My experience with Switzerland by Steve Murphy (LGB, 1966)
My experience with Switzerland by Steve Murphy (LGB, 1966)
My brother and I arrived at Ecolint in 1964, we joined the Internat. I was in 10th grade and my brother in 8th grade, in the Middle School. My classes were in English at the Grande Boissière facility across from the way of the French-speaking school. We also were fed and slept in the same building, le Grand Bâtiment.
My father was able to make a connection with another gentleman, Mr. Perry, whom he knew from work who lived just outside of Geneva. Whereas my father and the rest of our family relocated outside of Torino, Italy, this other man lived within his own house’s family and offered to help me and my brother if needed.
Some of the first people I encountered, were two brothers, named Keats and Charlie French, and soon-to-be students at Ecolint too. Keats wanted to purchase a motorcycle along a Saturday market roadside stand that both of them could use. Since I could speak some French and they couldn’t, I agreed to help them to buy the motorcycle. So, I negotiated the deal and made sure and they got the bike.
The father of the French’s had to have been a character himself. I heard several stories about the old man. Keep in mind that they were related to French’s Mustard brand. One of the stories that I heard from the sons was that he drove toward home down his road on his expensive Italian car drinking his beer and then, crumpling and throwing his empty beer cans out of the window. Unfortunately, if you didn’t know, both the French boys have passed away.
After a few days at school, I did something to aggravate one of the teachers. I can’t remember what I did but, in any case, I was required to line up at 6 o’clock Saturday morning along with another dozen or so other boys. Note that girls were smart enough to obey or not to get caught. Apparently, one of my teachers nailed me for something and I’d have been told to meet up with Mr. Garstang, the Sports teacher. In any case, we had to run for about an hour or so. At some points, a few boys tried to hide behind trees but Mr. Garstang knew that game. He found them and then he gave them extra work. In the US they say “Don’t mess with Texas.” We knew now, better not to mess with Mr. Garstang.
At Ecolint we were taught how to become responsible individuals and to become responsible boys and girls and in turn, responsible men and women. There were fair rules that we had to abide by and nonetheless, we came to work with our teachers. This didn’t always mean that we were perfect.
One dark evening two of us took the tram back to the stop where we got off to return to school. When me and my friend arrived at the stop, we pulled on the tram rope on the back of the tram and pulled the cable causing the tram to stop. We ran as fast as we could while the tram driver cursed us and reset the cable!
When winter came, I went to buy new skis and boots downtown in Geneva. We were able to go to different ski resorts in the Alps on Saturdays determined by the bus driver and ski teacher. I had already started skiing in Ohio in the US and I thought it would be duck soup in the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. I took my first bus ride to France and bold as I was, I took up the first téléphérique to the top and started down. Within minutes there was a large snowstorm and I skied off the piste not being able to see anything at all. I was covered with snow. Luckily the storm stopped about 20 minutes later and I was able to drop down the rest of the piste. These were the steepest pistes I had ever skied! At the end of the day, I was less confident and much wiser.
One weekend, having had the first time in downtown Geneva, I was walking along the shops mesmerized by the Swiss watches that I wanted to get. My wife complained that I still do that everywhere in Geneva. I decided on a shop that carried Heuer Carrera watches in town and I ended up with a new watch in my first year. I think I paid about a base-level watch that was probably around $75 US dollars when I made my payment. I loved that watch for a young boy! The watch I bought in Geneva I still have. Five years ago, I had to send it back to Switzerland to have it repaired even though it was still in fairly good condition. I also bought a Breitling Navitimer chronograph about 8 years ago. I had to have it too. I’m not going to say how much that watch cost!
I came back to Geneva several times with my wife, we visited the campus and she loved it. We loved walking around the old city along with the parks in the city and, of course, the Pâquis-Nations all surrounded by the mountains. We also admired the flower clock. You just can’t beat that clock. It has a different flower organization every year. And guess what, it was always on time!
Mark Nitta (LGB, 1967), a friend of mine who was my roommate at the Internat, for almost 2 years we shared a small room with two beds We lived in student housing and got together well. Mark, who is the gregarious type, had been there for a long time and he probably knew the majority of the students. After we graduated from school, Mark was the one who organized our 5 years get together. Geneva is a great city despite the fact that it can be costly. However, we normally only come back every 5 years or so. To enjoy the town, it is worth the time and money. As students, we had some of the best teachers who set us up to successful higher studies. I was one of many who were able to be successful due to Ecolint and our teachers!
I will end with one item. The students all got together for dinner every evening. Also, every evening, there was a telephone call at the same time and the same day. The call was from the father of one young lady who was alerted to the ‘cabine’. Maybe the rest of us students should have made more calls to our parents?