Korean Job Discussion Forums

ed4444 · Joined: 12 Oct 2004

I decided to help a few of my Korean students to organise their trips around europe.

Needless to say there was a lack of imagination in their planning. It mostly involved just going from one western european capital to the next in a very short time.

However, one place kept popping up as a must see destination. You guessed it, Interlaken. One of the itineries looked like this.

1. London, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Prague, Interlaken, Rome, Madrid

Has anyone been to Interlaken? I looked it up and it seems to be a train station on the way to better places in Switzerland. Anyone know why its famous to Koreans?

I was thinking of suggesting strongly that they pick a nice Swiss village instead.

steveohan · Joined: 24 Apr 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

i was in interlaken in october. its a nice scenic place and is _the_ place to go if you're into adventure sports (bungee jumping, skydiving, etc). yes there is a train station and its a short walk to the two hostels (although im not sure if your korean students will be hostelling).

anyway, i was only there for a night, but its a nice little place. a little too expensive though - but that's switzerland for you.

if i could do it again though i would skip interlaken and spend more time in some smaller austrian villages.

steve.

tzechuk · Joined: 20 Dec 2004

We drove through Interlaken a couple of years ago.. a wonderful little place. We had lunch there. It might be famous because of its fondue?? No idea.....

khyber · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Compunction Junction

two guesses:
1) olympics
2) skiiing?

Ryst Helmut · Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 8:39 pm Post subject:

Interlaken was fine for a day and a half excursion....if you want to just do the schport thing. I did. The larger hostel (name escapes me) is nice as you can choose on the quality of room you want and its but a ten minute hike from the train station (head left down the main road when you get out of the station...it'll be on the left). I ended up sleeping on a hammock outside in the cool autumn under the stars, so my room condition(s) were moot....

I spent a few months in Europe and Interlaken was only a highlight because of the sporting atmosphere....other than that, it is severely lacking. I had loads better experiences elsewhere.

!Shoosh

Ryst

the saint · Joined: 09 Dec 2003 Location: not there yet...

Funny this came up in class earlier this week. They all wrote down a place they'd visited on a bit of paper and selected them to interview the person who'd been. Sure enough... Interlaken. Apperently, there's no nightlife, the food's awful and the place is a bit more expensive than Seoul. At least that's what my student thinks of it.

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

I went to Interlaken....I thought it was pretty boring. Pretty...sure! But not a whole lot to do there. And freakin' expensive!!! (as is all of Switzerland). I'd suggest that they DON'T try to do too many cities. Suggest that they spend a longer time in the cities that REALLY interest them (Rome, Prague, London, France) and be SURE they know the travel time between cities!! Europe looks small, but the train times between cities can be really long!!!

Also...many students feel that purchasing a Eurail pass will save them money, but that's not always the case. Have them check out
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?newrequest=yes&protocol=http:&

and check the price of tickets and time between destinations. It PROBABLY will be cheaper NOT to use Eurail.

Also, suggest that they be flexible. If they're really enjoying a city, there's REALLY no need for them to rush off to another city just because that was their "plan". As long as they make the flight back to Korea, whatever they do will be fine!

pollyplummer · Joined: 07 Mar 2005 Location: McMinnvillve, Oregon

Interlochen is gorgeous. I lived in Switzerland for awhile, and it is perhaps one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen... almost picture perfect like a postcard. The lakes/mountains are beautiful. And I love the food, but I dont know what kinds of tastes you have. It's definitely worth a visit.

flyguykorea · Joined: 18 Apr 2004

Yes, there is a train station at Interlaken and it's the base of a great skiing area - a beautiful city.

As to why Koreans would go there, I don't know, but I distinctively remember when I was there last September, hearing a loud Korean woman at the top of one of one of the mountains screaming "onye" to her friend...

Grrrrr....

Swiss James · Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Location: Shanghai

"the Sound Of Music" was on TV the other day- maybe that has something to do with it?

[and yes, I realise that was Austria]

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

Funny thing happened to me when I went to Interlaken with my American friend who has been living in Switzerland for quite some time:

Because I've lived in Korea for a long time, I'm used to seeing Asian faces....and because my friend has been in Switzerland for a long time, he's used to seeing white faces. While we were there, he kept saying "Wow! Look at all of the Asian people here!!" And I'd say "WHERE????" I kept saying "Wow! Look at all of the WHITE people here!!!" And he kept saying "WHAT???" Laughing

KoreanLifer · Joined: 30 Jan 2003

been to Interlaken, CH 2 times and every time all i saw was Koreans everywhere. they even took all the hotels and i camped out in the train station for the evening!

Zermatt is a beautiful place with alpine train ride similar to the one in Interlaken. Saint Moritz is nice also.take the Glacier express train from Zermatt to St. MOritz; probably the greatest train ride in the world! but very $$$$$