Swiss Miss: Frat Parties, American Politics, and a Road Trip to Prague

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, but lots of interesting things have been happening, in addition to the routine Swiss student life that I have been living. Here's an overview:

FRAT PARTIES:

A fraternity at the University of Fribourg advertised that they were holding an Oktoberfest-themed party. This sounded exciting, so, naturally, Ben and I went to check it out. We learned a LOT about Fribourg frat culture (I'm not sure if it would be a generalization to deem it "Swiss frat culture" so for now we'll call it "Fribourg frat culture"). Most of the fraternities here are co-ed, German-speaking, and centered on religious premises. Of course, they still uphold the typical frat culture of beer drinking, loud parties, and attracting female groupies who aren't necessarily in the frat already.

We'd heard rumors that members of the frats tend to dress up in their traditional Medieval/Renaissance/Oktoberfest costumes for parties and other frat events. Turns out this rumor was true. And awesome. At the Oktoberfest party (held in a small restaurant in the old town), lots of the dudes were sporting lederhosen and the girls had on what looked like Snow White dresses. At several points in the party, one guy would stand on a chair and make an announcement in Latin. Upon this announcement, the members of the frat took out their songbooks and drunkenly performed their frat's traditional tunes. I snagged a vid (sorry for the less-than-average quality):

AMERICAN POLITICS:

Another major thing that has been happening over the past couple of weeks has been the American presidential election, which the other Americans and I have been following diligently (don't worry - I already sent in my absentee ballot). We've been enjoying watching and discussing the debates and their media coverage. Ben appropriately deemed our experience: "Chocolate, champagne, and the presidential debate: the life of a study abroad student." It has been incredibly interesting to be out of the country during such a decisive American time. The experience has certainly lent itself to an interesting perspective, especially in discussing the American election with non-American students who follow it. Surprisingly enough, the most common question I have received from non-American students about our election is not "What do you think about this issue?" nor "Who will you vote for?" but "Who is going to win?" I have been asked this a surprising number of times. I usually just give my thoughts based on debates and articles and polls, and offer to share a personal opinion on the matter, but come on - how am I supposed to know who is going to win?

ROAD TRIP TO PRAGUE:

This past weekend, four friends and I rented a car and embarked on the nine-hour journey Prague! It was absolutely incredible in so many ways. First of all - the drive. A road trip through Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic is both beautiful and interesting. The scenery was gorgeous, as expected, and the company in the car was super fun. Besides myself, the group was Ben (American), Dimi (Belgian), Kamile (Lithuanian), and Joscha (German). Naturally, we had some super interesting discussions during our nine hours in the car about similarities and differences among our countries, linguistics, music taste, and history. They were a lot of fun.

In Prague, we stayed with a friend of Ben's who lives there teaching English. Couch surfing in his apartment was awesome - so huge and old and right in the city. We hit all the touristy points during our three days there (Wenceslas Square, outdoor markets, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock, the Lennon Wall, Castle, etc.) and thoroughly enjoyed some delicious, cheap(er than Switzerland) food in traditional Czech pubs (I learned one word in Czech: PIVO = beer). I even met up with a friend from Camp who lives in Prague (shout out to Dana!), and who showed us where to go for the best clubs - lots of fun. All in all, it was an incredible weekend in a beautiful, old city. Of course, I was thinking a lot about the historical perspective on the city while we were there. Here are some of the highlights from the massive roll of photos I took this weekend:

not-so-old Cathedral (c. 1904)

Astronomical Clock

Old Town Square

Jewish Quarter

View of one of many bridges in Prague. On the top right is the "mini Eiffel tower" on the hill (we hiked up to it the following day). Note the hot air balloon (left).