[ORIGINAL DRAFT DELETED DUE TO IMAGE QUALITY ISSUES]

“When the moon hits your eye like a big Pizza pie,

That’s Amore!

When you swim in the creek and an eel bites your cheek,

That’s a Moray!”

Imanali poses with Pizza as we haul them from the kitchen back up to Olympus.

“Ayu Ready To Rumble!?” Our boy Ayu plows ahead with the bulk of the delivery. Don’t let his slight frame fool you. When it comes to Italian food, there’s few as motivated.

pizza…

Pizza.

Pizza!

PiZzA!

…not pizza…

It was in the last mountain weekend post that I mentioned how the Swiss geography really lends so much to the C.D.L experience. Switzerland is its own compact eco-system. It doesn’t take much to bound from bustling metropolitan areas to grandiose rural splendour. The snowy peaks and tender alpine valleys are only ever a train-ride away. The opportunity to share a back-yard like no other with our students, too good of an opportunity to pass up!

We spent our first mountain weekend in the summer among the green slopes of Leysin, mountain-biking, climbing, horseriding and so many other wonderful things. But with this January coming to a close, we’re still in the winter swing of things and that means we’re looking to strap on our respective carbon-fibre sports equipment and take to the snow!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, over this past ski-weekend, we journeyed up into Crans-Montana for an unforgettable weekend!

We approach the mountains, basking in the glow of the setting sun. Believe it or not, it’s a sight that doesn’t get old around here. It’s amazingly difficult to convey the scope of the mountains through the lens of a camera. The parallax can’t be replicated. From down bellow at the bottom of the valley, the mountains look impossible massive, almost unattainable.

The Communal Crest of Crans-Montana

We spent our weekend at C.D.L’s usual lodging at the La Moubra, home of many summer-camps being held in Crans-Montana.

Between Saturday and Sunday, activities were split between the two days. Skiers and Snowboarders would head up onto the slopes for either morning and a number of activities were available to others such as Snow-Tubing, Ice-Skating, an Excursion Day that included a visit to an Escape-Room and some time in the town of Sion and for those more hardcore than the hardcore, there was the study-hall.

Aleksei shows off his winter look. Practical as well as dead stylish.

Even though the sun shone very brightly down on us, we had to wrap up tightly.

Aleksei hefts his tube back up the slope for another of countless rounds of sliding down a snowy slope in a huge inflatable donut. Truly, the world of tomorrow.

Boris, Mr. Xavier, Iyowuna and David stop for a quick photo-op between helpings of adrenaline.

Iyowuna and Boris and a number of other, lesser non-Olympus boarders braving the glorious slopes together for a gorgeous day of controlled-sliding-based activities.

Skiing is something that people who live around here have grown up with. It’s difficult to find someone who lives here who hasn’t learned to ski as a youngster and so it’s often a wonderful experience when we welcome a boarder who has no experience in the sport at all. It really ‘is’ a pilgrimage to the mountain, with all of the rituals included. Early-rises and crisp mornings filled with brand new snow to be sliced through at top speed then followed by the gradual and smooth slow-down into the lunching hour. There’s nothing like some hot fries on a cold crips day on the slopes.

Nihad (in the frightening reflective helmet more suitable to be worn on the silver screen by a super-hero in a Japanese monster-movie) and Michel (in the pleasant orange jacket) pose with a wonderful instructor up on the slopes.

Nihad has removed his intimidating disguise and is now free to be mistaken for a young John Stamos holidaying away from the set of Full House to catch some sun and snow.

Boris with some inconsequential individuals who seek only to leech off of his coolness by mere proximity.

Imanali, The Head of The Elves, Ilya and Cool David pose together before braving the Santa’s Workshop escape-room on Saturday with myself.

One of the highlights of the trip were the escape-rooms. Fantastically sophisticated, there wasn’t one that was stale. Despite our Olympus boys being selected for the ‘Santa’s Workshop’ escape room as compared to one featuring a haunted mansion or an escaped dinosaur in a laboratory, we found it to be a real thrill as we decoded messages, hooked up tubing, e-mailed santa clause, argued about what constituted a rhombus, took all the batteries out of the lights, crawled through secret passages, piloted miniature construction equipment and did some minor re-wiring. We were the first to escape thanks to our combined wit and tactfulness and ability to recognise basic shapes at the best of times. No pleasantly decorated workshop can hold the Olympus boys when they put their heads together!

Maksim (coming in for the lowest of low-fives) and Nikita have a pleasant ice-skate in town. What a wonderful time they’re having. With all this sun, you’d think it was a race against time to get in as much sliding as possible before it turns into swimming!

Upon our returns to Olympus on Sunday evening, we celebrated Wenyan’s birthday! A wonderfully festive end to a glorious weekend.

The candles stand no chance against Wenyan’s incredible lung capacity!

The Olympus boys celebrate another year as a step towards maturity by having an inaugural pillow-fight after a helping to cake.

A photograph I took of Lake Montana at the foot of the town. It was truly a beautiful weekend with a sun so bright one would think it was getting closer. There’s nothing like the Swiss mountains, there really isn’t.

In confidence, between you and me. I think that the weekend went smoothly. I even remarked to a colleague that it was going “suspiciously” smoothly. I guess it’s my own professional pessimism getting the best of me as I think I’ve really nailed down what made me uneasy. I’m always ready for things to be a challenge, so when they go well, I always begin to suspect that something, somewhere, has gone wrong. But in the end, it’s just a case of us having grown closer as a boarding house. Despite there being frictions here and there, us having spent so much time together as a house and getting to know each other, there’s a wordless communication that establishes itself effortlessly. We know when to catch each other and lift each other up. We know when to push each other in a spurring way or in an encouraging way. We can communicate in a far more frank way and in a way that involves a mutual respect. We’ve gotten to know what we’re about and that we trust each other when our doubt runs high and that goes both ways. There’s a lot of trust invested, in both directions. This trust is something that I’m proud of as a professional and reserve a lot of pride for the boarders under my care. Sure, there are times when we let each other down, but we know that we’ll make it up to each other on the flip-side. Truth is, both sides are always learning in education. Comedian Mike Birbiglia always describes working with young people the best when he says:

“My friends ask me if it’s fun working with kids. To which I stop myself from saying that it is, because a lot of the time it’s not. It’s not fun. But what it ‘is’, is ‘new’. It’s always just…’new’.”

This quote resonates with me a lot. As with skiing being something we can offer to inexperienced boarders the chance to learn and appreciate, the ones who have done it a hundred times before can learn just as much in a day as the beginners.

We hope your weekend was as wonderful as ours. As usual, it’s only the best of the best from the Olympus boys to you!

A bonus photograph of our very own Mr. Xavier getting some shut-eye even before the weekend has properly begun!

Something that I’ve neglected to write about, here on the blog, are Nihad’s Azerbaijani tea-parties.

Nihad loves his home country’s dishes and delicacies. You’ve no doubt seen our previous post chronicling Nihad’s khinkali dish he served the boarders as well as the staff before the winter break.

With him, Nihad brings a veritable library of teas from his homeland of Azerbaijan, of all kinds. As well as Azerbaijani honey and spiced meats. In the evenings, we often sit down for tea with Nihad, after he asks us to join him, which we always do and he serves us freshly brewed tea with honey.

It’s a wonderful moment of relaxation for whoever chooses to join and I can’t believe I’ve never written about it properly, here. It’s a moment we all share, truly. Between the drinkers and those who happen to be passing through the kitchen, it’s impossible not to be sucked into conversation. And the conversation always starts with uninitiated members of the tea-parties asking Nihad about where this tea comes from. This opens the door to powerful cultural exchange as everyone naturally begins to discuss their own home rituals and what dishes ‘they’ would choose to share, were they given the opportunity. It’s wonderful and profound tradition we’re privileged to have developed here in Olympus.

New Arrival Christiaan shares a drink with Nihad, a proper induction into Olympus.

There are other rituals that we love to share here at Olympus and another firm favourite is Mr. Tarun’s trials by fire through the use of multi-player videogames that often turn into impromptu-house competitions.

Mr. Tarun plays Video-Games with Aoto while Ayu and Davyd watch in awe.

Take a little while to think about the traditions that you would share were you given the opportunity. Being brave enough to be vulnerable to show some true passion is a powerful key to many amazing things that make a community stronger.

-Best of The Best from the Olympus Boys!

Just because the winter holidays are over, doesn’t mean that winter isn’t sticking around. With the ice-cold bite of the bise coming from the north-east and distributing shivers among the CDL campus population, the snow is still far from melted.

Over this weekend, the ski-club had its first outing and our boy Nikita tagged along for the ride. Taking the bus early in the morning before the light of day can thaw too much of the frost, the ski club headed up into the mountains to experience the wonderful snow that the Swiss mountains have to offer. And though it was a brisk morning start, our CDL Ski-Clubbers were carving the slopes up like nobody’s business.

(above) Nikita demonstrates a neat technique on the mountain paths.

Nikita shredding some powder.

Nikita arriving on the mountain with the other Ski-Clubbers along with a guest appearance from CDL’s very own Mr. Max

Switzerland is an incredible opportunity for skiing for all proficiency levels. Smooth rides or rough rides, these mountains have it all!

That being said, while the ski club was riding high, everyone down in the valley below were making it a weekend to remember on their own terms!

Maksim and Ilya take it easier down down down below in the heated Tennis dome.

Ivan and Gary in the depths of the culinary alchemy that goes on in CDL’s elaborate Cooking Club.

Our Mr. Tarun provides a challenge for Murat, one of our many Chess enthusiasts here in Olympus.

We celebrate a dual birthday for Max and James! Hip-hip hooray for a double-barrel blast of joy to the face!

Another successful weekend for the boys and staff! It’s a good omen for the weekend after next, with the return of the mountain weekends!

Check back in, soon!

Best of the best from the Olympus boys!

How To Make Friends with Gabriel: A Guide

Step 1: Enthusiasm.

Step 2: Plotting.

Step 3: Extraction.

Step 4: Friendship.

With a new semester, a new WellBeing Pillar. Pillar 3 is all about positive relationships. What it means to be a good friend, being aware of bad friends and how to deal with them and help them, especially if you’re beginning to discover that you might be the bad friend.

Miss. Emilie and Miss. Terri (who are heading up this entire pillar)’s wonderful poster advertising the new WellBeing Pillar! ‘The Key to Being A Good Friend’

Mr. Jakob and Gabriel add a finishing touch to the Friends to make them seem a little more personable and approachable.

A delicious piping hot pizza straight from the ovens in the Collège du Léman’s kitchens!
Nothing truly says friendship like Pizza, does it?

Gifts From Above (2021) digital, Mr. Jakob

It’s with heavy hearts that we have to say goodbye to the boys for now. We will have to retire to families of our own and dry our eyes with the brand new socks we will all inevitably be gifted by those we love the most.

Though the week’s not over, so many have already flown the nest. In home-stretch, we want to wish everyone the best of the best over this winter season.

See you all soon!

-The Olympus Boarding House Team

Our weekend activities over the 10th to the 12th.

Aleksei went to sample the new Disney film, which was unfortunately not as consistently entertaining as he would have liked.

Aleksei and the girls pose with the poster for the motion picture they sampled over the weekend.

And Maksim and Nikita in the throes of our boxercise activity

Maksim looses himself in the heat of combat, finding that sweet spot. The space between spaces. The glorious void between Boxing…and Exercise.

A relaxed weekend as the semester winds down.

As I’ve written here before, change is the thing that doesn’t. Things are always changing but something I’ve not focused on entirely is the biggest change to all of us. In this cosmopolitan world, globalisation has us all thinking that we’re closer. More connected. When I don’t know that that’s entirely true. Perhaps we’re all listening to each other more but are we doing much of anything different? How much has our behaviour changed in this cross-cultural mass-communications forum? Questions for people with a broader scope and university grants, I should think.

What I’m trying to say, is that the virus changed everything because for the first time in a long time, everyone had to deal with the same thing. The virus is universal and everywhere and it’s thrust upon us very very difficult times. Uncertain times.

Working in education, where so many students feel uncertainty far more strongly than anybody else -especially those who are making their first real choices in life through a path into higher education- having to contend with such a powerful additional dose of entropy is incredibly challenging to contend with.

As much as we do for the boarders, they do so much for us in return. Putting on brave faces or outright helping to keep things together where they can. So many have been as much of a part of holding this community together as any staff by stoking the spirits of everyone here, staff or student, just the same.

In this uniquely international community, shared experience is very much at the centre of our foundation and that includes sharing the best of times and the worst and making it through, together.

Thrown in, mixed together. An alloy is always stronger than outright purity.

The snow fell thick last week. Thick and frosty, down from the peaks.

The snow brings about change. Mostly in gardening expenses as a tree has shattered from the weight of the virgin snow.

The snow fell thick over the last week. There are few who would think of it as not being unlike a sheet of white paper, a symbol of a fresh start with the advent of the new year. The old ground covered by a perfect sheet to be withdrawn like a magician’s silk handkerchief. And alakazam! A brand new world. Filled with new chances.

That image is one we don’t discourage here. As much as the snow might just be a covering that can’t undo. We think of it as an encouraging sign that things that have been, need not continue to be as such. Efforts can be renewed and brought in from the cold as we near the spring.

But before the spring, the winter gets its share. And to pay to tribute to the season, boarders and staff alike at CDL enjoy each others company at the annual Christmas Dinner.

Two of our Olympus boys, Alexandre (centre left) and Victor (centre right) are joined by fellow CDL boarders Gabriel (left) and Milla (right) in a black and white format as formal as their sharp attire.

It’s an event that provides not just an atmosphere of levity, but a touch of formal ritual that can add meaning to the changing of seasons and lend itself as a platform for the elevation of the usual cheer that follows any CDL gathering.

‘Yuletide Cheer’ (2021) Digital Photography

Aleksei enrapturing the rest of the Olympus boys at his table in a story.

A mature and pensive attitude is present during the entrées for Azamat and Alexandre.

Aleksei, Kirill, Nikita, Maksim and Ilya anticipate the next course.

Rayan, Boris, Victor, Bruno and Nikita enjoy the atmosphere

Victor has gotten separated from the group and appears to have fallen in with some other splendid CDL boarders.

A delightful affair, un-dampened by the circumstances. As I’ve said before, the boarders really do the heavy lifting in these gatherings. Doing each other the favour of each others company. Reminding everyone of the community they have here. As tough as times can get, the net they grow here between each and everyone of them will catch them no matter what happens.

Aleksei (the youngest) and Boris (the oldest) bring down a deadly rolling pin upon the chocolate effige of the legendary cauldron.

And speaking of bonding rituals, CLD being within the borders of the canton of Geneva, we pay respect to the most famous and important custom in the region. The smashing of the chocolate cauldron to commemorate the thwarted nocturnal invasion of the city by the French Savoyars mercenaries who tried to conquer the Protestant city for the Duchy’s Christian rule. 2,000 commandos were sent in the dead of night wearing woollen foot-wraps to scale the defensive walls of the great city. But were thwarted by a variety of different things depending on who tells the tale.

A boy chasing a chicken? A young man returning from his forbidden love’s home? A lame dog, lost in the woods or the ghost of Saint Martin himself. Whoever alerted the watchmen, did so. And the heavy ropes that held the city gates were severed and the city gates were sent crashing down upon the mercenaries and despite their hooked ladders, citizens and militiamen fought alongside each other to defeat the stragglers and send them home either dead or in shame.

And in the middle of the melee, a woman hefted her boiling cauldron from the window of her apartment and sent it plummeting down upon a Savoyard soldier, burning him horrifically and forcing him into a life of touring freak shows or simply killing the man, depending on who tells the tale.

And so a milk-chocolate cauldron filled with marzipan vegetables is broken open as a sacrifice to the spirit of those who defended Geneva from invasion. The youngest in the household and the oldest; unite in breaking open the cauldron and then all are invited to gorge upon the sweet entrails of the confection.

The chocolate cauldron is shattered by the might of shared force. LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!

It’s good fun.

We’re all from different places with different ideas. This season is one that is subject to many rituals. From the pagan rituals of the equinox, to simply the advent of the new years. Santa Claus, Saint Nicolas or Father Winter. The spirit remains. All of us, together. United against the cold within ourself and at our doors.

With a joke or with a helping hand, there are many ways to take a turn and stoke the fire around which we all gather.

Wishing you the best of the best from Olympus Boarding House over this winter season.

I’ll keep this brief.

Our boys brought home the gold, yesterday. And we are beyond chuffed.

Jinwoo, Nikia K. and James won award for being excellent boarders.

Here they are once again. Not even the least bit less impressive.

Our boys Ilya, Tony and Tamuno winning award for their activity participation!

DOUBLE TROUBLE! Our boy Tony winds an award for his stellar academics! We’re going to need a neck-brace for all that strain it’s putting on our champion’s shoulders!

We can’t be more proud of our boys bringing home the gold so that we can melt them all down and construct our giant mega-medal.

Best Wishes,

Olympus Boarding!

A Happy Birthday for a Very Happy Boy!

The winter months aren’t just about the birth of one very special boy. But the birth of many. Including the very ones that find themselves sheltered from the Alpine cold under the mighty roof of Olympus.

And today, we celebrate another such birthday for Nikita! He’s a wonderful lad and an honour to have among us here in the boarding house.

Here’s to you, Nikita!