Oh, blogs!

This brings back so many memories of when I was in the 9th grade and had a livejournal. Hopefully there will be an apparent difference between my entries as a 15-year-old compared to my entries now, as a 20-year-old. I've been contemplating blogging again for a while now, and after much deliberation, I have decided to re-enter the wonderful e-world of blogs. Not because I really want the world to know, but more for myself, and so I can reminisce later (and more than likely make fun of myself). Such a commitment, I tell you! With that said...

DISCLAIMER: I am not promising to update consistently. I also refuse to try too hard to sound sophisticated and use bulky words, for that's just too much work. I write as I think. Therefore, I am not making any promises that this will be deep, important, educational, or entertaining. All I am agreeing to is that here you will find my heart, my feelings, my thoughts (however interesting that may be), and very very random stories/facts that probably only I will find amusing.

Now that that is all out of the way... on to the.. good stuff? So I arrived in Montreux, Switzerland on Monday the 23rd, and oh my!

My first thought as I sat atop the mountain and gazed at the view from my window: "God has such an incredible imagination"

My second thought: "That's it. I'm never going home."

But really. He is so creative. This place is so majestic. And until I get a picture up here, my only way of describing it to you would be to imagine opening the storybook of "Hansel and Gretel" (for some reason I always imagined it in a Swiss setting?) and stepping inside the pages. It almost makes me wish that I enjoyed taking pictures because I am in a photographer's paradise. Even so, my stinky camera would never do this place justice. But yea... Thanks, God, for putting everything back into perspective.

So in case you didn't already know, I will be living here for the whole month of July working as a camp counselor. The catch is, we do not speak the same language as the enfants (kids in french :]).  They know no English, just as we know no French. To most, this may appear to be a dilemma. To me, this is the best type of counselor you can be. Just think... A 7-year-old whining and complaining to you in English, compared to a 7-year-old whining and complaining to you in French. Though I don't understand a lick of it, I find French to be the most beautiful language. So whether the child is complaining about the heat vs. raving about how wonderful the banana/chocolate crepes are, it all sounds the same to me - music to my ears :) On the other hand, I can only pray the day never comes when a child runs to me, and in French says "My best friend just fell of a cliff!", and I respond with a big grin, an "adda boy," and a brisk pat on the back.

Something else I find amazing: All the different languages I am constantly around. I have become well acquainted with the staff here at the chalet, restaurant, and hotel. (they are all owned/run by the same man who is running the camp) Technically, I am part of the staff now. They are all very nice, or at least I think they are, though I can't understand half of the things they say. The majority of them can speak English fluently, but they can also speak 4 other languages fluently as well. So at least what they say in English is nice. Who knows what they are saying in French? Italian? Spanish? Portuguese? German? Seriously though, I am astounded at the man who is running the camp. He speaks every single one of these languages. It makes me feel so uncultured and, well, stupid to be honest. It is very cool, though, to be part of this staff which is made up of so many different nationalities. Other than the owners, the majority of the staff is made up of people my age. There are 3 people from Zimbabwe, 2 of which are girls whom I have become closest with because they speak English the best, are my age, and are girls.

My French vocabulary thus far (but is not limited to) is as follows:

hello - "Bonjour"

good-bye - "Au Revoir"

Thank you - "Merci"

Please - "S'il vous plait"

Do you speak English? - "Parlez-vous anglais?"

The F-word, the SH-word, and the D-word - the same as they sound in the U.S. ( apparently American curse words are international)

::more to come::

I suppose that is enough, if not too much, for my first entry. Time to read my book :)

bye! adeus! au revoir! ciao!