Arrival in Switzerland

The eighteen hour coach journey was just that. Eighteen hours. Hot. Stuffy. Uncomfortable for sleeping. Oh, did I mention the trip was eighteen hours long? Although not the most thrilling way to spend almost a full day, the people were all friendly, the coach a spacious double-decker, and being served hot chocolate was a great perk.

Sixty people travelled to the chalet by coach and thirty additional guests arrived by air. It was a great mixture of people who seemed to primarily be in their mid to late twenties. I was told that the summer tours tend to draw a younger crowd due to summer vacation from university as well as a lower cost for summer travel compared to winter travel.

I had no idea what to expect of our accommodation or the location of the town where we'd be staying. I was pleasantly surprised by both. The accommodation was dorm-style with two bunks and a sink in each room with toilets down the hall and showers in the basement. Reminded me of staying in the staff lodge at summer camp. The village is nestled in a beautiful valley; I'm told that in many past years there hasn't been any snow there but we were greeted with a fresh layer of snow and more fell during the week.

There was bus service to the train within a five minute walk of the chalet or the train could be reached on foot within ten or fifteen minutes so I usually skipped the bus. The mountains for skiing or boarding were reached by a combination of bus, train, gondola, or funicular.

Lauterbrunnen.

Perched on a rock sculpture in Lauterbrunnen.

Lauterbrunnen.

Jungfrau Chalet, our accommodation for the week.

The Oak Hall leadership team consisted of a team leader, two cooks, a guy in charge of cleaning, four instructors for skiing and boarding, and a speaker. All guests were expected to sign up to help in the kitchen for one day or help with changing the room setup for meals and evening sessions. Helping in the kitchen consisted of arriving twenty minutes early for the 7:30 a.m. breakfast to help with setting tables and food prep, stay to clean up afterward, return at 5:30 p.m. to help with prep for dinner, clear tables and serve food, and help with clean-up afterward. It was a great system and a fun way to get to know other guests. It reminded me of being at summer camp with the difference of everyone being adults who didn't require nagging to get them to work hard.

Sarah, one of my roommates, delivering dessert to one of the tables. She didn't have time to change after a day of boarding so the toque and snow gear remained.

Being the only Canadian on the trip, my accent stood out in the crowd so I was repeatedly asked what I was doing in the UK, how long I'd be there, how I found Oak Hall, if I was on the trip alone, and on and on. We arrived at the chalet at 5:00 p.m. and dinner was at 8:00 p.m. By about 7:00 p.m. I was feeling horrible from the lingering effects of being slightly motion-sick from the coach journey and, although people were really friendly, I was tired of answering the same questions over and over. I went into the kitchen and told the head cook I was bored, not feeling great from the trip, and asked if I could help out and please not answer anymore questions about myself. There were about six other people helping in the kitchen and they were totally understanding and also amused by my situation. We had a great time visiting - one of the guys got a kick out of my use of the phrase "dish pit" - and I helped out until it was time to eat. It was a much-needed escape and turned into an opportunity to get to know several people.

I didn't know anyone at the chalet outside a couple of people from Eastbourne so I was a bit apprehensive about who I would end up with as roommates. After moving through the coach to visit with everyone on the tour, the team leader created a room assignment list. I later asked her how she decides on the assignments and she said it's partly based on the ages of the guests and partly on the little bit of personality she's able to pick up on when she meets everyone. I ended up with two roommates and we later discovered that all of us had been nervous about who we would end up with. None of us needed to worry.

I ended up with the best roommates ever and we had a fabulous time! We laughed too many times to count and none of us snore. Definitely a recipe for a good week. Sarah (27) is from Eastbourne (looking forward to seeing her again when I go down for lambing in April!) and her dad was along on the trip. Louisa (25) is from Sheffield and was on the trip with her fiancé. We had many "kindred spirit" moments when we realized we thought the same way about something or had the same sense of humour about situations.

L-R Sarah, Me, Louisa.