102 Degree Swiss Christmas

First let me start by saying Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It was great celebrating Christmas with new traditions and different family members. I'm sure you're all sitting on the edge of your seats wondering how Christmas in Switzerland differs from Christmas in USA. Well first of all, international blog readers, Christmas is celebrated on the night of Christmas Eve. I was at my aunt and uncle's house in Adliswil, a small town across the lake from where I live. That night we enjoyed a traditional Swiss Christmas meal - Fondu Chinois. Fondu Chinois takes the concept of dipping something in a communal pot of yumminess, but with a twist. Instead of dipping bread into a pot of cheese, you dip raw meat into a pot of hot broth until the meat cooks and then you have your choice of sauces to dip your freshly cooked meat in. I have to say that my love of classic cheese fondu overpowers my love of meat cooked in broth and dipped in sauce, but a fun experience and delicious meal nonetheless. After the delicate cousine we opened presents. Yes, on Christmas Eve we opened the presents. I know what you are thinking - What happens on Christmas morning? To be honest, I have no idea what normally happens because we hopped in the car and drove to Bellwald, Switzerland.

For the entire week after Christmas I had a wonderful time in Bellwald, Switzerland. It's a tiny town on the side of the mountains tucked away in the Canton of Wallis (south western Switzerland). My aunt, uncle, cousins, a friend (Blue Blizzard), and I spent the week in a Chalet in Bellwald, walking around the winter wonderland, skiing, and playing Brandi Dog (the best game ever).


Our Chalet

Now by this time I'm sure you are scratching your head and wondering how it is possible for me to have had a 102 degree Christmas in the middle of the Swiss Alps. Well I can assure you that it wasn't the temperature outside that was 102 degrees. No, unfortunately it was me. Christmas night brought a wonderful time with my family - followed by the stomach flu. I guess I wasn't so lucky to dodge the kindergarten germs after all and ended up experiencing my Christmas dinner 7 more times....in the opposite direction. But enough of the gross details because lucky for me it was only a 24 hour flu and I was back on my feet in no time and ready to ski.

Michi, Estella, Andy, Mirji, Me

On Tuesday and Wednesday we went skiing and like Davos, the view was A-MA-ZING! The second day was so clear that we could see all the way to the Matterhorn! Again, the photos never do justice. For those of you unfamiliar with the Matterhorn: go buy a bar of Toblerone chocolate or visit Disneyland.

The Matterhorn

Now for the second holiday of the week - New Years. I was back in Zurich for New Years Eve and was lucky to have made enough friends by now to have some people to share it with. New Years in Switzerland is just as big as it is in the USA, but there is no Time Square, there is no ball drop, but there are fireworks! After wandering around downtown Zurich, listening to some bands play covers of country songs (strange, I know), dancing to the hits of the 80s and 90s (including my personal favorite Michael Jackson and Switzerland's favorite David Hasselhoff - so bizaar), we finally gathered at the top of the lake and anticipated the firework show. Here comes my only complaint of the evening: There was no countdown to midnight and I actually missed it. Yes folks, I missed the oh-so-accurate Swiss clock turning midnight because I didn't have a large crowd of people screaming "Zah, Nun, Acht, Siebe, Sachs, Foyve, Vier, Dru, Zwei, Eins, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" (My apologies for my invented spelling of Swiss-German numbers and my lack of knowledge of how to say Happy New Year) In my denfense, the firework show didn't actually start until 12:20am (so much for Swiss punctuality). Regardeless, once the fireworks began I didn't even care what year it was because the show was magnificent! Depsite the unfortunately low hanging fog that covered up a lot of the fireworks, I can assure you that whoever footed the bill (tax payers of Switzerland including me) put on a great show!