Do youuuu know what a Bucket List is?

This summer has been all about the Bucket List for me.

I've managed to check 5 things off my Bucket List.

1) Live in Europe (preferred Switzerland)

2) Travel internationally alone.

3) Visit Auschwitz

4) Work at Our Chalet

5) Visit Chateau De Chillon

It's been a dream of mine since I was little to live in Europe.

I preferred Switzerland, however I would not have argued if the opportunity has arose elsewhere.

But lucky for me, it is Switzerland that I currently reside in.

I'd someday like to make it a longer stint of living here, but for now...

I can check that off my Bucket List.

Flying is the best time ever.

Your phone is off,

you're only with a few people you know (excluding school trips. ugh)

you don't have contact with the outside world,

and every one on that plane has an unheard story.

International travel, especially when going from the USA to Europe takes quite some time.

The time on the plane, alone, is a great time to think,

and just have a good solid 10 hours of "alone time"

So in May when I headed over to Switzerland I began to look forward to my alone travel.

I can check that off my Bucket List.

When I was a junior in high school I was in a play called-

"I Never Saw Another Butterfly"

The play took place in Auschwitz--the worst Nazi concentration camp of WWII.

Starting then I always hoped to someday visit.

That part of history, as grim as it is, fascinates me.

Just a few days ago I boarded a plane and headed for Poland... alone.

Not knowing a word of Polish or even how to get to Auschwitz.

I managed somehow and I got home to the Chalet safely.

One of the biggest things on my Bucket List has now been accomplished.

I can check that off my Bucket List.

The entry to Auschwitz.

I came to Our Chalet in 2010,

and it was explained to me then the different opportunities of volunteering/working here.

And it sounded magical.

I waited and waited until I was old enough to apply.

And finally I sent in my application.

And then I waited and waited to hear...

And finally I was in!

I can now proudly say "I work at Our Chalet!"

I can check that off my Bucket List.

Chateau De Chillon is a beautiful castle type thing in Switzerland.

I'd seen it online a few times and the images are breathtaking.

I wanted and wanted to see it for myself.

And knowing that I seem to come to Switzerland a bit

I would probably be likely to see it some day.

The other day, I was off work at the Chalet, and I braved the 4 hours of trains and the French speaking Swiss and I made it there.

And let me tell you,

it is just as beautiful in person.

I can check that off my Bucket List.

Chateau De Chillon

Awkward Salmon!

This past week was our first event week.
A group from Alabama came.
And a group from Colorado.
The girls were hilarious and overall a blast to be around.

We enjoyed event day after event day.
Long hikes, cold lakes, harnesses, and crazy moments all ensued of course.
Our time together was never dull.

To narrow it down to my favorite memories...
(in no specific order)
1. Waking up the departure morning to find a massive prank.
2. Being waved off at the train station by Hollon and Dailey.
3. Watching Hannah abseil into a gorge.
4. The pure excitement the girls had when I would walk over to them or sit with them.
5. Campfire.

To elaborate more...

The morning of the girls departure (the same morning I was flying to Poland, but more on that later)
I began to walk out of Stockli when I was stopped because our entire entry way had been saran-wrapped.
Upon walking out the girls were ready to take pictures of our shocked faces.
They proceeded to show me that they had also...
put shoes up the flagpole,
saran-wrapped a block of shoes and put it on the morning meeting table,
left us goodbye posters,
tipped the entire dining room tables upside down,
AND gotten Katie Scales help on the whole plane.
Those girls were good,
but Katie... payback stinks.

the staff house entry way....

On my day off during program week I decided to head to Chateau De Chillon in Montreux.
Once I boarded the train in Frutigen I saw two of the girls walk past--Hollon and Dailey.
Neither of them noticed me.
Hollon's grandmother then noticed me and loudly asked "Are you going to Poland?"
I, being inside the train, couldn't hear this.
Hollon, being outside the train, said she sounded crazy.
As the train started the leave and passed Hollon and Dailey,
they started jumping up and down waving.
It was the best way to be sent off.

The last full day that the girls were here we went abseiling in the morning.
Hannah is quite afraid of heights,
and I don't blame her,
she's a small girl--I understand.
I was sure she was going to end up not abseiling into the gorge,
(P.S. abseiling is rappelling... I speak British English now...)
However, as I was standing in the bottom of the gorge to help the girls unclick from the ropes properly,
I looked up and to my surprise her came Hannah.
Now yes, she was quite upset,
and by the time she got to me she was shaking a little bit.
However, I've never been more proud of someone in my life.
I don't have a fear of heights, and I'm still a little scared every time I jump down into that canyon.

I don't think you quite understand,
the girls who were here last week were FABULOUS.
Every time I would join their group,
or sit at their table for dinner,
they would get sooooo excited.
It was truly ego boosting to realize these girls truly adored me.

Campfire,
as always is one of the my favorite parts of any Girl Scouting/Guiding event.
and this time was no different.
We start off crazy and silly--
which involved me teaching The Nonsense Song
(FYI, NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD IT BEFORE!)
and then we begin to fade into our slower songs and reflect on the week we've had.
I, once again, sang my Canoe Song, as we began to wind down.
This song was my favorite when I was a child,
but then was banned at camp for quite some time.
When I came to Our Chalet in 2010, I taught the song at campfire,
when I came back as a vollie this summer, Katie Scales still remembered it.
This song has been with me since I was a little camper in Girl Scouts in Oklahoma,
and has followed me to Our Chalet as an adult now.
And apparently it has stuck in the minds of many.
Luckily, this time though, I didn't need to teach it,
because the amazing girls already knew it!
Campfire always has been, is, and always will be, pure magic.

The first event!

We are the Vollies that... were a little weird.

The 12 of us who make up the Summer Vollies of Our Chalet are not your average vollies.
This became obvious to the Long Term Staff on the first day of training.
We showed up with full backpacks and hiking gear on.
They told us we were the first group to ever do that.
That was the day we played a get to know you game and made posters...
We are the Vollies that were prepared to hike a mountain on our first day.

Not long afterwards we were given photos of all the Long Term Staff
and were asked to put them in order of who is the boss of who.
We put Skippy Storrow, the Chalet cat, as the head of this joint.
And it's true, she does run this place.
We are the Vollies that think Skippy runs the Chalet.

Katie Scales is the program manager here at Our Chalet,
(she was mentioned in my previous post)
and well the Summer Vollies basically idolize her.
It's bordering creepy.
According to Katie, previous vollie seasons have looked up to her, but not like us.
We often ask "What would Katie do?"
If Katie does something, we are more likely to think it's a great idea, and also do it.
The fact that we so openly (and loudly) idolize Katie kind of weirds her out...
(only on the outside though, she admitted to me the other night it actually flatters her)
She's British--compliments are tough.
I learned this when she told me my previous blog post almost made her tear up...
not my intention.
We are the Vollies that idolize Katie Scales.

This week we have been doing our program training.
The weather has been wet... and wet... and a little bit wet.
While hiking up Bunderspitz yesterday (approx. 8353 feet)
we encountered rain--which we were used to at this point.
sun--which prompted us to sing every song we could sing with 'sun' or 'sunshine' in it.
hail.
SNOW.
A few seconds before the hail hit we asked Katie if this was the worst training weather she's ever seen.
She replied with "no it isn't, now if it hails on us on this hike it will be"
not even two minutes later the hail began.
We are the Vollies with the worst program training weather.

If this is any indication of how the summer will go...
God bless the Long Term Staff.

Official Our Chalet staff now!

One million girls... and I met this lot...

I've been at the Chalet three weeks today.
So much as happened.
We came in as these new babies,
and though we're still learning,
we've gotten the hang of Chalet life.
Times are a changing here at the Chalet,
we've said goodbye to (most of) the amazing Spring Vollies.
Stef, Putri, Rachael and Eve have all gone home,
and left us the Chalet.
Karin leaves in a week.
We've barely met them, yet our friendships are true.

Same goes with the group of Summer Vollies,
and the long term.
I've known them a short while, but we're a family at Our Chalet.

This brings me to the point of my post this evening.
I want to highlight some very important people in my Swiss life.
1 Spring Vollie, 1 Summer Vollie and 1 Long Term Staff.
This is not favoritism, throughout the summer I'm sure there will be more posts about people,
however, these are the ones that hit me tonight.

Spring Vollie--Stefanie Ashlyn:
Stef was a Spring Vollie, and left to head back to America after a stop in Wales.
We bounded over our love of Corgis and hatred of Tomatoes.
Today the Summer Vollies moved in to Stockli, the staff house.
and I luckily got Stef's room.
So it's the smallest room in the house--it has this feel to it, one just can't explain.
Upon moving my things in, I found a note and a pin Stef had left as a gift to the next lucky lady.
The note said everything from what the pin was for (GSUSA 100th birthday)
to a tip to keep the curtain shut when I sleep.
This note was just a classic Stef.
In the few short weeks I've known her, Stef has shown such beauty and wisdom.
She is a such a strong woman, and I'm glad I got to meet a role model like her.

Summer Vollie--Cate O'Donnell:
I've connected very well with all my summer co-vollies.
But Cate has shown me many things in these 3 weeks.
To stand up for what I believe (like her feminism ways).
"To be a sister to every Girl Scout"--
I know that, even though she makes fun of me a lot, that I can always go to Cate if I need advice.
Cate is a true Girl Scout in my eyes.

Cate O'Donnell

Long-Term Staff--Katie Scales.

So maybe it's cheating because I've actually known Katie for about 2 years now instead of just 3 weeks like the other Long Term Staff,

However, I can truly say I never would have met the other Long Term Staff if it had not have been for Katie.

I visited Our Chalet in March 2010, and while here I was lucky enough to meet Katie Scales.

Katie made my Chalet experience beyond perfect.

Which in turn, made me choose to volunteer.

I would truly say I owe this all to Katie. 

Katie is one of the hardest workers I know, can always seem to dig up a smile, and is an important piece of Our Chalet.

I am beyond blessed that I am able to spend a summer with such a great role model--and I only hope that our friendship continues to grow.

The day I left Our Chalet in March 2010,

I hugged Katie goodbye, and never believed I'd be back.

Three short weeks ago, Katie ran to greet me with a hug at the Adelboden Oey bus stop--

I had come full circle. 

Katie Scales and I in 2010

Party in... die Schweiz?

Yesterday was my birthday.
My 19th birthday to be exact.

This year was a little different.
And when I say little, I mean a lot.
Because I live in Switzerland now.
My family and friends were all still in America,
but that didn't stop the good times from rollin' in.

I awoke at 6:30 am and began to get ready for my journey into Lucerne.
I went in to the kitchen around 7:20 to fill up my water bottle
(and grab a Balisto bar)
and Cate (a summer vollie) was turning on the stove.

I stared at her for a few seconds confused,
because absolutely NOTHING for breakfast prep requires the stove.
She saw my confused look and replied "How many pieces of bacon do you want?"
Cate had gotten permission from Katy (the kitchen coordinator) to cook bacon for me.
To make this story even better... Cate is vegetarian.

After that I rode my three hours to Lucerne and met up with Nadine (my sister)
We went and bought a new camera for me,
because I lost mine :(
And then we picked up her mom and went and had a lovely lunch.
It was so great to see them again.

Afterwards Nadine and I shopped all over the place and I bought so much,
but ya know what? It was my birthday so it's fine.

Once I got back to Adelboden the majority of the summer vollies and the majority of the spring vollies all went to Ham's Bistro which is just over the property line.
Ham made chocolate fondue specially for us,
he also opened the bistro last night just for us.
So we sat for hours having our beers and fondue.

A few summer vollies made me a card and got everyone to sign it.
It was a perfect birthday.