Grüezi from Zurich, Switzerland

Friends, Students, Future leaders of the World,

Welcome to my little corner of the MBA Exchange blog!
From here I will try to keep you up to date on my classes at the University of Zurich, my travels in and around Switzerland, and other random thoughts about living in a foreign country where I don't speak any of the four national languages. Please forgive me if the spelling or grammar is a bit off, but I'm trying to juggle this "bloglet" with many other international pursuits and I don't intend wasting time looking for that one errant apostrophe that should be before the 's' as apposed to after it. There are more important things to do. So, with the intro out of the way, let's get down to business (ooouuuuu, bad pun).

My wife, Christine, and I have been in the country for about the past 4 weeks and are finally getting settled. It seems everything takes longer than one would expect - even in efficient Switzerland. Not speaking the predominant language in this region of Switzerland (i.e. German) makes even a trip to the grocery store tiring, to say nothing of the immigration office, the international students office or the bank! That being said, things here are amazing! People are friendly, the city in wonderfully clean and organized, and the sights are spectacular! I could go on forever, but I'm sure the first-years have studying to do (right, right???) and the second-years have jobs to look for (assuming the economy stay afloat long enough for us to get them), so I'll skip over the past 4 weeks travels and get right to this past weekend.

We started out in Sazlburg, Austria in the Alps. Salzburg is famous for salt, Mozart, physicists, and the oldest restaurant (circa 803AD) and biggest fortress in all of Europe.
Our accommodations were a hostel embedded within a 15th century castle overlooking the city (!) and our activities were all of the regular tourist stuff - churches, old buildings, open-air markets, fortresses, etc. Overall impression, very cool city with lots of history. Worth a day trip if you're ever in the area.

After Salzburg, we were off to Munchen, or Munich as we call it, for Oktoberfest. Upon arrival, we had ~36 hours to see the sights. So, obviously we went straight for the beer. After a quick stop at the famous Hofbrauhaus we were off to Oktoberfest. While not entirely what we expected, it was an amazing experience and we would happily return (though next time lederhosen and dirndls are required!). We like to say that Oktoberfest is was 50% county fair, 50% drunken German frat party and 100% fun!
For those that have not been before, Oktoberfest is located about 15 minutes walk from the center of town. As we were walking towards the festival, we saw a TON of families with small kids headed in the opposite direction. This surprised me, as I assumed the only thing to do at Oktoberfest was to drink and sing...and drink. I know that Europe is more liberal when it comes to alcohol, but surely not even they would subject a small child to a 1 liter alcoholic beverage half to 3/4 the size of their body! However, as we entered the grounds, it all became clear. Around the outside of the festival grounds are an endless array of carnival rides, games, and food stands selling everything from souvenir cookies the size of your chest, to candied nuts, to sausages, to shots of booze. We quickly moved past all of this and started tent-hopping looking for a seat. After about an hour of being shot down (it was 3:30pm when we started), we found a table with locals that spoke passable English - thank goodness. We spent the remainder of the evening at this table drinking BIG beers, eating BIG pretzels, and rubbing shoulders with BIG Germans actively engaged in singing and dancing in celebration of King Ludwig's marriage.

To all of my classmates that were in Europe, but that missed Oktoberfest in pursuit of something else: your loss. To future exchange students: make every effort to attend Oktoberfest if you are studying in Europe. You'll make wonderful friends at a party you won't soon forget.

Next week, Paris and the free museums (1st Sunday of every month). Stay tuned....