Grüsse Jedermann!
So three crazy things is the title, and that is exactly what happened to me this week.
Crazy thing #1: I climbed a freaking mountain!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D For real! At 5 in the morning! For two hours, I hiked with 45 other exchange students up the Rigi, just to see the sunrise. If that's not crazy I don't know what is. But it was soooo worth it. That was the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen, well worth the exhausting hike (and we hiked for pretty much the rest of that day too), and being dead tired when I got back home. Gorgeous. And I got really close to all of the other exchange students. I think I've said this before, but I feel like I have a million instant best friends because we all know what each other are going through. We share stories about stuff that's happened to us so far, and most of them are hilarious. We talk about being a bit homesick, having language troubles, but at the same time all of us are in love with Switzerland. :] The exchange students are from all over the world, and staying all over Switzerland (8 were from the French part, so we couldn't speak German to them, we pretty much had an English speaking weekend, it was a nice break, I didn't have to think so hard haha) That was pretty much the most fun I've had so far, but I know something will be even better in the future :]
Crazy thing #2: I started Swiss school. I have to be insane. I'm in a foreign country, that I don't speak the language of, and I'm repeating a year of high school, with teenagers, who are at their most judgmental point in life (because let's be honest, teenagers are). But that's exactly why I came on exchange, to be open-minded, and maybe change other peoples minds about Americans, especially us crazy youth. ;] All of the kids in my class (a whopping 14, compared to the sometimes 30+ in Prior Lake), are super nice to me. They are all very interested me, and always explain anything I don't understand (which happens a lot when you don't speak the language). I think a lot of them like practicing their English on me. haha Another crazy thing that happened is I have to learn Piano!!! I have never played the piano in my life, and I have very little hand coordination, or any coordination for that matter (hence the watersports). Now they have the monumental task of trying to teach me how to play. I may come back to the states with a new skill!
Crazy thing #3: I'm on holidays already. Yup, one week of school and now I have an entire month off. This is because my class (the 14 of them, minus one or two) went to London this morning for 1 or 2 weeks (can't remember which). And there was no way they could get me a ticket and reservations after I had only been in the school a week, so I have holidays already... I want to go to London, but I don;t need to learn English haha. And my host family is taking me to France for a week and then Spain for a week, one right after the other!! That definitely makes up for it! :D So I'll try to write in this before I leave, but don't expect me to write while I'm in France or Spain. I don't think I'll be bringing my laptop...
So those were my three crazy things! How many people read this blog anyway??? Someone want to give me a rough estimate? haha Comment below and I will try to answer! Just make sure you comment on the most recent blog and not an older one because I don't see those!
Tschüss!!
-Anne-Marie
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
YOLO
Grüsse!
So how many people are either laughing or shaking their head at the title right now? Anyone in my generation would be. :] (For others it means: You only live once). And it's especially true for my exchange! I'm only going to live this year once so I'm doing as much as possible. Whenever someone asks me if I want to do something, most of the time I say yes.
Anyway, So Saturday, my host sister and I went riding (in the drizzle, it was fun, I'm pretty sure people thought we were crazy though, my host parents thought so). It was at the Western place again, and we full on galloped on a really long straight away. Those horses have so much power it's amazing and SO much fun :] It was laundry and chore day too, so I cleaned "my level" of the house (I live in the basement). One load of laundry takes 2 hours here. That's just the washing machine. And you hang everything to dry. Needless to say, it takes pretty much all day. My friend invited me to a movie with her (Expendables 2 in german haha), and during the break she explained to me anything that I missed (Not that there was much plot line). And yes there's a break. Halfway through the movie it just stops and the lights come back on so people can get more food or use the restroom. I was pretty confused at what was happening at first haha. I stayed overnight at her house afterwards. On Sunday my host parents took me to a tower in the forest (hiked to it) where you could see the whole surrounding villages (Seeland) for miles (Kilometer, still not used to metric). For dinner we had Raclette. Which is melted cheese. With bacon. That you put on potatoes, veggies, and other meats. It is so good. Honestly one of my favorite things here so far (and sooo fattening haha).
Monday I had Deutschkurs. Normal. I skyped my parents :] It was good to see them again. Tuesday I had my Deutschkurs, my friend (by the way only right now) invited me to her house so I was there for most of the evening. Her dad is rotary (not my club) so it was cool to meet him. Wednesday had Deutschkurs, then I went to my friend's school (she goes to the one "on the hill", I'm going to the one "on the lake") just to see what a Swiss school was like. I sat through one lesson of history (Vietnam War) and two of geography (Islamic cities and a video about Paris). I did okay understanding wise in the history class but I was so lost in the geography class... Probably because it was a completely new subject with complicated words so I had no idea what was going on.. :] Went to Body Pump that evening, which is "forced endurance training" to music. I have a punch card good for 12 classes now (150 CHF). The teacher of the class is hilarious because she speaks some English so I can understand whats going on, and French for others, even though the class is advertised as in German. haha
Thursday, the day of our dreaded final test in Deutschkurs! It covered pretty much everything we have learned and we got it back today. I didn't do to bad! :] haha Every noun here is masculine, feminine, or neutur, and there are no rules telling you what it will be; you just have to know. So it's really hard to remember all of them. After our test we were allowed to leave, and the other American exchange student and I finished at the same time, so we went to her house in Bremgarten (10 min out of Bern) and baked/ made desserts for the rotary weekend this Sat-Sun. We had a great time, it was probably the most I've laughed since I've been here :] Also Thursday, my friend, took me (with tickets from her father, who was there too) to see a acrobatic show called Cyclope (they pronounce it see-clop). It was a lot like cirque du soliel where the artists have this set that they do different tricks off of. One guy could do tricks on a pole, flips on a trampoline, and flips on/off a teeter-totter. It was soooo amazing.
Today was also a fun day. Last day of Deutschkurs. All of the exchange students had to give a presentation about themselves, where they live, their country (basically the rotary presentation). It was interesting to see all the different places (though we had 3 Kanada's). We somehow (accidentally) met up with another group of exchange students (also from rotary) when we were done with our Kurs. It was nice to see them all, some again because we saw them at the Welcome meeting. After that adventure I went to my school with my host mom to get my schedule and actually see the inside of the school. One of the teachers met with us and talked to us about my courses and stuff.. I have a different schedule everyday (like college).
Mondays I have Deutsch, Math, Biology.
Tuesday I have music, english (yesss), a class meeting like thing, a huge break and then Chemistry
Wednesday is super long, with Archeology (an elective), English, Gym (all girls), Chemistry, and history in English (literally the class name)
Thursday German, Physics (boo), Math, Chemistry, and "Practical Physics"
Friday Geography, history, Gym, and Biology
I have a feeling this will take some getting used to. My first day is Monday, but I just learned I will only have Math, because they have a test in German so there's no point in me being there because it's my first day and Bio class isn't happening either. This should be interesting!
Tomorrow I am off to Rigi for a two-day trip with the other exchange students. It's camping and hiking, and we are supposed to bring a dessert from our country to share (hence the baking chocolate chip cookies).
Anyway, Hope you had fun reading that super long thing ;]
Tschüss!
-Anne-Marie
So how many people are either laughing or shaking their head at the title right now? Anyone in my generation would be. :] (For others it means: You only live once). And it's especially true for my exchange! I'm only going to live this year once so I'm doing as much as possible. Whenever someone asks me if I want to do something, most of the time I say yes.
Anyway, So Saturday, my host sister and I went riding (in the drizzle, it was fun, I'm pretty sure people thought we were crazy though, my host parents thought so). It was at the Western place again, and we full on galloped on a really long straight away. Those horses have so much power it's amazing and SO much fun :] It was laundry and chore day too, so I cleaned "my level" of the house (I live in the basement). One load of laundry takes 2 hours here. That's just the washing machine. And you hang everything to dry. Needless to say, it takes pretty much all day. My friend invited me to a movie with her (Expendables 2 in german haha), and during the break she explained to me anything that I missed (Not that there was much plot line). And yes there's a break. Halfway through the movie it just stops and the lights come back on so people can get more food or use the restroom. I was pretty confused at what was happening at first haha. I stayed overnight at her house afterwards. On Sunday my host parents took me to a tower in the forest (hiked to it) where you could see the whole surrounding villages (Seeland) for miles (Kilometer, still not used to metric). For dinner we had Raclette. Which is melted cheese. With bacon. That you put on potatoes, veggies, and other meats. It is so good. Honestly one of my favorite things here so far (and sooo fattening haha).
Monday I had Deutschkurs. Normal. I skyped my parents :] It was good to see them again. Tuesday I had my Deutschkurs, my friend (by the way only right now) invited me to her house so I was there for most of the evening. Her dad is rotary (not my club) so it was cool to meet him. Wednesday had Deutschkurs, then I went to my friend's school (she goes to the one "on the hill", I'm going to the one "on the lake") just to see what a Swiss school was like. I sat through one lesson of history (Vietnam War) and two of geography (Islamic cities and a video about Paris). I did okay understanding wise in the history class but I was so lost in the geography class... Probably because it was a completely new subject with complicated words so I had no idea what was going on.. :] Went to Body Pump that evening, which is "forced endurance training" to music. I have a punch card good for 12 classes now (150 CHF). The teacher of the class is hilarious because she speaks some English so I can understand whats going on, and French for others, even though the class is advertised as in German. haha
Thursday, the day of our dreaded final test in Deutschkurs! It covered pretty much everything we have learned and we got it back today. I didn't do to bad! :] haha Every noun here is masculine, feminine, or neutur, and there are no rules telling you what it will be; you just have to know. So it's really hard to remember all of them. After our test we were allowed to leave, and the other American exchange student and I finished at the same time, so we went to her house in Bremgarten (10 min out of Bern) and baked/ made desserts for the rotary weekend this Sat-Sun. We had a great time, it was probably the most I've laughed since I've been here :] Also Thursday, my friend, took me (with tickets from her father, who was there too) to see a acrobatic show called Cyclope (they pronounce it see-clop). It was a lot like cirque du soliel where the artists have this set that they do different tricks off of. One guy could do tricks on a pole, flips on a trampoline, and flips on/off a teeter-totter. It was soooo amazing.
Today was also a fun day. Last day of Deutschkurs. All of the exchange students had to give a presentation about themselves, where they live, their country (basically the rotary presentation). It was interesting to see all the different places (though we had 3 Kanada's). We somehow (accidentally) met up with another group of exchange students (also from rotary) when we were done with our Kurs. It was nice to see them all, some again because we saw them at the Welcome meeting. After that adventure I went to my school with my host mom to get my schedule and actually see the inside of the school. One of the teachers met with us and talked to us about my courses and stuff.. I have a different schedule everyday (like college).
Mondays I have Deutsch, Math, Biology.
Tuesday I have music, english (yesss), a class meeting like thing, a huge break and then Chemistry
Wednesday is super long, with Archeology (an elective), English, Gym (all girls), Chemistry, and history in English (literally the class name)
Thursday German, Physics (boo), Math, Chemistry, and "Practical Physics"
Friday Geography, history, Gym, and Biology
I have a feeling this will take some getting used to. My first day is Monday, but I just learned I will only have Math, because they have a test in German so there's no point in me being there because it's my first day and Bio class isn't happening either. This should be interesting!
Tomorrow I am off to Rigi for a two-day trip with the other exchange students. It's camping and hiking, and we are supposed to bring a dessert from our country to share (hence the baking chocolate chip cookies).
Anyway, Hope you had fun reading that super long thing ;]
Tschüss!
-Anne-Marie
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Busy, Busy, Busy
I never realize how much goes on in a week until I start to write this blog!
Friday (8/24)- Had my Deutschkurs, went with my host mom and sister to a BBQ (not like America's at all, obviously), with their church, and my host sister stayed overnight there with a bunch of other kids her age (confirmation group).
Saturday was fun day! I saw Hornussen (Swiss farmer golf, as my host parents described it) in the morning, then went shopping with my friend in the afternoon, and in the evening washed and prepped the horses with my host sister for the show on Sunday.
Sunday I had a Rotary meeting in the morning. It was really fun to meet all of the exchange students (well half, they separated us into two groups based on where you are living). We all have pins that we exchange with each other that are from our country (or state if your USA), so my blazer is getting full of them. :] After the rotary meeting my host parents drove me to the horse show (Some of you might have already seen how I did on Facebook). I competed in the Gymkhana, which is basically an obstacle course on horseback. I ended up getting fourth place and winning a jacket :] Because the show grounds are so close to the farm where the horses live, we just rode the horses back. There were five of us on horseback, with a one-horse cart and another horse attached to that cart. We made quite the procession :]
Monday I was back to my Deutschkurs, and my host sister left for Tessin with her school, which is a canton near Italy. (See what I said about field trips???) Tuesday was a pretty relaxing day. We just stayed at home.
Wednesday! That was a fun and very packed day! My Deutschkurs went on a field trip around Bern :] We looked like the most ridiculous group of tourists ever. First we're all kids, and we were all speaking English to each other with German and Spanish thrown in, because four of the them are from South America, and every single one of us had a camera and were taking pictures of everything. The point of the field trip was to practice our German by buying things from different shops around Bern (I got band-aids and bread), but we did end up getting a bit sidetracked from time to time. For instance, we found a chocolate shop and went there instead of finding a shop with the things we needed. The we went to a Cafe to get coffee (somehow fit 13 people around an 8 person table), and went to the historical museum to see the Einstein exhibit. It was a lot of fun. I'll post some pictures :] After that field trip I had to quick catch a train home so I could go with my host mom and her friend on her friends boat. We were on Bielersee, and even though we were almost in the middle I could still touch. After a storm started coming we headed in. I worked out with some friends that evening, and I was very tired when I got home.
Thursday was a much more relaxing day, thankfully. I took a nap when I got home from Deutschkurs :]
Yesterday was Friday, and after my Deutschkurs I went shopping with one of the exchange students and I got a journal, so I can write in that every night and not forget anything :] Went grocery shopping with my host mom, picked up my host sister (It was pretty quiet without her here all week).
It was my parent's 26 anniversary yesterday so I thought about them a lot yesterday. But I'm having a good time here and I'm so glad I chose to be an exchange student :]
Tschüss!
-Anne-Marie
Friday (8/24)- Had my Deutschkurs, went with my host mom and sister to a BBQ (not like America's at all, obviously), with their church, and my host sister stayed overnight there with a bunch of other kids her age (confirmation group).
Saturday was fun day! I saw Hornussen (Swiss farmer golf, as my host parents described it) in the morning, then went shopping with my friend in the afternoon, and in the evening washed and prepped the horses with my host sister for the show on Sunday.
Sunday I had a Rotary meeting in the morning. It was really fun to meet all of the exchange students (well half, they separated us into two groups based on where you are living). We all have pins that we exchange with each other that are from our country (or state if your USA), so my blazer is getting full of them. :] After the rotary meeting my host parents drove me to the horse show (Some of you might have already seen how I did on Facebook). I competed in the Gymkhana, which is basically an obstacle course on horseback. I ended up getting fourth place and winning a jacket :] Because the show grounds are so close to the farm where the horses live, we just rode the horses back. There were five of us on horseback, with a one-horse cart and another horse attached to that cart. We made quite the procession :]
Monday I was back to my Deutschkurs, and my host sister left for Tessin with her school, which is a canton near Italy. (See what I said about field trips???) Tuesday was a pretty relaxing day. We just stayed at home.
Wednesday! That was a fun and very packed day! My Deutschkurs went on a field trip around Bern :] We looked like the most ridiculous group of tourists ever. First we're all kids, and we were all speaking English to each other with German and Spanish thrown in, because four of the them are from South America, and every single one of us had a camera and were taking pictures of everything. The point of the field trip was to practice our German by buying things from different shops around Bern (I got band-aids and bread), but we did end up getting a bit sidetracked from time to time. For instance, we found a chocolate shop and went there instead of finding a shop with the things we needed. The we went to a Cafe to get coffee (somehow fit 13 people around an 8 person table), and went to the historical museum to see the Einstein exhibit. It was a lot of fun. I'll post some pictures :] After that field trip I had to quick catch a train home so I could go with my host mom and her friend on her friends boat. We were on Bielersee, and even though we were almost in the middle I could still touch. After a storm started coming we headed in. I worked out with some friends that evening, and I was very tired when I got home.
Thursday was a much more relaxing day, thankfully. I took a nap when I got home from Deutschkurs :]
Yesterday was Friday, and after my Deutschkurs I went shopping with one of the exchange students and I got a journal, so I can write in that every night and not forget anything :] Went grocery shopping with my host mom, picked up my host sister (It was pretty quiet without her here all week).
It was my parent's 26 anniversary yesterday so I thought about them a lot yesterday. But I'm having a good time here and I'm so glad I chose to be an exchange student :]
Tschüss!
-Anne-Marie
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