A script following the play that is life
Alexander the Little is an explorer and my constant travel companion. He comes with me everywhere I go. He is only an inch tall and so conveniently fits in my wallet. He is so little that it is hard to take pictures of him, but I still like to try and document some of our adventures! Next stop for Alexander…. Uganda!
Alexandre le Petit en Suisse
Alexandre le Petit en France
Alessandro il Piccolo in Italia
Alexander Kidogo katika Uganda
The following images are some of the perspective views that my partner Anne and I produced for our studio project at EPFL. Enjoy and leave your comments and critiques!
Nothing much to say except enjoy the view! This was a beautiful sunrise we saw while crossing lake Geneva to Evian for our studio site visit.
As you can all probably tell by my lack of posts, my life is lacking a little bit of balance here in Switzerland. I have been studying and working at the same time this term, and also trying to be a social exchange student. It has been quite the challenge but I think I did fairly well. Now during the Christmas holidays I must try to catch you up on my adventures here in la Suisse.
So this little adventure was a very fun attempt at learning the art of the slackline. I think it was fairly successful. I went from not even being able to get up on the line on my own, to being able to get up, stay in position, and then take one step on my own. Andrea and I were new at it, but we enjoyed watching Ben and Stephanie perform some fun tricks! Complements to Ben for the amazing photos!
This image is from an organized randonnée I went on in October with 60 other exchange students from UNIL and EPFL. We visited the Aletsch Glacier. It was a beautiful day and absolutely stunning!
So it’s about time I write a little something about what I am studying here in Switzerland. First of all I am studying at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne or EPFL for short. I am taking four courses that are all in french which is pretty cool and I also got a credit from the intensive french course I took in August. Another thing that’s cool is that I am taking three masters courses including my studio. Here the undergraduate degree is only three years long. For my studio I am working with a partner to design a transportation ‘hub’ in Evian (across the lake from Lausanne) with a variety of other types of program included in it as well. This image is one of the many sketches of our design in-the-works.
Now that I’ve been in Switzerland for over a month, it is time that I make a list of things that I think are pretty swell about Switzerland.
– Most of the public telephone boxes are square and BLUE with a little light on top. Can’t get any more swell than that! Best phone experience EVER! ; )
– The Swiss building code requires every residence to have a nuclear bunker (unless there is access to a communal bunker). Hard core!
– The Swiss ten bill has Le Corbusier on it with his awesome nerdy glasses. ‘La Petite Maison’ by Le Corbusier is a short drive away.
– The Swiss speak slower and clearer french than the neighboring French. Thanks!
– Swiss wine is amazing. The harvest starts this week. The vines are all stepped on really steep slopes that look incredible.
– Lake Léman is gorgeous. You can see France and the alps as clear as day on the other side.
– The Swiss say septante, huitante, and neunante, instead of soixante-dix, quatre-vingt, and quatre-vingt-dix. WHATT?
– The windows don’t have screens and can open up all the way (more than half the area of the wall). Unfortunately that doesn’t mean they don’t have mosquitoes. : P
– The Swiss give three ‘bisous’ (kisses) as a greeting. It is the same as in the Netherlands. Girls kiss girls, boys kiss girls, but boys don’t kiss boys (unlike in France).
– The metro here is twice as efficient and more than half the price of the TTC. Use this as a precedent Toronto!
– more to come…..
Yesterday Andrea and I went on a trip to a nearby village called Broc to visit the Cailler chocolate factory. It was the first chocolate factory built in Switzerland in 1819! We learned about the history of chocolate and the history of chocolate in Switzerland. We also got to see a bit of the process of how chocolate is made and got to try way too much of it! Swiss chocolate (especially the milk chocolate which was invented here) is amazing stuff. Andrea and I decided to visit this place because we will be doing a presentation about Suisse chocolate for our french class this Monday. So the first thing that I’ve found that’s pretty sweet about Switzerland is the chocolate! Luckily I’m poor and so won’t be able to buy to much of it!
On the way back from Broc we took a bit of a detour to the town of Gruyères (yes it’s where the cheese got its name) to visit the castle there. The town was quaint and the castle quite beautiful. The village is also nestled in the juras and so the backdrop was amazing. The image above was taken just inside the wall surrounding the castle. We came across a little girl there who looked lost and had to stop and take a picture!
Life Section 