have no idea what it actually was). I only know that it was steep, because I was sitting facing downhill and I felt as if I was going to fall out of my seat.
We got there at about 9:30am, but we didn’t get on to the slopes for another little while because some of us had to rent and others ran into buddies. Goo says that there’s this alter-ego side of me, which he calls “Snowboard Amy,” who’s really mean. According to him, “Snowboard Amy” comes out when normal Amy is about to go snowboarding, but is unable to get on to the slopes just yet, usually because she’s waiting for other people. “Snowboard Amy” is incredibly impatient, snappy, and has no idea why other people don’t move faster so that they can all do what they came there to do – ski or snowboard or snowblade or just roll down the hill, whatever. Luckily, “Snowboard Amy” was fairly subdued that day in Engelberg.
Soon after we’d arrived, we found out that the entire northwestern side was open! I was SO happy (read that with a French accent hehe)! The snow on our first run was the best snow I have ever been on. It was THE perfect cruiser run, except for the unavoidable t-bar at the end. Alex & Jordan took this off-piste run and didn’t reappear for over an hour, since they had to hike back to the closest lift. Although it did look like the best time ever, I didn’t dare to join them because of confidence issues and the chance of death from falling into/over crevasses and cliffs. Even without the off-piste run, I still had such an awesome time. I’ve got goggle tan, again.
Alex ran into a friend from Western, Mike, who was in the area for a day on a Contiki tour. They had told each other that they’d both be in Engelberg for the day, but it was just ridiculous that two people from Western would meet each other on the one day that they were both at a random resort in Switzerland. We also made instant friends with several other Canadians and Aussies who were on the Contiki tour throughout the day, which was great. Mike came with us for dinner, which was fondue. On the way, we encountered a huge pile of sh*t and a farmer shoveling it (see pic). I’m not sure who’s dirty fantasy it was, but the guys managed to get Laura to consider jumping into it for the bargain price of 70 CHF, which she didn’t end up doing.
Now, it seems kind of wrong to change the subject to fondue following that, but I’m gonna do it. It was the first time I had cheese fondue. Basically, it’s a pot of melted cheese and you dip cubes of bread into it. It was good for the first few pieces and then somehow the pleasant notion of “fondue” twisted itself in my mind into “a dinner of cheese” – which was gross. Interesting experience, but I don’t think I’ll do it again.
Somehow, we all managed to keep a high energy level for the whole day on 3 or 4 hours of sleep. We finally passed out just after midnight on the train home. One of the coolest things happened after that. I took a cab home, out of exhaustion, and I had a small-talk conversation with the cab driver in German!
Transcript of German Conversation with Cab Driver
CD: It’s cold.
Me: Yes, a little bit, but I’m from Canada.
CD: How long have you been here?
Me: Already 2 months. I’m studying here.
(long pause)
CD: I’m originally from Italy – Tuscany.
Me: It’s very pretty. I’m travelling to Italy in the summer – in July. Left here. Thanks & have a good night!
CD: We only say good night until midnight. (Then he said some stuff I didn’t understand). See you again!
I felt like I could discuss even politics or philosophy in German after that!
posted by lilswtamy at 1:29 a.m.
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