First Weekend

It has been an amazing start to the term with a great atmosphere in the House. It is nice to see returning students helping and supporting new students and also older students engaging with younger students. The Boarding House is really starting to bond well into the family we wish to be.

This weekend we had a multitude of activities on offer. This included; tennis, wakeboarding, kayaking, tennis, biking, horse riding, volleyball, sailing, golf and a trip to Geneva.

Welcome from Leman 1

Dear Friends

Thank you for visiting our blog. This is where we will share with you special moments that we have throughout the year.

Along with our aim of helping our students achieve academically, we believe much more is gained through the experience of Boarding. Gently we will try to guide them to become more independent, conscious, aware and to embody the spirit of Respect, Internationalism, team Spirit and Excellence that are at the core of our Guiding Principles R.I.S.E. at Collège du Léman.

We aim to ensure our students have fun, new experiences, work hard and have smiles on their faces. We are looking forward to the year ahead.

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End of Year Event

On Sunday 10th we had our End of Year Event to celebrate our time together this year. We all came together in Concha for an afternoon of fun filled games and activities. There was inflatable football, a foam party, the pool, sand volleyball, inflatable boxing, ice cream, an inflatable basketball challenge, virtual formula 1 racing, a kebab stand and much more.  

 

Fun Filled Week

It has been another fun filled week of activities. We have had our normal offering of golf, tennis, wakeboarding, horse riding, crossfit, book club, art workshop, kayaking and biking. The last two Sunday activities have also been very exciting, we had the opportunity to go to a High Ropes course and Paragliding!

 

Beady Bugs

The Art Workshop is a popular activity in Leman 1. We have a number of boys who regularly go each week to let out their creative side and gain some REACH hours. Here are their creations this week.

Well Done to Daniel

We are very proud that our very own Daniel has just released his first debut album with Deutsche Grammophon.

“In his debut album for Deutsche Grammophon, Daniel Lozakovich presents Bach’s two violin concertos in collaboration with the Kammerorchester des Symphonieorchesters des Bayerischen Rundfunks together with the solo Partita No. 2, which includes the famous Chaconne.”

My Trip to Luzern

A Trip to Luzern

On the 11th of May me and a handful of students embarked on a trip to Luzern, a city situated North East from Geneva and East from Bern. We left school rather early in the morning by my standards (08:00) on a bus. To be honest one of my favourite parts of the day was the bus ride to and from Luzern. After all, what’s not to like? You’re pampered with many different views without having to break a sweat. That’s the thing I like about road trips; you can indulge yourself with the sights ahead in the comfort of a cushioned seat with air conditioning. What’s not to like?

After about 2 and a half hours (10:30-45ish) we arrived in the city. It was quite packed to say the least. There were people bustling around squares and patrolling the pavements. From formal businessmen and women to families with prams full of young’uns, it seemed extremely diverse to myself. Our destination was a museum; a transport museum. Upon arrival I decided to walk around aimlessly for a bit just to familiarize myself with the surroundings. When I had fooled around enough I decided to visit a section of the building called the “Media World”. It was an area where we were free to try on virtual reality headsets, use greenscreens, 360 degree cameras and much much more. My favourite part of the exhibit was the VR racing simulator. It’s exactly what it sounds like, you don a VR headset, hop into the driver’s seat and you’re off to the races, literally. I shan’t lie. I wasn’t as adept a racer as I thought I would be. I’m fairly certain after watching me drive that car no one would get into a car with me at the wheel.
It took me a while to realize but I hadn’t actually seen any forms of transport aside from that virtual car. So I headed back downstairs and found the entrance to what we actually came here for: the transport museum. It was quite the experience. From little, single carriages on tracks that were horse drawn to iron behemoths that once brought people and goods from far and wide, the display was very impressive and most importantly, diverse. I caught sight of a large model mountain that was riddled with tunnels and train tracks that burrowed in and out of the rocky outcrops. I’m glad to say that I managed to see them turn on the display and get the chance to see several little trains whizzing around the mountain side. By this time we had to be going for lunch.
Myself and 3 houseparents ended setting up shop on a lawn beside the lake. It struck me there, that it seems this lake really did connect all of the places I’ve been to. From Montreux to Geneva to here in Luzern. I ended up eating a fraction of my lunch and feeding another bit to a couple- a duck couple (might have been mallards, I’m not familiar with waterfowl). When I was finished I took a 20 minute walk round the lake with houseparent Eric. We had a nice conversation (mostly about travelling etc.) and then we turned around and headed back the way we came. By then it was time to head back to school and enjoy the ride back while. There’s still quite a bit to say about that trip but long pieces of texts seem intimidating so I’ll just end it here.
By Casper Ko

Sudanese Dinner

On the night of the 1st of May instead of our typical dinner we had instead an exotic variety of Sudanese food to choose from.  The more adventurous boarders chose from a large palate of foods, dips and salads. There were vegetable fritters, fried plantains (fried bananas), some roast chicken legs, rice and a variation of salads and coleslaw.

Although I prefer other dishes it certainly is pleasant to have the school provide a diverse selection of food stuffs from all over the globe. Food really is a testament to how our culture varies from place to place much like music, art and much much more…

By Casper KO

  

 

My Day in Versoix

My Day in Versoix

by Zen Sashida

I’ve always wanted to have a nice walk down the road and explore Versoix, but I never really had time to do so. However, today I had the perfect opportunity just to go outside, stretch, feel the air and explore with one of my closest friend Maxim, who used to be my roommate in grade 6. It was just fantastic hanging out with my best friend for the first time in a while as we now have different types of friends, so we don’t get to see and actually have conversations with each other very often. We first went down the road and explored the forest. In the forest, we sat on the bench and briefly talked about our life and shared what we usually do on the weekend. We then walked down to the lake where is was full of people sun bathing, as it was very hot yet not too bothering. It was just an excellent day and really proved to me that even without going to Geneva, Versoix is big enough to have fun, if we stay with our best friends. I am looking forward to having weekends like this again.

A Visit to the Morges Tulip Festival

A Visit to the Morges Tulip Festival by Casper Ko

Found in the Park of Independence, Morges Tulip Festival is an event spanning 6 weeks, something that all can enjoy for it is free and easily accessible. Every Spring the festival can be found on the edge of Lake Geneva. It is a vibrant display of 120,000 tulips from 300 species of the beautiful flower.

We arrived in a parking lot to the West of the Park. From there we passed through a playground and a wide, shallow river with mallards and other waterfowl. Upon crossing the bridge we were granted our first sight of the Tulip Festival. Before us lay a vista of colors and scents that assails one’s nose. From the soaring evergreens to the main attraction;  the tulips of course! Its quite intriguing how diverse a genus of a plant, it can be. I came here with the conception of your typical red tulip, an iconic image that I got from the Dutch tourism industry. Instead I saw flowers of all colors and shapes. From complex arrays of pink, red and yellow to flowers of burgundy it is near impossible to captivate the medley of flora present. The Park’s location also adds to the atmosphere of the festival. When we look across the lake we are greeted with a view of the Swiss Alps. At this time of year the tallest peaks are still powdered with snow but not for much longer.

Something that wasn’t expected though. There was some sort of Turkish event. I failed to learn much more but it consisted of a choir of people singing in what I’ll assume is Turkish due to the strings of Turkish flags that were tied here and there across the area. There were many a food stands that sold things from brooches and jewelry to churros and kebabs.

I think that events like these really do bring communities together. The Tulip Festival resembles much of the Christmas Market In Montreal that I had the pleasure of visiting last year.

By Casper Ko

Versoix Chocolate Festival

Visit to the 2018 Festichoc in Versoix.

On Sunday, March 18, we had the opportunity to attend the annual chocolate festival called “Festichoc” in Versoix. We could see the chocolate represented in many fun and varied ways, the truth is that it is worth it.

by Sergio