Can I move to Switzerland?

Its been four days since my arrival in Switzerland and it's been the best four days of my trip so far!

Granted, Cannes was great; but a completely different experience. Cannes was work and basically Hollywood taking place in France... but traveling is a whole other beast.

Those who know me, know that I'm fairly independent and adventurous when it comes to traveling. I'm usually never afraid to go anywhere (unless it looks completely sketch) and I thirst for knowledge when it comes to other cultures. We become better people, the more exposed we are to the world. We understand other nations better, and slowly our world starts to unite, literally one person at a time. I strive for this each day I'm here in Europe, trying my best to achieve a day-in-the-life-of moment... an authentic one, not a tourist one. This can be extremely hard to achieve considering I don't actually live there, and I'm not Swiss, French, German or Italian. Nevertheless I try my best... and with couchsurfing this has made it 10x easier.

For those of you who don't know what couchsurfing is- it is a site that links you up with other travelers and locals who are willing to provide a "couch" for you to sleep on in their local homes. It's completely free and is based solely on trust and referrals. Yes... I know what you're thinking... strangers = danger = trouble. Of course I can't completely say with 100% confidence that this isn't at all true, but I can assure you it is at least 99% wrong. Now I thought the same thing you were thinking the first time I heard about this, "Wait, people actually do this? For free? And with strangers they barely know?" After the initial shock of the idea, it eventually becomes an amazing idea! Who ever thought up the idea that strangers would welcome other travelers into their homes so they could meet people from around the world, was a genius!

I am happy to say I had my first successful couchsurfing experience in Spiez, Switzerland! I stayed with a cute young couple named Christina and Remo, whom are true Swiss-German folks. They live together in the amazingly beautiful town of Spiez, just 15 minutes away from Interlaken (the sports capital of Switzerland - possibly even Europe).

Day 1

On the first day of my arrival, I nervously called up Remo to let him know I had arrived at the station. I wasn't sure what to expect, this was my first time doing this, and he was a complete stranger. "I could still back out," I thought. But no... I would have faith in this project and trust it would be a good experience. And now I can safely say that my "good experience" was an understatement.

Remo picked me up and took me to his place. Here I met his charming and sweet girlfriend Christina. They were a cute Swiss couple about my age, who have been dating for five years. Their place was really nice, clean and modern. I was happy to find that I would have my own room for the next two nights. On the bed was a lovely note that said, "Welcome TJ," along with a piece of Swiss chocolate.

I settled in and joined them at the table for some water. I sat with them and soon we were chatting away. Their English was superb and we shared stories about our travels around the world. They had done a year long trip around Costa Rica and the U.S. about two years ago. Christina had actually lived in Costa Rica and they could speak Spanish almost fluently. I found out they were a couple who enjoyed nature, hiking and long scenic walks; which is why they chose to live in Spiez instead of Bern - the capital of Switzerland. It was about 30mins from where Christina grew up and about 1 hour from Remo's home town Biel. I found out that Bern and Spiez were the German part of Switzerland and that they spoke Swiss-German which is a combination of German and French. They told me they spoke a language they can't write -meaning their is no proper way to spell or write words in Swiss-German; so instead they were taught to write in German. Geneva - just two hours away is the French part of Switzerland and on the East is the Italian part of Switzerland; all speaking different languages and dialects. Amazing considering Switzerland isn't very large at all!

After a nice long chat, Christina announced that they needed to go to here grandmother's house to fix her TV. They kindly asked me if I wanted to come tag along. Of course I said yes! I jumped in their car, excited as a little school girl going on her first field trip. We drove along the majestic valleys and hills that made up the town. It was so serene that I felt like we were driving through a picture-perfect postcard photo that never depicted real life. If there is a heaven and it was all green with enchanting little houses; I would imagine it looks something like Spiez. Of course I took a million photos, but sadly I was reminded how photos can never do true beauty justice.

We arrived at her grandmother's house that looked like one of the many charming houses we drove past, and knocked on her door. A grey-haired woman with a weathered face with tons of character, opened the door to greet us. They introduced her to me and even though she couldn't speak any English, I could tell I was welcomed. We sat at her dining table and she offered us some tea. As they talked in their beautifully melodic Swiss language, I sat and observed the three of them and how they encountered one another. Christina informed me that they were all speaking different dialects and that Remo can understand her grandma but not speak to her in the same dialect. Christina would have to sometimes translate between the two of them.

Christina's grandmother put out some Swiss cookies and homemade wafer rolls as snacks to go with the tea, as she sat with us and proceeded to ask me questions through Christina. She asked about my background and what I did back home. I found out she was a true Swiss farmer, who raised four children with her husband who passed away twenty years ago. She had a garden in the front of the house, where she grew her own carrots, onions, lettuce and tomatoes.

Later on, after Remo had helped fix the TV; we went to her garden and covered up her newly planted tomato garden, to protect from the harsh summer sun. I helped them cover it with a plastic tarp and was fascinated with the entire process. As much as I hate to admit it, I realized how much of an L.A. girl I truly was; when looking at her garden, I realized I had never seen lettuce in the ground before. To them this was everyday life, to me it was a fascinating sight; especially when one is used to only seeing their lettuce come from a supermarket.

After about an hour and a half of "work," we thanked her for the tea and cookies, then headed off. I couldn't stop telling Remo and Christina how amazing an experience that was. To most people, having tea and cookies with a Swiss-grandma would be boring, to me it was the most thrilling thing in the world.

Driving away I continued to enjoy the scenic views bestowed upon me. They knew I was like a kid in a candy store and fed my astonishment. They drove me to an old castle that used to be a prison tower and was now a court. We stopped and walked around attempting to get inside - unfortunately we never did. We continued to drive and stop, drive and stop, so they could show me their lovely little town as I resumed my amazement at this places beauty.

Eventually we got tired and went back home. Christina's grandmother gave us the lettuce she grew in her garden and we ate it for dinner that night! I helped make the sauce for the salad as they prepared carrots and bread rolls. Soon we had dinner and sat at the table, almost like a family. The lettuce was fresh and crisp, and only now I can say I actually ate something fresh from the ground. We continued to get to know each other better as we chatted for another hour before we were finally tuckered out for the day. We cleaned up and said goodnight, ending my wonderful first day in Switzerland.

Day 2

I woke up relatively early (about 8am) and wrote in my blog attempting to keep up- so far a losing battle. I tried to get out of the house early, but as legend would have it, the rumors are unfortunately true, "Filipinos are never on time for anything."

I didn't get out until 12pm. I wanted to start the day in Interlaken, so I headed to the bus stop. I waited about 30mins before the next bus came, then off to the train station it was. I arrived at Interlaken around 1:15pm and found myself wondering what to do. I read the self-guided walk in Rick Steve's Best of Europe book, so I proceeded to do that. I had a map from the previous day and started my little tour.

Interlaken is a town in between two lakes - Lake Brienz and Lake Thun, where Interlaken literally means "between two lakes." It was the tourist town for those seeking a thrill in Switzerland. Travelers from around the world come to Interlaken year round, for skiing in the winter and sky diving in the summer. The activities you could do ranged from base jumping, to river rafting, to cave diving and more. Inspired by the outdoors and beauty of the hills, I decided I would become an unexpected thrill-seeker while in Switzerland. I signed up to do river rafting, feeling the need for some adrenaline to warm up my body, considering it was a pretty cold day (maybe not the best day for rafting, but who cares). I signed up, payed and waited. Soon, I was suiting up in a wetsuit and life jacket; ready to conquer the rivers of Interlaken. I was paired with two Indian couples who were on their honeymoon. It was me, them and our New Zealand rafting guide Dougie.

I had never rafted before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew it would be cold, that's for sure; but I was hoping the wetsuit would keep me warm. We went through all the safety measures and practiced rowing before hitting the waters.

We carried the raft to the river, then all got in one at a time; then we were off! Down the river we went, fast and proud like an eagle soaring in the sky. The rapids were rough and my adrenaline started to shoot up. "Forward paddle," Dougie yelled, hitting each others paddles in an attempt to row quickly. The Indian couples were having a blast, talking and laughing and yelling at each other; often times forgetting to row and listening to Dougies orders. Good thing he was a sport about it. It seemed like he was used to it and this was nothing new to him. I was just enjoying the view. The best part came later when three of them fell in because they weren't paying attention when he told us to "hold on," as we hit a rock. I had to "rescue" one of them by pulling them by the lifejacket and dragging them in the boat. By the end of the trip, I was the only one that didn't fall in the river accidentally. A small accomplishment, but still a feat.

I never knew how thrilling rafting would be. It never really felt dangerous, although I always thought I would be scared shitless. I was calm and after ten minutes, it almost felt natural. The Swiss alps were surrounding me as we paddled across the river, and I couldn't believe I had never thought about doing this before. The sound of the water hitting the rocks along the river and rushing along with fury, was relaxing and harmonious allowing my mind to to reach a state of quiescence.

Nearing the end of our trip, Dougie allowed us to jump in the river, float on our backs and let the current take us away to the lake. The two Indian men chose to do it and their women freaked out begging each of them to come back in. I jumped in just so I could say I did it... but the ice cold water gave me a nice slap in the face, reminding me that bragging rights come with a price.

The trip came to an end and my fun of river rafting was over. I loved it so much I'm certain I will do it again.

My first two days in Switzerland exceeded my expectations tremendously. Three more to go and out by Saturday.... what awaits me next?