This post took longer than I could have imagine. Mostly some struggle with how I want to word things and procrastination. Some things you have to finish to see the end.

The Cabin Weekend is the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) event of the semester. The ESN team organizes a big cabin for all international students in Lucerne. In order to document this event, I decided to divide the following into several parts.

Getting there

In the last update I mentioned that I was late for the start of the Cabin Weekend. The official start was at 18:00 and thanks to our final presentation I was unable to leave early enough to be there on time. So in the end I had to take the last possible connection from Rotkreuz to the cabin in Flumbserg. In Germany this would be a problem as trains might be delayed, but in Switzerland I had no such fears. For the departure time there were some clarification issues and all communication was funneled into a Whatsapp group (which I don’t want to use 🤷). But it became clear that I had to book my own transport, especially as I was arriving late and alone.

From Rotkreuz you have to take a train to Zurich and get off in Thalwil. When I changed trains, I met an international student I had met on a previous ESN trip on her way to the cabin. So I was no longer traveling alone. From Thalwil I had to change to Sangras. This line runs along Lake Walen, but as I was sitting on the wrong side of the train I was unable to enjoy the view. In Sangras we had to catch a last bus to take us up the windy path to the mountain where the hut was.

The Cabin

This year’s cabin was the Alte Kanzlei in Flumsberg. Flumsberg is a small skiing/hiking resort in the south of the canton of St. Gallen. The cabin was rustically furnished and looked as if it had been extended several times over the years. On entering, there was a small shoe room set up to dry boots during the winter months, and in the foyer there were several hooks for hanging coats. Lunch was being served in the Dining room as I arrived.After lunch I was able to find a room, the cabin was designed for large groups, so there were bunk beds and rooms for 10-12 people. Here the organization was not that well as some rooms where more packed than others.

The main room is quite wide and divided into several areas, which was great as you could see everything going on, but the noise was muffled by the building’s interior.

The activities

The ESN crew planned several activities, most of which revolved around drinking and partying. On the first evening, a beer pong tournament was planned, which some of the students took part in, while others (including me) were not so keen on this activity and started playing some board games instead.

Unfortunately the weather was not that great, but there was a hike planned and even with less sleep and this bad weather we decided to go for a little hike. I was prepared for the walk as I had my walking boots, umbrella and rucksack with me. After a bit of tinkering I was able to attach the umbrella to the rucksack and use it hands free.

While I was walking I spotted the nearby swimming pool, which also had a small sauna. So after lunch I decided that I needed some rest after the few hours of sleep and went to the sauna, and after the sauna I went back to the cabin and played some board games before dinner was due, and in the evening some drinking games were planned. But the suggestion of doing some sport and drinking did not sound very appealing. So in the end I gave up the games and played more games and watched a bit of the show. The night was terrible, but I will not go into details here.

Food and drinks

Food, beer and wine were included in the event. Unfortunately, the food provided was not very well planned. On Friday they prepared wraps with different fillings, but as I arrived late, some of the vegetarian options were already gone. Later some people asked for more, but they had already distributed their supplies. On the first morning I got up early so there was plenty to go around, but later on there was not enough ham for everyone. For lunch they made curry, which was decent and enough for everyone. But on the last night they announced widely that they had made lasagne, even with meat, but the last table got none of it. In the end they had some leftover curry, but hey, they could have planned the portions better. Finally, for breakfast (I was up early so it was no problem for me) they ran out of bread.

Closing the Cabin

In the end it was a mixed but fun experience. We made the most of the weather and the activities planned. But the organization (food, transport and room allocation) could have been much better in my opinion.

To the final exam

The weeks leading up to the final exams went by in the blink of an eye, and looking back I can’t really say exactly what happened during that time. But taking lots of pictures for this series has helped me to remember a lot. On Tuesday, right after the cabin weekend, I managed to fulfill one of my bucket list items, I finally tried Stand Up Paddling (SUP) for the first time. The HSLU has a student sports program and while checking out the offerings, I noticed that there was a SUP beginners course at the end of the semester and the first date was right around the corner. It turned out to be a sunny and warm day. Standing on the board proved to be easy and with the sun warming you up it was quite refreshing to fall in. Not wanting to risk losing my phone, there are no pictures of me on the lake.

The next day I had one last class. Due to illness, the lecture had to be postponed to this extra week where some final topics were taught. Since this lecture was in Zurich, I decided to use this opportunity to go back to Germany one more time before the final exam. I used this weekend to meet my parents, friends from school and to check my apartment.

The short „vacation“ was a good refreshment and left me a bit homesick, but soon I will have enough time at my own place. I had to leave already on the weekend because we had tickets for Sunday at the KKL, the big orchestra hall in Lucerne. Here the 20th Century Fox Orchestra played the soundtrack of Lord of the Rings. It was a great concert and really fascinating to watch the different musicians and singers performing the music. During the intermission you can go up to the balcony and have a look at the city. Thanks to the fancy roof, the view is a bit limited, but see for yourself.

With classes finally over, there was not much going on besides studying. Occasionally I went for a ride on my bike or to the HSLU SUP group on Tuesday, even though the weather was not that great.

On a trip I passed a factory for Magenbrot. In Germany, Magenbrot is hard, rather dry and shiny. In Switzerland, it is soft, sweetened with honey, and sticky. As I drove by, I decided to stop and treat myself to some Magenbrot.

One route on my bucket list was to cycle to Bremgarten, which I had previously passed through on a misguided train trip. In Bremgarten there is a beautiful riverside with a typical wooden river bridge that can be found in various places in Switzerland to cross rivers.

After most of the final exams were done, I had to decide if I wanted to get a Generalabonnement (GA) for the last month. This would allow me to travel around Switzerland for the last month and see some more sights. After some hesitation and calculations, I decided to get the ticket (and it was well worth it!).

With the GA and just before the final exam I used this ticket to go to St. Gallen. At first I did not think much of the city, but after some walking around I decided to visit the world famous library of the monastery of St. Gallen. If you want to visit, you not only get access to the library, but also to the museums. One of them has an old map of the monastery and it’s supporting buildings, which can be viewed after a short movie about the origin, presented alongside a fictional monk.