Teacher: David 

Dec. 22nd, 2011

Hello, everyone! My name is Jin Young Kim. Today, I’d like to share with all of you the great experience that I had with my wife last summer in Switzerland. Using only 5 days of paid vacation, my wife and I were determined to spend time in that distant country because I have relatives in Switzerland. I thought it would be the solution to kill two birds with one stone. You know why? I could see them in person, go sightseeing and enjoy a lot of exotic landscapes. At the same time, I could practice colloquial English in real life with my relatives through this chance. Anyway, this fantastic memory will surely last forever. Now, among plenty of wonderful memories in the country, let me please share one event in this contest. I picked ‘Jungfraujoch’, the name of the mountain located in the town of Interlaken in Switzerland. Shortly after we arrived in Interlaken, we bought train tickets from Interaken to the peak of Ungfraujoch. It is at an altitude of 3,545 meters and the train goes all the way up. It took us more than 2 hours to get to the top of the mountain, stopping three or four times at stations. As we went up, the temperature fell and we suddenly felt chilly and even freezing; especially when we reached the peak. The most unbelievable thing on that mountain was that it was snowing on the summit even though it was still summer. It was definitely the most eccentric experience that I've ever had. From the visit, I happen to know why people in Europe call Jungfraujoch mountain 'ice caps' or 'permanent snow field'. I didn't prepare any thick clothes. So, the big difference in temperature between the mountain and on the ground finally made us catch a bad cold. We didn't actually have the slightest idea how cold it was up there. Anyway, it was much colder than I expected. Nevertheless, I would dare to say that the words such as marvelous, extraordinary and amazing are not enough to depict this spectacle sufficiently and I now agree that this mountain is one of the most popular and beautiful tourist attractions in the world. Adding to it, I and my wife rode an exciting sleigh, what they call 'snowrun', down slope from the top. It was a little bit scary but fun to do. We rode that small machine more than 5 times. In short, I was amazed at all the movie-like-scenes and authentic nature; such as a green-colored lake and some cows and horses out in a pasture that I saw on my way back and forth by train in that small town. I also realized that Switzerland is second-to-none when it comes to eco-friendly matters and the least contaminated nation in the world. In order for us to treasure that unforgettable scenery, I preserved those good memories in photographs as much as I could. Among them, I chose three photos here to show all of you. Two are from the peak of Junfraujoch and the other is the picture that I took with my relatives over Switzerland's traditional food, what we call ‘Fondue’, in a fancy restaurant after the visit to Jungfraujoch. Thanks for reading and watching my story to the end and I cordially wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the bottom of my heart. May God bless you and your family!