Aug. 21, Friday

After a run to Prafandaz and home, did some picture prep and packing before lunch. Assembly was at 1, and there were presentations for us supervisors, as well as for our students. Rick did a little farewell/thank you speech. MMC and SRSS each did a short presentation or song in farewell/thanks. The tears are starting already... tomorrow will be a mess!! Ah well, at least we know they had a good time here!!

Don't believe that anything has changed with the flights. Leaving here Sat morning at 8am, to get into Geneva for 10am. Flight is at 12 noon to Washington. Plan is to be into wpg somewhere after 10pm local time. See many of you then!!

Oh! Took some pics of the cafeteria setup today.

Aug. 20, Thursday

Spent some time in the morning packing after a run up to Prafandaz and back. Left for Aquapark at 1:40. Didn't take any pics there. Kids seemed to have a good time there. The slides looked fun. Rick only had the patience to wait in line for one slide. Hung out in a small grassy area for the afternoon. Walked out to Lake Geneva for a dip when we got too hot (32C!!) Back on the bus and home to KLAS by 6pm. Walked down to La Fromagerie for supper at 8pm. Raclette is SOOOO GOOOOD!!!

Aug. 19, Wednesday

Up at 7 to get breakfast and get on the bus by 8am. Off to Bern, about 1.5-2 hours away. Beautiful city, great blue water in the swift flowing river. Lots of shopping opportunities, lots of great old buildings and history and museums. The students had the run of the old town for the day, to shop or eat at McD's or Starbucks or see the museums or whatever their little hearts desired. We did some sighseeing, stopped in at Albert Einstein's flat, where he began his work in Special Relativity and General Relativity. Not a spectacular place, but very cool to be in THE PLACE where it actually happened. Got some lunch by the river, bought a souvenir or two. Nice day out, but HOT. Somewhere in the mid-30's. Sticky day. Back to school in time for supper.

Aug. 18, Tuesday

The drama classes were presenting their 'final skits' from 8-10am. Char and Jo went to watch and record many of them. We seem to have had a problem in the transfer from camera to laptop, so we've lost some of them. There are copies out there and we hope to find them... no pics today... Rick returned the rental car to Geneva and returned by train in the afternoon. We invited all the staff over to our apartments for an appetizer get-together after school. About 20 staff came through at various points in the afternoon and evening. Had a great time chatting and laughing with them all. Mr. Miyamoto (whose office is on the floor above ours) presented us with a fantastic gift. He is one of Japan's premier calligraphers and he made us a copy of his prize winning (2nd best in all Japan!!) piece. It's a Chinese poem, and he then sang the poem for us. People were here until 10:30. Was a good night!

Aug. 17, Monday

The 3 musketeers drove across the line into France, through Evian (got some water... had to, really...)

to a beach on Lake Geneva. Spent a few nice hours being warm in the sun. (well... shade for Rick, of course)


Once we returned to Leysin we walked down to La Fromagerie for a late supper. Jo had not yet tried raclette... she was suitably impressed. I believe we are returning for another round of grilled cheese goodness before we leave on Saturday!!

Aug. 16, Sunday

Walked clear across Leysin to Bill and Paula Mangan's house. Bill is the vice-principal here at KLAS. They had invited all the staff and us for appetizers and drinks for the afternoon. Quite a hot day, so we sat in the shade where possible and chatted. Really nice chance to talk to the various staff, get to know them a bit better.

Aug. 15, Saturday

We went to Vevey and Montreaux with Joanne and Veronica. Joanne had gone with a student trip to Montreaux and had really enjoyed the Chateau de Chillon so we decided to check it out. A bunch of SRSS students took the trip to Montreaux on the train as well and from all reports had a good time as well.

Both Vevey and Montreaux are on the banks of lake Geneva and so we walked by the lake in the sun- it was a hot day! 31 degrees! And not to rub it in, but we have been having awesome weather- it has been great all week- and the forecast is for sun for next week as well. Rick just checked the weather report- it sounds nasty with hail etc… hope everyone is doing ok!

On to the Chateau—The great thing about castles/ museums in general here is that they let you get pretty close up to things and they leave furniture in the rooms when they get it ready for exhibition. Seeing as Joanne had already taken a guided tour of the castle- she led the way and added tidbits of info for us- like showing us where the latrines where and how they are open holes to the Lake below, at least 50 feet!! We also found out why beds were so short- people slept sitting up because lying down was thought to be the position of the dead- and you wouldn’t want any one thinking that you had died when you were sleeping!! (A common problem in that time?!?) We had a good time exploring the castle, and were home by 4pm.

In the evening we went to the flat of another teacher, Justine and Joanne gave us all a perogy lesson. We had a great time pinching and then eating!!

Aug. 14, Friday

Japanese Festival
There was a flurry of activity Friday afternoon as the students of KLAS prepared for the Japanese festival. The Japanese festival was our taste of Folklorama- up the level! The Japanese students outfitted all of our students (girls) in Ukata – cotton outfits and the boys in cotton outfits- (and I am sorry- but I have completely forgotten the name!) They had great fun wearing them- although they are much more complex outfits than they expected. The belt has multiple layers with plastic molding to keep it in place. We tried to get a full group shot- but someone was always in a different area- so we did the best we could!

After we had seen everyone’s outfits we went to the hall where we were treated to a show; which included band and choir performances, double dutch, flower arranging, tea ceremony, dancing and a fashion show of Japanese wear in which our students participated, to the glee of the Japanese students--- many shouts of KA – WA –EE were heard! (this means cute and is said about 1,000,000 times a day here)

The performances ended right before supper and we enjoyed seaweed soup, curry and rice and a pork cutlet. After eating we could go to stations and watch students do calligraphy, read about traditions, and play Japanese games. A grand time was had by all!