May 9th- Castles and (Olympic) Champions!

 Howdy! Dr. Sullins here! It has been such a blast getting to know all these students so much better throughout this trip, as we have shared snacks, life stories, and umbrellas in the rain. I'm so pleased that all the group is getting along so well and truly supportive of each other on this journey. Hearing the moments of revelation, learning, and reflection as they happen in this very new and different place remind me why I take the time and effort to arrange these kinds of experiences for students!

This morning we got to enjoy a traditional European breakfast in the hotel (which we love!) with sliced dried meat, cheese, and bread, croissants (many of us with Nutella!), fruit, and some cereals. They did make some hot scrambled eggs to please the visitors as well.

We loaded up on the bus with Bruno, who has been our bus driver from the start, and drove to Chillon Castle. Dr. Crompton in RPTS shared with me that he visited Chillon Castle on a school trip when they were studying Lord Byron, so I made sure to read the full poem (The Prisoner of Chillon) the night before, to be in the right mindset for this visit. As a castle goes, it was very interesting to be sitting basically in the lake (Lac Leman as it is called here or Lake Geneva for folks back at home). We saw 2 of the four dining rooms, several bedrooms, the fortifications, and of course, the prison (where Lord Byron even carved his name). As we walked over taped down electrical cords in the castle, students pointed out the event risk management prevention of slips, trips, and falls, and I was very proud. :)

Our bus dropped us off in Montreux where we got a sense of the area where the Montreux Jazz Festival takes place and enjoyed a nice stroll along the river, even posing with a famous former resident, Freddy Mercury. We grabbed sandwiches and pizza for lunch and then headed back to Lausanne to the International Olympic Committee headquarters to tour the Olympic Museum. 

The museum had so much symbolism in showing the unity between nations and promotion of peace. I loved learning about the earliest years of the game and how it all started. I never knew the Olympic games were one of four early Greek games to honor the gods. We got to see elaborate costumes from opening ceremonies and really enjoyed sitting to watch a compilation of many past Opening Ceremonies. One assignment for this class was for students to create their dream Opening or Closing ceremony for the Olympics, assuming Switzerland was the host country. It was really fun to see the students watching this film and reflecting on their choices in their assignment. Famous athletes had donated their uniforms or equipment for us to see and the example medals for all the former modern games were shown as well. There were several hands-on games where we could pretend to be Olympic athletes ourselves. We sure had fun, but don't expect to see any of us competing in Paris next summer!

As we went to leave, it had started raining and we all did our best to stay dry on the way to the metro. When we arrived back in the area of our hotel we had free time for a few hours. Some students shopped for souvenirs and presents (visiting a few local chocolatiers) and some bought some fun new clothes for themselves! Others took this break as a chance to nap, shower, and generally recharge. We then walked to dinner nearby where we had delicious Weinerstinsel and Rosti, kind of like a chicken fried steak that is very flat and a thicker larger hashbrown with onions. 

After learning that recreational travel outside the country is approved by Education Abroad, we went to work making plans for a quick trip by boat to France tomorrow morning and a day trip into Germany on Saturday. We spent some of the evening together figuring out the train app and booking our tickets together. Whew...we are filling a lot of our down time with more fun...I guess we can always sleep on the flight back!

-Dr. Sullins