A to Z of Bossey, presentation night

My final post on this blog. It's a presentation I wrote for group to do at our leaving ceremony. I passed by the way!!

Each student to read 1 letter

A to Z of Bossey 2012

A is for Arrival, thinking back to when we first got here, when all that is now so familiar to us was new and unknown

B is for Bossey, our chateau, with its classrooms, it's library, it's chapel and its wonderful views.

C is for Cultural differences, where do we begin... I think it is safe to say that living and working together has made the world seem a much smaller place, but at the same time highlights those differences that makes us unique

D is for Dialogue, whether its been in the classroom, over coffee, with each other, with visitors, with staff or with friends we have made outside of Bossey, we keep on listening and understanding.

E is for Ecumenism, well what can we say, our whole purpose for being here.

F is for Filioque, one of the first ecumenical issues we came across here, our way of understanding our faith isn't the same for everyone

G is for Geography, no longer having to look at google earth to check where a country is, because the chances are we know someone who lives there now!

H is for Hospitality, for everyone who fed us, looked after us and answered our queries, we thank you.

I is for Ignorance, what we may have started our journey with. Now we have gained knowledge, it's hard to go backwards. In the council for Interfaith dialogue discussion in Rome, they suggested we should enter in to dialogue with other faiths by listening so we could recognise their values and find common ground for cooperation. Fear and lack of knowledge often assist in fuelling prejudice. 

J is for John and the organic garden, for the fresh air, the hard work and the passion he developed in many of us

K is for Koinonia, for fellowship and togetherness in Christ, wherever we may be  in the world

L is for Lund principle - The Lund Principle is important in ecumenical relations between Christian churches. It affirms that churches should act together in all matters except those in which deep differences of conviction compel them to act separately.

M is for Myanmar and all the other countries represented here today

N is for Normality, what we are going back to, will life ever be the same after our time here? Should it ever be the same, if we are going to grow as Christians, all part of the journey

O is for Orthodox and other denominations, what we have learnt and how it will affect our ministry, lay or ordained in the future

P is for Petit Bossey, our home for 5 months.

Q is for Questions, how would we learn without them, as Bob Marley would say, emancipate yourself from mental slavery.

R is for Rome experience, still fresh in our minds, a week of worship and sightseeing, history and fellowship, a week never to be forgotten. 

S is for Students, father Ioan speech at the being of this course, if you put a group of Bishops together and tell them they are students, they will behave like students. 

T is for Taize experience, sharing in the spirituality of the place, coming together in prayer and silence

U is for Umbrellas, not just umbrellas, but the weather in general, from the warm weather in September to the snow in January, it was the first time some of the students had experienced it!

V is for Visible Unity, what we should continue to seek. it is a gift from God, it is our responsibility as humans to make it happen for all.

W is for the World Council of Churches, this provisional organisation which has and continues to do so much towards working for visible unity between us

X Is for the love shown to one another during our time together, forming friendships that will out live out time here.

Y is for Yahweh, Father, God, whatever name we use, God is at the centre of all our lives.

Zzzz is for sleep! The temptation maybe to leave here, return home and go back to sleep. But the reality is that this has been a life changing experience, and one we now need to go and live in the real world

Final day of prayer for the week of Christian unity

We are off to St Paul's outside the walls later for catholic vespers with the pope, it's the end of the week of prayer for Christian unity. Mary one of our students is reading a prayer.

Well is was like evensong in Bristol/Salisbury cathedral. Full choir and sung evening prayer. Differences were that the Pope was leading it, it was in St Paul's Basilica outside the walls, on the day we celebrate the conversion of Paul .the Archbishop of Canterbury representative in rome was present was present, they really know how to swing incense AND we had VIP seats right at the front....oh and I almost forgot an escort home which avoided all the traffic, but it was by luck that the coach in front needed to get some delegates back quickly to continue a dialogue meeting and we just happened to be behind them!!
It was a beautiful service in Italian, but we had a book with the translation in English, I really felt I could enter into the spirit of worship, which I felt was lacking at the audience with the pope.

This was really the last key day of the trip I think, we wine to visit Vatican radio which, was a huge affair, we're not talking some little hospital radio set up, we're talking a business that is broadcast all over the world in 40 different languages.

Sunday was an interesting end to the week, it was a bit of an anticlimax really. The catholic church and especially the Pontificate Council for Promoting Christian Unity really worked hard for us all week, we met all manner of departments, we met communities involved in world ecumenical work, attended vespers with representatives from many Christian denominations, we were also taken to meet the  Waldensians. But on the last morning we were invited to attend a Mass in a parish church with a lunch afterwards, it was a happy occasion with young church members receiving bibles as gifts, some of us were asked to help hand out the bibles with the Cardinal and others were asked to read, but when it came to communion, we couldn't receive and although I understand the reasons why, it seemed the wrong thing to end the week of Christian unity with. At Bossey we don't share communion services together, we are encouraged to go to churches and join theirs, but because we don't do communion, nobody is excluded. In this Catholic Church on this Sunday morning, I felt excluded....

And yet I was only justifying this to myself a few days before we came to Rome. We are united through Christ as one church in Christ, if we choose to practice rituals in different ways, and be many churches that make up the one church in Christ, does it really matter in the big scheme of things?

Day 3...

We started today with the department of migration, this included all people's with no fixed address or those not living at it for an extended period, including travellers, refugees, immigrants and overseas students. I think they said there was 8 million overseas students worldwide, Australia is becoming a key centre for this. It was interesting and engaging, there was a variety of speakers and lots of questions.
The under secretary of the council justice and peace spoke to us after the break. The talk was hard work because of her accent but the content was good. There were very few women in high positions in Vatican jobs, yet she could only ever be the undersecretary, not the secretary for a council.

We visited the Catacombs in the afternoonand then went  off to the Focalare movement for a talk and dinner. Movements are different to religious orders in that you don't have to live in community to be part of it. Some of the members we met were young people, some married and some who did live in community. The idea is that they give back to the society they live in, they work, they love and they help in whatever way they feel called. They are asked to give most of their income to the movement and live off only what they need depending on their job and circumstances. There are Focalare movements all over the world, it would be interesting to meet the community in the UK.

We were out for 15 hours on this day, and its starting to take its toll.

Rome day 2, an audience with the Pope.

This feels so surreal! I'm sat in the 3rd row of the auditorium waiting for the pope. The atmosphere is almost 'rock concert' like. 4 of our students have been chosen to greet him, Aris, Todi, Tania and Rebecca. I'm feeling mixed emotions, almost tears, but also a feeling of 'what am I doing here'. Not that I wouldn't have come, you really don't get this chance every day.
I wait with trepidation for his arrival at 10.30!
Different groups are arriving and entering playing as a marching band, others suddenly stand up and start playing. And a group of nuns were dancing and clapping
Now they are reading out the names of all the groups present here.

Now we are off on a sight seeing bus tour, many basilicas, starting with St Peters....

Just got into bed at 22.50, after leaving the guest house at 8.30 this morning! We have visited, 4 Basilicas, including St Peter's, St John Lateran, and St Mary Major. We will be doing the 4th main one on Friday, that's St Paul's outside the wall.
Then we stopped to look at the Colosseum and a 2000 year old roman road, after that we went to St Bartholomew's  on Tiber Island, a martyrs church, and we finished with catholic vespers in Santa Maria in Trastevere after which we got fed at 9.00 O'clock.
It was a good day and I would never have done all of the sights without a guide, but it was definitely one church too many, or maybe one would have been enough! It was a bit of a case of seen one, seen them all!!!

Rome - study visit day 1

I'm in Rome and I had no reason to be stressed! I'm in a single room with its own ensuite, it's better than the accommodation I have been staying in for the whole of my time in Petit Bossey. And the food tonight was delicious, it's getting used to a different order of food to Switzerland, it's pasta, then meat and vegetables with salad, then dessert. They also bring around cheese to go with the meat, as opposed to Switzerland which is salad then a main course which may include pasta or rice.
Anyway I'm a happy bunny on my first night here, I wasn't looking forward to sharing a room for 6 nights, but there are advantages to being the eldest female in the group!

We have spent the morning with the Pontificate council for Christian unity, the council for interfaith dialogue and the superiors council for religious orders. I was expecting it to be a very long morning, but the variety of speakers, all ordained men or men and women in religious orders was good and they ensured we moved about and had breaks. All in all a good morning.
This afternoon was the visit to the Necropolis, the city of the dead. We walked under St Peters Basilica, and made our way past the bones of St Peter still sitting in the graffiti wall where they were positioned from their original burial site, which we also walked past. Directly on top of this site is the altar of St Peter's, for this reason only the Pope is allowed to celebrate mass here, because he is considered a direct descendant of St Peter.
It's been an excellent day, I plan to write and read tonight. The week will be manageable at this pace as long as I rest in the evening.
Father Louis, a priest originally from Canada and working in the council for Christian unity is an excellent guide and very approachable.

Time's running out!

It's been a long time since I've written for my blog. Since I have returned after Christmas it has been constant essay writing and revision for exams, oral exams! Except for foreign languages I don't think oral exams are practiced in the UK. But in a weird sort of way I quite enjoyed them. I was extremely anxious, more about the unknown than about revising for them, and I haven't had to revise since my ABPI exams 14 years ago! Yet being able to talk through your answers, and justify your own opinions seemed a good way to be examined in theology.
Anyway they finished last Thursday, and since then I haven't stopped. I've been out for coffee, lunch, dinner and I've been to a skiing resort. This has all been with people I have met at the little Anglican Church I attend in Gingin. Tomorrow I'm leading evening prayer because Carolyn the priest in charge is a way for the weekend, it'll be my last Sunday at Gingin, so it's a real opportunity to thank everyone.
On Monday we go to Rome for a study visit, it has been made very clear to us that this is what it is, it is not a tourist visit. Paid for and organised by the Vatican during the week of prayer for Christian unity and with an audience with the pope, it's going to be quite a week. I plan to blog daily if we have WiFi  if not, I'll write daily and blog it all at the end of the week. The program is none stop all week from 8.30am until 10.00pm most days, we get a free afternoon on Saturday, I think we will all need to lie in a darkened room by then!

Swiss Parish Visit in Zurich

Zurich parish visit was really good and very informative, I stayed in an amazing penthouse flat in the centre of Zurich, home to a newly inaugurated minister, infact in was her inauguration while we were visiting. We were sent out in pairs to experience life in Switzerland and the Reformed Swiss church.
Because the church is funded by the taxes from the parishes, they have money! They don't have to find money to refurbish a church or pay for staff, which means they can focus much more on parish work.

The parish and church i went to was called Neumunster, which means New Building,  although it was about 100 years old. They also have a few extra rooms in this building and a community centre which was the size of a small leisure centre, each parish have one for community use.
This parish had  about 10 full time members of staff, 2.5 clergy, 3 housekeepers, 2 social deacons, a youth worker, administrators and support workers, they serve a parish of 4500 people, but on an average Sunday, only about 50 people attend the one worship service they offer.

On Saturday we were taken around the four main reformed churches of Zurich. The preachers church, this was one attached to a monastery which is now a library. We then went to St. Peter's, this is the oldest church with the biggest clock face, we think the biggest diameter in Europe, even bigger than Big Ben. It had a small part at the back of the church, under the pulpit, that may have originally been the sacristy from the church prior reformation, some of the old paintings on the wall had been recovered.
We went on to Fraumunster, lady church to Grosemunster, big church, this had a series of five stained glass windows, I need to look these up on the Internet, they were beautiful, fairly newly commissioned and we were not allowed to take photographs of them. This church also had these windows, behind the pulpit, in an area that may have been the sacristy prior to reformation. All four of these church would have been Catholic. Fraumunster was attached to a convent and the last abbess gave up the church willingly to avoid war!
Grosemunster, is also called Zwvingli's church, it has twin towers and it is easily recognisable in the city skyline. We were able to walk to the top of one of the towers, I have a panoramic view.
I think Fraumunster was my favourite.

They were all of the baroque style, often decorated ceilings and wood etc, but no icons or crosses.

We then had a chance to look around the Christmas market, to be honest, it was no different to the Christmas market Cheryl and I went to Bath last Christmas. I still bought some slippers though!

In the evening we spent the evening at Elisabeth's, Thomas' host and we watched a classic Swiss show called Bellisimo, it was the final showing of this programme, so we shared a moment of Swiss media history!,

Sunday was Stephanie's inauguration, the service was approx 1 hour long, they preached from the pulpit, the church is massive and full. These was not Eucharist and it was all in German, but other than this, it could have been England.
Stephanie chose to wear white robes, this is considered as unusual, most ministers wear black, white is considered catholic! Even the part afterwards was like our big celebrations at church. What was great was they the catholic priest also camp to the celebration and they had a good relationship with the church, you could tell they know each other well and were comfortable in each others company. We were told at the meeting on Friday night, that they have a good ecumenical relationship with their Catholic partner church, they worship together maybe 3 times a year, and at these services, they will share communion. The catholic priest is also part of a daily ecumenical prayer group that meet at the preachers church every day at midday. This is a big commitment, but it is an important area for prayer.
We went to a concert at the Catholic Church in the evening, this was a modern Catholic church, but all Catholic Churches are fairly modern, because they have only in more modern history been allowed back into the city, it wasn't that ornate, but there were crosses and icons and lots of candles, it felt more like an Anglican Church than a reformed church did. It also has a prominent permanent alter.
There are so many similarities between ourselves and the reformed tradition and if they can share communion in one parish one a catholic church, this should surely be transferable to other areas. It doesn't need to be based on theology, maybe all that is needed is respect enough for the other to enter into a relationship of trust and love. If they can do surely we all can!!

St Nicholas' day

We woke up this morning to find a gift from St Nicholas outside my bedroom door and a huge snowman to greet us when we opened the front door. It felt like a day of celebration, which in Switzerland it is.
Happy St Nicholas' day

I have 13 days before I come home for Christmas and I'm starting to count them!!

Morning worship at Bossey

Every morning the students lead worship, we are give pairings and I have no doubt that the choice of pairings are based on diversity, not just the denomination but the personality are well.
As with any group there are a handful of people that ask all the questions in class, they volunteer for things and when they are involved in worship they are happy to lead.
Worship is often more memorable and and has more impact when those who don't normally lead are asked to lead worship together. The worship is less predictable, often more intense and often very rich in content. I think this is because its often a style and view you don't get to hear everyday in class, especially when they include a sermon. It's an all embracing way of hearing the voices of all our fellow students and learning more about them and their spirituality.
Mixing denominations, makes you realise that worshipping together is much easier than you think, most of the time! Orthodox and Baptist, Methodist and Roman Catholic, Anglican and Chinese Non denominational, they all work. But it's interesting to look at the compromises made by each.
The biggest consideration is the Filioque, the addition of the words 'and the son,' to the Nicene Creed. If it is added, this causes an issue for the Orthodox worshippers, if it is bracketed it is acceptable, leaving it out, or using the Apostles creed if often the best option
Generally if Africans are involved in worship, then drums are played somewhere in the worship. All the Asian countries love to sing hymns, but for me I don't find them cultural because they are the hymns we would often sing in the Anglican church of the UK. I find myself taking a more contemplative approach to worship, identifying my culture more with morning prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, because I feel I too need to have an identity. It's difficult here being from the UK to have a clear identity, because we have exported so many of our 'English' ways of worshipping on those countries who were in the British Empire and those countries influenced by British Missionaries.
Although a lot of worship has its origins in my tradition, worshipping together made me sit up and realise that The Church of England is not the centre of the world Church. I think I knew this, but I wonder how long would it have taken me to acknowledge this!!

Orthodox Vespers

When in Rome...

I sang in the Orthodox Choir that was put together for the Orthodox Vespers! We have been asked to sing again at two more Orthodox services. It's not great and the recording is poor, But I enjoyed it.

The Liturgy and the delivery of it, allows time for personal reflection and prayer, there are no orders to stand and to sit, no need to open this book or look at that sheet, yet because of the intimacy you feel involved in the worship.

If you can cope with the poor recording, watch the clip


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F80LIZ-P8e4&feature=youtu.be

Cultural night photos

Cultural evening

It was the turn of the Africans, Americans and Caribbeans to feed and entertain us.

We had dried beef from Mexico and soft tortilla chips. A curry from Jamaica and salt fish cakes, and a traditional Zambian soup with maize. It was wonderful to have such variety, all washed down with a delicious fruit and ginger cocktail and Tequila!
Then came the Bob Marley, Salsa dancing and the African songs...

A great night was had by all, photos to follow.

Its the turn of the Asians and Europeans in November. I've opted out of the main course, the food they serve in Switzerland is a little bit too similar to food at home, so I'm doing the puddings, I'm planning a sherry trifle and a rhubarb crumble with custard, I think these would be considered traditional English fare?

Looking forward to spending a day in the kitchen after being waited on for six weeks, yes six weeks today!

Academia

I suppose I was going to notice it eventually, especially as quite a lot of the teaching is covered in a variety of different ways for a variety of different reasons, by Catholic and Lutheran professors, that I could go home an expert on the Catholic and Lutheran perspectives of the ecumenical movement and its theology! I'm not sure some of my Catholic and Lutheran colleagues will feel the same about the Anglican perspective. But don't worry there are enough of us here to speak up!
And as for the repetitiveness, well I thought about it and during coffee this morning, following a slightly repeated session on the Pentecostal movement, Aris, an Armenian student, who came in June to attend the english course, so he could begin his studies here in English, mentioned that "he got it now."  He didn't get it after the Pentecostal talk from a visiting speaker, but now he does! I have to realise that I speak English and I come from an ecumenical college, Aris is Armenian and comes from an oriental orthodox background, so he has not been exposed to a lot of these denominations, and didn't speak a word of English until June this year, so who am I to complain? Yet again I feel especially humbled from these unexpected clashes of culture.

I have to remember its not all about me!!

The honeymoon period is over!

Things are missing from the fridge, the noise in the house at night is starting to grate, I dont want to be the source of all knowledge just because im English and I'm fed up with the food!! Oh, and I'm homesick and want to come home...
We were warned that these feelings would hit us and they said it would be after about a month, it's 4 weeks today since I got here!
I have no doubt that by next week things will have settled again.

I had my first visitors this weekend, Sarah and David stayed in Geneva. It was so great to see them and speak my normal English instead of the ecumenical English I'm learning to speak here. One thing I have noticed is that I can't apply my usual humour in my conversations, sarcasm just doesn't translate ecumenically!
David and Sarah bought Bristol with them just by being here, this was great, but also reinforced the homesickness.
But what a great weekend we had. We started with a fondue lunch and then tried to walk it off in search of the Calvin statue at Judith's request back at STETS, the pictures are on Facebook. We then found a tea shop in the old city, with the weather so great, we were able to sit outside and enjoy the evening sun.
On Sunday after Holy Trinity Geneva, we settled down on the boat tour around the lake, Sarah to take lots of pictures and me to sit and chat some more. There is absolutely no question that tourism and exploring new places are not top of my list for filling my spare time, although I'm doing a lot better than most of the students I study with.
It was wonderful to spend a weekend away from Bossey, but it was also great to show it to Sarah and David on Sunday, they had a chance to meet a few of my fellow students as well.

The weekend has left me refreshed and ready to start another week, as I said, the rose tinted spectacles were going to slip sooner of later....

The video, enjoy

I think I'm finally figuring out how to upload things, but they do have to sit in a Google + account and I wasn't really sure if I wanted one. I think you have to sign up for Google+ to leave comments as well.

Friday night at Bossey...

Having spent two years socialising on a Friday night with my STETS colleagues, it was a relief to know that socialising on a Friday night in Petit Bossey has taken off as well. Last week three of us sat down in the common room to share some wine and nibbles at the end of our first full week, by the end of the evening, we had been joined by a few others and a few more bottles of wine.
So this week we became a little bit more organised, we shopped for a few extra provisions, ensured everyone knew and provided a few instruments....What a great evening of fellowship, sharing a few bottles of wine and lots of songs, some I knew and some I just sat back and enjoyed in languages unfamiliar to me a few weeks a go, (I still don't understand the language, but I recognise it.)
Again, when I get to my laptop, I'll post just a small video of an accoustic very extended version of a Marvin Gaye song adapted for ecumenical musicians!!

Yet there we all were this morning for a workshop on teaching others new worship songs, fresh and ready to sing some more!
The focus was on different cultures, breaking away from the stuff everyone knows or expects and bringing our own cultures to the worship.

QUESTION, If anyone has any suggestions of worship songs or hymns I could use please let me know. There is nowoint in singing most of our well known hymns because these are used by Anglicnans the world over, I need something new and British, with a fairly simple tune? All suggestions welcome

I've just come to the end of my first 'proper' weekend in Bossey. I had to entertain myself! Yesterday I went into Geneva, navigating the buses and trains and returned safely to the right place, I even used my limited french to get me there.
I went shopping with Agnes from Zambia, and did you know they have H&M in Zambia? I didn't!

As I came out of the railway station the first outlets to greet me were H&M, Starbucks and yes, you've guessed it, MacDonalds, no surprises there.

Today I went to two Anglican services, one in Geneva and one in a small village near Nyon

I've been at the same church in Henbury pretty much all my life, I've ventured out when I've been invited by others to a different church, but I've never really walked into a church for a service as a visitor looking to become a regular attender.
We all think we have a welcoming church, we smile at people we don't know, we introduce ourselves, we tell them to make ourselves at home. But being on the receiving end is quite different. The service was familiar, I knew all the hymns, I knew when to stand and sit, but i knew there were friendships and relationships all around me that I wasn't involved in, I didn't know the names of the people in the notices or the events taking place, it is much more difficult than I could have imagined being the stranger. Another part of my formation I suppose...

Weekends make me feel a bit homesick, I'd be at home with Harriet on a Saturday morning having a relaxing breakfast and then a dog walk, but here I only have myself to think about, nobody and no dogs to keep me entertained without thinking too hard about what to do.

So I've ensured the next two weekends are full, my first visitors, David and Sarah are coming over in a fortnight and it's a well timed, think the home sickness may strike big time when the novelty of being here wears off!!

The course begins...

Well I'm back to the books, well IPad. I can't believe I've managed the first two years of study without one! No more photocopying, no more big folders and I can makes notes and scribble on the text to my hearts delight. Simon I'm not sure if you're reading this blog, but if you are I wish I'd listened to you earlier.
My iPad has also become the lunchtime skype machine for some of my colleagues who have little contact with their families because of the time difference, so it's getting lots of use.

I don't actually know what I was expecting with regards to the level of teaching and reading, but I've been totally immersed in a book by Lukas Vischer and Ulrich Luz called, 'Unity of the Church in the New Testament today.' If anyone can explain how I add a book to the good reads app that can link into face book I'll put the details on there.

Anyway, I'm off to read Borsh now, a popular book with my fellow STETS colleagues and a recommended text here as well.

Next job, to find an Anglican church for Sunday worship...

Inside the church

Que coupons-nous faire de notre vie?
What do we want to do with our lives?
D. Bonhoeffer

I'm sat in Auditoire Calvin in Geneva. I've never been in a Calvinist church before and I'm amazed at how different it is.. Although the interior and exterior is very church like, pillars and stone arches etc, the similarities end there. The windows are plain, no stained glass just plain colours. Some orange and some blue. At the front of the church there is no alter, only a large lecture and a plain wooden table, the musicians take up most of this space. But what is noticeably different is the lack of decorations on the walls, no memorials no pictures and no crosses. I don't think I actually notice how ornate Anglican churches in England are, but this one looks plain, plain is the only word to describe it.
This service is to celebrate the start of this academic year for the faculty and we were invited as a group from Bossey. The service has been completely in French, for those of you who know me well, you know languages don't come easily to me, but I have found singing in French helps my  pronunciation, because the words are broken down to follow the musical notes, I just have no idea what I am singing!!!!

Speaking in tongues...

We shared our first worship together yesterday evening. We shared one gospel reading from Ephesians 4:1-6, that we follow our calling and live as one body and one spirit with humility, patience and love. No surprise that this was the opening reading, but it was shared in many different languages, Burmese, Russian, and many more. We all understood, we all shared the gospel reading and its message to us, we were all talking in different tongues, but we all understood.
There are at least 15 different first languages spoken by the students in my year group and every time we say the Lords Prayer, we say it in our own language, aloud and together and yet it sounds the same as if we were all speaking one dialogue. if this is the start of things to come, this unity thing under Christ could take off!!!

I have no doubt we are all in the honeymoon period at the moment and we have been warned we may get complacent, but it has been a nice start.

I'm finding the orientation week a bit slow, but I have to remind myself that just because I could say everything in half the time, most of my student colleagues find it fast and furious with lots of information to take on board

Other Church of England ordinand's who have studied at Bossey, have mentioned this in the past, but it is easy to become the point of contact for the things that haven't become clear. I'm not in the thick of it yet and for those of you who know me well you may be surprised, but if I were to take more of an active role I think I would find all my spare time was spent on solving issues or explaining instructions.

Bossey with Mount Blanc in the distance

It'll look amazing in the winter

Photo

When I figure out how to insert a picture, you can see for yourself.

Preparation...

Already I wish I had researched just a little bit more! It didn't even cross my mind that Switzerland's currency isn't Euros but Swiss francs! Luckily I will be going for a passport check tomorrow and there is a cash point near by. Will I ever learn??
I have found out today that I'm the only student from the UK on here for this semester, there are at least 5 students from Burma where Bhuddism is the main religion, one from Jamaica and only 4 of us from Europe, 1 Hungarian, 2 Romanian and me!
I have been told that the mountain in the distance is Mont Blanc, not a bad view to wake up to in the morning.