When I was awarded the opportunity to represent JFAO on an exchange to Switzerland a few months ago, I was very excited. I had no idea what to expect upon my arrival because I would be the first JF delegate to go, and before I left Canada I had no time to do any research on what I would expect to find in Switzerland.

I was met by Ursula from the IFYE (International 4-H Youth Exchange) organization which organizes the Swiss exchange program. I arrived just before the beginning of the 50th annual IFYE Conference, and since this year it was being held in Switzerland, all incoming delegates were able to attend the week long affair. This was where I got my first impressions of the country, and I must say that Switzerland is by far the cleanest and safest place I have ever been - and you had better be ready to eat cheese with every meal...

On our arrival at the conference I was given the job of showing people to the dormatories, which happened to be what I would call a nuclear fallout shelter. That's right - we stayed in an underground bunker complete with a decontamination chamber and two solid 10'' thick concrete doors. So yes, very safe indeed.

My first week at the conference was very interesting. I was able to meet all of the other incoming delegates, as well as many people from all across Europe and the USA who had been on an exchange in the past. It was amazing how many people I met who had either been to Canada on exchange, who knew someone from JF who had been on an exchange, or knew someone who had been to Ontario on exchange. It was really an amazing experience and I learned a lot about Switzerland and many other countries around the world. I had a really great time and I am definately looking forward to attending another IFYE conference.

The IFYE exchange experience is quite a lot different from what I expected. I will be staying with three host families - three weeks with each family. After the conference ended I met my first host family in a small town called Leontica, which is in Ticino, a canton (province) of Switzerland where the main language is a dialect of Italian. I was greeted by Lilo and Anita Gianora, and their three sons Pascal, Matteo, and Remo.

The first thing that I learned about Leontica is that farming there is very different from anything in Canada. Leontica is in the Alps and is about 900 meters above sea level (approx. 3000 feet), so the scenery is definitely a little different.

I arrived just in time to help gather hay, which happens to be the only crop the farmers there are able to grow. I decided to call this adventure Black Diamond Haying, mostly due to the fact that on one field we had to cut around the chairlift tower that was in the middle of the field.

When the hay was finished there was little left to do around the farm, because the cows are kept high in the Alps (approx. 2000 meters or 6500 ft. above sea level) and the farmers have hired help to milk the cows and make the milk into cheese. Lilo and Anita's farm was really interesting to see because I have definately never seen farming like that, and I am still not quite sure how farmers here are able to make a living since most of them milk between 15 and 25 cows.

My time with the Gianoras has wrapped up, and I'm moving on to my next host family. They live in a small town near the German border, just north of Zurich, so hopefully I will not get lost while changing trains in Zurich.