A Weekend in the Alps

Finally, a group photo!

On the weekend our school went to Kandersteg, in The Alps, for the weekend. Kandersteg is a valley surrounded by mountains which are attractions for their hiking trails and skiing facilities. No study or homework, it was a fun, bonding weekend! We left base after dinner on Friday night (can I just say, I am already freaking out about outreach - the backpack I'm using for those entire 3 months I managed to fill for just 2 nights away! Oh help :}) It was an 1 1/2 hour drive there, unfortunately not much scenery as it was dark! But we had great chats and I haven't gotten over panicking every time I suddenly realise what side of the road we are on : / But arriving in Kandersteg.....oh...my....goodness.....wow, incredible, unbelievable, amazing, extradordinary, blown away, astonishing, SPECTACULAR. I've run out of words but you get the jist! It's like all of a sudden we were surrounded by mountains, so close I felt I could reach out and touch them. Massive, huge, snowy  mountains so high I couldn't see the top! It was dark then, so imagine how amazing they were in the morning! But first; we were staying in a big house just outside of town. It had heaps of bedrooms with a cozy kitchen and living room and only 2 toilets to share between 22 people!

Our Schweizerhaus - Swiss House

Late night (freezing!) adventures!

We played games Friday night but I went to bed early to get ready for our big Saturday....we were going sledding! I don't know the name of the mountain but we took a gondola up to the top and, dodging the skiers, made our way to a restaurant by a lake. Someone had to tell me we were looking at the lake because I never would have known! It had snowed so much that it had completely vanished! I cannot even describe the beauty of the place, everything was covered in perfectly white snow. It was like a postcard! There were hundreds of pine trees all covered in snow. The day was clear and sunny and it made the snow sparkle! I feel excited just remembering it, I have never seen so much beauty in my life! Spiritual part of the blog: I was so awed at God's creativity and He really opened my eyes to how much He loves beauty. He created all this just for His pleasure! He showed me a new, gentle side of Himself; someone who finds joy and pleasure in beauty. I could almost imagine Him just smiling with joy at the way the sun highlighted the mountains and made everything sparkle :)

Ok, sorry for the tangent! At the (very expensive 'cause its at the top of a mountain) restaurant I had fries for lunch and then set off for the sledding course! Let me explain about the sledding course: it goes from the top of the mountain to the bottom and it takes 20 minutes, traveling on a sled, to get to the bottom! FAIR DINKUM thats a long course!!! I was ready to back out when I heard that but if I'm going to brave the wilds of a missions life I can't be scared of a sled ride! And if you know me well, you know I HATE anything risky, adventurous or remotely dangerous. Because I'd never been sledding I wanted to go with someone who had so Joey and I went on together with Elijah, from Switzerland. First bad choice: 3 people on a two person sled. Second bad choice: we find out later you should not have more than one grown person on a sled as it makes it too heavy to control. With me at the front, J in the middle and E at the back to steer, we embark....and immediately crash into a snow bank! We try again...and again..and again. Meanwhile, I'm taking the brunt of our crashes. Every time we crash, I go flying off the front and usually get run over by the sled still carrying J and E. By this time I was really not enjoying it, was terrified of dying and had hurt my arm badly so I say to them, "you keep going, I'll just walk back and go with the next group". HA! Think about it - walking BACK UP a mountain we have just been flying down for the last ten minutes! I began to think dying may have been easier....(don't worry Mum and Dad, I got pretty good life insurance :) ) However, it was during the walk back that God spoke to me so I am thankful for that. While waiting for a sled, I relaxed by the fire in the restaurant. When a sled became available, Becca (from the U.S) and I decided to tackle the course together...again, not heeding the advice of 'one person to a sled' but we really didn't want to go on our own! Oh my, I have never had an experience so close to flying! The course had lots of 'pot holes' by this time so we quickly learned to slow down over the bumps! We crashed heaps and got more mouthfuls of snow than we bargained for. Then there's that horrible feeling when, lying on the snow looking dazedly up at the sky, you begin to feel a cold sensation seeping into your jacket and through your socks. That's when you realise that you've been dragged so far your pants are up to your knees and snow is melting on your neck. The worst!! But we eventually got the hang of it, although it took us twice as long to get down the mountain because we went really slowly....or walked the difficult parts :) But reaching the bottom of the mountain is not the end, oooh no. Then you have to hike back UP the mountain (some of it in the gondola, thankfully) pulling a sled. Whew, what an adventure! I only did it once, but some of the others did it 3 or 4 times! After a long day on the mountain - or going down it - we headed back to the house to have traditional Swiss fondue for dinner! (GF pasta for me...fondue consists of bread and cheese, what I'm not allowed to eat in a nutshell!) Saturday evening was fun, I learned a new game and co-wrote a nonsensical story with my left hand. Fun times. It's the only thing we could think of to stop ourselves just going to bed at 8pm. Did I mention I felt I had aged, like, 80 years? That sled ride really did a good job on me, my bruises are VERY impressive (most in places you don't wanna see ;) ) I was even worried I had dislocated my arm after it got run over but thankfully no, it just thought it would hurt extraordinarily but with nothing to show for it :(

Walking back from my failed sled attempt - you can see the snow damage!

Becca and I

Elijah and Jared - two of the three guys on the DTS

Sunday morning was spend cleaning the house, then we walked to a nearby restaurant for coffee..which turned into dessert-before-lunch. This restaurant had a real igloo outside!! And inside had been furnished so traditionally Swiss, I even took photos of the toilet (much to the embarrassment of a Swiss lady who was trying to use them). It was like I had just walked into Heidi!! (This is kind of relevant: nobody in Switzerland, Austria or Germany has heard of the Sound of Music and the few that have only heard about it when the made a trip to the States or something! I was so shocked! Every time they talk about edelweiss I break into song but it's totally wasted!) We walked into town and on the way I saw my first frozen pond. It was so beautiful, just like I imagined one to be like! The town of Kandersteg is very touristy and crowded but we enjoyed walking along the main street. The funnies thing happened; I was standing under a tree and I hear a crack. Then WHOOSH, all this snow just drops on me, it seemed like out of nowhere!!! I was covered in snow! It went down my jacket, into my bag...everywhere! This local guy walking by got a laugh out of it, though...I always manage to make someone's day :) The car ride back was so picturesque but I was super keen to get home (notice use of the word 'home' - yes, I'm starting to think of Wiler as home) as I hadn't showered in over 48 hours. Gross! Made a record-breaking dash for the shower and then pretty much hit the sack. What a weekend! I'm so glad the school organised it, we got to see such a perfect side of Switzerland. Certain muscles are still making themselves known and the bruises are a lovely rainbow now :)
Some shots from around the town:

My first frozen lake!

It was hard to start class Monday, equally hard to believe we are in week 5!! The time is flying by too quickly for my liking...but I'm sure there will come a time when I'll want it to go faster! Until next time xxxx