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By jkichton

Hi readers! This week’s post is written while I’m lounging my worries away in my Airbnb host’s guest bed in Wien (Vienna), Austria. I have done a lot of traveling since my last post and because of that I have learned a trick or two. This post will explain the best things to do in order to experience the place you’re traveling around. Auf Wiedersehen!

The first thing I tell people when they come to DC is to go to all of the monuments at night because 1) no tourists will be there to ruin your Instagram worthy picture and 2) they are so, so, so much BETTER at night. Same for monuments in Europe! This also holds true for buildings, and especially cathedrals or churches. Have you ever been to a cathedral at like 8:00pm? Many will not be open, but I had the pleasure of seeing St. Stephen’s on Halloween night and it was awe inspiring. It really brought out the age of the architecture, and the darker side of such a beautiful piece of history.

...continue reading "5 Travel Tips to Embrace the City You’re In"

By jkichton

This week’s blog post will be dedicated to my current thoughts on Switzerland. As I have now been here for a little more than two months, I definitely have a new perspective on it. I have been to Geneva, Bern, Zurich, and Basel; all of the major cities in Switzerland who all have their own idiosyncratic personalities. Additionally, I have written a ten page research paper on xenophobia in Switzerland which has also changed my views. So, this blog will serve as a reflection thus far.

...continue reading "Reflecting on Switzerland"

By jkichton

This week’s blog post will be dedicated to the oddities of the countries that I have spent the most time in thus far. Since there are many obvious differences between the US and Europe, I would like to now discuss the no-so-obvious differences.

...continue reading "Did you know…?"

By jkichton

I write this week’s blog post under two blankets and propped up against three pillows, slouched on my bed in my host mom’s house. This weekend was the first weekend in three weeks that I was actually home! It felt really weird…having no plans, lounging around, and wondering what I should do with my time. Additionally, when I went on Facebook, I saw several other people in my program had gone to the Swiss Alps, or to Italy for the weekend. I thought to myself, “Did I just waste, another weekend here? Should I have gone somewhere, even if it was just for a day trip? I need to make the most of my time here, right?!”

...continue reading ""FOMO" syndrome"

By jkichton

I am typing away at this blog post currently on a train coming home from Zurich, Switzerland. I was there because I had an interview in a nearby city, Baden, and decided, why not? The train ride is three hours long so I figured I should make the most of it. Earlier in the week I had another interview but this one was in Bern, Switzerland. Bern is only 2 hours away, and, if you were wondering, is the capital of Switzerland! Not Geneva. So this week I have finally visited the three main go-to cities in sweet lil’ Switz. The best thing was that I saw them alone and without any real plans. An important distinction, this blog post will be dedicated to the concept of traveling alone.

...continue reading "Where is the u with the two little dots in Microsoft Word?"

By jkichton

I write this post perched on my bed in Commugny, Switzerland with my host mom’s cat, Ronja, purring away by my side. I just returned from Paris three hours ago, and am completely and utterly exhausted. The “study trip” was the perfect length: one week. Just enough time to run around haphazardly doing most of the touristy things but it also allowed for some rest and relaxation. However, that said, I am still tired and wanting to hole up in my room for the next three days straight instead of go anywhere or talk to anyone. Traveling is hard! This post will be dedicated to my very confused and bewildered perception (and reflection) of Paris.

...continue reading "Breadth verses Depth"

I write this blog post on a high speed train headed from Paris to Brussels. The seats are completely pink or red velvet (with no discerning pattern) and I happen to be sitting in a four-seater which includes a table! I am also lucky because no one is sitting across from me and I can monopolize the available leg room. Muwhaha! However, literally 20 minutes ago while waiting for this train in Paris Nord Station, a bird pooped on my suitcase. I was inside too! Of all of the times I have been in huge train/bus stations where pigeons take safe haven during the winter and go to find a tasty snack, here, today, I was finally pooped on.

...continue reading "Luck."

By jkichton

Nothing extremely interesting has happened in the past week since my last blog post. As of now, I am deep within my program's routine: go to school, go to lunch, go to French, do a little exploring (either in the grocery store or around town), go home. Our weeks are more packed with lectures and site visits than sardines in a can. So, as a method of relaxation, this week’s blog post I am dedicating to one of the closest things in my heart: food.

Chocolate

Swiss chocolate is all the rage here, probably because it is a cheap way to get $20 out of a tourist’s wallet and into your hands. Every street I turn on and BAM there you find a Chocolat Patisserie. In these little chocolate shops you find the most darling, artful little sweets. Decorated and displayed with a sense of grandeur and glamour, the chocolates seem too beautiful to eat. They are usually made in-house (or so they say) and have so many types of chocolates, that you really should just invest and buy the medium sized box that fits 15 pieces. But they don’t just stop here, oh no! They often have macarons, little gateaux, croissants, and of course coffee. If you’re really willing to treat yo’self, then ditch the shop and go straight for a chocolate making factory!

Cheese

France is rumored to have as many cheeses as there are days. And with it being a literal 12 minute drive from here, some of their cheeses spill into the area of Switzerland that I am in. A few nights ago, I was telling my host mom that I missed having dessert and had a real sweet tooth. “Dessert?” she said. “Why that’s cheese!” You guessed it, after dinner she came out of the kitchen with a plate of cheeses and some toasted bread. I was hesitant because I am not a fan of soft cheeses, and both of the cheeses she presented were soft. The first was Bleu cheese straight from France. It even had the blue holes scattered across the wedge! WARNING: Do not smell cheese before you eat it. When I picked it up, I was immediately attacked by the stench of ammonia, and the cheese wasn’t even near my face! This influenced my perception of the cheese and the whole time I was eating the measly little pinch that I spread on my toast I tried not to gag. The next cheese was Reblochon which had only 10% of the ammonia stench as Bleu, and tasted like a very watered down version of Brie (even though I was told it was nothing like Brie). Fun fact, the “Swiss cheese” that Americans use on their pastrami sandies is actually just Emmental cheese!

Chips

No Lays, Pringles, or Cheetos here! However, what tickles me is that their most popular chip flavor is Paprika! Paprika chips here are more popular than Lays Classic chips in America. Their red, plastic bag with flowers and peppers sprouting up around the orange-colored chip is easily recognizable anywhere. In the grocery store, they have their own section of bags upon bags of them. For good reason though; they are addicting! Just enough flavor with just enough of the classic chip you know and love. Think of barbeque chips, then take 10% of their flavor and you have Paprika chips. Lays, if you’re reading this, please bring this to America!!!

Cream

Ice-cream that is. (I wanted to stick with all “C” foods). In Switzerland, there is no ice cream. Only gelato. I know, I know, gelato has more milk and less cream compared to ice cream which, combined with less churning than ice cream, makes it denser. For me, I have tasted or felt no difference. But maybe that just means I am eating cheap gelato? Well, that can’t be it either since I paid $4.50 for the smallest bowl of gelato at Manu. I wouldn’t normally pay that much but I had a hankering for gelato and Manu was the first place we found during our mandatory two hour lunch break. Additionally, there was a sign in their window that said Manu was voted “Premier champion Suisse de glaces artisanales”. They did have some pretty interesting flavors! I got orange chocolate and popcorn. A weird mixture, but I honestly just picked the two flavors that looked the coolest.

As you can tell, my taste-buds and stomach are going on a whirlwind adventure here in Switzerland. Wish us luck!

water fountain nyon
Water Fountain in Nyon

If you read my last post, I said that I had my first class at 11:15am the next day. WELL, I was definitely reading my horaire wrong and actually had class at 9:30am. Wow. That’s early for a college kid! My first week of school is over and let me give you a rundown on the schedule of an SIT: Switzerland International Studies and Multilateral Diplomacy student.

Every morning, I wake up around 8:00am. I get up, use the restroom, and put my clothes on. Let me tell you, it has been HOT here in Switzerland! Today it was 90F. So recently I have been cycling through my 3 pairs of shorts and 4 short sleeve/tank top shirts that I brought. I was really expecting it to be colder! If we have a speaker from an international organization then we have to dress business causal, and that is the worst because dressing up nice in this heat is annoying and stifling. After I get dressed, I make sure everything I need for the day is in my backpack and head downstairs to have breakfast. Every morning I eat yogurt and two slices of bread with butter and jam. Now, before I came here I never used to eat butter. Ever. I maybe had butter on my bread twice a year. But since I have been here, I have just felt très European by eating my bread this way. If you haven’t tried butter and jam, you’re living a half-life. After breakfast I quickly put my dishes away and make my lunch. Lunch has consisted of cheese, crackers, mini-sausages, a peach, and a yogurt. It’s like a grown up Lunchable! Finally I brush my teeth and race out the door.

For some odd reason I always think I am going to be late, however I always get to the train station at least 5 minutes early. Le gare is a 16 minute downhill walk from my apartment. The walk is beautiful in the mornings! I pass by the town hall, a grape vineyard, and dozens of small yet beautiful European houses. I also pass a few water fountains. But, unlike America where our form of water fountain is an ugly metal contraption that is dirty half the time and the other half of the time doesn’t work, in Switzerland, there are actual water fountains. As in, water comes out of a pipe (or multiple pipes) into big, concrete collection area, usually lined with flowers. Some are simple, and some are extravagant! In America, you would never drink out of one of these, because the water would usually be unsuitable. In Switzerland, however, the water is always drinkable unless there is a sign that says “Eau Nonpotable”.

The train comes at 8:59am and by 9:09am I am in Geneva! I have never gotten a seat on the morning train because it is so busy. Most of the commuters are business people going to work. Therefore, I usually stand in the entrance or sit on a staircase (it is a double-decker train) and look out the window as the train speeds on. It passes through the Swiss countryside, multiple farms, some big châteaux, all whilst lining the coast of Lac Léman. You can even see the majestic, Mont Blanc in the background! On lovely days with blue skies and minimal clouds, I feel as if I am staring at a painting

By maxikaplan

Today is the day. I have about two months left at LSE until my finals begin, but I’m beginning to study for them today due to the sheer amount of material tested. Luckily, my grades do not carry over towards my GPA directly, but I am studying hard nonetheless because equivalent grades will be displayed on my transcript. This isn’t exactly the beginning of the end for me, however, because there is only so much time that one can spend studying—eventually you need a break, and I’m hoping to take full advantage of that time. Two months is a long time to do anything, let alone study, but I suppose what I should really be talking about here is my recent trip to Switzerland.

Unfortunately, my little four-day vacation cut quite deeply into my wallet—not a surprise in a country where the minimum wage is the equivalent to 25 US dollars—but to me every penny was worth it. The contrast between Switzerland and Croatia, where I had been the week before, was immediate from the moment I walked into the airport in Zurich. Everything was pristine and every train was on time. You can imagine my excitement over their efficient public transportation considering we got stuck twice in Croatia while we were traveling because of poor bus scheduling. We were to spend two and a half days in Zurich and a couple final days in Lucerne, about an hour train ride away. Zurich was fantastic, but the beauty in Lucerne is unlike any other country I have seen thus far. We rented boats to take out onto the lake, and the weather was so incredible that we took a second boat out the very next day. With the Swiss Alps in the background and not a cloud in the sky, there wasn’t much you couldn’t love. At night, my friend from GW had invited my friends and I to dinner at her family’s apartment in Lucerne, which was placed beautifully over the city. It was maybe one of the best views that I have seen in my past few months of traveling—it compares with the top of the Eiffel tower—and these people lived there! I was instantly jealous, but it was inspiring in a sense. And just like that, all my traveling for this year came to a close. It was incredibly sad but also incredibly rewarding, a feeling I had never felt before.

At this point, I’m beginning to prepare myself mentally for the many weeks of studying that lay ahead of me. In a way I feel as though I haven’t actually studied in a very long time, since the work you do at LSE during the year can’t exactly be considered studying. You are really reading a lot of information and taking as many notes as possible so you can review them later. Now, I have to remember how to get back into the groove of studying, and although I’m not looking forward to it, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Two of my exams I’ll be taking in New York during my internship, so that should make for a very interesting experience. If you plan on coming to LSE it is important to know that their exams stretch all the way until June 20th. This is very important for students who will have internships over the summer, because it will most likely conflict. With all my traveling over and done with, it looks like my next few blogs will have to be about London and my life in this beautiful city—I cannot complain.