rose tag travels: February 2012

This evening for the first time since I have been here I went to a 'Link - The Au Pair Connection' evening. It's about time right?! Your probably wondering what that even is! Haha! So to explain in brief an American couple who live in the Geneva area have saw years ago that there was a large community of Au Pair's in the area with no support system. Young girls (and the odd boy) are in a foreign country with no family and not many ways to make new friends, it can be hard.

This couple created 'Link - The Au Pair Connection'. It's basically a freely run organization that provides support for Au Paris in the area. It's great actually. the couple are always available to talk and answer questions. The man, Paul, is a Councillor so offers free sessions and the women, Becky will happily meet up with you for a drink to help you with anything. They run a Sunday school type group every week and and an activity every two weeks, along with weekend activities too. The Thursday activities vary from different culture nights run by fellow Au Pairs to a night celebrating a holiday (this evening one being on a Valentines theme). The weekend activities can be an overnight visit to a city, ski trip or (like the one I just singed up for in March) a film festival weekend. Everything is organized for you, lodging, food and travel, you just pay a small fee.

Tonight's activity being about valentines was all gooey at times! Haha! We ate chocolate, talked about what we would like in a guy and what we need to be like...love and all that! We even had to get into groups and write a little poem including certain words. I am rather proud to day that I did contrute the thrid and forth line on the very well applauded poem below.

Boy..girl..love..chocolate..valentine..banana........

Labels and all................

Bon nuit!!!

Last weekend I finally got myself up to a snowy mountainside to experience 'the real Switzerland' and it was freezing!!!! Actually scratch that! Its was below freezing, about -19 most of the time! It was so cold that as soon as you walked outside you felt your snot freeze! Gross but true!

Welcome to Villars............

Just off the balcony...............

It's Chelsea's birthday next week so her friend Valentine proposed a trip to her family's apartment in Villars for the weekend to celebrate! Chelsea, Valentine, her boyfriend (Beff, real name Ismael...or something like that) and I drove up to Villars Friday night to the snowy wonderland! Random note on Beff......he has a full-on English accent when he speaks in English. If I didn't know he was french I would totally have thought he was from back home. Kinda of wierded me out every time he spoke.

I was just a bit excited to say the least at going! It's something that's been on my list of things to do while I am here, and apparently it may well happen again! Whoop whoop!

Spending this last weekend in Villars has probably been the best weekend I have had since I got here in August! I love snow, going somewhere new, getting to know some new people and having a laugh just chilling out together was pretty great! Plus the EPIC sledging was beyond hilarious!

Chelsea and I walking back to the apartment after some breakfast.......

A little afternoon film feast (just the girls)......

The fuzzy Beff, Valintine and moi on a train to the sledge run.........

Mummy and Daddy suits..................

Valentine had to persuaded us to go sledging. It was cold outside and we were all cozy by the fire inside. V had said a few times that we would just go down the run once or twice, so I that added to the 'we can't be bothered to go' for Chelsea and I. I am sooooo glad that we went though, the sledge run was amazing! It wound itself through the woods for over a mile, and wide enough to drive a car down it. Steep enough with edges that just dropped off down the mountain it had you on a edge a little.

So much snow in my face that my eyelashes iced over.....

The downfall of the day was loosing my camera on the sledge run! Gutted to have lost it more for the funny photos then the camera itself (so most of these photos are courtesy of Chelsea). In my endeavor to find my camera Chelsea and I walked back up most of the MEGA sledge run, but we only came across loads of pine cones! With camera lost to snow we got on a sledge together to ride back down the run to meet up with the waiting V and Beff. This however was a huge mistake, yet the most hilarious thing to have happened in a long long long time!

My face say's it all....................

The two of us on the sledge together was just one big disastrous crash waiting to happen........again........again.......and AGAIN!!! We plummeted down the slop going way to fast for us to control the sledge, snow spraying in our faces to the point where we couldn't see for the wave of snow engulfing us. After about 30 seconds on the sledge the inevitable crash and tumble into nothing or a two meter high wall of solid snow occur. We were both in stitches just lying in the middle of the run overtime! Still not sure what was snow, tears, saliva or snot on face after a while. I also now discover a ton of massive bruises all over me, presumably from the crashes, but I must have been too cold at the time too notice the pain!

Moi.........................................