The Wine Festival, the Castles, the Babel Festival, and the Kebabs.

On September 3rd (I know, I'm just a little late!) a group of students went to the Bellinzona Wine Festival.

Bellinzona is another city in the Canton of Ticino here in Switzerland (north of Lugano)

Fun fact about Ticino is that there is a lot of wine produced locally. I'm not a wine connoisseur, and don't have much to compare it to, but from what I understand the wine from the Ticino region is drier than wines from California and elsewhere.

The wine festival is a great place to sample some locally made wines and even buy a bottle if you so desire. (The wine that I liked best had already sold out -- so I guess I have good taste in wine, eh?)

First you have to buy a wine glass for 10 CHF (CHF = Swiss Francs) 

After you purchase you glass, you're able to walk around the different stalls (and there were tones of them. I would guess around fifty or so?) and just sample the different types of wine.
I prefer white wine, really, but there were some very nice red and rosé wines!

Here you can see my friends (from left) Francesca, Kaitlin, (me), and Gloria enjoying the culture!

The week before the wine festival (since i'm so delayed in updating, I figured I'd jump around in time too!) on August 27, a group of us went on an excursion to Bellinzona to see the castles.

There are three castles in Bellinzona, and the (brief) history lesson that I got about the area was that the region of Ticino, specifically where Bellinzona is located, was rich with natural resources, and there were three Lords that all watched out for the land. It's interesting that there were three Lords over one area, but they knew it was a valuable area, and would be too difficult to defend single-handedly, so they all worked together to protect it.

Here are some views from the three castles that I have taken from my various trips to Bellinzona:

(Francesca and I) 

On 7 September I went to get my Residency permit. I had to be up the hill for 6:50am (so I had to leave my dorm around 6:20!) It was worth it once I got to see the Swiss sunrise for the first time.. I only had my iPhone on me at the time, so the quality definitely doesn't do it justice.

I don't have a photo of my Residency permit anywhere, but I do have it so I am a legal Swiss Resident! It was interesting because they took a biometric photo of my face, as well as my fingerprints, and a handwriting analysis. While I felt like a felon at first, it was reassuring at the same time, because it shows that the Swiss are really on top of things here.

Here's a blueberry muffin that I got after having my picture taken because it was 8:30 and I was hungry!

(best blueberry muffin in the world, by the way)

Moving through September rather quickly....

On September 17th, I was back in Bellinzona (am I going to college in Lugano or Bellinzona... I forgot sometimes, to be honest!) to volunteer at the Babel Festival with my friends Lama (from Saudi Arabia), Kaitlyn (from Mississippi/Tennessee?), and Diego (from Mexico/SoCal). 

The Babel festival was this lovely event where authors come from all over and read their work. Each year is a theme and this year was Palestinian literature. I had the opportunity to sit in on one of the presentations, and the woman was from Palestine, but moved to the US, so she spoke perfect English. Her story was moving, and it was great to her both her in English, and then have it translated into Italian.

In addition to sitting in on the speaker, I helped bus tables / serve wine and food to people, and talked some some locals. It was a really great experience, and one of the Deans here at the college said that the women were asking about "that boy with the glasses!" and how I "just got right into it and started helping out" 

Guess I'm making a reputation for myself! They were so great, and I can't wait to go back next year! Rumor is it might be Scandinavian literature!

While we had down time, I had a kebab, which is by far the best food in the entire world.

A kebab is some type of meat (we think lamb, but Manny and Diego told me not to question it, just enjoy) with a bunch of vegetables and sauces. I had carrots and lettuce with picante (hot spices) and yogurt/chipotle sauce. It is so divine! I had two while working at the Babel Festival!

Here's a photo of the author presenting her work, and a kebab!

Alright, that's all for the Bellinzona adventures (for now!) I could talk about that place for days!

Next up is Milan!

The Classes

Writing in the Humanities - Advanced | Credits 3.00 
A freshman-level course in expository writing designed to enable students to express themselves with greater clarity and force in their writing. Readings based on a wide variety of contemporary issues will be used as a basis for expository essays. The essential goal is to create a more expressive, analytical style of writing. An acceptable research paper is required to pass the course. This course should be taken during the first year at Franklin.

America in the Sixties | Credits 3.00  ---- FAVORITE COURSE
This course focuses on the political, economic, social, and intellectual dimensions of America in the Sixties in historical perspective. During the period from the late Fifties to the early Seventies, the people of the United States were confronted with challenges both at home and abroad, such as racism, poverty, alienation, and war, and were transformed by responses which demanded re-evaluation of ideas and institutions, such as the Civil Rights Movement, the Great Society, the New Left and the protests against the Vietnam War.

Reading Literatures: Intro to Comparative Literature | Credits 3.00  
This class will introduce students to methods of reading, authorship, and reception. Typically students will read a literary text followed by a theoretical text that shapes their understanding of literature as a cultural form. Close attention will be paid to issues such as the shaping of identity, forms of representation, gender, and the construction of knowledge and power.

White Lies and Timid Heroes: Italian Storytelling on the Stage | Credits 3.00 
What is the difference between the art of fiction writing and the act of telling lies? Have you ever told a lie so well that you almost began to believe it yourself? Italian literature of the early 20th century resonates with such questions. There are specific historic and cultural reasons for this resonance: the struggle of modern Italy against political repression, for example. The timid heroes of modern Italian poetry and prose seek, often unsuccessfully, to shake off the burden of a tradition that denies their true voice, as artists. This course, taught entirely in English, focuses on specific themes of 20th-century Italian literature while, at the same time, fostering experimentation in essay writing and solo performance. While no experience in creative writing or theater are required, students taking IS 199 will be asked to reflect candidly about their personal struggles as "timid heroes" seeking to affirm their own voice, freely and confidently, in a world that sometimes seems to prefer the masked allure of self-compromise and self-deceit. 

Computer Graphics in Advertising | Credits 3.00  ---- LEAST FAVORITE COURSE
An introductory course to graphic design software and to the principles and practices of advertising graphics. Once the basics have been learned, the course covers the following aspects of graphic design: the psychology of advertising, the brief from the client and the working relationship between client and designer, font styles and typographic design, the company logo, letterhead, business cards etc., house-styling, company reports, brochures, flyers, book covers, color printing and printing processes. The course requires that initial design concepts be taken from the early stages through to finished art-work, i.e. the quality of finish required for presentation to the client.

My travel is:

Lausanne, Geneva and the Alps | Credits 1.00 

(Travel Writing/Writing Travel) From the salons of Mme de Stael to twentieth-century travel writers Nicolas Bouvier and Ella Maillart, French-speaking Switzerland has been home to a rich literary tradition. This course will offer an introduction to the travel literature of French-speaking Switzerland in English translation. (Students who can will be encouraged to read in the original French). Authors studied will include Rousseau, Madame de Stael, Nicolas Bouvier, Anne Deriaz and Ella Maillart. Course will include visits to the Val d'Anniviers in the Valais, Lausanne, Coppet, and Geneva as well as an excursion to the watch-making region in and around La Chaux-de-Fonds, named a UNESCO cultural site in 2009. In addition to museum and chateau visits, this class will include several writing workshops and meetings with contemporary Swiss writers.

My class schedule is:

Monday: (Reading Literatures 11:30-12:45)

Tuesday: (America in the 60s 8:30-9:45), (Writing in the Humanities 11:30-12:45), (Italian Storytelling on the Stage 1:00-2:15)

Wednesday: (Lausanne, Geneva and the Alps 1:00-2:15)

Thursday: (Reading Literatures 11:30-12:45), (Computer Graphics in Advertising 5:30-8:15)

Friday: (America in the 60s 8:30-9:45), (Writing in the Humanities 11:30-12:45), (Italian Storytelling on the Stage 1:00-2:15)

I will be taking French (starting at the 101 level) but they did not offer it this semester, so I'm starting in the Spring.

Some fun facts about my Travel this October (Oct 15-27)

We will be having tours of the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as CERN. 

If you've seen the movie Angels and Demons (starring Tom Hanks, based on the novel by Dan Brown) it starts off in a science lab place where they are working with atoms and stuff - that's a CERN. It's difficult to get into for tours and such, but we are!

We are also having lunch with llamas as well as the highest Lama (Buddhist monk) in Switzerland.

Blogger, oh blogger, where hast thou gone, Blogger?

Is anyone really surprised that I'm creating a new blog, on a different social networking site, with intention to keep people around me updated on what I'm doing with my life?
If you are surprised, or if this is some life-altering news then you clearly don't know me, since 97% of my time is spent on social networking platforms..

Anyway, this blog is (hopefully) going to be my way to communicate with various family members throughout my college years, rathe than sending out mass e-mails and altering them to be appropriate or suitable for different readers, but still contain the same overall content.

So, let's just get some generic "who am i and what is my deal" information out of the way for those random  people that happen to meander over to this blog..

I'm Nick, an eighteen year old college freshmen.
I am currently studying in an American Liberal Arts college located in Switzerland in the Italian canton of Ticino. 
I am (as of now) a Creative Writing and Literature major, and am considering either a double or combined major in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies (CLCS). 
That being said... 
I write, namely poetry (but some fiction) though I may not post much of that on this blog, because I have blogs scattered across various platforms for that; if you're interested you can drop me a line and we can go from there.
I tend to be very scatter-brained, though I usually have a lot to say, so sometimes I'll be all over the place, just a heads up.
Enjoy that, though. It's fun. c:

This is just a generic "first post" type thing. 
I'll be updating with more Swiss-happenings as time goes on.
I'll even include photos if you're lucky!