busswil

After Iwan and I moved out of Bern, we headed back to his hometown in Busswil. I knew he wasn't too excited to be going back but we were going to be leaving Busswil the following day anyways. I guess it wasn't horribly disappointing for him. We had booked tickets to Barcelona and Rome for a ten day trip. 

But of course, with the kind of luck I have, our flights were cancelled and Iwan and I never went to either cities. The French were apparently on strike and were not letting flights go through their territory. Iwan didn't find it too shocking either because all Swiss people know that the French are extremely considerate and strike as often as they can. That's why the world loves them so much. After this incident, my eventual trip to Paris that I'd hope to take in the near future evaporated away for ever. The city in my mind now seemed dreary, pale, pompous, and unfriendly.

I got to add an extra ten days in Busswil as a result. And because of that, I know Iwan stressed out a bit. He was constantly thinking about how he could make my stay more interesting, cool, and memorable. I kept reassuring him that everything was fine and he didn't have to go out of his way to impress me. This was the town that he grew up in and that was enough to make it an interesting town for me. It had meaning. In fact, the most common or random things we did were perhaps the most memorable.

One memory I recall is walking to a kebab place in the rain and eating our kebabs on the way back to our car. That kebab we had was so good for some reason. Then we went to Sara's house and did some origami. It could be seen as a mundane evening but it was oddly exciting and entertaining for me. It stirs a bit of nostalgia for me as I write about it.

We also climbed a tower and took pictures of ourselves jumping around.

A lot of movies were watched as well. A Serious Man, Moon, Inception. All great movies and great facilitators of good conversations.

I got to eat Raclette, the Swiss dish that one MUST try when visiting this beautiful country. Iwan described it to me a couple of times and I looked up pictures but none of it really helped prepare me for what was to come.

Iwan and I played a lot of ping pong. I think I got better but sadly not enough to beat him. One day...

We went miniature golfing and the family that followed after us was definitely mentionable. They had professional miniature clubs and balls, complete with cases and uniform. I couldn't believe that they took this game so seriously. We also took one bike and took turns pedaling. It reminded me of my weekday afternoons after school when my brother and I would have to share the one bike we had.

It rained a lot and the smell of earth was a good change from the smell of concrete I get in L.A. when it actually does rain.

In a sense, I'm glad that our flight was canceled because I was able to live a normal Swiss life for the remainder of my time. But most importantly, I got to know a friend better which in the long run is far more valuable than saying that I went here and there and experienced this and that.