Monte Tamaro

One of the perks of this round the clock job are our chaperoned excursions. The 9th grade "hike" was a visit to Monte Tamaro here in the Ticino. It took place on a friday to allow for day and boarding students to attend, which also allowed teachers and staff to be working, but not really working! Midway up the mountain, after a charmingly steep gondola ride with a fantastic view, we discovered an adventure course in the trees. Here in Switzerland there are definitely less safety precautions and rules when it comes to kids at play. After a brief description and practice course we were let loose, harness and all, into the trees. Some of the chaperones stayed on the ground to watch out for kids, but the rest of us shuttled them along through the courses. I'm proud to say I made it through 3 out of 4 high ropes courses.
After enjoying a packed lunch and some ice cream treats at the restaurant there, we continued up the mountain to the end of the gondola line. Here, higher up the mountain, we discovered the Flying Fox go-cart/roller coaster ride. You sit in a small go-cart-ish vehicle with a seat belt across the front. From there you have handles that push forward to get you going and break when you pull back. The ride starts off steep and slow, and then whips around corners and down little hills to make for an adrenaline rush experience. Woo hoo!
As for the hike part of it all, we didn't have time to go to the top of the mountain only because the kids were having too much fun with everything else there, but the views were ridiculously beautiful.
The final thrill of the day (which I was able to do twice!) was a 440m (not foot) zip line over the mountain. The picture above is me with one hand off, but believe me, I did take them both off at one point. Absolutely incredible. I loved it. The kids loved it, and all in all a good time was had.

Boat Dance

These kids have a Boat dance the first week of school. In short, the school busses 450 kids down to the lake where they get on two separate boats - middle schoolers and ninth grade in one, and then the rest in another. From there the boats go out, food is served and people wander, watch and enjoy being on the water. At some point the two boats meet up again, and a gangplank is placed inbetween them so that they are connected. One boat is the dance/dj boat and the other the food. We spend the evening in this manor, dancing on the water so to speak. Kind of a fun idea though the food was a little on the shabby side. As chaperones we had certain time slots and assignments. I got bathroom duty for half an hour. Basically just patrolling to insure that nothing illegal was happening in the bathrooms. The rest of the time us faculty enjoyed ourselves by dancing and talking. At around 9:30pm the boats separated and we sped off to get the younger kids back and to bed at a reasonable hour.


Eric, Pete, James and Lisette - boats together

Another Night in the Neighbourhood

Last thursday was our 4th year wedding anniversary. Go us! Though things have been hectic here we decided to take a little time and do something for us. There were no large gifts exchanged, but when you start valuing time together I guess that's a pretty good present.
The dining hall food is edible almost every day, but certainly not gourmet nor terribly yummy, so we decided to scope out a local restaurant in walking distance. (If you read my blurb about driving earlier you'll know why we went that route!) Here in Ticino there are local restaurants called Grottos where one is served a simple more traditional menu. We came across one not too far from us that makes their own pasta.


Truly typical grotto food is normally a variety of grilled meat from beef to horse to rabbit, and most often served with potato or polenta. However, Al Bosco serves a number of delicious homemade pasta dishes, my favorite for now being the spinach, ricotta and fresh herb ravioli. YUM. As a starter, the waiter recommended the porcini mushroom and arugula salad with a drizzle of olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. I don't think I have ever had a raw mushroom salad, but since porcinis are in season as we speak, it's seemed only right to give it a try. Very good! We also sampled a T-bone steak flavored with delicate herbs, salt and pepper. Simple and tasty. All in all a relaxing night in a rustic and homey setting and on our way home we had gorgeous skies and beautiful views.
I can really appreciate the little things here. I like that.

To Gandria and Beyond

Villages and towns round here have fairytale names. Maybe because they are fairytale places. I accepted an invitation to take a walk to Gandria from a very pregant Julia. She is due in Oct but bets are bouncing around with dates within the next 2 weeks. Despite her imminent birth, or because of it, she is looking for exercise however and whereever she can.
But enough about Julia and her birthing date and back to Gandria, our adventure also included her 4 going on 47 year old son Thomas, and another couple here - Kara and David. (David is actually the dorm head of De Nobili - my dorm). Just a quick story about Thomas before I go on:
We were at a very adultish party 2 weeks ago and poor Thomas had been brought along. After probably 3 hours of hearing adult conversation and eating not so kid friendly food, Thomas's dad asked if he would like to go home. Thomas's response: Well (pause for contemplation), I guess that's really an adult decision.
Hmm. I need to know how they taught him that one.
But back to our walk... so you take a drive down town and then travel left along the lake. At some point if you keep to the edge of the lake the road ends in a parking lot. That's right. It ends. From there is a fantastic wandering path past little hotels, lidos, and very possibly, peoples homes. These places are only accessible by foot at this point, or by water. Continue on and you find yourself in the quaint village of Gandria. There are no streets - just paths winding up and down stairs and round and under buildings. I recommend a stop, as we did, for Gelato. We sat in a fairly typical Ticino restaurant with outdoor seating overlooking the lake and savored pretty yummy home made gelato. Spectacular. And did I mention I live here?
Nothing like filling an afternoon with exercise, sun and ice cream!

Part time full time job

At TASIS, and apparently at many boarding school, one is supposed to be wary of a "part time" position. Really there is no such thing. I mean you get paid for part time work, but you're doing stuff ALL the time. Take me, for example. I am excited to say that I will fall in this category for the school year. As a part time employee I will only be working 15 hours a week in college counselling office helping students edit their essays. But then I will also be acting as a dorm parent 1 night a week and every 6th entire weekend, be an advisor to 8 ninth grade students and meet with them at least 4 times a week, teach dance class for the fall 2 afternoons a week, teach yoga in the winter 2 afternoons a week, go on In Program Travel and be available for other choice tasks as they come up. Does this sound part time to anyone else? Such is the life of a TASIS employee. And keep in mind that I am getting off easy. Most people will do almost all of that plus teach 4 classes. YEEEHA.
It's exciting and certainly interesting though. The official opening day was yesterday and the kids are spilling all over campus. It's a shmorgessborg of high fashion and boy/men with overly brushed and groomed hair. Seriously, I think the guys here spend more time getting their hair to swish to one side just so than I have ever done in my life.
All that aside, the days are long for now, busy for sure, but not unbearable. I am getting more comfortable finding my way around the campus and the dining hall. I have learned that if the food looks like kraft mac and cheese but is called rissotto it's worth steering clear of because it is the swiss equivalent. I have also found that the various meat stew dishes are normally a mine field of fatty bits which I am loathe to navigate through. However, all in all the faculty lounge coffee/hot chocolate machine is a resounding success.
I have dragged my sorry tush to the dance studio a couple of times now to do some yoga and move a little, and after sat when we had to unload the students boxes, I am officially sore. Infact yesterday my forearms were cramping so much I looked a bit like a T-rex. Grrrr.
So the week begins with students and faculty trying to get it together and be organized. The first official day of classes is weds. More to come soon...