My parents and I booked an AirBNB in a small Swiss village — and if that wasn't seclusion enough, our lodging is actually on a tall hill *above* the village. I smiled knowingly as we arrived in darkness and prepared for bed, excited to see my parents' reaction to the view in the morning. As always, Switzerland did not [[vista.jpg|disappoint]]. ~ A quick excursion up the local mountain later, we decided to head to Thun, a city small by North American standards but much larger than our little village. Cutting through the old town, we reached a castle that rose above the town and held a view of the faraway Alps, at which point I joked to my dad that it resembled Brampton.[^1] With nothing else planned, we walked into the castle museum, which was closed but hosting an event that involved: a man dressed in cosplay, telling German tales to the children; free warm punch and Swiss chocolate; and (in my opinion, the coolest thing) an underground jazz fusion concert that inexplicably involved a xylophone-hybrid instrument I'd never seen before, a cello (not a bass) that the player only plucked, and an electric guitar. I wandered over to another man enjoying the punch (he also thought it was hot wine originally) to see if he knew what this event was. Turns out he lived in Bern — and assuming he was Swiss, I asked for recommendations. Turns out he had only lived in Bern for two days (visiting girlfriend, etc) and could wholeheartedly recommend the grocery store, the only sight he had seen. He asked where I was from. When I said Canada, he said "oui, vraiment?" instinctively. Assuming he was French, I apologised in advance for my poor accent. And there, with my second assumption proven wrong, in the midst of a random Swiss town we had decided to visit spontaneously, I met another compatriot, this time from Montreal. Right when I was explaining I was here with my parents, my mom had stumbled upon the jazz-fusion concert and called me from above, and so I ran away. When I returned, he was already gone. [^1]: This perspective is, of course, relative. If you consider black resembling white, Thun and Brampton would hold some similarity in your eyes.