Day 25 & 26: Back to reality

Quick recap of the last two days. Monday Heiner and Patric weren't at the lab. Slow day of work. Nothing spectacular happened. After work I went to the gym. Had a great run. Found out Rafa lost in the first round. Great news for Switzerland and Roger Federer. I got back to my room and realized I desperately needed to go grocery shopping. I tried to find the Aldi Suisse but couldn't find it until it was closed. Today was a lot more interesting.

Doing work at the lab. Heiner, Patric, and Ursina discussing the box plots Ursina and I made last week. Good stuff. I proofread Patric's proposal for the study last week and today we went over it together. It was a totally different experience editing a paper written by a none native English speaker. I enjoyed it. We ran test day 3. First time using the additional 2 cameras. All went according to plan. Lunch rolled around and with it being Tuesday, Patric and I went for a run (Heiner had a meeting). We ran along the Aare River, which will never get old to me. I went to the gym. When I was doing lifting session (wearing a Michigan t-shirt), a guy asked where I was from. We talked for awhile and turns out he did an exchange program when he was in high school to Minnesota. I made another attempt at finding the Aldi Suisse. Success this time. A little different than the Aldi in the US but pretty much the same. Solid last two days. One of my best friends that I have met here left Bern today. Nicolas (pronounced Ni-co-la) headed back to France. We might meet up in Denmark before I leave for the states. 

Day 23 & 24: Mountain hike + Mountain bike

The weather looked like it was going to cooperate with us on Saturday so we left for Kandersteg bright and early. My friend, Joel, and I left Tscharnergut at 7:00am to catch the train. After about an hour and a half of travel we arrived in Kandersteg. The hike was split into two segments. First we had to hike to a village at the base of the valley. Then we would hike through the valley and up the mountain side to spot a glacier. It was my first time ever hiking into mountains. Basically everywhere I looked took my breath away. Here are some photos from the trip. I took about 200 photos so this is just a small sample.

The low cloud cover would come and go as the day went on. At times we couldn't see the mountain tops but then moments later the peaks would come into sight against the clear blue sky.

Diary farms are common on hillsides and in the mountains in Switzerland. We passed a few pastures along the trail. Here are some calves we spotted wearing Swiss cowbells. At first they would amble away as I neared the fence. Once I finally got close enough to pet one though, he didn't want me to leave. 

Pure spectacle by mother nature. It looked like a machine operated by man gouged a giant tunnel into the mountain side. However, man cannot be thanked for this beauty. The waterfall was created by the amazing power of the melted ice rushing down from the top of the mountain at gravity's request.

The path crisscrossed about many streams. Here is a bridge with a sign marking the hiking trail. Wanderweg means hiking (wander) way (weg) or hiking path. Above the word is the coat of arms of Bern. 

A less fortunate young Alpine ibex (species of wild goat that lives in the Alps). I don't know the events for this little guy leading up to this point, but I'll try to make my best guess. Lil' Billy was playing with the other kids. Their parents kept telling them to quiet down because they could cause an avalanche. Lil' Billy didn't pay much attention as he was having the time of his life. In his joy, he decided to call out his loudest bleat, "Baaaaaaa!" Seconds later he heard a thunderous cracking sound. He scampered as quickly as he could along the jagged terrain of the mountainside, rocks slipping beneath his hooves, but wasn't able to escape the path of the boundless wave of suffocating white snow. Packed like freshly poured concrete, encasing Lil' Billy in silence until the warm days of June have now freed him- lifeless.

On another note here are some beautiful wildflowers.

My hiking guides. Joel in front followed by François.

About a meter wide path. Rock face on the right. Drop-off to the left. And we crossed it. Probably the craziest thing I have ever done. Living life on the edge.

The exact kind of bridge you imagine when I say "here is a shaky wire bridge over a stream." Really cool.

Blue skies. I took this photo on the way back. This was before Joel and I decided to start running to catch the 20:13 train back to Bern. If we missed it, we would have to wait an hour for the next train. We looked at our watches at 19:20.We didn't know the exact distance we were still out, but we estimated about 5k. Turns out it was more than double that. We ended up running for 50 minutes to reach the station at 20:08, just 5min before the train departed. I got back to my room in Tscharnergut at 10:00pm. Ate dinner, took a shower, and headed to Fellergut for a night with friends. We went to the city center and stayed out late enough to take the first morning train back to Bumpliz Nord. A very long, very memorable day.

Patric, a PhD student I assist at the lab, invited me to go with him and his girlfriend to the European Mountain Biking Championships. The championships were held on the top of Gurten for the first time. Gurten is the highest hill in Bern and overlooks the entire city.

Here is a picture of part of the course where the great view of the city below can be seen.The course started on a grass loop. They repeated this loop about three times and then went onto the big loop, which they did seven times before heading towards the finish. The total time of the race for the winner was 1hr32min21sec.

Here is Nino Schurter (Switzerland) leading Julien Absalon (France). They are both the class of the field and minutes ahead of the rest of the competition. The course has jumps (as seen here), tight trails in the forest, steep downhills followed by tight corners and large uphills, and other obstacles. Nino Schurter is "The Man" when it comes to Swiss and European Mountain Biking. He won the last world championships and finished with a silver medal in the 2012 Olympics.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nino_Schurter

Sadly, even with me cheering "NINO! NINO! NINO!" he came up short and finished second to the Frenchman, Absalon. Instead of taking the cable car down Gurten like I had taken it up, I decided to walk. After hiking all day yesterday, I'll admit my legs were a bit sore.

Day 21 & 22: Doing Work

The last two days have been relatively low key. Day 21.Yesterday, I went into work at 8:30am. Patric wasn't coming in to the lab for the day so I asked Heiner if he had anything he wanted me to do. He couldn't really think of anything for the time. I did some reading and looked at maps of Switzerland. Lunch rolled around, which I always enjoy. Heiner and I got to talking and he said I could use his bike for the weekend. Not much happened after lunch. Heiner said I could leave early. I love how the lab is organized. Everybody takes the time to talk to each other, which really keeps it relaxed. And on the other hand so much work gets done during the day. It really is the perfect balance. Its like how we go for a run on Tuesdays. The work environment is set up to keep stress levels down, which definitely allows everyone to work at a high level. I rode the bike to the gym.

Pretty sick ride. It has the old style shifting like my Peugeot. I ran on the trials in the woods, lifted, and finished off the day with some pre-finals basketball. I went to bed a little earlier than normal so I could wake up at 3:00am to watch game 7. The game got over at 6:00am. I set my alarm for 7:15 but must have shut it off because I didn't wake up until 11:00am today. Woooops. Day 22. Heiner went back to Germany, where he lives yesterday because he can work from home so he wasn't in the lab today. Patric was there though and he usually has work for me. I walked in the door at noon, quickly explained why I was late, and they were totally fine with it. I guess some of them had to go to a meeting so I would have been sitting around anyways. After Patric finished lunch, and I finished a big mug of coffee, he assigned me and Ursina some work. We had to use Excel to make box plots of each subjects (6 subjects) navicular drop, reference point, and minimum point for test day 1 and test day 2. It seemed overwhelming at the time, but with both of our minds working together, we powered through it. We are going to use the diagrams at our weekly meeting on Tuesday. I went to the gym again after work. I ran in the woods straight across the road from the sports institute. About a mile in I started hearing bagpipes. What? Bagpipes? Yes. In the forest? Yes. Was it one of the coolest moments of my life? Yes. The guy was just playing his bagpipes off the trail in a big clearing that had a teepee (also spelled tipi) made out of sticks. I did a big loop that went out towards the Aare River and then along it for awhile. I circled back and when I started getting close to the big clearing, the guy was still playing the bagpipes. The best run I have had since coming here. I went to Fellergut tonight. I was going to meet my friend there but then another one of my friends (a Frenchman) knocked on my door and asked if wanted to head over a little sooner. I didn't stay for long because I am going hiking tomorrow with a friend who lives on my floor. We're taking a train to Kandersteg (about an hour away) and then hiking to Kander Glacier. Elevation of about 2400m (7874.02ft). 

At the Bumpliz Nord train station. #SwissGod. It's actually an insurance ad. 

P.S. I will eventually get back to the Rome-Venice trip (Day 15, 16, 17). 

Day 20: Day 20? How has it already been that long

Back to Day 14....

Thursday night. 9:00pm.

Rome has a feel of its own at night. All of the lights give off a golden glow that allow you to appreciate the architecture even more. This was the first landmark we stumbled upon. Next to the fountains surrounding the monument, a musician played the harp, a quite pretty musician (I soon found out this was a reoccurring theme with Italian women...them being beautiful and all...not the ability to play the harp). We took the street to the right and passed some fancy restaurants before stopping at the first gelato shop we saw. Out of all the incredibly delicious looking flavors, I chose nutella. A1 choice for sure. We continued walking until we reached the Spanish Steps. I guess history says some important people from Spain walked on them or something.

Nonetheless, a cool hang out spot. We climbed to the top and ate a late dinner. At this point Rome was great, except Cody and I didn't know where we were staying for the night. This can be a bit of an issue. It was about 11:00pm. I thought the girls (who I met in Bern) had something set up for us. As I remember the plan was to either stay in a hostel, or at a friend's place. They ended up finding a place on a couchsurfing website. It's where you ask people if you can sleep on their couch for free. They asked the man who owned the apartment if we could also stay or if he knew anyone who would take us in for the night. His reply, "I really dunno." "Well...this will be interesting," I thought. We walked back towards the metro (subway station) because the girls wanted to catch it before it closed at midnight. It was now 11:30pm. We still didn't have a place. The girls needed to leave and presumed we could handle things on our own so they took off after handing us a map and wishing us well. Me: a 20 year old "Michigan" man. Of course, I got this. We sat down for a little bit at the fountains around the monument in the first picture (above). There were polizia close by so I went and asked them if they had any recommendations. Pointed us in direction of some hotels. We started walking down a street and stopped at the first hotel with a door man. 5 star and a picture of Eva Longoria on the wall. Thought about staying there but the mood just wasn't right. We asked the man at the desk where the cheap hotels were (in a much classier way though). He gave us another map, which I used for the entire weekend, and told us to head towards the train terminal. It was a good distance away. We looked at it as a night tour of the city. Positive thinking. We periodically checked the prices at hotels we passed. 180 euros, 150 euros, 130 euros. We got to the station and went down a side street where this gem just so happened to be nestled.

Hotel California. We asked the gentleman at the desk what the going rate was. "I have a double but I'll give you guys a deal and let you stay in the single for 90 euros." Cody and I exchanged looks. "We'll take it." Three star. Complimentary breakfast. Free wifi. And...

bidet. Too weird to actually use, however, still cool. The room had two beds. We flipped for the bigger one and I got it. The end. Day 15, 16 and 17 will have to wait until the next blog post.

Day 20 (today)

Work at the movement lab is going well. Coffee has become a daily beverage of choice. I really enjoy lunch when Heiner, Patric, and I all get to talk. Heiner tells stories of his time in the US. We compare differences between Switzerland and America. Talk about sports. Physiotherapy and the different projects that are happening at the lab. I finished all of my work in the morning so I didn't have to do anything in the afternoon. Two more cameras were installed in the afternoon anyways so I observed and talked more with Heiner and Patric. Once I got out of work, I headed to the pool where I was meeting some friends. 

Largest pool in Europe, so I have heard. Felt great taking a dip to cool down in the 90 degree weather. 

Here's a sign I pass going to and from the lab everyday. I don't know the translation.

 FRICK!

Day 19: Trip to Rome

I have been really busy lately so I'm going back a few days to Day 14 to explain my weekend.. It all starts on last Thursday...

Thursday:
Heiner gave me the day off since my train left at 1:35pm for Rome. Even though I shouldn't have been pressed for time, I still managed to make getting to the train station in time a stressful event. I guess I was just excited to be going to one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Ranked #8 on a list I found with Venice (my next destination) being #1. The train ride had a connection in Milan. It was ~3 hours to Milan and then another ~3 hours to Rome. Less than an hour in and I was surrounded by mountains. Only 2 hours in and there was a definite change in scenery.  The railroad tracks carved between beautiful mountains as a river followed along side.

The second picture is of Lake Thun (pronounced Tune). I was on the wrong side of the train so I had to zoom across the aisle but still looks amazing. Definitely a place I need to spend a day at. Along the small towns in the valleys I saw lots of hay fields. Not any new farm equipment, which makes sense because it would be difficult to maneuver on the side of a mountain. As my train ride continued south of the Alps, Switzerland started to look a lot like Italy. I arrived in Milan and had to go to the bathroom but decided to wait until I got onto the next train. In Europe I guess it is normal for there to be a fee to use the toilet. From Milan (or as they call it Milano) to Rome, my window view was filled with fields, farms, and small towns. Almost looked like I was on a train in Michigan. The fields raced pass as the Italian train averaged about 240 km/hr (150mph). Then there was a really long tunnel. I fell asleep and woke up to rolling hills covered in vineyards. The Italy everyone expects to see when traveling. Overall the trip to Rome went smoothly. It was once I got there that the fun began. I was suppose to meet Cody, a fellow Stamps Scholar from UofM, and my two friends, who I met in Bern, in the station at 8:00pm. I arrived at 8:05 expecting to see the girls waiting for me and then Cody not far behind. There was only one flaw. We didn't really plan where we were going to meet. After 20 minutes and checking the McDonald's for wifi, I miraculously ran into Cody. For some reason, I never panicked even though I was alone, in a huge city, outside of the US, where I didn't know the language, and didn't have a phone with service. Now that Cody and I were together, we were bound to find the girls. About 40 minutes later and starting to wonder if they bailed on us, we finally spotted them. Everything was fine, or so we thought...

cliffhanger. More Day 14 to come tomorrow with Day 15, 16 and 17.

Yesterday (Day 18) I went to work. Processed some data. Talked about the best ways to extract the most information from the data we have. Went around to a few stores in search of the cheapest peanut butter. Cheapest so far is 3.50 franks (crunchy). The battery on my watch died.

Today (Day 19) I woke up a little earlier to get to the lab at 8:00 for our weekly meeting about the progress of the study. I printed off some graphs for Patric to talk about and show to Heiner. Heiner proposed some good ideas that we later put into action. I calculated some measurements. Looked in on another project that is happening at the lab. 

Its a chair that a student built. It has a motor and a disc break which work together to create different types of vibrations. Very cool stuff. Here they are recording the movements with the Vicon 3D kinematics system. Theres 6 cameras that pick up the movements. Getting two more cameras in the next few days. I ran with Patric today during lunch. It was about 92 degrees here. Hot one for sure. Once I got out of work, I did some grocery shopping, picked up a battery for my watch, and then headed to the gym. Here's how mayonnaise looks in Switzerland.

Day 11, 12, & 13: Work, friends, and a little bit of sleep

The last couple of days have been on the busy side. A lot of stuff happened blah blah...here is the BIG NEWS from the past couple of days:

Monday: Went to a farewell party for some friends. Had rice paper wraps for the first time. I ate a chili pepper and almost died. A little over dramatic, but definitely the hottest thing I have eaten. A friend from Denmark said she would buy me Swiss chocolate if I ate one. Totally worth it.

Tuesday:
My first friend here, Erica from America, flew back to D.C. Even though we just met, I'm going to miss her. Went for a 56min run on our lunch break at the Movement Lab with Heiner and another colleague. Purchased train ticket reservations for my trip to Rome and Venice (leaving tomorrow! Trip is from Thursday-Sunday). I went to another farewell party for some other friends including Krzys from Poland. He swam in the freezing Aar river with me and ate a scorching hot chili pepper too. I guess when we're together things get taken to the extreme.

Wednesday:
Ran over some railroad tracks to catch a train this morning and got yelled at by a Swiss lady who works at the station. Sorry lady. Won't do it again. Did a workout at Stadion Neufeld. The location of the 1954 European Championships. Roger Bannister won the 1500m with a time of 3:43.8. A tactical race.

Photo not credited to me. I bought a membership at the sports institute next to the track so my iphone was in my locker.

Heiner is letting me have the day off from the lab tomorrow and Friday for my trip. I leave from Bern at 1:30pm. I have a connection in Milan and will arrive in Rome at 8:00pm. A friend that I met here is going to meet me at the station with her friend. A Stamps Scholar who has been abroad in London is also flying over to join. Friday we'll be going to the Vatican for a tour. Saturday the Colosseum. Sunday morning I will be taking a train to Venice and arriving there at 10:30am. The train that takes me back to Bern is at 4:20pm so I will have some time to explore. Can't wait to taste authentic Italian food!

Day 9 and Day 10: The Weekend

12:36pm. Another day where I wake up in the afternoon. Just over a week into my trip and I have come to the conclusion that it can be difficult to catch up on sleep when you have European friends. They like to stay up a lot later than what I'm used to. I started my day with breakfast, well.... lunch. The plan was to go to the Aar River (pronounced air) at 4:00 for a BBQ. I left my room at 3:40 to catch the 3:47 train to the city center. I met some friends at the station. We walked to the Parliament building where there is a water park/fountains for kids to run through.

A small band was playing to the left. Later in the night I heard from a true Swiss mountain lady (a normal girl) that all of the Swiss gold is underneath these fountains in a huge vault. She said that if someone breaks in, the doors seal, and the entire vault is flooded with water. "It's the same water from the fountains," she joked. Back to my trip to the Aar. We met a few more people in front of the Parliament building and then walked down to the river. On the way, there was a large park with public swimming pools. The park was full of Swiss citizens laying out and catching some rays from the sun. Definitely a spot I will be hanging out at often on sunny days. We took a path for about 2km along the river to Eicholz. A park on the river with a soccer field, beach volleyball and tons of places to build a fire, including fire pits and just spots where fire burnt wholes in the grass.

A Saturday of BBQ at Eicholz is a must for the Swiss if the weather is permitting. With temps in the high 70s and the sun above us, we decided to take a swim in the Aar. The water that supplies the Aar is straight from the mountains so it is a bit cold. 12.7 degrees Celsius = 54.86 degrees Fahrenheit. About the temp I take my ice baths at.  Not only is the water freezing, but the current is quick. It flows at ~15mph. Others were taking advantage of the speed.

 They're called river surfers, which is a popular extreme sport in Switzerland. They hang onto a bungee cord which helps keep them in place, but also move around. Neither the temp, nor the current was going to stop me from swimming in the Aar. Three of us jumped in and floated/swam down the river for about 100meters. The water was shocking. It was beautiful most of the day until about 6:30. It started raining and didn't really let up for about an hour. A lot of people left, but we braved through. Once the rain had stopped, a family next to us welcomed our party over for a plate of food. I, with about 15 others walked over happily to be greeted by a man in his 50s who handed us each a plate. There was a ton of food. A lot of different types of salads. All quite good. Back at our fire we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores (a new food for just about everyone except for the Americans). I didn't know marshmallows were a US thing.

We left and got back to the train station at about 8:30. On the train I saw a friend who lives on my floor. He had groceries so I helped him into Tscharnergut. Once we got to our floor he said he was going for a 10k run and asked if I wanted to join. "Of course," I said. We ran on the trails in the forest. He's from Sweden and has a background in soccer so he is a decent runner. When I got back to my room, a friend from Denmark was waiting at my door. She had put her phone in my backpack to keep it from getting wet at the Aar and had forgotten to get it back. She invited me to go to the city center with her and some friends. This is where I met the Swiss mountain lady. It was a great night and another long night. I got to sleep around 4:30.

I woke up late again this morning. Today was more of a relaxing day. I walked around outside and explored some places close to Tscharnergut. I think I might buy a basketball to play on a court I can see from my balcony. I was suppose to be at Fellergut by 8:30 but this is taking forever to write. There is a going away party for three Americans who are leaving tomorrow and Tuesday. Chow!

Day 8: Already a week in the lab

Movement Laboratory: the place I go to every morning. Heiner wasn't at the lab today. He can work from his home and so on Fridays he usually doesn't come in. I processed the rest of the data for the 4marker model, which meant we are now done with the first step. Patric invited me to go to a "fair" in Zurich. It sounded like it was a conference on animation and engineering stuff. We left the lab at 11 and picked up some food for lunch in the train station. I got a mozzarella and tomato sub. We boarded the train and then Patric asked me if I got a ticket. When we were in the lab he told me it was free to go. All he had to do was print out a form for me. When he said this I thought he was talking about the train ride as well. Turns out he only meant it was free to get into the conference. We ran up to the ticket machine to purchase one. It was 100 franks to go there and back. I have a rail pass which would make it free, but I didn't really want to waste a day so I decided not to go with them. I took the next train back to Bumpliz Nord. This is what it looks like on the inside of their trains.

I got back to my room at 11:30 and ate lunch then took a much needed 3 hour nap. Not really feeling refreshed, but needing to get up and go for a run, I rolled out of bed. I ran on the trails in the forest to the north again. I made a prosciutto pizza I bought from Migros for dinner. I healthed it up a bit by adding zucchini and onions. For the night there was a big party at Fellergut (another studenthouse). The party had a theme...7 floors for the 7 deadly sins. With music and lots of new friends to talk to, I had a great time. At 3:30am I finally decided to head back to my room but as I walked out the door I was urged to stay for a "jam session" down in the basement. Some of the students play guitar and piano. They played songs like wonderwall by oasis and everyone sang along. It was one of those experiences that you know you will think back on and smile. I didn't get back to my room until 5:00am. Well worth it.

Day 7

Finished up processing the data I was working on yesterday.

It's hard to see but this is the program I use. It is all in 3D. The boxes are the force plates in the ground. The red lines are vectors which indicate the amount of force. There are yellows dots that are connected by lines that show the 5 marker model created by the subject's feet. 

Not a lot went on in the lab today. Heiner and his colleagues had a meeting with some professors from a university in Vienna, Austria. I sat in for the first half. Everyone spoke in German so all I could do was read the slides from their powerpoint presentations which were only in English about half of the time.

After work I went to Migros to do some more grocery shopping. On the way, there is a petting zoo but the llamas weren't out today. I bought a 100g chocolate with hazelnuts candy bar. Only .60 franks. Like 63 cents usd. 100g is the size of a king sized candy bar so definitely a good deal. Once I got back I made dinner. Chicken breast with zucchini and onions with tomato sauce over top. Never have made something like it before but it was good plus really healthy. I went for a run in the forest. It was a high of 75 degrees today.

Day 6: Routine

My time at the Movement Lab is starting to become a true workday. I have to be there at 8:30am. I take the train from Bumpliz-Nord to Bern. It's less than a 10 minute ride. When I arrived today Heiner and I talked for awhile. We set up a very rough outline for the next 2 months. Basically he told me if I need to take off a Friday and/or a Monday for traveling I can. There's also a week in July where Heiner and Lorenz will be on vacation so I also have the option to go on vacation. Heiner got on google maps on his laptop and showed me some cool places I should go in Switzerland and Germany. He lives in Freiburg, Germany (only about an hour north of the Swiss border) so is more familiar with Germany than Switzerland. After our meeting, I started working with Patric on the stuff we started yesterday. The 3D kinematics system has a program called Vicon on the computer. We have to go onto the program and process all of the data from the trials we did yesterday and then export it to Math Lab so Patric can analyze it more thoroughly with calculations. We finalized the step by step procedure of how to process the data and then went on a coffee break. I love the coffee break. He taught me how to process the data on Vicon before lunch and then after lunch I began doing it all on my own. It was interesting at the beginning but is already becoming monotonous. With 5 different subjects, who each did 15 trials for a 5 marker model and 15 trials for a 4 marker there is a lot of data to process (150 trials worth). Luckily, I'm not the only one doing it. An intern is also helping. My day ended at 4:00pm. I think this will start to become routine.

I went for a run on the trails in the forest again. I haven't come close to running all of them yet. Saw a roe deer in the forest for the first time. A smaller deer that is common in Europe. View from my balcony on a clear day. Swiss Alps during sunset. Tops still covered in snow.

Day 5: Nearly perfect Swiss Day

Research, Lunch run, Migros, Fondue, Swiss Alps, and Gelato social.

Research was great today. We used the 3D kinematics lab. I won't bore you with the details but we had reflective things on our feet like people would wear for video games and animation. We had a coffee/espresso break and then resumed working. At noon Heiner, Patric, a colleague of theirs, and I all went for a run in the forest. When we got back we had lunch. Then at 15:30 (3:30) Heiner gave a presentation of the lab in German to some students (bachelors and PhD) who were on a tour of the University. At the end of work, Heiner gave me a Bern bear cake and with a big smile said "Welcome to Bern!"

Thank you Heiner. I found out today him and his wife are expecting a baby in October.

When I got back to my studenthouse, I asked a friend to show me around Migros, which is a grocery store (the only one so far where I have seen peanut butter and there was only one brand and it is crunchy pb). I made a small dinner and then went up to the rooftop (floor 20) where my new friends had invited me for fondue (a common dish in Switzerland). The weather was much clearer today, sunny and warm. With the haze from the overcast evaporated I was able to see the white tops of the Swiss Alps for the first time. The first time I have ever seen mountains in my life. Stunning. After we talked for awhile, we headed over to the other studenthouse for a gelato (ice cream) social. There was chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry gelato, bananas, strawberries, cherries, hot fudge, sprinkles, whip cream, chocolate shavings, nuts, coconut, m&m's, waffle chips, cookies, and cobbler. All of the fixings. At the party, I met people with backgrounds from all over the world. To the day I say....

wow.

Day 4: First day in Movement Lab

I finally woke up at a normal time today. 8:30. I had to be at the Movement Lab to meet Heiner, my professor and head of the lab, at 10:30. I was to the train station at 9:30 where I had to get a libero (public transit pass). Here is a picture of it with my new Bern University student guest card.

After getting both of these today I am starting to feel like a part of the city. I arrived at the Movement Lab at 10:00. A half hour early. I forgot that ALL of the trains and trams here are exactly on time 100% of the time.  I am a true believer of the Swiss public transportation system now.

Meeting Heiner was great. He gave me a tour of the lab, which is state of the art. The lab is owned by an orthopaedic company in collaboration with the inselspital (university hospital), and Bern University of Applied Sciences which allows them to have the resources for EMGs, force plates everywhere, and a brand new 3D kinematics system. He then gave me a tour of the building, introducing me to all of his colleagues. All were extremely kind. Once the tour was over, he showed me my work station which I will be at when not working in the lab.

Then came lunch. After I had to do some reading. And then Heiner took me around to the other University buildings. He pointed out some restaurants where I found out pizza places serve burritos. They are not actually burritos because it is a food from Turkey so the spices are different but the concept is the same. I need to try one.

I ran into the trails again. I was lost for a bit but found my way out. I felt sore waking up this morning and once I check the pace of my run from yesterday, I realized why. I took it a little easier today (not too easy) and really enjoyed it. Heiner invited me to join him and some of his colleagues on a run tomorrow. We will go at lunch and jog over to the University Hospital to pick up a few more people and then head towards the hills. They say they go for an hour run together every Tuesday. Something very cool that a lot of work places should start up. Should I take the pace out hot? Ain't one for chicken shit

6/2/2013 Day 3: Night life and stuff

Last night I was invited to a student house party. Imagine every euro movie party scene and that's what it was like. Basically Beer fest 2013 (not really). Now imagine a normal party with music and some drinking games. That's what it was actually like. The party was a great time and I got to meet a lot of new friends from places such as Romania, France, Belgium, Switzerland, and the US. At about 11:30pm the group decided to head to the city center. We took a train downtown and went to a rowdy bar. After hanging there for a bit, we went to Propeller. Free, fresh, and full of women. This club is the essence of the Bern city night life. Whether you're into getting down and funky or watching midgets rollerblade in cages. Propeller has it all. With the wait as long as a Best Buy checkout line on Black Friday, who knows if you can get in. In line the new friend from Romania told us he didn't have his ID. After talking to the bouncer about Michigan and how much better Bern is, he eventually said, "You guys are visiting, have fun in there!" We got in. We walked downstairs to the dance floor and then straight to the bar where I bought my very first shot for 5.50 franks (~$5.72). Vodka.Worth it? Not really. The rest of the night happened and I got back to my apartment at 4:30am.

Today I went on another run, but this time I went towards the hills to the north. There is a big forest with tons of beautiful trails. I don't think I will get bored of running here anytime soon.

Day 2 in Bern: Jet lag

After traveling for 16+ hours and staying up for 33 hours straight (with a few 1 hour naps) I felt drained. Jet lag had hit me hard. I fell into bed at 11:00pm last night and didn't get out until 2:00pm today. 15 hours of the thing I needed more than ever in my life: sleep. I also needed to get groceries. I went to Denner, which is just a few hundred meter walk away and one of the cheaper grocery stores around. Here is my receipt:

Vollkorntoas (bread)................................1.05 CHF

Penne Napoli 1kg (pasta).........................0.95 CHF

Toblernone 6pk (Swiss choc.)..................6.95 CHF

Salzstangen (pretzels)...............................0.80 CHF

Muesli Trauben/n 1kg (oatmeal)...............2.40 CHF

Aktion 3pk (pasta sauce).........................7.35 CHF

Brotaufstrich Haselnu (nutella)..................1.80 CHF

Total: ~22.19 USD

Price for eggs and meat are high so I avoided buying them right away. And all of the sizes of the food containers are much smaller (except for pasta). 

Then I went to the local Coop (everyone knows about Coop here. Its like a Walmart that instead of spreading everything out is put together with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floor) and picked up some lunch/dinner. The store closes at 5:00 on Saturdays and is not open on Sundays, a commonality for stores here.

Once my shopping was done I went for my first run in Switzerland. I mapped out the run on a website and took a picture of the map with my iPhone which I then ran with. The run started off well, but after a few turns I was bound to go off course and I did. I asked some locals where I was and pointed to the map on my iPhone. I was right where I thought and with a slight detour I was back on track. I ran along the Aar (pronounced Air) River, which has a very high water level even for the season. On the Aar River is the Bear park. And lucky enough for me, the bears were out today. 

Here are a few more pictures from my run.

P.S. I made it back safely to my apartment even though the run turned into a 2hr+ journey through Old Bern