Lingering winter

Having grown up in coastal California, I have never really experienced true seasons, nor for that matter really known what they are. While it is much colder in Aix then any winters I have experienced in Santa Cruz or Monterey, I just assumed that with it being mid-Feb we should be about to get a break in the weather. I was wrong...A few days ago, I saw my first snow! Snow is fairly uncommon here so when it happens everyone freaks out. The roads were salted before the first flakes even fell and many of the fountains were shut off. The first flurries started falling while I was in class and when I finished for the day a small winter wonderland had set upon the city.

The snow didn't last long but of course I was jubilant at the site and managed to snap a few

photos...

This first glimpse of snow was a great prep because tomorrow I'm leaving for winter break to the Swiss Alps!

Tomorrow night we stay in Geneva and then it's

off to Zermatt,

Switzerland for a week of snowboarding, cross country skiing, tobogganing, ice skating, and of course some apres ski. It's going to be a fun

exhausting week and I can't wait for it to begin! I'll try to update via my ipod while I'm gone but if not, I'll be back in a week with lots of stories and pictures!