My Aunt Deb once told me that “Slamans are natural skiers”. That was put to the test this weekend, as yours truly was suited up with ski gear and headed out to into the Schwarzwald to learn how to ski.

I was originally terrified that I would be the only one who had never skied, since all of my friends that I have talked to were competent skiers or snowboarders. There were, however 6 of us who needed either a learn to ski lesson (I’ll refrain from calling it a crash course, bad taste), or a refresher ski lesson, since we are preparing to take on the Swiss Alps next month. So after an exhausting first week of “intensive” classes, our little troupe of 6 met up at the Freiburg Hauptbahnhof early Saturday morning, headed to Feldberg, unsure what to expect.

I had no idea how I would feel about skiing. Of all the sports I’ve tried, skiing has never been even close to the spectrum. I kept holding onto Aunt Deb’s words, hoping that some supernatural ancestral power of my great-great-grandparents skiing through the mountains of Switzerland would help me make it through my first ski day in one piece. At Feldberg, we were outfitted for ski boots, skis, helmets and goggles, then trekked up to the slopes to meet our instructors.

Here we split into 2 groups; people who had been on skis and those who had never been on skis. My seminar professor was chaperoning the trip and had brought along his 2 young children, who upon first glance I knew would be skiing circles around me. My first inclination as to how the day would go came when i clipped into my skis and began sliding backwards, only to be pushed back forwards by my professor’s 7 year old daughter Julia, who thought I was hilarious. A great start to the day.

Split perfectly down the middle, myself and 2 others met our ski instructor Augustine. If you have ever heard a stereotype about Germans, it is probably along the lines of mean, stubborn, unfriendly and impatient. August defied all of these! I’m sure that I was a hot mess the first couple runs down the bunny hill, but he was patient, calm, and very easy to talk to. He also did a pretty good job teaching us how to ski, because after the first day I could make it down the mountain without falling! Credit either goes to those skiing Slaman genes or August- but I’ll give it to him.

Day one on the slopes was warm, making the snow slushy and the mountains very foggy, so that the tips of the pine trees disappeared. On Sunday the view was so much better, as the weather was clear, crisp, and cold, and at the top of the mountain you could see the majestic Swiss Alps rising from beyond the green sloping mountains of the Schwarzwald, with the sun breaking through the clouds overhead. I’ve included some pictures, but they truly don’t do the view justice. I think that Germany has been the most beautiful place that I’ve been so far.

The travel bug has been beginning to bite our group; as the 6 of us went skiing all weekend, a lot of my friends went to my ancestral homeland, Basel for the day, which is a free train ride on our regional train card (Regiokarte). They all had nothing but great things to relay about Switzerland, and I can’t wait till I can find a free afternoon or weekend to make the trip myself, and look up our last name in the city hall! Last night, exhausted and sore after 2 days of skiing, my friends and I headed to the bar to watch some of the Patriots-Broncos game, and then left early to pack and try to get some sleep, since we needed to catch a 6:35 AM train to Berlin in the morning!

I’m on that train as I write this, which is great news since I was terrified of oversleeping (ya girl is NOT a morning person by any means). I was able to sleep about 3 hours on the train which is good news, and also warn my new friends about early morning Emily, which anyone who knows me knows is not a pretty sight. So far, I think they’ve decided to keep me around despite my early-morning grumpiness.

I am excited to see Berlin, and Prague later in the week! Berlin will be especially exciting for me, since last spring I began research into what I hope will become my senior thesis; exploring themes of eugenics and how they played out in Nazi propaganda and politics. I’ve always been a huge World War II fan, and Berlin is steeped with history. I’m sure it will be a moving and fascinating experience, and if I could get some researching done at museums and the like, it would be superb. Excited to see what another busy and travel-filled week will bring!

Tschüss!

Location: Freiburg, Germany