My Our Chalet Adventure – Lizzie, USA

As an avid reader, travelling to Switzerland was a dream come true. Iʼd always wanted to see the majestic mountains so eloquently described in Frankenstein, explore the green alps that could have come straight out of Tolkienʼs Middle-Earth, and participate in the super-secret worldwide treasure hunt called “geocaching” that resembles so many adventure novels. Last but not least, I wanted the chance to work with a unique team of multi-talented folks from around the globe on a mission to save the world with the power of sʼmores. However, unlike something out of Alex Rider or “SpyKids,” Our Chalet and the Girl Guides are very real.

My adventure at Our Chalet has taught me many life skills to both prepare me for university and to drag me out of my academic routine. I have attempted to solve problems, resolve conflicts, and make sure everybody who comes here has a great experience—from guests, to my fellow staff members, to Skippy the cat. Iʼve learned a lot of interesting facts while here:

• Itʼs hard to tell things about people from their shoes when they have both indoor and outdoor shoes.
• Cooking with garlic makes your hands smell like garlic for two days afterwards, but is so worth it because it tastes fresh and delicious!
• Marmots sound like ghostly, ethereal birds whose eloquent voices follow you everywhere.
• Raw eggs are not edible, so you should check beforehand to see if they are boiled.
• Skippy Storrow is the best cat ever.
• Cleaning is easier when you wear a watch on your neckerchief.
• Cows can understand bits of Swiss-German and come when called.

There are so many things to experience and learn that itʼs all a bit overwhelming! Although working on our programs such as the Engstligen Hike and the WAGGGS Stop the Violence campaign is fun, Iʼve gotten to do so many cool things on my days off as well. Here are my top 5:

• Climb Bunderspitz. You donʼt even need to do it at sunrise for it to be a great experience! There is so much cool stuff to see along the way that itʼs definitely worth it.
• Hike up to Butschi, the marmot valley. I didnʼt see any marmots, because theyʼre really shy, but I definitely heard them!
• Hike up Hahnenmoos and across to Silleren. These are some small mountains that are very nice to climb on a sunny day. The Blumenweg (flower path) between the points is not to be missed, and walking through a field full of cows was an unforgettable experience.
• Take the train to Interlaken. The views are breathtaking and you can go paragliding if you are brave. I did not try paragliding, but one of my fellow volunteers did and she loved it. The highlight of the day was watching her come down with a smile on her face and it was once-in-a-lifetime experience to remember.
• Take the train to Thun. Thun is also full of gorgeous views and is just a nice place to walk around. Itʼs a great place to sit down with a cup of coffee and enjoy the weather.

I am very grateful for all the opportunities Iʼve been given here at Our Chalet and wouldnʼt trade them for anything!

Lizzie, USA – Our Chalet Assistant, Autumn 2018

My First Month in Switzerland – Louise, Denmark

The fact that I have now been living at Our Chalet in the Swiss Alps for almost a month leads to a lot of different thoughts. First of all, I cannot believe that it has already been that long. It seems like I just recently stood in the airport in Aalborg saying goodbye to my family. When walking towards the gate, two and a half months sounded like such a long time, but now it feels like time is passing far too quickly. Yet I have experienced so much that everything before that morning in the airport seems so far away. It is surprising how fast you get used to life at Our Chalet (apart from the view which will never stop being impressive). I remember going to bed on my second day here, reminding myself that I only just got here, and I could hardly believe it.

One thing that I have learned about Our Chalet is that it is a great place to challenge yourself in many ways. This applies both to the guests who can proudly talk about how they completed their personal challenge, and to the staff. When living and working here, you get the opportunity to be a part of an international team which opens up new possibilities to learn about other cultures and about yourself. We also learn skills that will always be useful such as cooking, cleaning and being responsible and dependable as well as being the leader of a group. Being from Denmark, my time at Our Chalet is also a chance to improve my English.

Not only do we get to make new friends and develop our language and leadership skills, the area is also perfect for challenging ourselves and each other physically. For people who live in countries without any mountains such as Denmark, going on hikes here is very different from what we are used to. But the opportunity to challenge yourself is not enough. You also need the will and the courage to face those challenges and to try something new. For this, I believe that the strong friendships that form here at Our Chalet help a lot, because we do not have to face these challenges alone. I experienced this myself when I went on a cycling trip recently with one of the other volunteers. 25 kilometers in the mountains is very different from 25 kilometers in Denmark. If I had been on my own, I do not think that I would have chosen a route with an ascent of 1200 metres, but that is what we did. With that said, I am really glad that we went. Even though we agreed that it was really hard and probably also harder than we expected, we also agreed that it was worth it!

Our Chalet is also a place for having fun and for being creative together. An interest that takes up a lot of my time at home is music, but living in the Swiss Alps far away from the choir I usually sing in has not been a limitation. Instead, I get to share this interest with some of the other volunteers, and together we have learned new songs in new languages. This also includes the many new campfire songs that I have learned from both guests and other volunteers.

I still have a month and a half left, and I am really excited about getting to explore even more of the area, meeting guests and running activities for them, and spending a lot more time with my new friends from all over the world. Being with the same people all the time may entail some challenges since we are all different, but I have no doubts that we will all rise to the challenge and have an amazing season together.

Louise (Denmark) – Our Chalet Assistant, Autumn 2018

What I’ve learnt during my time at Our Chalet – Madi, Australia

Spending the last three months volunteering at Our Chalet has been an amazing and challenging experience. Switzerland is so different to Australia, and this experience has been very different to anything I have ever done before. As a result, I’ve learnt a lot, and I’ve put together a list of some of the biggest things I’ve learnt during my season!

Kitchen and Cleaning Skills

• How to fold a fitted sheet – one of those life skills I’m sure will be useful in the future!
• How to cook, and how to cater for large groups and to many dietary requirements.
• How to use a meat slicer and how to cut onions.
• What ‘clean’ really means!

The Outdoors

• What hiking actually is – Australia is so flat compared to Switzerland that I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into!
• Hiking socks are actually different to normal socks. As awesome as my Harry Potter socks are, they don’t work too well with hiking boots.
• How huge and beautiful mountains are. Every step you take here, the view changes.
• How big the world can be – it took me about 30 hours of travelling to get from Melbourne to Our Chalet! But I also learned how small the world is. One of my favourite memories from my season was spending two days hiking through Liechtenstein. I did however find it quite strange that all it took was a couple of buses and trains and I was in a different country!

Weather

• Switzerland is very green! Australia is a very dry country and has been in drought for most of my life. Until I came to Our Chalet I honestly didn’t know how many different shades of green there were, and how bright and colourful the world can be.
• I should have packed a raincoat. The weather changes very quickly in the mountains, and it has rained most days while I’ve been at Our Chalet. It doesn’t rain much in Australia, and when it rains it doesn’t rain for very long so I didn’t bring a good raincoat with me. This was a mistake! Luckily my friends had a few spare coats I could borrow.
• To wear sunscreen – the sun is a lot stronger in the mountains than it is at sea level. I very rarely get sunburnt in Australia, but have regularly been burnt in Switzerland!

Life Lessons

• What ‘tired’ is, and how to work through being tired all the time.
• How to get along with people from different backgrounds, with different beliefs, opinions and ways of doing things. As a World Centre, Our Chalet is full of so many different people and cultures. Being here has taught me how to live and work with such a wide variety of people.
• To take a little bit of Australia with me.
• To try new things – I have tried so many new activities this season, the most memorable of these being paddle boarding and trotti biking.
• That it’s ok to be who you are!

I have met people from all over the world and made so many close friends during my time at Our Chalet. People are amazing.
Madi (Australia)- Summer Volunteer 2018