It is almost exactly 3 months (AKA 90 days) until I return to the US... It's really bittersweet. I miss everyone back home, sure; but I have lived so much here... I'll definitely be in culture shock going back to the loud, car-driving Americans. But more on that when it happens!
It is already April! Holy cow! I've probably said this before, but time just flies by. I did A LOT last month. Probably one of my busiest months here so far!
Since I last wrote, I went and saw a dance competition in Biel on March 16 (My friends "crew" got 2nd!); went skiing with my Rotary club (mostly old men, I was the youngest by at least 30 years, haha) (3/22-24), spent 5 days (3/29-4/2) in Tessin (Italian part of Switzerland) with my host family (plus their friends, my host dad made lasgna for 24 people Saturday night), visited a Brewery and a wellness pools/spa with my class (4/4). Well I guess that's getting into April, but if you count all the stuff I did the first half of March it's a lot! Fasnacht feels like so long ago, it was only a month!
The dance competition was really cool to see, it was mostly "street dancing", so the busted out some pretty cool moves! haha
Skiing was also good! I didn't fall once! :] We went pretty early (on the slopes by 9 am every day), and the snow got really soft in the afternoon from the warm sun, so we stopped around 1 pm every day. I was still really tired afterwards though! There was a pool and spa at the hotel too. I had the whole pool to myself one afternoon. :] Before dinner on Saturday night, we had a presentation from the world champion paraglider! He did the "Red Bull X-Alps" competition, and got first place by a pretty big margin. According to Wikipedia: "Athletes must either hike or fly almost 900 km across the Alps from Salzburg to Monaco in the fastest time possible" It runs every other year, and the guy I met won the last two years, with Swiss guys winning every year since it started in 2003. It was so cool to see how he went through training and how he beat out everyone else. Here's the website if you want to check it out: http://www.redbullxalps.com/
The Monday after I got back from Skiing, I went to see my friend Mackenzie (from Buffalo, New York) play piano and sing in front of a Rotary club. Six of us exchanies showed up to support her, and she was AMAZING.
So missed school Monday, then we had Good Friday off, and I went with my host parents to Tessin! We had to cross a part of Italy, but we didn't even have to slow down at a check point.. I didn't even notice we were in Italy until an hour in! Then we were back in Switzerland, in the middle of the mountains. We literally had to hike to the house. Which was kind of hard for me because the night before we left (Thursday), I was riding my bike home, it was snowing/ raining, and my friend asked me a question, and then a pole jumped in front of my bike. Needless to say, my knee is still black/ blue today, but I couldn't walk very well the day after. So my host dad made three trips down and up (the mountain) to get all our stuff. It was a really fun trip though. I met a lot of people because my host brother and sister (even though the don't live at home anymore), invited their friends, so they had 19 people in another house. The houses we were staying in were around 300 years old!!!!! Pretty much completely made of stones, even the roof! I learned how to bake bread (in a wood-fire oven), and we also went hiking. There are these awesome "remains" of abandoned houses. The roofs were caved in but the walls were pretty much still there, but covered in moss and things. Really cool.
Finally, yesterday I went on a field trip with my class to the Feldschlosschen Brewery. We got a tour, and the explained how they made the beer. Though it was all in Swiss German, and not the dialect I'm used to, so I didn't understand a lot. It was still interesting though! We also got to see the horse team. They have 8 Belgians (I think). One of them tried to bite me and another slobbered all over me haha. I miss seeing horses almost every day! After the brewery we went to a pool/ spa. It basically had a bunch of thermal pools, steam rooms, etc. That was really nice!
So I'm all caught up now! I just started Spring Break today. :] On April 11 (Thursday) I go to my 3rd and final host family; they have three daughters ages 14, 16, and 20, so it should be interesting! Plus, on the 15th I go to Italy!! I'm so excited for that trip! :]
I'll update with pictures soon (not like last time, where it was a month..)
Tschüss!
-Anne-Marie
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