Mar. 9 – From City Girl to … ?

First off, Thanks to everyone who's reading and leaving comments! I LOVE reading your comments! Miss u all!

Peep Show

There’s a new dude living in one of the rooms across the road from me. He doesn’t use the curtains in his room properly! Or, maybe he doesn’t have any yet. Geez, it’s like the guy in Friends, except he isn’t fat.

The Continuing Issue of the Hot Pink Cargo Pants

I saw a chick wearing hot pink snowboard pants and they looked so good that she’s inspired me to change my mind and keep them. At least, for now, that is.

From City Girl to …?

I’m still having a hard time letting go of the reservations that I have from growing up in Toronto and from my mom, basically. In addition to all the ideas that my mom has put into my head, I’m on heightened alert because I’m in an unfamiliar place. When I first got here, I asked my flatmate whether it was safe to walk around alone at night and she practically laughed at my question. I know, Switzerland is a safe country and everyone here says that St. Gallen is especially safe. To them, it’s just an innocent and quiet little town. Our equivalent would be Port Perry or something.

Anyways, I have yet to go out by myself at night. Most of the walkways are stairs that cut through residential areas. They’re usually quiet and you might not run into anyone at all on your way up or down. To me, I still think of these as alleyways, and I’m used to the idea that alleyways aren’t safe and should be avoided. But the stairways are the equivalent of our sidewalks, really. Still, I know that I would be a little nervous walking home up the stairs in the dark, on my own.

Also, I always lock the door to my room when I go out, regardless of whether my roommates are home or not. It’s just that I have so many important things in my room that I can’t risk losing (cash, credit cards, ID cards, plane tickets, etc.). When I do go out to town, I always wear my money belt. This is because I have to legally carry my passport on me at all times, at least until I get my Swiss ID card, and I don’t want to go through the inconvenience of losing it by misplacing my handbag or something.

It’s the same thing with snowboards. When I was traveling on the train with my snowboard, I had to put it in this little cargo area near the door. Every time we stopped at a station, I was always watching when people got on and off. It just seemed so easy for anyone to pick up a snowboard on their way off the train. No one seems to lock up their skis or snowboards at resorts either, but I still do. Well, I did, until my lock broke.

Basically, what I’m saying is that I can’t seem to relax and let my guard down. It’s all permanently built in to my head now. But then again, do I really want to let it down? I absolutely can’t be too trusting, especially when I go backpacking in the summer. Wouldn’t it be worse if I did let down my guard and something bad happened?

One thing’s for sure though: I haven’t been so relaxed and stress-free for a long, long, long time. It must be all this mountain-fresh air hahah. For example, today I stayed in all day and I read my first John Grisham novel, which I didn’t really like. Had some chocolate, some tea, some cheese and crackers. But I sat in my room and read all day with nothing to worry about except that I need to go grocery shopping because I’m all out of food (i.e. chocolate hahah).