Bern Day of Refugees (6/25/1983)

Saturday, June 25, 1983

Marsha C and I had French toast for brunch at 12:00. After doing some shopping, we went to catch the train to Bern. The half-price ticket now costs 7.20 CHF/$3.50. We met Helen in line, and got on the train together. Arrived in Bern at 15:00 and checked out the movie board, but there were no good ones. Went to the Heimatwerk for Marsha to get some gifts. Then we went to the new Burger King, which has the front end of a Chevy coming through the wall, and weird décor. We got drinks and decided to check out the Tag der Flüchtlinge/Day of the Refugees on the Bundesplatz/Federal Square. All around were booths handing out pamphlets and selling goods (baked goods, traditional crafts, native foods, etc.) Traditional dancers from some unknown country were dancing on a stage. The people looked Greek but were more darkly complected. We tried a “poncho” from the Chile booth, a fried dough with egg, meat mixture, and raisins in it. We saw a group from the West Sahara sing and dance, then a group from Czechoslovakia. the countries of Cambodia, Vietnam, Turkey, Palestine, Sri Lanka/Ceylon, and Tibet were also represented. It began to rain, so we returned to the Burger King for fish sandwiches, onion rings and French fries. Marsha was able to get a beer, and had a mocha shake. They did not have chocolate shakes, so I settled for a Sprite. We caught the 18:53 train to Biel.

When we arrived at the Personalhaus/staff residence, there was a note on my door saying Hans Rüdi had called to say there was a train at 9:23. So I guess he had figured the way to get to Weissenstein tomorrow. Marsha has had a full week and is pooped, so I will be going with them myself.

Sunday, June 26, 1983

Rain! I called the Ss to make sure the trip was cancelled.

I took travel notes all day for our trip to Italy.

Thursday, June 30, 1983

Can’t believe it is the end of June! Found another four-leaf clover.

Four-leaf clover

I was apprehensive about going to the Ss today, after Kirby told me Hans Rüdi was in love with me, and Jan saying she could see how Brigitte would resent me. Really?! But everything went great tonight, so I don’t know what Jan & Kirby are talking about. Although Hans Rüdi does drive me home every time and he talks a lot! I figured with Brigitte, he doesn’t get much chance to talk!

Zigeunerfest/Gypsy Party (6/23/1983)

Thursday, June 23, 1983

This was the day and I still didn’t have a gypsy skirt! I asked Rita I who didn’t have an extra skirt. I asked Helen S, and she had an extra, and I would go home with her after work. But after lunch, Susanne E brought in two skirts for Marsha C. Marsha let me use the skirt she wasn’t wearing, so I told Helen. Later in the day Elisabeth J got sick, and she gave me her bag with her outfit in it. After work I mixed and matched, and decided to wear Susanne’s skirt with my own white top and sandals. I used one of Elisabeth’s scarves as a shawl, and another for my head. Marsha also used two of Elisabeth’s scarves, one around her waist and one over her shoulders. Thank you, Elisabeth! Marsha also put a red rose in her hair. We were ready for the Zigeunerfest/gypsy party.

At about 19:20, we went down to the hospital to meet Sylvia W and Kathy from Roentgen/X-ray. Frau L got a good laugh when she saw us. Marsha and I went with Sylvia and Kathy drove with another girl. We were to follow Wilma the nurse, and Schwester Susanne was driving the old man. Sylvia backed out of her spot and up the driveway to the Personalhaus/staff residence, and didn’t realize Schwester Susanne was in the driveway. Crash! Sylvia’s left rear fender scraped along Schwester Susanne’s right front fender.. A sidelight broke and both fenders were scraped. They both decided to go ahead to the party. We followed the route of bus #52/54. At the Jura bus stop in Brügg, we turned and drove towards the woods. We found the parking lot, because there were a lot of gypsies roaming around! We walked up a road through the woods to a large wooden building. Set up in the clearing were lots of picnic tables. Already a lot of people were sitting, all facing the area where new gypsies arrived. A couple gypsies were starting a fire in a large grill. This grill had a thing to hand crank to blow air onto the fire! We sat and waited with everyone else. Raphael was helping the organist set up a little stage overlooking a large concrete dance floor. Then with a jangle of tambourines, the hostess arrived. Fr Dr T is leaving and this is her going away party! She was, of course, in costume. Most people were in costume, in hopes of getting a kotelett/cutlet instead of a cervelat/sausage. They passed out placemats, paper plates, knives and forks. A sangria-type drink was served. Then we began lining up to get the food: cut-up tomatoes, carrots, pickles, bread, mustard, and potato salad. We had to wait for the meats to cook, before sitting down to eat. Wine and orange juice were available to drink. One doctor arrived on a bicycle with a knife sharpening gadget (run by a stuffed mouse?), which he later rode on the dance floor among the dancers. One intern dyed his blond hair and beard black! Then Dr E arrived, looking very suave in his gypsy outfit, carrying a pole with wine bottles hanging from it. Rosemarie Z made an entrance with her husband Erik, in matching outfits! Fr Dr Jo D brought a young escort, a former student named André. After feasting, Fr Dr T took the microphone to welcome everyone and invited them to dance in Swiss-German, French, and Czech. It was slow going in getting people to dance, but once they started…

Gypsy conga line

Dancing gypsies

Gypsy Marsha

Rafael dancing with Sonia

Sylvia with red scarf, and Rafael to the right

Fr Dr Jo with red skirt

I was taking photos, then got up to dance with Rita. They were playing the worst songs for dancing! The CP Station was well-represented with Susanne E, Marsha and me, Sonia and Jeanette. Sonia danced a lot with Raphael, who also took a turn on the organ. During one dance break, people took the burning fackeln/torches to the playground to try out the equipment. There was a long slide, swings, etc.

Susanne E on the slide

Friday, June 24, 1983

Susanne drove me and Marsha home at 0:30.

I went home on the school bus with Mathieu S. Helped the kids catch bugs from their swimming pool. A neighbor joined us for dinner: French toast with rhubarb and cream. Afterwards we had our French and English lesson. While I was getting ready to leave, Hans Rüdi and Brigitte started arguing, which left me dumbfounded! Not that it was such a terrible fight, but I had never heard either of them speak so strongly. It was a bit uncomfortable on the ride home, as I did not want my opinion asked! Got home at 23:30 and I was tired.

Marsha's Birthday (6/21/1983)

Tuesday, June 21, 1983

Another four-leaf clover.

Four-leaf clover

After having lots of sunny days, it was foggy in the morning, so Marsha C changed her birthday picnic from the outlook in Ried to Barbara S’s balcony in Vingelz. After work, Sylvia W took us in her little yellow Fiat 127 (the familiar sounding engine brought back memories of Italy!) to Barb’s apartment. Sylvia and I worked on getting the charcoal fire started in a borrowed hibachi from Jan & Kirby.

Tamiko playing with fire

It was impossible. The wind kept blowing out the fire, so that even the paper wouldn’t burn. Then Barb gave us some kind of alcohol to sprinkle on the charcoal. We let it soak in, then I put a match to it. Whup! A huge gaseous flame shot up, but then the little fire went out. Barb borrowed some lighter fluid from her neighbor. That got the fire going and Sylvia was doing a pretty good job of blowing on the fire to keep it going. When Ruth D arrived, she suggested we use a hairdryer.

Barb uses a hairdryer on the coals,
with Sylvia

That got the coals hot. Meanwhile Marsha was busy in the kitchen, on her birthday! She gave us the hamburger patties to put on the grill. We ended up having hamburgers on rolls with tomato slices and pickles, mustard and ketchup, and having potato chips with a French onion dip. We drank iced tea. Later came the watermelon and chocolate chip cookies.

Barb, Ruth, Sylvia, and Marsha 

Barb, Marsha, Sylvia, and Tamiko

Sylvia and Barb exchanged jokes in quick dialect. Marsha and I understood half the jokes, Half in that we got most of the story, but didn’t understand the punch line because it was said with so much laughter. One joke of Sylvia’s we hardly understood a single word, but because everyone else laughed, we decided to laugh too. That gave us the giggles, and we couldn’t stop! The weather held off, and only began to sprinkle rain much later. The view of the Bielersee/Lake Biel was really nice.

Around 22:00 we started cleaning up, but it seemed Marsha did most of the work.

Wednesday, June 22, 1983

Strange weather; sun, pouring rain, and fog all at the same time. A rainbow and a four-leaf clover.

Four-leaf clover

Saint-Imier (6/19/1983)

Sunday, June 19, 1983

I called the Ss at 8:00, as we had planned to hike from Weissenstein, but they thought it was too windy today. So I let Marsha C sleep in, and we left later at 11:00. At the train station, Marsha was able to get her ticket at the automat, but it wouldn’t accept my brand new 20 CHF/$10 bill. So I had to get my ticket inside at the window. We caught the 11:35 train to Saint-Imier, arriving at 12:05. We walked across town to the Funicular Saint-Imier-Mont-Soleil. We got half-price tickets for 1.20 CHF/60 cents and caught the 12:30 train.

Saint-Imier Mont-Soleil
funicular ticket

We got in the compartment with an old man who was dressed up, but kept scratching one cheek as he stared at the floor. We were joined by a young couple; the girl was a sloppy preppie, and the guy had just rolled out of bed. The trip was ten minutes and after we disembarked, we had farther to climb up Mont Soleil. We passed the same three ladies walking two dogs that we had seen on our way to the funicular! They asked us in two languages if there was a buffet near the upper funicular station. We could only tell them that there was a restaurant. We continued on, following signs to Les Breuleux, which is on the other side of the mountain. We passed farmland, chalets, and then heard cowbells. We passed through a “barnyard” to get closer to the cows, but felt like we were trespassing. We turned around to get back to Saint-Imier. The Wanderung/trail sign pointed us through a pasture, so we passed through the turnstile and walked over to a low stone wall to get a closer look at cows.

Swiss chocolate brown cows

After taking pictures, we looked for a place to picnic, and Marsha found fresh cow manure with her shoe. We ate our bread and cheese with ham, and had chocolate chip cookies, greeting other hikers as they passed.

Marsha at the picnic spot

View towards Chasseral

We then followed a path through the woods to Saint-Imier. This has been quite a workout for Marsha’s knees. As we neared the funicular, I heard it approaching, so I ran ahead to take pictures.

Saint-Imier Mt-Soleil Funicular

Saint-Imier Mt-Soleil Funicular

Saint-Imier

We walked down to town, stopping at a fountain for Marsha to wash her shoe, and soak her fingers that got stuck by some plant’s stickers. We caught the 15:35 train to Biel. It was a local train,, arriving at about 16:15. On our way home, we stopped at Metropolis for Marsha to buy a large Coke. At Mühlebrücke, she caught the bus, while I walked up to the Personalhaus/staff residence.

Monday, June 20, 1983

I found a four-leaf clover while working outside with Pia. She took it home with her.

Stayin' in Biel (6/12/1983)

Sunday, June 12, 1983

Found another four-leaf clover.

Four-leaf clover

After a morning of chores, I had a pancake brunch with Marsha C. I tried her peanut butter and maple syrup combination on the pancakes; pretty good!

At 13:00 we walked down Seevorstadt to see the rhododendrons, but they were past peak blooming. At the lakefront, there were all kinds of activities: pantomime comics, crude looms hanging from the trees, a teepee, a pyramid of modern art in the middle of the sidewalk. Marsha brought old bread to feed the swans and ducks, and sparrows and pigeons. The lake water looked dirty. We sat on a bench to write letters and people watch. Many strange people or outfits to see. A couple clowns set up nearby to put on a stupid show. We saw a girl change into her bathing suit in practically the middle of the crowd, mooning behind with a stretched t-shirt in front. Later we saw her changing back into her clothes. Then a kid peed in the middle of the grassy area. This was the same kid who was an aggressive pest, attacking some guys who were lying in the sun. A bunch of men were playing soccer. We saw a skinny guy wearing a black bikini and his socks and sneakers. We admired a couple better-built guys in their bathing suits. Also saw a weird guy, whom we thought had a handicap, although only Marsha and I would have determined that. I saw Jannick, a baby I treat, and Marsha saw Sven, a kid of Elisabeth’s that she had worked with. On our way home we followed the Schusspromenade. At Mühlebrücke we saw Frau H with Philippe from the CP Station.

Thursday, June 16, 1983

Hans Rüdi S came early at 19:45 to pick me up for language lessons. I was in Marsha C’s room, gabbing after dinner. When Hans Rüdi brought me home, the Personalhaus/staff residence door was locked. It is so rarely locked and I had left my keys with Marsha. I went down to the hospital and the front door was locked. I went in through the emergency door and to the phone in reception. I called the second floor of the Personalhaus and finally someone answered and went to get Marsha. I felt bad because it was 23:30. Marsha had just gone to bed, but she came down to open the door for me.

Saturday, June 18, 1983

I went downtown to take my ski jacket to the dry cleaners, to buy a birthday gift for Marsha C, and to go to the jewelry counter in Loeb to fix the pins on my watch band, which the clerk did with great difficulty. After lunch I went downtown again with Marsha at 13:00. We heard music coming from im Ring and went to investigate. There was a group from Pod Ring, from Belgium, playing music while juggling and telling jokes. We saw Hetty D in the crowd who was laughing extra loud at the jokes, or because she was being tickled by her companion.

Later we made chocolate chip cookies.

Weekend in Büren an der Aare (6/10-11/1983)

Friday, June 10, 1983

After work, I went home with Mathieu on the school bus. When Herr S had given his inservice (in Bärndutsch) to the staff about being the parent of a child with a handicap, he seemed to direct his words at me, maintaining a lot of eye contact with me. But now while driving the bus, he spoke high German. He took yet another route to Büren an der Aare. I was emotionally drained these last couple weeks due to the Jan B as chief fiasco, then the camp fiasco, and finally the aerobics fiasco, so I wasn’t too lively at the Ss’. After dinner I went to watch Mathieu in the swimming pool, and got pretty wet from the splashing from Barbara and Michael. During our lesson Brigitte and I had chocolates that I had received from one of my kids. When Hans Rüdi came home from gymnastics, we watched the John Wayne movie “Ringo,” dubbed in super-fast German.

Saturday, June 11, 1983

The movie lasted until 1:00. I was staying overnight at the Ss’ and slept in a sleeping bag. I woke up hot and sweaty. Breakfast of bread and butter with jam, and apple juice.  At about 9:30, Hans Rüdi took me on a tour of Büren an der Aare, pushing Mathieu in the wheelchair. We walked to the Aare River and along it to the wooden covered bridge. We passed the school that Hans Rüdi attended, and now Michael is in the same classroom! Mathieu threw rocks in the river. We watched a boat being launched. Once the boat was in the water, the motor wouldn’t start. It suddenly started when it was half out of the water. Finally they got it right. We continued up to the neat old medieval town, with geraniums in all the window boxes, overhanging eaves, and wooden balconies. Then over to the church. The old tower had fallen down, collapsing the oldest part of the church, but it was all recently restored. The old bells, however, were still on the ground, the same bells that Hans Rüdi used to help ring by pulling the ropes. Inside the church the apse had a painted ceiling and only one window had stained glass. A baptismal font in the center looked really old. The newer part of the church had a neat painted wooden ceiling. Back outside, we saw Hans Rüdi’s father bicycling by. We walked over to the old hospital, now a museum to see it didn’t have opening times listed. You have to make an appointment. Hans Rüdi pointed out where a tower once stood. You could see the outer walls of the outer houses of the old town. We walked behind where it was once a moat, then up to the train station. I got a postcard and Mathieu got three chocolate sticks. We crossed the tracks and headed up the hill to the old mill and the house where Hans Rüdi’s father once lived. It looked really neat, and was being restored. The mill was a bit of a mess and the wheel was missing. We walked into the woods behind the mill, and up a hill to a viewpoint/Bellevue to look town on the town, and across the valley to the Jura. It was a nice but hazy day, and very hot.

We walked back into town to the castle that is now the Bezirk/district offices. It had a neat  little courtyard that is nicely restored. After a stop at a store to get toilet paper and strawberries, we returned to the house for lunch of salad, fried eggs, boiled potatoes, and Speck/bacon. While Mathieu and Brigitte napped, I sat in a lawn chair in the sun and read. After 15:00 we had z’Vieri/afternoon snack of strawberries and whipped cream. Then I went with Mathieu and Brigitte downtown to buy shoes. Brigitte and Hans Rüdi were going to a wedding and wanted to leave at 16:00. It was 16:15 when we returned from shopping. We took Mathieu to his godparents’ house in Grenchen Nord, and while Hans Rüdi took Barbara and Michael to his parents’ house, Brigitte showered and I ironed her dress. At 17:45 they were ready to leave, but insisted on driving me home first. It was 18:00, and earlier they had said they wanted to go to the wedding before 18:00 or not at all. Swiss punctuality? Oh, yes, Brigitte is not Swiss! Just before we left, I found six four-leaf clovers in the S front lawn.

Six four-leaf clovers

Lager/Camp Fiasco Part II (6/8/1983)

Wednesday, June 8, 1983

At the general CP station meeting, the issue of the Lager/camp was brought out. There were a few denials to my “accusation” that the kids were left alone too much, but mostly there was silence. (It wasn’t really an accusation, just an observation I had because I didn’t know what the expectations at camp were. All I know is that Helen S and I spent all morning in the multi-purpose room working with kids, and we didn’t know where the others were.) When they were asked what they did all morning, they said they “forgot.” What did they do instead of the activities suggested by Helen? They “forgot.” At the end of the meeting, Bernadette started talking in French (assuming I couldn’t understand), about “a therapist going behind their backs.” Fr Dr B started defending this instance, in French. I decided to explain how it happened, that I told Jan B as a friend about everything that happened at camp (and now regretted it!). I also said that I didn’t know what was supposed to happen at camp, and if they felt everything at camp was “fine and good,” why did they react the way they did when they heard I was going to meet with Fr Dr B? No answer, and the meeting ended.

It was planned, or so Marsha C and I were told last week, that the aerobics class participants would take us to dinner at McDonald’s after today’s class. Just before class, I asked Elisabeth J if she was coming. She had heard about the idea of taking us out, but did not know a date was picked. Later when I saw Sylvie W, she asked what was going on about McDonald’s. I referred her to Susanne E, who had initiated the plan. But then Sylvie called Marsha to say she wasn’t coming. We were about to begin class with Marsha and me, Jan, and Susanne. Fr Dr Jo Deevey came for the first time, bringing two surgical nurses who wanted to watch. Then Elisabeth came in asking why she wasn’t invited to the McDonald’s outing. She and Susanne, and later Jan, went to the back of the room to argue. Apparently Elisabeth gave Jan a dirty look saying Jan always forgets to tell her everything. Marsha and I began the first song, and Jan walked out. When we had a couple more songs to go, Fr Dr Jo D left (the surgical nurses had already left). Kirby had been sitting outside, and when Fr Dr Jo D left, he thought class was over. He stormed in, yelling at Elisabeth, who then left class. Since there was only Susanne left, we decided to quit for the day. It ended up that Jan & Kirby and Susanne took us to McDonald’s. Afterwards we drove to the Stadtpark/City Park, but there was no concert tonight. We drove Susanne home, then Marsha and I were dropped off at the hospital.

Schynige Platte (6/4/1983)

Saturday, June 4, 1983

Marsha C and I boarded the 10:34 train to Bern. Marsha saw Rita I passing the train and called out to her. Rita was also going to Bern. We arrived at about 11:00, and changed to the 11:27 train to Interlaken after picking up the new timetables. A sunny and already hot day. Arrived at 12:20 and went to purchase half-price tickets to Schynige Platte for 14.40 CHF/$7.

Interlaken to Schynige Platte
train ticket

We caught the 12:40 Berner Oberland Bahn (BOB), arriving in Wilderswil a few minutes later. Jungfrau was clearly seen in the gap in the mountains. We walked around a block of neat old chalets and farms, but did not see any cows. We returned to the station to catch the 13:15 train to Schynige Platte.

Trains to Schynige Platte

The compartments went the width of the train with the doors on the outside. The conductor checked our tickets, then latched us in from the outside. We began to climb up past old barns and steep pastures, but no cows!

First view of Jungfrau

Getting closer to Jungfrau

Then through the woods with lots of interesting wildflowers. Nearing the tree line, we saw patches of snow. We continued up with marvelous views down on Interlaken and the Thunersee and Brienzersee. After going through a tunnel we had a spectacular view of the big three Alps: the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau.

Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau

Mönch, Jungfraujoch, and Jungfrau

After a little less than an hour, we arrived in Schynige Platte. We first went to the Alpine Garden. but a bulldozer blocked the entrance and we found a sign saying it was closed. We hiked in the other direction past a hotel. You could get views down one valley to Grindelwald, and down another past Lauterbrunnen, where you could see the waterfall.

View of Thunersee/Lake Thun

Looking up the mountain from Schynige Platte

The Schynige Platte Bahn snakes it way upward

Schynige Platte Bahn/Railway

In front of us was the Alpine panorama. We began climbing a hill, finding a bench to have our picnic lunch of bread and cheese, and cherries. Several hikers greeted us and several women were lying out in the sun. One had stripped down to her underwear! We tried to find the other side of the garden, but kept running into huge patches of snow. We stopped at a restroom where I had to get a 20 Rappen/10 cent piece from the gift shop. We thought of hopping the fence to the garden, but a worker was watching us.

We decided to hike down to the next station, about an hour away. As we started down we ran into three guys on their way up, and they were trying to explain to us which fork to take when we got farther. When we rounded the corner, we saw snow ahead of us. Marsha’s knee has been bothering her all week, and we didn’t have the proper shoes, so we returned to Schynige Platte. Waiting for the 16:11 train to Wilderswil, we overheard an English couple talking about a landslide that blocked the way to Lauterbrunnen! The train was already full, except for two reserved compartments. We waited for the conductor to ask about sitting there, and he let us in, and the compartment immediately filled up. The train stopped to pick up several workmen who had to squeeze in somehow. A man in our compartment looked like Prince Philip, and two couples spoke a funny language (Yugoslavian?). I dozed off and Marsha had to wake me when we arrived in Wilderswil. An unbelievably long BOB train arrived, and we managed to get seats in the vestibule. It was just a few minutes to Interlaken, where we changed to the 17:34 train to Bern. Even in Interlaken there was still a clear view of the Jungfrau. Marsha pulled out a chocolate candy bar and it wilted in her hands. That didn’t stop us from eating it! Arrived in Bern at 18:30 and got drinks at Wendy’s. Caught the 18:53 train to Biel, arriving at 19:20. In the Bahnhofplatz, they have put up red canvas coverings at the bus stops. This time the middle section is not the lowest point for collecting water! The canvas has been stretched under rather than over the aluminum struts. When we got to Leubringen, Marsha decided to take the funicular up to Beaumont and walk down to the Personalhaus/staff residence. I walked uphill, and arrived a minute before she did!

Sunday, June 5, 1983

Slept in today, had breakfast made by Marsha C, cornbread with butter, and cantaloupe. We climbed up to the orchard behind the Personalhaus/staff residence to lie in the sun at 10:00 for a couple hours. I found lots of four and five-leaf clovers where we were lying. I picked the bigger ones and left the smaller ones to grow!

Six four-leaf clovers

Two five-leaf clovers

After lunch, Marsha left to go with Ruth D, Ruth’s godson, and Barbara S to marching band festivities in Brugg. I went back out in the sun that afternoon, then took the long way home from the hillside orchard.

Monday, June 6, 1983

Another four-leaf clover.

Four-leaf clover

Ausflug/Outing (6/2/1983)

Thursday, June 2, 1983

Instead of going to work at 8:00, Marsha C and I walked downtown. I went to the post office, then the bank to pay my dental bill of 273 CHF/$136. Then we went to Migros to buy the goods for our cookout lunch. We packed for the annual CP Station Ausflug/outing or excursion and met the others at 9:30. We had to wait for the CP Station contingent. Kirby drove with Jan, Marsha, Brigitte, and me. Jeanette drove Erika and Ruth. Sonia drove Sylviane, Vreni, and Evelyne. We drove up into the Jura, through Sonceboz and Tavannes. It looked like a beautiful, but the higher we climbed, you could see the mountains were capped with clouds. After Tavannes we turned off on a cobblestoned road before driving on a narrow asphalt road that crossed over cow-catchers and wound up the mountainside. We stopped at a large building near a restaurant and a farmhouse to park. We walked along a dirt road crossing fields, carrying our sacks. Went through a grove of aspen-like trees, over a wet field, and along a ridge overlooking a town.

Jan walking through a grove

View north of Tavannes

We passed a radio tower, went through a couple turnstiles to pass into and out of a cow pasture, and arrived at a chalet called Bellevue.

Bellevue refuge

As the clouds lifted, we did indeed have a beautiful view down the valet towards Saint-Imier, and we could see patches of snow on Chasseral. We unloaded all our things, then were sent on a treasure hunt. We were given what seemed to be nonsense verses in Bärndutsch and French, from which we were to figure out where the treasure was hidden. Several people took off, while Jan, Marsha, and I tried translating the verses. The verses in the two languages did not really match, so we were really confused.

Clue in Bärndutsch

Clue in French

Kirby finally told us the key, which was to take the first word of the first sentence, the second word of the second sentence, and so on. The resulting phrase told us the treasure was under one of the pine trees. I went to the other different groups to give them a hint, since it was unfair that we were told the key. Jan went to the largest pine and grubbed around with no luck. Everyone else looked under every other pine tree in the immediate area. Finally we went back to Kirby to give us another clue. He said Jan was originally at the correct tree. It was supposedly under grass under a rock. Jan had overturned every rock, but didn’t remember any sitting on grass, just that they were sitting on dirt with bugs and worms! Pretty soon everyone was digging under that pine tree, pulling at grass, digging under rocks, etc. for a nature preserve, we were getting pretty destructive.

Treasure Hunt

Again we went to Kirby who came down to the tree and looked around. All the rocks had been displaced several times! Finally he pulled at a section of grass and a big chuck rolled up. The hole was filled with gold-foiled covered chocolate coins and coffee or chocolate flavored jetons/tokens. We each got a coin and a jeton/token for the hospital, then buried the rest of the treasure for the next group to come. There weren’t enough coffee jetons, so I didn’t get one.

View towards St Imier

Marsha at the fire

Kirby had started a fire, and we cooked wurst, and ate it with bread, chips, and cherries. I brought my own drink, but there were beverages available for sale. We each had to pay 2 CHF/$1 for use of the chalet. Most people brought their own beverages, from soft drinks to wine, and coffee in pre-prepared cups (just add water). Later there were postcards and sticker to buy. Marsha had brought marshmallows, but the fire died out before we could toast them.

Next were the games and we picked colors to be divided into teams. It was Jan & Kirby, Brigitte, Vreni and Evelyne vs. me, Sylviane, Sonia Jeanette, and Erika. Marsha and Ruth sat out. The first race was for two people to carry a bucket of water hanging on a pole with one person facing forward and the other backwards. You had to run down the steps, stand on a box, go over a hurdle, over chairs, over an overturned tub, stand on a brick, and return through the same obstacles. Because of the odd number of people, I ended up going twice.

Kirby & Brigitte and Tamiko in relay race

Jeanette and Tamiko manage an obstacle

Then the Lego race. Each person had a pair of those giant Lego-like blocks, and had to move forward, always having a foot on one of the blocks, so that with each step you had to lift the back foot, reach down to pick up the block and place it forward to take your next step. Jeanette sat out this race, so I had to go twice again. Our team got way behind, and then the other team’s last person, Evelyne, kept sliding off her blocks and seemed to give up. I was the last on my team to go, and before I started, Kirby came up and grabbed one of my blocks. Sylviane ran to get my block back, and somehow got gouged. She was bleeding fiercely, as happens with facial wounds (near the outer corner of her eye). Jan went to tend to her, and the race seemed ruined. Kirby told me to go ahead and finish, but I made sure he gave our team a point, to make it a tie. Now Kirby wanted a tie-breaking race, so this time we hopped in sacks with a hat on our heads. I pulled us ahead, and Sonia went twice.

Sonia and Tamiko, Evelyn and Jan

Erika went for the sixth and final leg before they started their fifth. So we won handily. The losing team then wanted another game for a chance at a tie. We had to blow up a balloon, run to tie it onto the hurdle, and after all the balloons were up, we had to pop them. Jeanette started first, and she laughed so much, she had trouble blowing up her balloon. Then instead of tying the balloon on the hurdle, she just wrapped string around it, and it ended up flying off. She had to blow up another balloon. By this time the other team had two balloons on the hurdle and we never caught up to them. So the two teams were tied. Kirby went off to take care of the finances, while the rest of us cleaned up. My job was to fill a bucket with water and flush the latrine!

Bellevue refuge

We thought we had some free time, but Kirby wanted another tie-breaker, This time Marsha and Ruth held the ends of a rope, while the participant was blindfolded and had to run backwards along the rope, avoiding two chairs set up as obstacles. I started off and just ran wide to miss the chairs and ended up ramming into poor Marsha at the other end. On my way back, I ran into Jan who was coaching blindfolded Kirby. Our second team member took off as Kirby was still carefully negotiating his way around the chairs. We won despite Kirby trying to block and tackle our last person.

The losing team did not like being a game behind, and insisted on another race. A three-legged race, and I had to go twice even though I ran too fast and messed up my partner’s rhythm. We lost, so the teams were tied once again! Of course, we needed a tie-breaker, so decided to add up the number of consecutive jumps of each person on the team. Our team got 137. The other team started and Kirby started them off strong. They had 127 with one more person to go. The last person jumping kept veering to one side and finally caught her head in the rope at 136. They decided it was not her fault she got her head caught, and she was allowed to go again! She got past 138 and so they won. They were not satisfied with being a game ahead and being the winners of the day, and asked us to do another race. We figured if we tied them, they would want another tie-breaker, and we’d only keep going and going! We let them be the winners! The winning team got “gold” medals and roses. There were a couple extra roses that Kirby gave to those on the losing team who guessed closest to the number he was thinking of. Everyone else got mums. I did “win” a rose.

The sky was blue with big fluffy white clouds, and on occasion it sprinkled rain. Now we saw a cloudbank come up the valley and we had a sudden downpour. We went inside the kitchen of the chalet to play Uno. After one game won by Vre, the sun was out. We played one more game, again won by Vre. It was now time to leave at 16:00. I got to carry the trash back to the restaurant. (Who was assigning these chores?!)

No one wanted to have dinner at the restaurant at 16:30, even though it would be paid for by Fr Dr Bangerter. But we all had ice creams (except Jan who had a cheese schnittli/melted cheese on toast) and drinks. We left at 18:00 and Kirby got gas, determining we each had to pay 2 CHF/$1 each. Brigitte was dropped off at the train station, and Marsha and I were driven to the Personalhaus/staff residence.

Lager/Camp Fiasco Part I (6/1/1983)

Wednesday, June 1, 1983

When I told Jan & Kirby about all our adventures and misadventures at Lager/camp, we laughed about the whole thing. I joked that I had the impression it was a vacation for the adults rather than a camp for kids. Later, after Jan thought about it, she said I should tell Fr Dr B what had happened at camp, and if I wouldn’t then she would.  I figured I should just do it myself. I talked to Marsha C and Elisabeth J, and they agreed I should tell Fr Dr B. I then talked to Helen S (who was present at camp), and she suggested we have a meeting with everyone involved to talk things out.

At the therapy meeting, Jan and I scheduled a meeting with Fr Dr B for later in the day. Jan wanted Fr Dr B to initiate a dialog at the general CP Station meeting after the therapy meeting. But today was when Herr S was giving his inservice, and there was no time. Later during the day, the CP Station learned that I was going to meet with Fr Dr B and they became angry (guilty consciences?) with me for going behind their backs. So I decided not to meet with Fr Dr B unless Helen and someone else from the CP station was there. I wanted to get this mess over with. Jan and I met with Fr Dr B with Helen and Ruth in attendance. I didn’t say things like the staff went to sleep off hangovers, but stated that the kids were left in their wheelchairs without any stimulation. (The staff also forgot to give medications.) We wouldn’t have the general meeting until next week.

After aerobics, Marsha C and I walked downtown to try out the new McDonald’s. It was busy, but not too crowded. We had to wait for them to prepare our fish sandwiches, and the French fries tasted like they were from yesterday. The shakes were good. Ha, what a follow-up to yesterday’s meal! The employees seemed to be all foreigners (Asian Indians and Africans), and the clientele was mostly punk.