Ladies and Gentlemen! Roll up! Roll up! Have I got a show for you! And I mean a ‘show’! A truly rare occasion for rare folks! A chance to witness the Collège du Léman talent show!

From all corners of the lake-side campus, the strange, the joyous and the downright marvelous houses assemble under the Eiger auditorium’s roof and perform their bespoke acts to amaze and shock!

But first, a performative aperitif!

(above) Our very own C.D.L boarding staff -under the direction of Leman’s Rogerio- open the spectacular evening with an unusual number.

And with that…

Let the show begin!

The Maritime

The Chaotic

The Choreographed

The Mysterious!

The Esoteric!

It’s a show like no other that really showcases the planning and forethought of our brilliant boarders! Piecing together unique performances to thrill and amaze! With the element of surprise, there’s not much we can come up with that won’t impress!

Best of the best from Collège du Léman and the Olympus Boys!

Das Eismeer – The Sea of Ice (1823-24) Caspar David Friedrich. The Romantic Painter’s depiction of a crushing and unpredictable Polar Sea. A frightening, yet grandiose vision of an untamed and mysterious territory fighting back against discovery.

They say that “Seeing is believing!”

But 17th Century clergyman Thomas Fuller said “Seeing is believing, but feeling is the truth.” The full quote that is so often broken up in aid of an opposite meaning.

We can see all we want. In fact, these days we see far too much. I think that in essence is the disadvantage of seeing too much is that we see, but only once in a while do we feel. The more we see, the more difficult it is to have a feeling stirred within us, we’ve seen it all before. Doesn’t stop it from being fun. Especially when you could see anything you could ever need or want to see through a screen: Vintage Tractor Repair, Make-Up Reviews, Stop-Motion Instructional Videos of the Stock Market Crash of ’29? We’ve got it all and we’ve even got it in 1080p.

It’s a wonderful experience…but it can make one forget that seeing something in person, is really experiencing it. Behind a screen, we can construct a comfortable environment. Perfect for helping us see the things we might not want so much to see in person. Out in the world, no matter what one is looking at or doing, experiencing it is inevitable through being in the middle of it. It flares deeper inside oneself to be there. Seeing is believing. But feeling is the truth.

Anyway, the kids got trawled out to the Mer De Glace at the top of the world. And rather than describe it to you, I’ll resort to someone’s feelings about it:

“I can no otherwise convey to you an image of this body of ice, broken into irregular ridges and deep chasms than by comparing it to waves instantaneously frozen in the midst of a violent storm.”

-William Coxe (1777)

“It’s very nice.”
-Imanali (2022)

The ‘Mer De Glace’ is an immense valley glacier snaking down through the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. A worm of churning ice that bristles at 7.5 kilometres long, the longest Alpine Glacier in France, drawfing the Aletsch glacier that sits at a mere 3.2.

We can talk about it all we want, but there’s something riveting about actually seeing it. That’s what is meant by feeling it, rather than seeing it. The truth is all about how it makes you feel.

It’s difficult to fathom it as real when it’s lined up in front of you. It helps with perspective. Makes so many realise how massive the horizon is beyond the valley. I’ve mentioned many times before the benefits of Switzerland as a microcosm of Geographical variety. To have a sight as grand as this at a stone’s throw from CDL’s quasi-metropolitan campus is a rarity we take full advantage of. To offer experiences to our boarders. And with a sight as grand at the Sea of Ice, there’s few who can claim it left them as cold as the glacier itself.

The gang, framed by the epic slopes of the Alpine Valley that cradles the frozen sea below. Our boy Imanali was our emissary and representative of the Olympus Boys (far left in Green/Teal hoodie)

The gang, overlooking the behemoth of ice, no doubt thinking about the majesty of nature and lunch.

It’s like he knows. Aoto regards upwards to the Swiss Horizon. Or at the shuttlecock that’s headed right for his head. Either way, it’s a wonderful weekend full of perspective-shifting grandeur.

Faster than a coiled king cobra, Murat is centimetres from connecting his racket with the shuttle and cause us more grief with the insurance company after he launches that odd little fluorescent cone, rocketing up and through the ceiling of the Olympus Sports Center and through into the Olympus boarding house above.

The running club gears up for another convoy through the Swiss country-side. Our boy Tony (to the right of Martina in red) is once again in tow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a-HfNE3EIo

Wandered above the Sea of Fog (1818) Carl David Friedrich. A young man views the world before him, enshrouded in foreboding yet tantalising mystery. It’s a classic piece that I’ve included here as it inspired one of the foremost works set in the Swiss Alps. Mary Shelley’s magnus opus ‘Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus’. The painting was seen by Shelley in London and saw the pioneering and tragic figure on the mount and felt it gel with her vision for her Doctor Victor Frankenstein. A man on a noble mission that leads him far beyond into truly undiscovered territory.

Best of the best from The Olympus Boys!

This is Week 4 of the Online Safety Pillar

We focused on Online Balance

Our daily lives involve us needing to use screens and go online. It is now a necessity for work, staying in contact with friends and even shopping. But where the imbalance occurs is when we become obsessed with it. How many of us are guilty of checking our phones first thing in the morning when we awake, or turning to them for entertainment when we find ourselves with a few minutes to spare. We need to guide our students to not depend on their electronics. We would all benefit from a detachment from the draw of apps whose sole purpose is to profit from us staying online longer. Check your own stats to see how many hours of phone usage you have had this week.

One of the challenges of this Pillar was for the students to do a Phone Detox – Could you?

There are few days as important and exciting as C.D.L day at…well…Collège du Léman, itself! And yesterday, it all kicked off!

CDL day is all about charitable cause and about doing a little something to make a difference. The main event being the CDL Grand Prix! Which is constructed on the campus and run by many different groups for varying distances. The course itself is a 500M loop around our fine sports facilities and the Olympus Sport Hall and Boarding House.

This CDL day, Olympus Boarding House is beyond proud to have our very own Abbay as the Master of Ceremonies for this CDL day, he can be seen below opening up the day by the band-stand which features the consistent musical feature of CDL day, featuring an all-star powerhouse selection of CDL’s musical talent. A line-up we can’t hold in-doors anymore due to them tearing the roof off every time. Especially when Iyowuna is within thirty meters of a musical instrument.

Lord knows they’re doing their best to look like they’re not dying right now, but the CDL boarding staff tackled the Relay Race in a blaze of glory and dilettante sportsmanship. Well…maybe just for Olympus’ Mr. Jakob (far left, as in ‘left behind’)

Wether in boarding or in day-visits, community grows naturally among everyone. It’s a climbing plant that dares everyone to aim higher. And if not ‘higher’, then ‘together’.

The Grand Prix is about endurance and community. There’s a lot to be said about beating your own time, but it’s also about being a part of it. The wave, the swarm, all flying towards the same objective. Speed, velocity, all relative to our fellow man. There can’t be a Race if there aren’t diverse and motivated people running it together.

Best of The Best from Collège du Léman!

Ladies and Gents, the Spring has arrived and not a moment too soon. It’s an illusive season, Spring is. It shares the darker skies of Autumn and Winter but with the first pupal drops of the summer rain. Then again, I suppose it’s like magic. The harder you look, the less you see. It’s all the better just to live it. And when you simply live it, it all comes together on its own. Just like Magic.

The Heads of discipline at CDL. We assure you, we’re just messing around about that. Though these gold-dusted beauties rarely do. This weekend, we paid a visit to the impressive AQUATIS aquarium complex, sporting an amazing array of sea and river life including these Amazonian Piranhas.

Noticeably drier than the other Exhibits, Olympus’ very own Imanali takes in the splendour of the glass tunnel display.

The running club in all their glory, no doubt training for the CDL Day Grand-Prix next Tuesday.

Ah, the runner’s natural enemy. Woodchip paths. Truly the Shakespeare’s Iago of synthetic terrain.

Olympus’ own Iyowuna blasting away with his digital camera. No creative stone is left unturned and shot up when he’s on the prowl.

“A director must do whatever it takes, to get the shot.” -Elia Kazan

Friendly Neighbourhood Spidermen: Aleksei and Maksim practise their wall-crawling skills while their web-shooters are in the shop.

Christiaan probably plans his climbing route as Aleksei plays invisible floor-level bongos in the background. Forethought is important in climbing.

Another weekend well spend. From a leisurely stroll through the local aquarium, to the blood-pumping thrills of summiting your local climbing centre, we don’t need to get to the other side of the world to have a wonderful weekend as the atmosphere switches gears from the cool dregs of Winter and into the spritely thaw of Spring.

Best of the best from the Olympus Boys!

The Kebab, is the grilled mean within the bread wraps. It is thought that the grilled meat-chunks were prepped as such for the first time in Turkey after soldiers would grill the meat on skewers over hot coals. There are many variations of the dish in the world. Mostly known in North American -thanks to our local North American son James’ street-food knowledge- as Gyros, closer associated with the Greek Souvlaki grilled meat dish. In Turkey, the wraps that we served this evening are more commonly known as Doner Kebap.

It’s a diverse dish, served tonight with fresh vegetables and Tzatziki sauce.

(left to right) Gary and Richard shake on how delicious tonights meal is.

(left to right) Leonid and Aleksei are having a wonderful time.

(left to right) Davyd, Michel, Mirsadi, James, Nikita and Tony barely converse as the meal is hitting the spot just right.

(left to right) Leonid, The Sasquatch, Nihad, Maksim, Aleksei and Nikita serve themselves.

He’s a rare treat to have around, but Bigfoot made it all the way to CDL for our in-house meal and we’re honoured to have him dining with us in Olympus. We think that he uses his celebrity to mooch free meals wherever he can.

Another successful and delicious CDL in-house dinner! They’re occasional to keep them special. They heighten the communal atmosphere just that much.

Best of the best from the Olympus Boys!

“Winter is coming.” says Sean Bean in George R.R. Martins’ opus ‘Game of Thrones’. Do you guys remember Game of Thrones? I do. The games. The thrones. All of that stuff. And then there was a disappointing couple of seasons that ended on a weak note that left everyone embarrassed that the dragons and the magical ice people were ever that exciting to them in the first place.

The mountain weekends are far from over. But the Ski-Weekends are sadly shuttered until next year.

But this season absolutely did not end on a downer. In fact, it was a brighter note than any of us could have hoped for.

We shredded and carved. No powder was left un-churned and not a single jump was left free of boarders daring each other to go for it. The weather was on our side with a bluer than blue sky and a full sun at our backs. A truly radiant long weekend.

The gang’s not all here. True, we had lighter numbers, but that made it all the more bespoke for our boarders. Smaller more flexible numbers led to an exploration of our mountain opportunities to the fullest extent.

The gruesome twosome (left to right – Ivan and Gary) come to a boil in the luscious waters of the mountain-side spa. Switzerland is famous for its spa facilities. Descended from the marble sanitariums that clustered the peaks and crags of the Swiss Alps, catering to the rich and mentally infirm to re-center themselves before returning to their railway empires. And the same can be said with our two future titans of industry.

Aleksei straps up for a pure day of snowboarding. The day, still brimming with potential and definitely explored to its fullest.

(left to right) Ilya, Nikita L. and Maksim take a rest at the edge of the skating rink. It’s funny how knowing how everything runs now that we’ve been up the mountain a number of times both increases the fun that we have as well as the relaxation. There’s a significant portion of the stress that’s removed when one has a certain idea what to expect from certain activities. We got a lot done and were all exhausted at the end of the day, but we all did it with a stress-free ease that is so welcomed this late in the season.

David takes flight in the unforgettable RealFly simulated sky-diving experience. As much as it might be a giant fan keeping our boy afloat in the air, it makes it no less impressive when he pulls dips and spirals that only a falcon could dream to execute. And yet here we are, a human in an odd outfit and helmet as graceful as a bird.

Nikita L. sends one downrange at the pins who betrayed his family.

Ilya follows up with another cataclysmically powerful bowl that caused strikes to occur in Malaysian bowling alleys on the other side of the world.

We had a smashing time up on the mountain. A fitting sendoff to the unique skiing period that we organise and keep running here at CDL. What would living at the foot of the Alps be without as many trips into the frosty bosom to conquer the slopes as we could muster?

As usual, the mountain weekends are about much more than just Olympus, we we’ve featured a smattering of other slightly less important folks who were having an equally good time.

Mr. James provides combat training on the slopes. Surprise attacks can’t be a surprise of they’re listed on the schedule.

Mr. Nathan, Miss. Maria-Sophia and Miss. Vic enjoying a sunny day at the skating rink!

Nobody is as ready for action as our CDL ski posse. Truly a group of ski-slingers to be reckoned with.

The Champ-Des-Bois crew all cresting the peak with everyone else.

Sophia, Jasmina and Akmaral from VDL enjoy the crisp weather up at the top of the world. Or at least on the patio of the La Moubra Hotel, a firm favourite for any and all Crans-Montana related trips.

And so, ladies and gents, the ski season at CDL has come to a wonderful close. Best of the best from not just the Olympus boys, but the entire CDL squad as well!

There are many ways to engage with REACH hours. They are a self-initiated project that displays independent engagement with many different areas. There are REACH hours dedicated to physical exercise, to community projects and to creativity.

And there are many different ways of going about achieving them and the Olympus staff are always available to find new and creative ways to help boarders earn their hours in new and innovative ways.

Some of us are not as creatively inclined as others and with Gabriel, he wasn’t sure how to go about earning his hours. And so Mr. Jakob from the Olympus staff organised a small extra-curricular club, just for Gabriel’s Creative Reach hours. This is ‘Art Appreciation’ with Gabriel:

Kent Monkman ‘Resurgence of The People’ 2019 M.O.M.A

Within the Art Appreciation club, Mr. Jakob and Gabriel and a rotating cast of guests take a look at contemporary and classical pieces of art. Above, we can see a piece by Native American artist Kent Monkman, which channels a lot of socially conscious energy, but an enormous amount of classical imagery as well. The ‘Art Appreciation’ activity is all about generating discussion and looking as closely as we can. Using the iPad is great for this. It can be passed around and it is extremely intuitive to pinch the screen to zoom in and inspect the myriad details present in each and every piece. We all read art differently. And we also read many the same.

Gabriel is joined by Mirsadi and Maximilian in admiring a Pablo Picasso piece.

It’s always hugely rewarding to get other eyes in on the game, to comment on, agree or disagree. It all starts with a simple image and conversation always develops into so much more. It’s impossible to look at a piece of art and not begin to think. Whether we like it or not, feel like we don’t have the place to say anything of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ art, we always react, wether we like to or not. And so much can come out of the simplest of images. Art is and always has been a mirror. Looking outward as the things we choose to make is always just as much of an act of introspection than it is simple observation.

Pablo Picasso ‘Guernica’ 1937

David Shrigley ‘Dishonourable Person’ 2016

And some of it, is just silly.

Have a look. Have a think. It doesn’t matter what conclusion you came to. Engagement is the first step. And your gut does the rest.

We look forwards to having many more conversations about art here in Olympus and we hope to bring some of that to yourselves, as well! Have a google. There’s so much good art out there. And so much bad art, as well.

Best of the Best from The Olympus Boys!

This is Week 3 of the Online Safety Pillar

We focused on “Your Online Live”

Every parent is concerned about their children meeting strangers or new people in life and whether they will be a good influence. However, less thought is given to the hundreds, thousands or sometimes millions of strangers that are viewing their pictures, profiles or online presence. With the multitude of online influencers who share their life online, young people have been conditioned to aspire to this. We now have a generation that post their pictures and videos online for all to see. As part of this generational change, it is our job as parents and educators to question this, keep them safe and guide them. We need to help them have perspective that chasing a ‘Like’ is not a worthy desire when the consequence may be their safety.

This is Week 2 of the Online Safety Pillar 

We focused on “What you post … in that moment”

The goal is to make students aware that what they post can have consequences. When we make a funny comment; or create a meme from a friends picture; or post a video of our friends doing something silly – all of these can have consequences in that moment, but also for the future. What we post online stays online forever without our control of what happens after we post it. Not only can it emotionally affect our friends, but it could also be seen by others.