Swiss Ambassador Visits Waldsee

Waldsee was honored to host the Swiss Ambassador to the United States, Urs Ziswiler, in July 2008. Ambassador Ziswiler spent the day learning about Waldsee's German language program and participating in Village life. He enjoyed a traditional Swiss breakfast of Birchermüesli and Croissant with villagers from Waldsee's high school credit.
 
After Frühstück he participated in Gesang with the two-week villagers, and he even helped teach a song to the villagers. Following Gesang, three credit villagers (Christianne, Miriam, and Robert) led the ambassador on a tour of Waldsee, ending the tour at the Waldsee BioHaus, where he was met by Edwin Dehler-Seter and Stephan Tanner (the architect of the Waldsee BioHaus) for a tour and a discussion about sustainable building practices in Switzerland.
 
Helvetia, one of Waldsee´s adventure programs, was the next stop on the ambassador´s itinerary. He met with the Helvetia group, where they included him in a couple of language-learning games based on Swiss geography and then asked the ambassador a variety of questions about daily life in Switzerland.
 
After a full morning of activities with the villagers, Ambassador Ziswiler sat down to lunch in the Waldsee Gasthof for a wonderful Mittagessen that included Züricher Geschnetzeltes mit Rösti, Lauchauflauf, Salat, Brot und Butter! After lunch it was off to visit the other Language Villages on Turtle River Lake with Patricia Thornton, the Director of Summer Programs at Concordia Language Villages.
 
The ambassador´s day concluded with a Schweizer Straßenfest. Villagers from Lac du Bois, the French Language Village, came over as guests of Waldsee and together they celebrated the Basler Fassnacht festival with tasty Swiss food, including Fondue and Raclette, and took part in a variety of games around the Marktplatz.
 
Learn more about our Swiss family program with its focus on Swiss culture and food as well as the German, French and Italian languages.

Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waldsee/2632082649/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waldsee/2631983223/

clv@cord.edu
(800) 222-4750