It's been almost two months since I started my MBA at Kellogg
School at Management and it has been an amazing roller-coaster ride
with only upward trajectory. The journey started with an amazing KWEST trip to
Switzerland and it was so much fun that I felt that it can't be put into words
until two my KWEST friends did it and did it nicely, though not completely! Hence I decided to repost
their article here. Thanks Nick and Jeremy for writing this great write up.
KWEST Switzerland: Rockin Interlaken- Jeremy Fiser &
Nick Rowland
In August, a group of 24 Kwestees invaded
Switzerland, ironic given the country’s famed neutrality. Armed with five
stellar leaders and nineteen perfect strangers, KWEST Switzerland (“K Swiss”)
arrived with one objective: To Rock Interlaken. Upon arrival, we wasted
no time and embarked upon a vertical march up the Harder Klum, an unbeknownst
test of the endurance required for the week. That night, K Swiss
congregated in the lobby of the finest hostel in Interlaken and created “Big
Booty” (ask any K Swiss member how the game goes), a raucous drinking game that
on more than one occasion landed K Swiss on the bad side of the hostel’s overly
attentive Russian bouncers. K Swiss kept the “Baton tradition” alive, and
potentially took it to new levels (spoiler alert – if while drinking you see
any K Swiss member with a baton, run). Casually hungover, K Swiss went
canyoning the next morning through the valleys of Interlaken and met the now
cult favorite guide Simon, the overly enthusiastic outdoor guide (You will hear
impersonations of Simon from K Swiss members: “GUYS…WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO NOW
IS JUMP OFF THE LEDGE….”). While canyoning the glacial runoff, K Swiss
invented what is now known as the “Neutral Dance” (see Hearne or Glicken for a demonstration).
After our first (10 minute) break, K Swiss then zipped through the tree tops of
Interlaken, tackling a ropes course that took Kwestees fifty feet in the air
with nothing but a carabineer and “social proof” from preventing a fateful slip
(note: dynamite usage of a MORS 430 term). That night, the K Swiss crew
was hosted at the finest restaurant in Interlaken, at least the finest that we
could afford (thanks all-time high CHF/USD exchange rate) to nourish ourselves
for the task the next day: glacier hiking and ice climbing. Upon
being informed by our guide (a Nordic pirate with a mullet and fantastic
‘stache) that little kids can do this, K Swiss’ confidence was at an all-time
high… until we were lowered 50 feet into a crevice of the glacier and asked to
climb out with only shoe spikes and an ice axe. While looking over the glaciers
out upon the beautiful mountains of Switzerland, a few thoughts crept into our
minds: 1) We are all in terrible shape; 2) Hangovers and ice climbing mix
poorly; 3) I don’t think Evanston looks like this; and finally 4) Who are these
people? Thankfully, the Big Reveal was only a day away. But, before that,
there was a murder! K Swiss held an 80’s murder mystery party, laden with
mixed messages and mixed drinks, all encouraged to help solve the mystery of
“whodunit”. After a free day, which created various levels of nervousness
for the leaders, K Swiss found out who all these people were. Shockingly,
most of the group used to be consultants (no one saw that coming). Also,
beyond the belief of most Kwestees, apparently our leader Brooke “Ternes” is
“married” to Ameed Mallick, or so we’re told. The next day, KSwiss
bid adieu to Interlaken and neutrally moved to Zurich (having no collective
opinion on the matter). While in Zurich, K Swiss swam in Lake Zurich,
lounged in the parks, ate at the finest bier halls, and congregated in the
city’s famed “casual drinking squares”.
On what was to be the last
night, we aggressively partied at Zurich’s #1 (potentially only) disco roller
rink club all decked out in white (thankfully before Labor Day). With
bottle service and roller skates, DJ Matt Kawadlar treated the crew to his
famed free style rap. With these tunes in the background, we were all
taught the “Barry Sherman,” a South African dance craze bound to sweep through
The Keg any day. Despite best efforts, we returned to our hostel safely
expecting to fly home the next morning, but we all had yet to meet Hurricane
Irene. While most international travelers were distraught by the havoc
and delays, K Swiss was happy to spend one more day in glorious Switzerland, if
nothing else to sleep off the hangover and reflect on our victory knowing that
we’d just been on the best KWEST trip (a fittingly neutral perspective).
