Small town Ollon rarely has people pouring in, with a few exceptions like this weekend. It’s the 4th historic Swiss Hillclimb. When I got off the train yesterday, the parking lot was filled with all sorts of cars from the last century, polished and decked out. There’s actually a race, even though i think they are more like parading than racing. (but i could be wrong). the old engines make huge noise, so loud that the event staff were walking around and giving out ear plugs. :)
Here are some pictures (click to get larger pix)

Where did we come from? (Visiting CERN)

In this aerial view of the Lake Geneva region you can see a yellow circle. nope, it’s not a train track. it’s the plan for the world’s largest particle accelerator, buried 100m underground in the Swiss-France border. If you’ve read Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons, it might ring a bell. it is here, in CERN (European Organization for nuclear research) that the story of this international bestseller starts (i won’t go further for the reason of spoiler :-)). Ever since I arrived in Switzerland I’ve been wanting to visit! but holly molly, when I emailed them to make a reservation, they told me they are fully booked till next year!!! what a bummer. however there is a multimedia center opened for the visitors year-around and today i am feeling extra scientific so off i went.
Although most of the time i tried to recall what proton, atom and all that stuff are from high school physics class (which is way back) and tried to connect the dots, i really marveled at the scale of the project and what the scientists there try to accomplish. They are currently building its most powerful machine ever, the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC. Here are a few things about it:

• It recreates the conditions a millionth of a millionth of a second after the big bang, so that the scientists can gain understanding on the mysteries of how our universe is made and how it came to be.
  
• And it does so by accelerating beams of particles (to as fast as light speed!) and smashing them into each other to create high energy conditions similar to those in the first instants of the Universe.
  
• in just one second, protons travel 11000 times around the 27km ring of the LHC accelerator, crossing the border between France and Switzerland on each circuit

I apologize if these scientific tidbits bore you, but i thought it’s really amazing what they are trying to do. We are so used to who we are that we don’t ask questions anymore. but somewhere out there, there’s a group of devoted scientists who are determined to find out the ultimate answer of mankind. and this dedication brings together top minds across nations and around the world. And to top it off, the world wide web (www) was invented here! Which means without it, i wouldn’t be here typing this entry. :)i wish i will be able to visit the lab on my next trip back here, perhaps i should reserve the tour now!

bomb shelter

this is not an entry about our Austria trip, not yet. i thought i’d share an interesting fact and some photos in Switzerland with you.

here are some photos taken from the basement of Simone’s house in Ollon. notice the thick metal armored door and window? yes, it’s a bomb shelter! In switzerland, a 1963 law required practically every new building to have them in the basement, or sign up for the communal shleter in the city. there was even a bomb shelter industry evolved around that.

the window.

the door. the first question would be: how do I close it?

with the war long gone, the shelter is more like wine cellar and food storage now. :) perhaps we could drink our way through a nuclear war. on the left is the air filtering system. i don’t know about this one but i heard most filtering systems have to be hand cranked.

in a country that escaped both wars, it was surprising to see it here. still, many questions comes. For one, how do i know when it’s safe get out? 5 years? 10 years? 30 years? i don’t expect someone to come knock on the door ( if it can be heard through the door) to get me out. even if i come out alive and in one piece, the danger of radioactivity can still remain for many years to come.

Daily commute to french class

you probably noticed i’ve been super productive on blogging latey, thanks to the rain (with scarcasm)! I have some pictures below taken in (or on the way to) Laussane…. the train station, lake view from the train, and the school. The platform very considerably has these booths with glass walls for people to sit and to stay warm. i can imagine it being a life saver in wintertime. :)

there’s really nothing exciting to talk about in the school, other than that my french is progressing little by little. we have different teachers everyday, which seems to be the trend for language learning now. some are very good and some are just so-so. i was pissed the other day when this teacher does nothing more than giving us exercise and tell us to look up the dictionary, then she went on to read newspaper!! then what’s the point of us coming to the class? I can stay at home and do the same thing. I thought it was really unprofessional and was seriously considering to talk to the school but decided to hold off on that. it was frustrating to be in a class like that. but don’t get me wrong (enough bitching from me. :)) i do enjoy most other instructors. they are very interactive, funny, and excellent actors (to explain the meaning of a word without using english).
all right. enough blogging. now i am gonna go take a shower and go to bed early so i can get 8 hours of sleep. :)

some pictures below:

Ollon

Here are a few pictures taken last weekend.

here is the (Vienne) house where we stay and the surrounding. In summer it’s green as far as you can see, but in my previous visits during the winter, just imagine all the green replaced by white and more. :) On the side of the house is a patio with tables and chairs for dining alfresco.

there was a big family gathering last weekend in the house, we had swiss dish Raclette on Saturday night. It’s a dish with melting cheese poured onto potatoes, with preserved baby onions, pickles, and viande sechee (kinda like prosciutto but Pascal insists it’s different because it’s produced in France, not Italy! ha)on the side. You can see him sparing no effort cutting the cheese, and the picture of the dinner gathering in the middle, and Simone preparing baked chicken and apricot tart (it’s a tart to die for!)in the kitchen.

this is the device used to melt Raclette cheese.

i’ll post some pictures from the school next.. only two more days to go before the weekend, and according to the weatherman, 36 hours to go before the rain stops and the true summer arrives. i can’t wait!

Vevey

(map of Geneva lake region)

first a bit of geography lesson so you all will have a rough idea of where we are. :) Ollon, where we live, is not marked on the map but it’s to the south-east of Montreux, about 15 minutes by car. Every morning, i take the train from Ollon to Lausanne for the french class and back. The train runs along the lake and it’s very beautiful – even on a gloomy day.

And as if my prayer has been heard, it finally stopped raining! I woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning today. I thought I should enjoy the weather while I can even tho Pascal couldn’t come with me, so viola! – I took the train to a nearby city Vevey (circled on the map), had a stroll along the lake and visited the old town (every european city seems to have a charming old town!), had a cup of coffee and some snacks there and checked out those cute stores with the tempting “sale” sign out front. :)

here are some pictures from the day, but none with me in it because i didn’t feel comfortable handing my new Canon Rebel XTi camera to strangers….

there are great photographying opportunities everywhere..even the store signs are like art pieces.

i haven’t seen a merry-go-round this elegant..

Swiss life

Hi you all! Hope everyone had a good week. If you are in California, I am jealous of you for those sunny day you are having! It’s been raining all week long here, to the point I start to feel rotten inside. :) and my wardrobe is certainly not geared toward this kind of weather. the other day i even went to department store to buy a pair of thick tights so i can wear it underneath my skirts and capris (yeah i know that looks funny but well). That and a pair of gloves (i am glad i brought my favorite one!) did a good job keeping me toasty in my daily commute – yes, commute. This week I started my french lesson and it takes an hour of train AND bus ride to get there from where we live. Despite the rain, I do enjoy the commute very much. The train is clean, modern, and always has seats available. :) It goes along Geneva lake, with world-class beautiful scenary, the hot-off-the-oven pastries at station, plus all the fun to observe other passengers, all make the time pass quickly, and with pleasure (but Pascal told me i won’t feel the same way after a few weeks, we’ll see).

I’ve also been pretty domestic here, especially after discovering an array of asian products in supermarket! They even have the Lee Kum Kee brand sauces and quite some selections of instant noodles! I bought some oyster sauce, thai green curry, and am contemplating buying a wok. :)Eating out here is expensive so that makes cooking a logical choice. Simone (Pascal’s mom) has some lovely (and abundant) raspberries growing in the yard so we pick them up once a week. We just tasted some delicious berry tarts she made out of it. it’s yummmm. Pido (Pascal’s younger bro) is the asian food specialist in the family and he’s inviting us over for a sushi night. And of course we already had fondue, twice. Although, I do have to admit fondue goes better with winter, espeically when it’s sub-zero and snowing outside. :)

The french class is both rewarding and frustrating. I start to be able to catch words here and there, understand the headlines in newspaper (with some guessing), but still far away from being able to carry a conversation. i know it’s only the first week and i shouldn’t be too anxious cuz learning a language takes time. but still. I’ll take the class for another 3 weeks, then go to Germany to meet up with my friend Puk. I am already feeling restless and did tons of research on that. looking forward to the trip!