Tchuss!!

Tchuss!  (A Swiss German term of greeting)

I have wound my way to Chur as of yesterday morning!  Wow, really quite a journey and a half beginning with a refusal of half of the passengers to board the plane in Minneapolis due to the end of the Super Bowl.  Honestly, a final boarding call was announced no less than 6 times.  Each time everyone (including myself and the pilot of the plane sitting next to me at the gate) responded with a shrug of the shoulders and comments of stick-together-ness.  Quite a meaningful bond was formed.

The plan took me into Amsterdam and then to Zurich where I spent the night on Monday and had a real solid meal, not that they weren`t real or solid before, just that the airport and airplane cuisine was wearing thin on my morale.  From there I took a train to Chur the next morning (see new pictures) and walked to the Lehrlingshaus about a mile from the train station.  The walked turned out to be longer than I originally intended with the added weight of my backpack and all of my luggage.  Actually, the further I got from the train station the weirder the looks I began to get from fellow pedestrians, usually women out on a walk with a kid in a stroller or elderly folk out on a bike ride.  And since I have no knowledge of German, let alone Swiss German, my responses were limited to headnods and smiles.  Needless to say the site of the Lehrlingshaus was rewarding, like reaching the summit of a mountain, or so I imagine.

A fellow student at the school out here (Chur Institute of Architecture, or CIA, and yes they actually call it that) met me at the door to show me my room and around the building.  Eventually it was time for lunch (ham, sausage, au-gratin potatoes, bread, tea, etc.) where I met some of his buddies most of whom speak broken English at best.  Actually I felt quite handcuffed by the situation like a bird in a cage perhaps, where all of the other birds are flying around and I am sitting inside trying to figure a way out....I can only hope soon (I guess Tchuss is a start). 

After lunch I got unpacked and found that a bottle of shampoo that I brought along had exploded.  Great.  Actually how can I not laugh .  The rest of the day I napped had dinner and played 3 on 3 soccer where I was reffered by some as, "Hey American!"  Once again, perfect.  Did I mention my name is Kevin?  Also I`ve played maybe twice since 3rd grade, which, you know....All in all it was good to run around a bit and have some fun.

Today Iäm off to explore the old town and have lunch with the director of the school out here.  Should be a great time!

Until next time, with a hearty handshake,

Kevin