Young Women's Dinner and Leadership Dialogue

Last night we had our first event of the conference. After meeting with the other young women at Kongresshaus, we were taken to a fantastic camp site for our dinner. The YWCA/YMCA Switzerland function much like Girl/Boy Scouts. They take youth to these campsites where they learn to build campfires and do team building activities. It was a neat cabin type building surrounded by a lush green forest. It was really great to have the oppurtunity to see the rural side of Zurich. They had these really interesting logs that had been cut "pizza style" about 3/4 of the length. Then they set the logs on fire. (pictures to follow) They were really interesting to look at, and if it had been cold, they would have been perfect. However, we were basically surrounded by them as we ate, so the smoke and ashes blew all over us. I didn't really expect to come home from Zurich with clothes...or hair....that smelled like a camp fire. In a more open, colder environment I would have thought they were amazing :) We sampled food from Switzerland, Asia and Italy. It became clear very quickly that sausage in the US is very different from the sausage in Switzerland. The sausage here had a very smooth consistency. It was interesting. Otherwise, the food was pretty good.  After dinner, there was a diversity catwalk. People from different countries dress in their native dress and walked the calwalk with a new friend of their choice. It was really fun to see the elaborate costumes of particular countries. It was such a fantastic experience to learn about different cultures and talk with different people. Fantastic night!!

Leadership Dialogue to follow.