Thursday, October 13, 2005

Week 5 (Sept 26-Oct 2)

This week we mostly chilled out -- went to Imad's place and watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind (which I'd watched with Yuriy but naturally fallen asleep 15 minutes through) and then to Chris's place to watch Twin Peaks (which was just plain weird.) We also popped by the local campus pub "Satellite" to have beers with the asl guys.

However, our weekend was HUGE. On Friday we went on the SWIS group lab retreat (hiking at moleson, chateau gruyere, cheese factory, fondue) and on Saturday we went on the ASL lab retreat (canyoning, hiking at moleson, chateau gruyere, cheese factory, fondue -- yes, it was the same thing two days in a row.)

Here's us eagerly on the metro at 8:00 on Friday morning.


And the swiss chalets from the foot of Moleson


Moleson:


Everybody coming up

View from the top


The garden at the Chateau Gruyere


Having drinks while others explore the Aliens Museum


The robotic cheese cleaner at the Gruyere Factory


And the next day: Ok, so we knew we were going to be doing something known as "canyoning" and to bring an extra pair of shoes. We were told we would be walking around a creek bed and would get our feet wet. Not having brought an extra pair of shoes, i didn't want to go. And, dave didn't really want to get his shoes nasty so we thought "Heck, we'll just walk _around_ the water and won't get in or will turn back when you have to get through the water." It was a freezing day and getting our feet wet sounded like the worst idea. And lo and behold, we were getting into wetsuits to go "canyoning", better described as swimming around in a creek bed and doing dangerous things like jumping off of cliffs that are likely to get you killed." Here are some snaps:

Dave looking sharp in his onesie:


We get our suits wet for the first time:


You wouldn't be allowed to do this crap in the US. We didn't even sign a "If i die, which i probably will, its not your company's fault" form.


Here's me, surprisingly warm in the 50 degree water.


Me being told "Its not scary" when faced with a giant cliff. I must have stood there for a good 10 minutes before I shut my eyes and fell.


More jumping -- 9 meters.


Afterwards we had mac and cheese for lunch. (Don't worry, Dave and I picked out the excellent bits of ham)


Cows being driven down from the mountains.


We got to our chateau in Moleson but it was raining so most of us decided not do go hiking. Instead, we played Jenga (woo) while others made food:


Its intense!!


best fondue of my life.


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