Detroit Represent

Another good weekend in Vitznau. Saturday was quite eventful. First I went on a bike ride around the lake to Weggis to buy a half price card for public transportation, then we came back and played a little bit of soccer. After that we went swimming in the lake. It's so cold that your body can hardly move when you swim. Its like being outside in the winter, it takes you 5 minutes to swim 50 feet. And when you get out, your body needs time to warm back up, its very refreshing though, it just takes one jump in and out and you are set for the day. After that, we showered up, ate dinner and caught the boat to Luzern. There was a festival going on called Blue Balls, not quite sure what the name is about, but it was great. There was live jazz music all over and food and vendors. It was a lot of fun, we went to a cool bar called the Road House and then we went to a club and danced like hell to some sweet techno. It was pretty awesome, the club was called the Opera House. It was like a big opera house that they turned into a night club. There was 2 balconies around a big pit and then up stairs was a shower with crazy girls dancing in it. This morning was a little rough, but after breakfast I did some homework and then we took a dip in the lake. We weren't in the lake for 5 minutes before it started thundering. We watched this storm roll in over the lake and by the time it reached us it was raining and gusting so hard, but the crazy part was there was so much hail in this short 5 or 10 minutes that it looked like it snowed. People were shoveling off their porches. So to sum it up, we got about 14 or 15 guys and played some b-ball. My team won both games. Straight Ballin' Detroit style. It was awesome. I showed them how we do it in the states.

Its Monday, classes are beginning again after another long weekend. Friday we had a welcome party in the student lounge. It was fun, there were drinks, music, dancing and lots of people starting to come out of their shells and let loose.

Saturday all of the new students got a free trip to Luzern via boat and then returning by bus and train. The city was great, it was quite large compared to tiny little Vitznau. We did some sight seeing and then shopping for essentials. I ate a big pretzel and then I had a bratwurst with mustard. It was very tasty. The food here is so light. Its very good. Sunday we played a good soccer match with about 14 guys from the school, that was great. Did some homework, and then a bunch of us gathered in the student lounge and watched the Mist. Friggin terrible, so stupid, but I feel that way about most horror movies. Classes are good, the cooking classes are easy to me, not so much to some of the other students. German class is not bad, its just going to be a cram. Wine and Beverage technology is interesting, but the teacher is quite boring and he just drops tons of information on you fast. We spent an hour just talking about mineral water the other day. Sounds fun right? Today I start nutrition which I am looking forward to. So, that's all I know right now...
Pictures of Luzern...

7/7/08

I have finished orientation, I have all of my books, got fitted for my uniform, got my tie, and just about everything else. This post would not have been possible if not for Uncle Kent and it is just for those who want to see the pictures I have from the city.

Click Here to check it out....

7/6/08

Whelp, Its 2am on a Sunday. For all of you who are worried about my studies(including myself) we don't really start class until Tuesday. We continue with orientation tomorrow at 9am. The weekend was a blast, but honestly, I am glad its over. I have met many people and have found many things to do. On saturday, like I said, I played soccer at 7 and won... naturally. GET SOME. I excerscised in the gym, just your standard bench presses curls and what not. The food has been quite mediocre but today, I thought of "Capital K" aka Papa aka Dad aka Keith William Walter, when we had hamburgers for dinner. I had one for him. Honestly I was dying for something of my tastes because the cafeteria caters to all of the kids who attend the school and its been alot of asian and indian food because that is the majority, so thank ya Jesus. Have you ever had Garam Masala for breakfast??? The people are great but the indian kids smell, and the asians are close behind. I wish I had a pressure washer to hose a few of them down. Girls too. Yesterday my visions came to life as I took many photos of the area, mainly by the water. Its so beautiful. I wish i could share them all on here but if you want to see more, you will have to request them by email. 5 francs a photo. ha, just kidding but seriously, this shit aint cheap. I played BBall today which was also nice, there is a gym at the local elementary school where we can play on the weekends. My friend Fabio from Brazil used to play pro ball and grew up playing the likes of Anderson Verejao and Nene who suck, but he played Leandro Barbosa his whole life which I found interesting, He is quite good. So, now I must go to sleep because the rest of my life begins tomorrow and I dont want to miss the train so until then,
Auf Wiedersehen

7/5/08

Recap on the Rose Festival
Last night was much fun. A small group of us took the bus to Weggis (Vegis) for their annual Rose Festival. There was music and street food and beer. The vibe was very laid back, everybody was hangin' out and drinking their Eichofs. The food was cool, you could get some pomme frites(french fries) or you could get sausage with a piece of bread and mustard, but of course once I saw it I had to get a hot dog. 4th of July. It was a good dog, but they took a piece of a baguette and hollowed out the center, dropped the hot dog in like a torpedo and then squirted the sauce of your choice inside. There was no mustard which I found odd for being in a German influenced area but we had cocktail sauce. It was just catsup and mayo. Their is a lot of ketchup around here which I also find strange, I thought euro's hated ketchup. My self and two of the girls rode the bumper cars which was a lot of fun, then we went and danced a little at the bunny castle. It was a bar that was setup for the fest and it looked like castle, inside there was a DJ playing awful music like Faith by George Michael and that song by Kid Rock that sounds like Werewolves of London mixed with Sweet Home Alabama, but the best part was everybody was way into it, especially the DJ. So then we all rode the bus back to town and that was about the end of our night. Today I think I will relax, play soccer at 7 with some locals, and get ready for orientation tomorrow and classes which will begin Tuesday.

7/4/08

Happy 4th of July you Americans. Still sleepy from the flight over but I made it. Got 2 roommates  one is from TX his name is Eric and the other is from Greece and his name I cannot spell but its something like Tassos. Our room is pretty cool, I share a big space with Eric and we have a bathroom and small kitchen that nobody uses except for the fridge because if we set off the smoke alarm with the stove then we get fined. Strange. They like taking your money, everywhere. The greek has his own private room. But we have a nice little balcony that has a view of the ally and to the left is the mountains with cable cars and then we can also see a little bit of the lake to the right. It was just me and Eric last night and we got some tallboys from the store around the corner. They were called Eichof, brewed in Lucern. Pretty good. After a few of those and no sleep from the plane ride I was out by 9:30 p.m (3:30 for the rest of you) The area is beautiful although it rained all day yesterday. The scenery is like nothing I have ever seen. I used to tell people that Hawaii was the best place I had ever seen, but now its a toss up. Its really incredible. Everything is so green and there is hundreds of different trees and flowers giving off so much color. The lake is more clear than Higgins Lake or any other lake that I have ever seen. The mountains surround you and it almost creates a sense of seclusion from everything. Well tonight begins the Festival of Roses in Weggis, the town over and its supposed to be a big deal so that's where I will be tonight. I wanna go play some fußball...

7/2/08

Day 1
SwissAir is nice, the airbus sucks,. Window seat was a bad idea on a cramped 10 hour flight, there is no A/C 'and you cant tell its like -50 outside. The guy to my right is from Greece but resides in Ft. Lauderdale, cool guy, likes to fish. I can't really sleep, I drank some wine to see if it would help but it hasn't. I am not sure how I feel but I can tell you, I know I will feel like shit tomorrow. I'm sitting cool at 11,500m, iTunes are jammin (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - American X) its 2:07am in the US of A, but its really 8:08am in the suisse. Get some. I am staring at the TV in the seat that is producing all kinds of good facts. I can see Spain, the UK and Ireland on the map and we are aproaching the Irish Sea and the Bay of Biscay. Ocean Atlantique....I think its French but really no clue what language that is, but I'll find out soon enough. Almost there, I think one last stretch of my legs and one last attempt at sleep and I'll be landing.