EF Tours Summit…and very close to heading home!

Today was our first full day at the Summit! Here’s a rundown of a very full day:

• St. George’s opened our first morning in Switzerland with aplomb! (This word is used in honor of Mr. Tom Morris!) One group of students woke up at 5am, entirely on their own, just to head out on their own personal hike into the Davos countryside. There’s no better example of St. George’s than this: students taking healthy risks and acting with confidence to make the most of a situation! They came back sweaty, smiling, and inspired watching the sun rise over the Swiss Alps. Other students decided to head out for a run; it was truly a beautiful morning.
• Unfortunately, we all found that we had no hot water…the curse strikes again! There was a lot of high-pitched yelling as students, and chaperones alike, plunged into the icy waters of their showers. It was brisk, to say the least. Fortunately, the hotel is great and the water heater was fixed this morning, so now it’s just a fun story to tell.
• Our Summit opened with a dance group that had to be seen to be believed: electronic suits, dub step music, and excellent choreography got us off to a great start.
• Sir Ken Robison, our keynote speaker, came next and he did not disappoint. He told students to make the most of their imaginations, and challenged schools to teach students to appreciate their strengths, even if they don’t happen to be in reading, writing, and arithmetic. It was truly inspiring. Anne Vento, our intern, got the chance to have lunch with him, and she will have tons of details of their talk later!
• In their sessions, students learned about empathy, academics, service learning, LEGOs, the future of the classroom and began designing projects based on design thinking. Tomorrow, they will feature those designs in the Education Innovation Village.
• After dinner, we were treated to a traditional Indian dancer, and a performance from Clint Smith, a teacher and Harvard PhD student who specializes in slam poetry. It was a perfect way to spend the evening.
• Now we are back in the hotel, destroying the wifi, as usual, and ready to head off to bed! Tomorrow, it’s hard to believe, is the last day of the trip!

Again, feel free to check Instragram @SGSummit to see our #EFSummit pics from the day!

Sincerely, 

St. George’s Abroad

Day 8: Lake Como Cruise, Driving into Switzerland, Arrival at EF Tours Summit

Hello all, sorry it has been awhile since we’ve checked in. Yesterday was not a great day for wifi, as it was spent almost completely in the bus. Here’s a quick recap:

• Many, many hours in the bus. It was supposed to be five and it ended up being twelve because a large truck ended up catching on fire and blocking the road. #highwayadventures
• We did enjoy a high-quality lunch at a gas station, which, we promise, was a lot better than it sounds. There was pizza for some and focaccia sandwiches for others. Also, we found out that Rosemary & garlic Pringles are wonderful.
• Then, we watched Los Otros (The Others) on the bus. There was a lot of screaming, but we all made it through it the film.
• We finally arrived in Lake Como and ate dinner (pasta, veal, salad, and ice cream). Of course, there was another course of gelato for most once we were given a chance to walk around the town for a little while. There was an epic frisbee game, somehow involving Clemson college students (it’s a small world) and Mr. Timothy Gibson became great friends with a street salesman, from whom he purchased a personal fan.
• We then settled into the hotel, which was nice, but, as mentioned above, lacked free wifi.

So, here was today:

• We woke up and headed to Lake Como. It was breathtaking. The water was gorgeous, the mountains were beautiful, and we were given the chance to walk around Bellagio. It was a perfect little shopping village: some of the girls had virgin mojitos, espresso, and pizza. Naturally, there was also more gelato. Also, we learned that the most recent sale of a villa on Lake Como was for 30 million Euro’s. Wow…
• We then boarded the bus and headed for Davos. The drive was once-in-a-lifetime. The roads seemed to continue going up forever, as we got closer and closer to the ice and snow. There was cyclists, motorcyclists, a caravan of Mercedes sports cars, and a few hold-your-breath moments involving oncoming trucks and buses. But, we made it!
• Also, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere, right before the border of Switzerland and Italy. We shared our spectacular lunches with a bazillion flies, which went away if you sat in the sun. After eating, we toured the wine, cheese, and meat cellar, which was refrigerated using air from deep in the mountain. It was a memorable lunch!
• We arrived in Davos and immediately went to dinner at the convention center: 1,500 students converging to eat all at once. We then got together and learned more about the Design Thinking Process, as well as our individual strengths: it involved a lot of hand-shaking and shoe-tower building. Once we finished up, we ate yogurt and gummies in the park outside before heading back to the hotel. We are now settled in: there is a lot of card playing and fun being had before bed.

For any pics of the day, please check out our Instagram feed @SGSummit!

Day 5: Nice is Nice (Ms. Kridle’s Title Suggestion!)

Hello all,

This morning we woke up in beautiful, sunny Nice! Five of us (Jared, Annie, Sutton, Jane Shelby, and Becca) all got ready for their excursion to Monaco. We’ll update that first: the group got to see the changing of the guard, the burial site of Princess Grace, a lot of Ferraris, Jared had a dispute with a seagull over a sandwich, they traveled to Monte Cristo, and had a chance to tour the Fragonard perfume factory. All in all, they loved the tour; it was a beautiful stroll through classic luxury.

The rest of the group spent the day in Nice, which was wonderful. We began the day by eating a breakfast along the main avenue: imagine croissants, café, chocolat, and people watching. We walked through the flowers market before making our way up Castle Hill for an incredible view of the entire city, along with the Mediterranean ocean. There was plenty of time spent on the beach in the sunshine and chilly, but refreshing, ocean water.

We ate lunch (artisanal bread, ham, cheese, boisson & desserts) and then headed back out into the sun and surf. All in all, this was a relaxing day spent in the sun and splendor of the French Riviera. In the afternoon, we met to check out of the hotel (Hooray!) and then met for dinner, which was a buffet of quiche and pasta.

We are now relaxing in our hotel before heading off to sleep. We’ll wake up bright and early to head to Lake Como! There would be pictures, but the wifi here in just a tad unreliable. However, the beds are clean and comfortable, the pool is cool and relaxing, and we’re looking forward to Italy tomorrow!