Back and Forth Yet Again

After I officially signed the work contract in mid January, I was told I had to wait 6-12 weeks for the work permit to get approved. Since I was in Lausanne I started to do research on the apartment and car search but also just did a lot of waiting. I did a lot of Swiss things - I went skiing, ice skating many times, went to the hot-air balloon festival, ate fondue with friends, and enjoyed the gorgeous views that never get old.

After only about 2 weeks I got the good news that the permit had been approved in Switzerland, but that I had to turn in my passport to the Swiss consulate in the US in order to get the visa stamped in. So, that meant yet another roundtrip intercontinental flight, my 3rd one in 4 months. I worked frantically to get an apartment sorted for when I returned, so that I would have a place to move into, and then bought a flight to Oklahoma only a day in advance (which surprisingly was only about $1000, which is the price it normally is even when you buy it months in advance).

International Balloon Festival, Chateau d'Oex, Switzerland

Ever since I was a child I'd had a fascination with hot air balloons, but in all my travels I'd never managed to actually see one up close, so when my friend Doga invited me to go to the balloon festival with him I jumped at the chance. The International Balloon Festival in Switzerland (sometimes called the Parmigiani Balloon Festival when Parmigiani watches sponsors it) is in a very tiny town called Chateau d'Oex in a valley in between two large mountains. It was started in 1978 and is one of the older balloon festivals in the world. I did not figure out why they hold it in January, because it was absolutely freezing outside and on numerous occasions I had to shelter inside a cafe for warmth, but it was an incredible sight to see so many balloons going up at the same time and to see how big they really are in real life.