adventures in time and space
Jun. 11th, 2008 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theladyroseYou haven't quite experienced Switzerland until you've pushed someone who weighs more than you do up the gravelly mountainside of a château (Château Gruyère, just like the cheese) at midday.
The short version of Switzerland: It was the most peculiar sense of homecoming I've ever experienced in a country I've never officially traveled to. It's too complicated to explain here in detail, but I'm actually from Switzerland in the most primordial sense. I woke up on the train from Milan enchanted with this isolated, surreal haven of almost pastiche-like European cosmopolitanism. My Chinese relatives spoke perfectly fluent French, and thankfully they were able to understand what I was saying. They were the most gracious hosts anyone could ever want, showing us around the natural extremes of lake and mountain and the fairytale towns and expansive countryside. I came back a day later (yesterday afternoon, in fact) than I expected, but it was well worth it even if I am a little nervous about my Italian midterm in a couple of hours.
Tonight I'm back on the road again after going to class for the first and only time this week. I basically attempted to teach myself all the Italian that I missed (thankfully it wasn't too bad), and I'm taking art history pass/fail. For the record, my parents were the ones who encouraged and supported my playing hooky for an extra day to spend more time with my relatives; thankfully my professor didn't seem to mind as she's been distracted with some of other students, and the scholarship people don't need to know anything about my activities over here.
A sensible person would ask why I'm so hellbent on going to Vienna. Why must I go *this* weekend? If I had any sense (which I don't) I would've actually gotten all of my transportation taken care of before I left for Milan/Switzerland last Thursday, except that I had no time or access to the Internet for the past couple of days.
I've dreamed of Vienna for years. Admittedly, it all started with the Living Daylights (shut up, 007 fans - I can hear your snickering several thousand miles away across the Atlantic), then it was the Third Man that pretty much sealed the deal on the "I must go here before I die" list, which really isn't that long. And after I wrote (and now published) that one short story, I feel even more compelled to see the world I tried to evoke in person.
The truth is, I'm terrified about this trip. I'm terrified of what will happen because there's something in me that says it's now or never, that I may never have the chance to do what I'm doing now ever again because the future is shaping up to be a hectic one that won't allow me the time to do this. There's a 50% chance I won't be able to travel with the ease I can now, and if I'm not careful the window of opportunity's going to fall shut faster than I know it.
It's also the first time I've traveled internationally by myself. Although safety's more of a concern, I'm actually looking forward to being able to control my agenda and travel light, literally and figuratively. The trouble is that I also know no German apart from "danke" and a few random phrases that are probably quite incorrect that I picked up from watching WWII movies with my father.
At any rate, by this time tomorrow I'll be on the train to Vienna. Let's see how it goes.
The short version of Switzerland: It was the most peculiar sense of homecoming I've ever experienced in a country I've never officially traveled to. It's too complicated to explain here in detail, but I'm actually from Switzerland in the most primordial sense. I woke up on the train from Milan enchanted with this isolated, surreal haven of almost pastiche-like European cosmopolitanism. My Chinese relatives spoke perfectly fluent French, and thankfully they were able to understand what I was saying. They were the most gracious hosts anyone could ever want, showing us around the natural extremes of lake and mountain and the fairytale towns and expansive countryside. I came back a day later (yesterday afternoon, in fact) than I expected, but it was well worth it even if I am a little nervous about my Italian midterm in a couple of hours.
Tonight I'm back on the road again after going to class for the first and only time this week. I basically attempted to teach myself all the Italian that I missed (thankfully it wasn't too bad), and I'm taking art history pass/fail. For the record, my parents were the ones who encouraged and supported my playing hooky for an extra day to spend more time with my relatives; thankfully my professor didn't seem to mind as she's been distracted with some of other students, and the scholarship people don't need to know anything about my activities over here.
A sensible person would ask why I'm so hellbent on going to Vienna. Why must I go *this* weekend? If I had any sense (which I don't) I would've actually gotten all of my transportation taken care of before I left for Milan/Switzerland last Thursday, except that I had no time or access to the Internet for the past couple of days.
I've dreamed of Vienna for years. Admittedly, it all started with the Living Daylights (shut up, 007 fans - I can hear your snickering several thousand miles away across the Atlantic), then it was the Third Man that pretty much sealed the deal on the "I must go here before I die" list, which really isn't that long. And after I wrote (and now published) that one short story, I feel even more compelled to see the world I tried to evoke in person.
The truth is, I'm terrified about this trip. I'm terrified of what will happen because there's something in me that says it's now or never, that I may never have the chance to do what I'm doing now ever again because the future is shaping up to be a hectic one that won't allow me the time to do this. There's a 50% chance I won't be able to travel with the ease I can now, and if I'm not careful the window of opportunity's going to fall shut faster than I know it.
It's also the first time I've traveled internationally by myself. Although safety's more of a concern, I'm actually looking forward to being able to control my agenda and travel light, literally and figuratively. The trouble is that I also know no German apart from "danke" and a few random phrases that are probably quite incorrect that I picked up from watching WWII movies with my father.
At any rate, by this time tomorrow I'll be on the train to Vienna. Let's see how it goes.
