Day 12; FISU and Rest!

Rain, rain, go away...

Today was a nice relaxing day for most of us, which I think we could all agree was much needed. Not that being in Europe for 18 days is strenuous or anything, but we leave for Greece tomorrow and had a free afternoon, so naps were top on our list.

However, first on our list for this final day in Lausanne, Switzerland was visiting FISU or International Sports Federation University! If you're wondering why the first letters of each word don't spell FISU that is because FISU is from the French way of saying it which is Federation Internationale de Sport Universite.

Here we met with a guy named Julien who gave us a presentation full of information about FISU and later gave us a tour of the building. Due to the fact that it was a Saturday, and the building is located on the campus of the University of Lausanne, we basically had the place to ourselves.

Overall it was an amazing opportunity for this SU Abroad trip to go and visit Julien at FISU. He told us about the history of the organization that dates back all the way to 1949. It was finally recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1961, and they've managed to grow tremendously since then. Everything that they organize is considered an educational event even though people are allowed to enter from the ages 17-28 (sign me up!) Of course, you must be a student to participate, but as Julien stated they're still trying to figure out a registration system that's easy and works worldwide. This information caught the attention of some of my peer, so perhaps we'll see some SU representation at the future FISU games.

One of the main takeaways from this presentation was that FISU is primarily Europe focused even though it allows teams from all over the world to participate. America itself barely sends anyone to the games as in the recent past they've lost to Mexico in American Football and Japan in baseball. Julien explained that this was primarily because of the NCAA and its structure, but with FISU being held in Lake Placid in 2023 they hope for some more American exposure!

The games take place every two years and summer and winter happen will within the same year. It's surreal how they manage to put everything together with such a small staff.

After this presentation, we hopped on the metro back to the hotel where we were all given the rest of the day free. Instead of sticking as a group we broke up and did our own little thing which was good considering it started to downpour around 4ish.

Some of us visited a winery (21+ people), some napped, some ate, and some napped. A majority did the last three and then packed!

As for tonight when we reconvene, if the rain decides to stop finally, we'll probably visit the free concert that they have by the water which is also surrounded by all these different food trucks.

Lausanne overall was breathtaking, and today was much needed, but it's time for Greece!

Bon voyage for our last final six days in Europe together!