All of this for a new Metro?

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Originally uploaded by AlexHall38

Last weekend Lausanne celebrated the opening of a new Metro (subway for those of you who aren't sure what I'm talking about) line by having various stages set up around the city. Each stage played a different genre of music and varied from techno/dance at Place de l'Europe to Salsa at Ouchy.

Very Very cool!

Originally, we (Tori, Céline and myself) were going to go back to the apartment and watch a movie after our "Mexican" dinner (which pales in comparison to the Tex-Mex I miss so much), but after Céline received a phone call from Mitko about some sort of music festival in Lausanne, the 4 of us found ourselves on the next train out.




We arrived at about 9PM. Lausanne was packed and was still just as hilly as I left it. The whole city was in party mode and people could be found dancing in the street, drinking beer and eating chinese food :)



Our main spot for the night was Place de L'Europe where a DJ was playing party/techno music. We spent a good hour dancing there.




Once we felt that it was time to move on, we treked down to Ouchy, the area by the lake where there was a tent set up to play Salsa music. After about another 45 minutes there, it was time to head back to the train station to catch the last train (which was arranged specially from Lausanne to Neuchâtel for the party) at 1:20AM.

I promise I don't just party every weekend- but this IS a month that has a lot of parties in Switzerland. My next BIG blog entry will focus on the Fête des Vendages, the Neuchâtel wine festival that is being celebrated THIS weekend. According to one of the pamphlets I picked up from the tourism office and my Lonely Planet: Switzerland Guide, this festival is one of the Biggest in Switzerland. I look forward to sharing it with all of you when it's over :)

Arriving in Neuchâtel

I've been here for about a week and 1/2 now and things have been absolutely crazy. To give you a brief update: I'm living in La Tour des Cadolles, University owned apartments that once belonged to the hospital across the street that is being torn down as I write this. I live on the 3rd floor and I have a pretty decent view of the city from my room :) I share a bathroom and a kitchen with my flat mates (I think there are about 6 or 7 of us right now), who are super nice despite the fact that I don't see them very often.

I do however, see the people on the floor below me almost every single day :) I've become really close friends with two of the girls on that floor and by knowing them, I know the rest of their roommates (their floor is much more social than t
he one I'm on).

Last week was full of registration must-do's. It was actually quite difficult to get everything done. I must have gone between student housing and the registration office at least 5 times. If one building wasn't open, the other had a horrible line. When the other building was open, the person I needed to speak with wasn't available. When the other building DIDN'T have a huge line, it just wasn't open! Back and forth back and forth. It was a registration nightmare- but it all got done!


I also kind of feel like they prefer to pass the task on to other people... How to explain this... Ok, for instance, I had to pay my tuition- not a problem, but I couldn't pay it at the academic services office... instead I had to go to the post office. I'm... not entirely sure why it had to be paid there... but that's where I went anyway. Unfortunately, the post office doesn't accept visas and I don't have a swiss bank card yet (I have an account!... but no card) so I have to pay with cash. Alright, no problem, I'll just use this ATM over here to- oh but wait, what's this? I can only withdraw so much money a day???? Greeeeaaaat.

That little example kind of summed up my week. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. Oh, and for those of you who are DYING to know how I paid my tuition and rent- I did it at the bank where Geraldine (can you tell that I've seen her a lot recently?) made the transfer for me from my Swiss Bank Account which has part of my Rotary scholarship in it :)

Aside from all of the Admin stuff, last week was a blast! Mikey, an American who found this blog!, and I went hiking the Sunday before Registration and ended up in Chaumont. It was about a 2 hour hike and was totally worth it. We had absolutely no idea where we were going, but ended up right where we wanted to be on accident! Chaumont is a neat little city perched right above Neuchâtel. They also had an observation tower :)




And to give you an idea of where we were...


See that little tower in the middle/left part of the picture? We were at the very top! You can't really tell how high up that is since the photo is zoomed in so much- but trust me, it's up there. :)






On Monday I went to an apero/tandem and met a TON of people (mostly foreign students who are also learning French). For those of you who don't know, an apero/tandem, or at least this one, consists of a group of people who want to learn a language and divide into groups according to the language they wish to learn (this is the tandem part). For instance, since I was there to learn French, I sat at the French table and spoke French the majority of the night. The aparo (short for aparatif) was the drinks part :) Drinks and conversation. I dug it.

I also rented a pedalo (umm.. paddle boat?) with Tori, an English girl I met on a group afternoon trip to Bern, and went out on Lake Neuchâtel. It was awesome to see the city from the water.



After that, we met up with Cerena, the other Rotary scholar in Neuchâtel with me- yay! Mikey and Celia, a German foreign exchange student, for dinner. Tori and Cerena had been craving meet and decided that we should all go to a restaurant for a nice steak dinner (lucky Celia is vegetarian! but still found something to order ^_^). After dinner we frolicked around town taking various pictures and being marry!




Another day I took an afternoon trip to Bern with the Erasmus students. We didn't stay long, maybe about 4 hours, so I wasn't able to see much of the city. I ended up going back with Cerena, Tori, Celia and Céline, a girl from Belgium who is super funny, on Saturday- but STILL didn't get to really explore the city on account of it raining. We did get to go to a few neat shops though :P

Ahh and today, today I had my second day of class. I'll go into this on the next entry. o.o I'm kind of sad that I don't get to run around the city with my friends anymore, but I guess I can't do that forever :p

Collection De L'Art Brut

Yesterday I went to the Collection de l'Art Brut. I had wanted to visit the museum ever since I read about it in my Lonely Planet Switzerland book.

It's an art gallery dedicated to artists who had no training but had something to express. Some of the artists were mad, while others were mentally handicapped. Then there we a few who were just plain eccentric!



[image: Entrance to Collection de L'Art Brut]

I was fortunate enough to view an exhibit featuring 12 artists from Japan (most of whom are mentally handicapped). The exhibit was amazing- in fact, the whole museum was impressive. I'm very glad I decided to go by myself. Usually when I can't find anyone to do an activity with me I don't end up doing anything. This time, however, I was determined!

I had a great time! My only wish is that I had more time. I spent a total of 4 hours in there, but I could have easily made it 6.

What the artists produced is so original and interesting. Learning about them and their history made it more real as well. The Japan exhibit played films that show cased the artists. I found myself sitting there for a good 30 minutes at a time just listening and reading the French subtitles.

One artist focused on words and pictures, while another created his own language from text/drawings. One man was just eccentric and created hats and clothing out of things he found in the garbage. One the weekends he goes to the Chinese district in Yokohama wearing his creations while delivering a message of peace.


[image: Exposition Japon poster for L'Art Brut. Created by Takashi Shuji]

Most of the artwork (outside the Japon exhibit) was very pleasant to look at. There were others, however, that were a little disturbing. One man, who had gotten into witchcraft during his travels, created dolls out of old rags, paint, blood and dirt. That was the only part of the exhibit that sort of creeped me out. But in that train wreck sort of way (the kind you just can't look away from). His "dolls" were contorted into various shapes that looked more like demon babies than dolls. I wish I could have taken a picture- but it wasn't allowed.

To commemorate my experience, I bought a few postcards! :D I plan to create some sort of collage with these when I return to Texas.

The first one is by Edmund Monsiel, an untreated schizophrenic who did most of his work on scraps of paper. There is a strong religious theme in his work. I bought his postcard because I was amazed at the detail that went into his work. During WWII he hid himself in his brothers attic and remained there for 20 years until he died in 1967. When his stuff was cleaned out, over (I think) 500 scraps of paper were found. The card I bought is a photograph of one of his many sketches; composed of nothing but faces. Sometimes, there are as many as 3,000 faces in one drawing. Very interesting.

The second card I bought was by Carlo. He was sent to the front during his military service and this became too much for him. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1947. The background of the postcard is filled with numbers and words. Something seen throughout his work.

3rd: Paul Amar- possibly my favorite sculpture at the museum. He essentially makes his art work out of shells and eats plenty of shellfish in his apartment in Paris to keep his stock up. Afterwards, he paints the shells and creates various ocean-scapes. His colors are so vivid and bright. To add to this, he hides lights in his masterpiece to create depth. Absolutely stunning. My postcard doesn't do justice.

4th: Rodolfo Abella- created life sized animals out of scraps of wood he would find in the river. I was completely in awe of the horse he did (which is why I bought the card).

5th. Takashi Shuku. He creates all of his art using charcoal (mostly black) and in fact creates with such force, that his face is usually black after he has finished. He draws what is put on his table. The process is beautiful. It was so interesting to watch and learn about him and how he creates his art. The postcard I bought is his image that was also used for the "Japon" exhibit.

All in all, I had a wonderful day. I'm so glad I decided to go out by myself! In fact, I think I had a better time exploring the museum by myself than I would have had if someone came with me. I was able to really take my time and enjoy the art and learn about its creators.

Great day.






[image: Postcards I bought. Right to Left/Top to Bottom: Takashi Shuji, Carlo, Paul Amar, Rodolfo Abella, Edmund Monsiel]