Been A While

Sorry folks I know it has been a while since my last update and of course so much has happened I am not sure how best to share it with you all!! Firstly my second exam has passed a couple of weeks ago now with a dissapointing result but still a good pass and we are now into our second week of hairsprings which is a very intense subject leaving us all very exhausted at the end of the day. At long last sleeping well again, had a couple of weeks where I kept waking during the night which as we all know can leave us feeling very tired in the morning. I have started writing some job application letters and distributing my CV to the companies I would most like to work for. We have the Basel Fair on next weekend which is a massive international watch fair and alot of company developements (including staffing) are hindering on the result of sale level etc at this fair.

So outside of school I don't have too much of a life with having only Sunday not at school but this is what I am here for and what I paid to come and do so I am enjoying soaking my time and energy into this. A group of us from school went to the Geneva car show last sunday, Hakan (from Sweden) drove. It is the biggest car show in the world, can't say I was overly impressed but there are alot of people and anything really exciting you want to see so does everybody else. It was a nice day outside of Champreveyre and Neucatel though and it was great to see a little bit of Geneve again. The picture shows one half of the show. It was pretty big.

Backing up a little, a couple of weekends ago a group of ten of us had a FEW drinks and headed on into to Neuchatel city for a bit of the night life. We had a fantastic time dancing the night away, can't remember exactly what time we got home but then sat around the kitchen having cups of tea before bed. An American has a fantastic bed time tea which I NEED to get for myself. It is a herbal tea of course and after drinking this I had only 4 1/2 hours of solid sleep and woke up feeling fantastic!! But all round a cheap night for me having only spent 5FR on bus there and taxi home as I had had enough to drink at home and it was far too much fun dancing to require more liquor only H2O required.

I have been in touch with another kiwi watchmaker over here that went through WOSTEP with my tuitor in NZ Richard Burgess in 1993 doing the complicated watch course. Robert and his wife Beatrice (also a watchmaker) live in Le Lecle which is 40minutes by train from Neuchatel. They invited me over for dinner on friday night and we had a fantastic time talking about watchmaking and life in Switzerland. They both work for fantastic companies Renaud & Papi and Vaucher respectively. Whilst I was there another kiwi watchmaker Dean (also former WOSTEP student) phoned, it was weird to hear a NZ accent. I have been speaking to friends and family back home of course but it is not the same as hearing a stranger talking. Hhhmm does that make sense or am I just weird??? I also have the contact details of another family friends friend but unfortunately have not made the effort to visit yet. She is alot further away and it would not make sense to only go for dinner and of course with working saturdays this posses as a small problem. It is not a very good excuse and I should really make more of an effort as it is very generous for people to offer hospitality to someone they have never met before.

I also had the wonderful experience of having authentic Italian rissotto cooked for me on wednesday night by a fellow Champreveyrien which tasted absolutely devine and is much better than the food down stairs. It was fresh and hot which is an improvement right from the start! Last night I was also spoiled by a different Champreveyrien cooking us authentic Bangladesh food, which was also very devine. He was slaving away in the kitchen for quite some time and made us four different dishes using wonderful spices that add flavor but not heat!!

Once again it is Sunday and with nothing open it is a great oportunity to catch up on Blogs (been very slack), letter writing and the all important study. Hope everyone is well, keep in touch, love hearing from you all. Best wishes very tired but inspired watchmaker Donna.

Bergeon

Yesterday (being Friday 21st Feb) we went on a field trip to Bergeon and to visit a clock and watch museum in Le Locle. We had a wonderful experience at Bergeon with the sales manager sharing some interesting information but even better was the absolutely devine lunch we had a lovely restaurant. Salmon ceasar salad to start, wonderful local wine, delicous chicken main and even chocolate mouse desert. YUMMY especially after the wonderful we are being fed at Champreveyre. It was nice to see the Bergeon show room and see all the latest products to be released at Basel Fair (massive international watch and jewellery fair here in Switzerland held every year), we also have the oportunity to place an order and get some very good prices before the end of our course. However the highlight of the day would have to be the visit to the museum. The whole building /castle is full of clocks from all centuries as well as a few music boxes and whole floor dedicated to watches and there development through time and a wonderful collection of automats also which were truely fascinating to see. As you can tell from the photos there is alot more snow in Le Locle even though it is only 20km from Neuchatel. It was loads of fun the snow kinda looks hard but your foot goes straight through it. Good thing the boys have bad aim and the few snow balls thrown around missed their target.

Life here in Neuchatel has become a bit of a routine which is nice all the same and to add a bit of flavour to the diet we have started going to a near by pub on a wednesday for FR1o pizza night with some of the watchmakers from last years refresher course.

Neuchatel

Well I am slowly learning my way around my new town. Neuchatel is quite a lovely little town with a fantastic lake. The weather here is very misty and as we are surrounded by hills we are nicely protected from the wind. It has been clear enough on a couple of occasions to catch a wee glimps of the alps which are the back drop to the lake!! Can't wait for the clear days of summer, it is going to look fantastic. It has been a little difficult to adjusting to the new ways, shops here are pretty much all closed on Sundays and Monday mornings and only stay open till 6.30pm except thursdays which is 8.30pm. For retailers I think this is fantastic and once you get yourself organised and make sure you have already bought something for sunday night dinner it works just fine. The bakery next to Champreveyres where I live is open from 6.30am till 6.30pm weekdays and is open Sunday morning so every day we pop in there on the way to school and pick up a yummy fresh baguette for lunch.

It has been snowing off and on here since I arrived but it melts again pretty quick which is nice because while the snow is fun it does make it harder to get around. Last week we had a morning where it poored with snow, it was so fun I laughed all the way to school, getting snow in your eyes really hurts! Saw my first squirel in Switzerland the other morning also on the way to school which was fun, it was the first time John (class mate) has seen a squirel so it was pretty exciting. The sun has been out today and took my first walk down the lake edge, it was really nice but I didn't stay long because the temperature was still -1 and it was quite windy so after an hour you can not feel your fingers through your gloves anymore.

I have finally got off my backside and been for a couple of runs over the last couple of weeks which has been really nice and refreshing, great for the sanity. But it is nice to be finally settling into a routine. School is still really great, have had a very taxing week this week. Really bloodshot eyes friday morning and felt like I had been hit by a bus, we have been working on escapements this weeks which requires alot of concentration and microscope work so after six days at school today has been a definate god send to just chill out and have walk made even nicer by the beautiful sun that has been shining all day!!

Besides school there has also been time for a little bit of leisure. Last weekend I went to Robert and Anna's place for cheese fondue (Robert is doing a different course at school) which was the first cheese fondue experience for me. The couple of bottles of wine that accompanied it were also nice and then we headed into Cafe de Cerf in the city which is a bar where alot of watchmakers hang out. Then this weekend it was Hasan's (he is doing 2 year course at WOSTEP with Robert and also lives at Champreveyres) birthday so friday night he had hired out the Champreveyre dinning room and we all had a few drinks, nibbles and listened to some music. Did get to bed not long after midnight though as I spent a few hours saturday afternoon at school.

Off to Le Loche on friday to visit Bergeon (tool supplier) and a private museum collection instead of going to class so this should be a blast! We are now at the end of week 5, quater the way through! Man time flys when you are having fun. Next exam not for another 3 weeks yet, I have been trying not to live life from exam to exam but it is proving to be a little difficult.

Zurich

Well a couple of weekends ago I ventured out of Neuchatel and headed for the big city of Zurich. Hugo (guy from Champreveyres (where I live) he’s from Holand) thought it would be a nice day out and as I agreed we went on our big adventure. Having purchased a ½ price discount train card it didn’t cost as much of a fortune as it might have.

Zurich is a really lovely old city with the main attraction being all the wonderful old architecture. It also has a lot of wonderful old churchs and Chathedrals which we went inside most of them. There is just something special about being inside the beautiful old buildings! At the Grossmanster church you are able to climb up one of the towers which gives you a fantastic view out over the city and harbour. I don’t think it was as far to climb as the Christchurch cathedral but it was just as narrow and we managed to time it well on the way up that we passed some people coming down, one guy wasn’t exactly small and I was thankful to be beside the rail not against the middle. Got some great photos from part way up and the top, unfortunately even the beautiful country of Switzerland people still like to graffiti everywhere which tarnishes the lovely self shot I took. Getting better at those, still need a longer arm though.

Went to the Museum of Switzerland also which wasn’t the most exciting Museum I have been to perhaps Te Papa is more impressive than I ever gave it credit for!! All and all it was a great day and riding the trains is Switzerland is lovely. As Sinnae and Sam may have noticed from the writing on their postcards it is still not completely smooth.

School

WOW! I think this word alone just about sums it up. The building itself is amazing. Very old on the outside but very modern on the inside. It was renovated last year the floor we work on has got two class rooms, and cleaning room, a polishing room and a lathe room with a few electronic lathes and milling machines etc. There is a floor above us which I have not been on but I believe there is another workshop up there for the other various shorter courses they run throughout the year. Down stairs is our large boardroom where we do our theory, admin offices and a large lunch room that opens onto a very large deck that overlooks the lake with the Alps in the background. Have only had a very brief glimpse of the Alps at this stage due to the weather which seems to be quite murky but it is going to be fabulous come spring and summer!

Some of you may have already seen my pic with my fabulous lab coat. It’s the smallest size they have and I still need to roll up my sleeves. (Yeah laugh I know you are). The tutor has a microscope on his desk that shows what he is looking at on a TV screen in the corner of the classroom. It is fantastic when he is showing you what you’ve done right or wrong and the whole class gets to be in on it too. Really it is a fantastic teaching tool! The work benches are out of this world with us each having a complete set of tools of at our finger tips and air blower and suction that you will see (the black pipes sticking out at the back in the middle like bug antenae) and our own timing machine also. The benches are just beautiful and are so functional. I WANT one, however the benches are apparently worth more than the course itself each so at this stage it’s a little out my price league. However I do know some cabinet makers back home and mum has the job of making me a lab coat (she just doesn’t know it yet).

First exam coming up this Friday, AARGHHH!!! Had a practice test today which I will get the results of tomorrow so hopefully I will have nothing to worry about. You need a four out of six to pass. It is only four hours which I discovered today does not give me as much time as I thought it would. Waiting for the cleaning machine to give me back my watch was the longest 16 minutes of my life. I know to put it in at least twenty minutes sooner for Friday. The second cleaning machine is currently out of action and the machine only cleans three at a time so this means I’m going to have to try and jump in ahead of some others.

There are six students doing the course, two from Bulgaria, one from Libea, one from Sweden, one from OZ and me from NZ of course. It makes for a very interesting bunch but we are all getting along quite nicely. This is a pic of our lunch last Friday. We had to go into town to sign our student permits so stayed out for lunch. The two at the far end of the table are the tutors and Serag from Libea is taking the picture.

Arrival in Switzerland

I am here after a lovely smooth train ride that runs exactly to the minute which turns out to be an advantage as when the train ride is 1hr17 you can work out which stop to get off at. Apparently it doesn’t normally snow in Neuchatel but the place has been blanketed with the white stuff since New Year’s Eve. Went for a walk today (10/01) to check out where the school is with some of the other students and it snowed on the way. My trainers are holding out at the moment as sufficient foot wear so am not going to get any snow boots at this stage. There are six people on my course, four of which are in the same accommodation as me.

My room is very large, alot larger than some of the others in the building which is very interesting as you pay different amounts according to room size. I was not given a choice so hopefully I am not paying more unnecessarily as I would prefer a smaller room and fewer dollars. It is too big and uncozy like.

Last night’s dinner was very yummy pasta, but way too much of it so am going to find out if I take a container if I can keep my left overs for lunch because it would just be going in the bin otherwise. If you are not going to be around at meal time you can leave a container and they will keep it for you so hopefully this will be ok. Just went to the shop only 5 minutes up the road (Denner) and got some cup of soup, half loaf of bread, nutella and four bananas which only cost 8,45 CHF. Meal times are different weekdays to weekends. Monday-Friday breakfast and dinner are served, Saturday breakfast and lunch is served and on Sunday it is breakfast and brunch (till 12.30pm).

London

London

Well I arrived at Heathrow airport safe and sound even if a little bit late, UK time 06hr30 on Tuesday 6th January 2009 after a very long time in the air and at various airports. Spending so much time in a plane was not actually as bad as I had expected and I have not been as affected by jet lag as one might expect. I think the worst part was the swollen ankles and still feeling like I was on the plane for a couple of days.

Tim and Louisa were both at work so I negotiated my way onto the tube, changing lines once I landed exactly where I should have, at their flat. It was 10.00am so I dumped all my stuff and went down the road to the Camden markets to explore. I did not feel like travelling anywhere else so going to London on the tube was out of the question. It was great wandering around the camera has already had a pretty severe work out!! All the buildings and houses are exactly like the English television programs. With sore feet I headed home mid afternoon for a bit of a relax and snooze and waited for Louisa and Tim to get home from work.

It is so weird that even though we are on the other side of the world to home it did not seem unusual to see them. We went to the pub for a drink where it was lovely and warm. I can now see why there is such a strong pub culture over here!!

Day two saw me heading into the big city to explore on a hop on hop off bus tour which works out really well because as a special winter rate the ticket is valid for 48hrs. The tube let me off right in Trafalgar square where once again the camera got busy. All the fountains had completely frozen solid so were not as spectacular as one might expect however it was special to see them this way as any of the locals I asked don’t recall it happening before. It is the coldest week London has on record for a decade, great timing!! Amongst other things I also saw the Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral, Shakespeare’s Theatre, Wellington Marble Archway, the guards at Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and loads of double decker buses. I visited Hyde Park at lunch time to see all the squirrels but they obviously think it is too cold also and were not about, however I did come across one very lonely squirrel that kindly obliged and sat at my feet to have his photo taken.

Day three was the second day of the bus tour. Today I went on a walking tour which went past the her majesty’s gates the only time the gate in the middle ever opens is when the queen herself is in the car and she and anyone else inside her car at the time are the only ones to ever pass through it. The tour also included the changing of the guards. It was great being on the tour because instead of waiting at Buckingham Palace with all the hoards of people we started at St James Palace where the guards are actually coming from. I spent alot of time today at Westminster Abbey/Big Ben the architecture is just amazing in alot of London’s old buildings. Unfortunately there was a gas leak and I could not get down the road to pass the royal gardens and whatever else was down that road, I had been fortunate to drive past the previous day on the bus thought which is some consolation I suppose.

Tim and Louisa had very kindly organised a surprise for me for my last night which turned out to be a dinner with Toni, Nicola and Pam before going to Greese the stage show, it was absolutely fantastic!! The understudy was playing Danny but other than that the casting were very close in looks to the film.