My first semester here at Bossey ended with a (badly needed) two-week break. About three-quarters of the students who’ve been here since September have left, having completed the five-month Graduate School program for which they registered. That leaves eight of us behind until the summer, completing master degrees in ecumenical studies. As you might imagine, the place is quite different with so many of our friends and colleagues now back in their home countries. But those of us left behind are managing, and certainly have enough academic work to keep us busy.
Notwithstanding academics, when I arrived in Switzerland I promised myself that I’d take advantage of the ease with which one can travel throughout Europe. Trains here are frequent, extensive, and reliable, and air travel is dirt cheap. So during my first week off I hopped on the TGV (France’s version of the high-speed train) and took a 300 km/h journey to Paris, where I met up with my ol’ buddy Stuart Greer, who’s now a London-based TV reporter. He’s been to Paris a bunch of times, and so was a great tour guide. We hit the usual spots: the Eiffel Tower, Champs d’Elysées, the Louvre, Notre-Dame Basilica, etc. I totally felt like a tourist, but it was good fun.
The following weekend it was off to the Mediterranean coast—Monaco, more specifically—where my erstwhile Quebec cathedral colleague Wally Raymond is now chaplain of St. Paul’s, the Church of England congregation in Monte Carlo. Since my visit included a Sunday, Wally invited me to preach. I was privileged to do so, and it was an extra treat because it was the first time I’d ever celebrated Mothering Sunday, 
which the Church of England still customarily observes on the fourth Sunday of Lent. A still further treat to my trip to the Riviera was the last-minute decision by my friends Christian Schreiner and Esperanza Rada (with whom, as you’ll recall below, I spent some of the Christmas holidays) to drive from Bavaria to join us. Wally, Christian and I were on all staff at the cathedral in Quebec for about six months in 2004, so it made for a nice reunion.I realize that my choice and frequency of blog entries may leave the impression that I’m doing not much more over here than traipsing around Europe. I am, in fact, studying. (I’ve got my first semester transcripts if anyone would like proof!) Since those of us remaining for these final months are completing master degrees, the curriculum has kicked up some notches accordingly. The courses are of the seminar type, and include the themes of church and state, healing and reconciliation, inter-religious dialogue, and methodology—all from an ecumenical perspective, of course. The whole while, we’re also to be working on our 100-page dissertations. I’ll be finalizing a topic soon, and will keep you posted, should you be interested.
