Hippy fest

I have now been to a hippy festival. I went last Saturday with my host sister Olivia and her friends. I really did not know what to expect as I have never been to anything hippy yin my life. The fest took place on top of the mountain that stands tall above my village.




We were driven up to the top by my host dad and then started to walk to the fest that was nestled in the woods. On the way we passed a playground
It was a wonderful wooden on with huge swings and seesaws......just fabulous. After playing there for a while we all trundled off into the woods to our fest.






This hippy fest I soon realised was more a party full of hippies, and not a hippy party .....if you get my drift. The people were like I have never come across in my life, all nice but with very different world views and ideas on life. Being nestled in the woods with a array of people I really felt like Robin Hood with my band of Merry (in all sense of the word) Men.






After seeing people blow fire, do the YO Ho Diablo ..then set the Diablo on fire and do tricks with a burning Diablo. Olivia myself and her friends went to go and keep warm by the fire tha was burning and being used to cook the bread (A damper style thing). We talked to people around the fire. It was interesting to hear all different dialects of Swiss German. Interesting and very eye opening as it made me realise that what is holding me back in learning German.

And that is the fact that people speak so much Swiss German (actually no one speaks High German is Switzerland unless they are talking to a Foreigner, or are a teacher in the school) .

I have now come to the place in my language …..(grammar all aside, as that is another matter all of its own) that I now for me to understand what is going on all it takes is someone to talk to me in High German and I get the conversation, where as before people had to give me the jist in English. Really now when someone talks High German it really is like they are speaking English to me as I understand (well most of it).

I never realised before I came here how different Swiss German was to High German…..in fact I had never heard of Swiss German in my life before I cam here…and it really is another completely different language......is like a complete language made up of Australian slag......so dunny not toilet.......but times that by a whole language and you have Swiss German,

The other problem for me is that Swiss German is not just another language…for if it was I would just learn it…the problem is that every canton (and there are 30+ Swiss German speaking) speak another dialect, and sometimes other Swiss people can not understand all these dialects.


So now I have said what this evening made me realise I will get back to my story of the hippy fest .......so where was I before I rudely interrupted myself.

Oh yes so after sitting around the fire talking ....We went and danced.....well when I say dance we tried to move to the beat of this really different music style. After doing that for a while we decided it was time to get home. So we grabbed our fire sticks and walked home ......and when I say fire sticks ......I mean like huge wooden sticks with wax etc that you set on fire and become torches.

So with our fire torches we walked the 2 hour walk back down to the village. We all said good bye (Olivia ,her friends and I ) and then we went home after an eventful evening.