John Mark’s Study Abroad

Lugano Video

Lugano Day 1

We had about a 5 hour train ride from Venice to Lugano, it was some great scenery.  Lugano is in the very southern tip of Switzerland so right at the foothills of the Swiss alps, but still surrounded by Italy on three sides.

Our stay in Lugano is the longest of all the cities (7 days) so I was really happy to hear I had Tommy as a roommate. Right when we got to Lugano we went to the Manor, which is a 5 story super market with everything in the world.  (it blows Wal-mart out of the water)

We bought a combined 160 dollars worth of good American food to eat all week.  I’ll tell you about all the meals we cook, it has been awesome having our own kitchen.

That night of coarse we watched the Euro Cup. We all pulled couches around the TV in the lobby, ate the pasta that we had cooked that night and had a glass or two of Swiss wine 

Every night before we would go to bed Tommy and I made it a Lugano tradition to eat a bowl of cereal.

Lugano Day 2

This was our first day of class at Franklin College.  It was about a 20 minute hike up a hill to get to the college. So we left about 7:30 and got there around 8:00.  We had class all morning, then the afternoon was free.  A group of about 8 of us went down to the lake.  It was perfect weather, about 80 degrees, and the water was very refreshing.  The had a diving board that we jumped on all day, and it was nice to just relax. 

Lugano Day 3

We had our construction tour of the tunnel project that is connecting Milan to Zurich, running underneath the Swiss Alps.  We got there and got decked out in construction gear from head to toe.  Boots, a full orange jump suit, and helmate, respirator uncase of a cave in, and a huge flashlight.

We rode down in the back of a van about 500 feet.  We were so far under ground you can feel the geothermal temperatures  (95 degrees).  At some point the tunnel is 7000 feet under the mountains, and this will allow high speed trains to travel straight through Switzerland, instead of up and over the Alps.

They took us to the local restaurant were we enjoyed a Stein of Beer (huge glass) and a 3 course lunch.

That afternoon we were worn out so we took a nap, then worked in the evening we had a lot of work to do before Professor Heck came the next day.

Lugano Day 4

Prof Heck worked with us all day on our book.  He has published several books, and meet with us about what we need to get done to get our book printed by the fall semester.  Each student had a huge window that they would print out any pictures or information that was going in the book, and post it for everyone to see.  When Prof. Heck and his students are designing the book, they will use our huge sheet (chapter layouts) to design everything and make it flow well.

We did take a break to play soccer in the afternoon, it was a blast, I wish it was played more back in the states. 

That night the TV downstairs was not working so we watched the game on my tiny computer.  It was fun all being crowded in a room, and cheering Germany on to the finals.  I was extremely pumped that Germany won, that means they are playing in the finals while we are in Munich on our free days.

Lugano Day 5

Again all we did was work all day, revise, resubmit, gather more information, ect.  I did take a break to go on a hike and see the city.

Everyone took a break that night at 7 to ride the Funicular up the mountain were we had a farewell dinner.  Everyone is on there free travel week, so we will be separated for a week, and it was a good “thank-you” for all the hard work we have put in.

It was beautiful on the mountain top, there was a church on the peak, and again words nor pictures can describe it.

Menu for the week…

Breakfast

Day 2 – Scrambled Eggs

Day 3 – Scrambled ham and cheese eggs, with bacon

Day 4 – French Toast

Day 5 – Egg in a hole (cut a hole in bread and fry and egg in the middle)

Lunch

Lunch we made tuna salad one day and egg salad the other day.

Some type of pasta everyday.

Peanut butter Banana and Jelly was a staple food.

And a couple of pieces of fruit a day.

Dinner

Day 1 – That evening we cooked Ravioli and boiled carrots.

Day 2 – Pizza and Chef Salads with boiled eggs and ham.

Day 3 – Seafood penne pasta.

Day 4 – Dinner on the mountain

Day 5 – Left over pasta with a spicy tomato, onion, and ham sauce.