Tschüss!

    This is the end. (Hold your breath and count to ten). I seriously can not write that sentence without thinking about Skyfall by Adele. haha
    In reality it was the end about two months ago. And I'm just writing this now. I'll just use the excuse that I was too busy trying to get back into American mode. :]
    I miss Switzerland, and I miss the people more. All my host families and friends. I miss them so much. Thankfully it is relatively easy to get in contact with them through e-mail, skype, and instant messaging. But they still feel far away. Now instead of being homesick for the US, I'm homesick for Switzerland.
    In other news, my culture shock is going well. I honestly don't think it really hit me until I went to college. Being home with my family, seeing everyone I hadn't seen in a year, and seeing all my horses again really kept my mind off of it. But now, I see people my age and I sometimes can't help but think "Seriously? How can you think like that? This is why people in other countries don't like Americans." It just feels like some people are ignorant of the world, but I know I can't do anything about that. I wish going on exchange was required for life, the world would be such a better place, people would actually understand each other and problems could be solved.
    Okay, I guess my culture shock is a work in progress according to that last paragraph, getting annoyed with the way people do things is one of the steps. haha Well as I said before, I'm in college now, at South Dakota State University. I took a German placement test to see which courses I could take to get a German minor, and for a girl who could say "Hello" and "My name is..." when the plane took off, I think I did pretty good! I tested out of thirteen credits of German, all I have to do is pass my level 400 course with a C or better. I think I can handle that. :] Here at SDSU, you only need 20 credits to get a minor, and I'll have 17 done hopefully after this semester. My parents are pretty happy about that!
    Speaking of college, I should probably be doing homework and getting ready for class. This will probably be my last blog, unless I go on another adventure in the future. So until then, tschüss! Ich hoffe wir sehen uns wieder!
Liebe Grüsse, Anne-Marie

I Lived

Ok wow. I have three weeks left of my exchange. And I may or may not be super far behind on writing this blog. Oops.

Let’s see:

April: I switched host families, and went to Rome and Venice (and took 500 pictures). My new host family is great. I feel like I haven’t been around them much because I keep going on trips and things, but they are still awesome. I have three host sisters; the oldest went to Australia two years ago on exchange, so she speaks to me in English, then the middle speaks Swiss German or High German, and the youngest pretty much only High German. It makes my brain keep thinking! Haha The trip to Rome and Venice was with all the Rotary Exchange students (well 54 of them). It was SO much fun. We had 3 days in Rome and 2 in Venice, and we walked  A LOT. It was also 4 to a room, and when you have four teenagers in a room together, not much sleeping happens. I guess it was good we walked so much, so we went to bed a little earlier at least. Haha Like I said earlier, I took 500 photos just on that trip, so I’ll try to pick out the best ones to post on here. :]

May: First I sang in a choir concert, on May 1, 3, 4, and 5. Most of the songs were in other languages, including Swiss German, English, French, Italian, and Portuguese. I only sang one song in Swiss German, but we did sing three in English. My favorite one we sang was Bohemian Rhapsody, except they can’t pronounce the “th” sound so we would sing “sympaTy” instead of the right way. Haha My second favorite was the French one we sung called Tourdion. Each section (bass, tenor, alto, soprano) sings different verses, and they sound so pretty together. It’s also a drinking song haha. I also went to my friends Opera concert on May 8. Next I went with my current host family to France from May 9 to the 11. We were visiting a friend of my host mom who lives near Annecy. We also went to this really cool (scary) gorge called Les Gorges du Fier. There was a walkway built into the side of the gorge. And the water rushed below us.

Got back, had school for a week, and then went to France again! :] This time to Alsace from the 17^th to the 20^th with my first host family, but because it was a family trip, my second family was there too. (Host dads are brothers) I’ve gotten to know that big family really well with me living with both of them. :] We had a lot of fun, eating a lot, going to the nearby city of Colmar, going walking (three hours in the rain to a different village to have lunch, and then back), and seeing the Stork Park.  I really felt like I was another family member, I loved it.

Next I had school for a week; well three das really, because on Friday (5/24) my class went on a field trip. We went for geography class, learning about agglomerations, and the villages around Bern. We also hiked through the forest, saw a waterfall, and hiked by the river. :] It was a bit cold, and a very gray day, but it was still a lot of fun.

Then my parents and aunt and uncle arrived!!! I was so happy to see them again after 10 months! They arrived on the 26^th, and we toured around Switzerland for a week. We saw Jungfraujoch, my home city of Biel, the Gruyere cheese factory and village/ castle and the Cailler chocolate factory, Schaffhausen and Rhine Fall, Avences to see some Roman ruins, Bern (my favorite city), and a bit of Geneva before we caught the train to France. My favorite evening was when my parents and aunt and uncle got to meet all three of my host families. We all had dinner together on Friday evening. I have pictures of all of my mothers, and all of my fathers together; I think they are my new favorite pictures ever.

Then it was June! My parents, aunt and uncle, and I caught the TGV train to Paris on the 2^nd. Paris is just as amazing as everyone raves it is! We had dinner with friends of my parents, and the parents of the Frenchie who stayed at our house for a month two summers ago. It was great to see him again. :]  I saw the Eiffel Tower up close at least 4 times, and went up it once, went up the Arc de Triomphe, walked down the Champs Elysees, went on the Bateux Mouches (a super fancy, dinner boat tour), saw Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, and Sacre Couer Cathedrals, and, of course, the Louvre, and finally a Moulin Rouge show! It was definitely an awesome week! Then I hoped on a train to come back to Switzerland on the 7^th, while my parents and aunt and uncle stayed in Paris to catch planes home the next day. It felt kind of weird leaving them, the whole time I was with them, I felt like I was going to be going home with them. I’m still in Switzerland for three weeks though! And I’m definitely going to be enjoying them!

This week, I gave my last presentation to Rotary on Tuesday. I compared the US and Switzerland (with WAAAAY better German this time, haha), and then I tried to tell them about my exchange. I saw tried, because I got about three sentences out before I just started bawling. I think they thought it was because I was nervous or something first, so they had me sit down, and the kid who’s going to Brazil next year gave a quick speech about who he was and why he wanted to go on exchange. Then I stood up and tried again, I made it to the last slide, with a trembling voice and half sobs, but then I just glanced at the pictures of me with my host family, and my host sisters and I just lost it again. I don’t want to go home.

Don’ t get me wrong, I love my family and friends in the US and all that. And I am excited to start college. But I have another home here too. And I’m going to miss it so bad when I have to leave it all on the 5^th.

So I started my crunch of trying to do as many things as possible in the little time I have left. I’ve been doing awesome so far! I had dinner with my class at a teachers house on Tuesday night; went to an Opera Wednesday night, and it was actually funny and interesting, because I could actually read the translation into German (it was originally in Italian); then I went with my class on Thursday to Europapark, a big theme park in Germany; then Friday I actually had school (which I didn’t know until Tuesday evening haha). Yesterday my Rotary district (about 20 exchange students) had our last debriefing meeting. Although honestly, it was not very well planned out. We took pictures and all that, which was fun, and then they said wait 15 or 20 minutes and we’ll call you in to walk around with your flags. We waited and hour and a half! And then we walked two circles around a room, while people clapped. Then someone spoke in French, even though half of us only speak German, and have no idea what was being said. And the “lunch” was basically little tiny appetizers, you had to eat so many to get a real meal. Haha Then finally we met with a Rotarian who spoke German, and we talked about how our exchange went. For about 20 minutes. The best part about it was that I got my exchange friends to sign my Swiss flag (all exchange students get a flag from  their host country signed, yes even the ones in America).

Well that was my last three months! I’ll try to get some photos up, but I’ll try and pick the best ones too, so there aren’t like 500. ;] I probably won’t write again within the next three weeks, but I’ll try and write an update when I’m finally back in the states.

Tschüss!

-Anne-Marie

3 Months

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

Glunge

Anyone want to guess what the title is? Hint: It's Swiss German, and there's probably a lot of them in the Spring time. ;] I love that word, it fits the thing so well. haha
Wow so much has happened in the last month.. I have officially hit over 1,600 photos taken, but in my defense it has been over 7 months!
I ended up going to four different Fasnachts. :]  My first was in Luzern (2/11), where everyone dresses up in crazy costumes, with lots of marching bands in parades (and TONS of Confetti). The masks are often three times larger than normal heads, so they have a hole for the instrument to be played. And all the costumes are hand-made!! People really go all out. I went with a exchange student who lives in Luzern, and her host parents had literally 100 costumes that we were allowed to wear to the festival. I had blue pirate pants on, a greenish-bluish waistcoat, a rainbow-sequined fanny pack, and my blue sequined fedora hat. I was quite  a mix match of things haha.
 My second was in my "home-town" of Biel (2/14), where I went with my host club to a dinner/ Fasnachtfest. It was all inside, and some of the heads on the costumes were to big to fit through the doors! A lot of the costumes lit up too, so they would sometimes turn all the lights off as they played. It was pretty funny being the youngest one there, but all of the adults pelted confetti at each other like they were teenagers. :]
Then in the capital of Switzerland, Bern (2/15), which was again all outside, and I was with a bunch of other exchange students (a lot live in/ near to Bern). The last was in Basel (2/18). Basel was really special, because I took a train at 2 in the morning to get to Basel by 3, and then you go into the heart of the city. Right at 4 am, every light in the city turns off, and all of the "cliques" (bands, consisting of only piccolo/ flutes and drums) are all lit up. Sometimes all you could see were floating lights. SO pretty, but I was so tired the rest of the day/ week! Didn't help that I hadn't gotten much sleep the bulk of the weekend. Bern Fasnacht was Friday, then we had a Winter Weekend (2/16-17) with a bunch of other Exchange students in Engelberg where we went ice skating, played in the snow, and went sledding. This is not your normal sledding we think of though, this is basically a luge run down a mountain! So much fun, but most definitely a bit dangerous on the really steep parts. Needless to say, being with a bunch of teenagers, we didn't get to much sleep. Then Basel Fasnacht was Sunday night/ Monday morning. I was really tired for a few days afterwards!
A woman from my Rotary club took me to Luzern  on 2/24 to show me around, it was nice to actually have a "formal" tour, instead of the random wandering you do with other exchangers. She took me to Zurich as well on 3/9, and today I'm going to watch a dance competition with her here in Biel.
On 3/2, I went with the daughter of my host parents (she doesn't live here anymore, but I guess she's still my host sister?), to Grindelwald. It was with a church group again, but all young adults, I was the youngest. We had cheese fondue on a fire (a upright standing log with slots cut into it for fire, and nails on the top for a stove-top. Not really sure how they did it, but it worked really well.), and went sledding. Again, not your average, every-day sledding! Grindelwald was WAY steeper than Engelberg. There was a "fast" run and a "slow" run, we all agreed the fast run was much more fun, but it really was down a mountain! Plus it was at night... at least we all had ski helmets on! There was even an accident (not from our group) and a girl got flown out with a helicopter! So kinda dangerous...it was so worth the soreness and bruises though! haha At he end we sledded down the ski hill! It had no lights on it unlike the sled run, so those who didn't have head lamps had to follow someone who did. Only in Switzerland. :]
Next weekend 22-24 (skipping school on Friday, ;] ) I'm going with my Rotary club (which is mostly old guys... haha) to Adelboden-Lenk for a ski weekend. Over Easter my host parents are bringing me with to Tessin (East, southern, Italian part of Switzerland), and I change host families one more time! And right after I change families, I am going to Italy! My trip includes Rome and Venice (Rom und Venedig auf Deutsch) and it is the 3rd week of April (14-20) , second week of my spring break. So I have a lot to look forward to this next month as well. :]
So hope you all have a wonderful month! And maybe if someone can guess the title right, they will get a prize. ;]
Tschüss!
-Anne-Marie

Schon 6 Monaten!

EDIT:
Grüsse all!
I haven't been to busy lately, mostly just school. I started a new semster Monday (2/4), but I ended up not having school that day because my classmates had "matura arbeit tag" (Like a thesis paper they all have to write to graduate, and they start their 11th year and get work days). My Mondays-Wednesdays are pretty long now... 7:30-3:35 on Monday (lunch not till 1 D: ), Tuesday 7:30-5:20, but a long midday break, and Wednesday 7:30-4:30. But Thursday is only from 7:30-12 and Friday 9:15-1:50, so it kinda makes up for it..
Last Friday (2/1) I went to a concert here in Nidau, it was a son of a friend of my host parents (he's 20s ish). He was really good! His name is James Gruntz, he sings pop and in English (a lot of people do actually). After the concert his dad bought me a CD and James signed it. :]
Then the next day (Sat 2/2), I went to Geneva with a friend. We basically had no plan, so we got there then picked random directions to go and got on random trams and got off when something looked interesting. We found the Sumo guy on the side in front of a modern art place, so we thought we'd take him on. ;] And we ended up finding the lake eventually, and a really big cathedral: St. Pierre Cathedral. It was huge and gorgeous. :] Then we went to Basel (on the other side of the country, a four hour train trip) and met up with three other exchange students. I caught a train home around 10, but I was still really tired the next day from all the walking. :]
On that Thursday (2/7), I ate wild pig with my host Rotary club! There were only 5 women there including me, so the guy in charge of the night (also the hunter) gave us each a rose. :] The food was SO good, and I ate way to much. haha
On Saturday morning (2/9) I made an American breakfast for 10 people (pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs). :] I think I didn't make enough still, but everyone liked it. They all tried maple syrup for the first time, and peanut butter too! :]
I'm on break now, "Sportferien". Literally a week off so people can go skiing; only in Switzerland. :] I am maybe going skiing this Wednesday, and then on Thursday is a Fasnachtfest (Carnaval) with my Rotary Club. Then Saturday and Sunday is a Rotary Weekend with a bunch of other Exchange Students; we're going ice skating and sledding (down a mountain!). So this next week is pretty busy. :]
Annnnd...
I've been in Switzerland 6 months already!!!!! Well as of tomorrow anyway!
Das ist unglaublich..(That is unbelievable)
Time has gone by so fast, yet so much has happened. There's a great quote I heard once about austauschjahre (exchange year): "Exchange isn't a year in your life, it's a life in a year." And that really is true. I am so glad I got on that plane and didn't say my thoughts of "I want to go home" out loud the first or second month. It was hard at first, but it was so worth it. I've met so many amazing people, done so many amazing things. I feel like I've changed, maybe even grown up a little, and learned so much. It's the kind of experience no school or actually person could teach you, it's just life. And being on this adventure is the best year of my life so far. I can't wait to see what will happen in the months to come, and I know I will miss Switzerland dearly when I have to leave. Because it really is a life in a year.
Have a wonderful February!
-Anne-Marie

Frohes Neue Jahre!

Well hello all!
Yes it's been a month since I last wrote, but in my defense, everything really interesting happened in the past two weeks, and I had no time to write.
So let's see, my last week of school before ferien was great. Had a couple tests, but the teachers were really relaxed otherwise. My Chem teacher bought us coffee. :] I also went to a hockey game on the 22. Biel won again. :] But I got beer spilled into both of my boots.. That was gross, plus it was raining outside and I had to partially walk home. :[
Skyped with my family in South Dakota on the 23rd, and my mom's side of the family on the 25th. It was good to see all of my family, I was a little sad that I couldn't be there in person. All of the exchange students say Christmas is the hardest time to be away from your family, and I would definitely agree. But I'm taking advantage of my awesome year in Switzerland, and trying not to stay homesick for to long. Christmas is not so over the top here. Where we put up a crazy amount of lights and decorations up, they seem more minimal here. They also don't really put up decorations until a week or so before Christmas, and take them down almost immediately afterwards. Not like the USA, where the decorations are up from November until March. haha And the tree, that kind of scared my sometimes. They put REAL candles on the tree!!! Every time they lit them (whenever people were over) I was just imagining my family's tradition of burning the tree in the first bonfire of the year, and the flames reaching 30 ft into the sky. They also put little sparklers on the tree. Yes, the fire kind. They only last a couple seconds, but they still worried me.
I skyped with my mom, my synchro co-captains, and their moms on my mom's Birthday (28th), that was nice too. I miss those girls, and their moms were like second moms to me, so them all together was fun. :]
For New Years, we went to Lenk, where friends of my host parents were staying. At midnight there were fireworks and lots of bells ringing. It was loud, we were up the side of a mountain a bit, and we could still here the people yelling the countdown in the town below. :] Then on the first, I had my first skiing experience in the Swiss Alps. :] I only fell a few times, but it was still fun. :]
Then the next two days were spent packing and cleaning. I moved to my new host family (the brother of my old host dad), on the 3rd. I really settled in fast here, I think. My room is already all decorated with pictures my parents have sent me, a Hawaii calendar from my Auntie, and a horse calendar from my grandparents. :]  (anyone else want to send me pictures for my wall? ;] )I also have a stash of food from Christmas still; so much chocolate!! I went to see Life of Pi with my host parents too, that movie is so good! And the music is awesome too! I highly recommend looking up the soundtrack. ;]
Then on the 5th my old host family picked me up and we went to Leukerbad for a skiing/ thermal pool week. That was AMAZING. I'm basically speechless on how to describe it. It's on people bucket lists to go skiing in the Swiss Alps, surrounded by gorgeous snow covered mountains, and I got to do it. There were moments when I was skiing where I just looked around me and thought "Oh My God, I can't believe I'm here". It was so surreal and just amazing. Falling at least twice a day didn't even take away the surrealness. ;] I was always exhausted afterwards though. There are also thermal baths (pools). Only one comes right from the ground, the hottest one (you can't stay longer than 30 min, I only stayed 10ish), the others are all hot-tub-warm though. And most of them are OUTSIDE. So you're just relaxing in the warm water, with jets giving you a massage, and there are mountains around you. It was amazing! My host sister, her friend and I spent all of Monday there. :] I also found out that my camera can go underwater! It said it could, but it didn't look like it, no protective casing or anything, so I was nervous to try; my host sister dunked it for me. So that was fun having an underwater photo shoot. :]
On Tuesday evening I met up with an exchange student from Canada in her "host town" Brig. It's not to far from Leukerbad, only a bus down the Mountain than a short train ride. :] We went ice skating, and I'm proud to say I didn't fall!(Though there was plenty of arm flailing haha) We skied on Wednesday and then packed up and drove home that evening. And the next day I had school! (Technically I had school the whole week, but I'm an exchange student and need to experience the culture ;] ) My old host family had three weeks off, I only had two, but I have another week off the second week of February.
So now I live with a two year old, and a 6 year old. They love to come say hello when I'm in my room. And look at all my stuff. haha. As long as I'm here I don't really mind. Little kids mostly only speak Swiss German here though, so sometimes it's harder to understand them, but I'm getting better. I think my German will get a lot better here because I have no other option. :]
So that was my past three weeks. It was a great ferien, and now it's back to school! My second semester starts the first week of February, so I'll get a new schedule then..
Hope everyone had a Good Christmas and a good New Year!
-Anne-Marie

Schnee und Märkte

Grüsse!
Every time I have taken a picture of it snowing here, it has melted the next day. Seriously. So this time I didn't take a picture of it snowing like crazy on and off for around a week and it has stuck around for awhile. :] Everyone says it's a crazy amount of snow, but to me it's a normal winter! haha
Since it's December, it is the season of Advent here, with holidays like St. Nicholas Day (observed by eating lots of chocolate, oranges, and peanuts), and many, many Christmas markets. There is one every weekend in different villages across Switzerland (and all Europe for that matter). I'm pretty sure I have been to at least one every week.
Two weekends ago (12/1-2) I went to two Christmas markets. The first was in Aarberg with my host sister, and the second was in the Altstadt (old city) in Biel. The Aarberg was all in one centralplatz, and Biel's was both in the centralplatz and along side streets. Both were really pretty, and I didn't even buy anything. Both days were also super cold!! But it wasn't until later that week that we got all the snow.
Last Thursday, I had an advent event with my host Rotary club. I really like my club, and I'm not just saying that because I'm trying to be a suck up. haha They are all super nice and easy to talk to (even in German). We went to a church to hear advent songs, and then we went to a Spanish restaurant called Schöngrün for dinner. The dinner lasted until past 11! I was really tired the next day. =P
Last Saturday (12/8), I made chicken wild rice soup for my host family and a friend. I think it turned out pretty good with European ingredients! My mom would be proud I think! haha My host mom wants the recipe now, so I call that a success. :] Then on Sunday (yesterday 12/9), we went Sledding! Only not the sledding you would think of where you go up and down a hill a million times. No we went up on really long curving hill (basically up a snow- covered road), playing in the snow on the way up, and then taking one really long sled down the hill. We had two sleds: my host parents, and my host sister and I. My host sister and I crashed into the snow banks multiple times. haha It was more than likely my fault too. haha That was a lot of fun though.
Today it snowed in the morning, and then got super sunny and warmer, but I hope because there's so much of it the snow won't melt, even if there is a lot of slush now. =P
Ich wünsche dir eine schönen Woche! :] Tschüss!
-Anne-Marie

Mountains and Onions

HALLO! :D

So last weekend while you were all eating Turkey with your families (or maybe already eating the leftovers), I was with 98 other exchange students in Zermatt, where the Matterhorn is! :] 

The first day (Saturday) we had a perfect view of the Matterhorn so many pictures were taken. I stupidly forgot to charge my camera so I actually have very few pictures, but good thing everyone else with me had a camera. :] The first day was spent exploring Zermatt with a game from Rotex (past exchange students). We had to do silly tasks like somehow get a sunny-side-up egg (yes cooked). We kindly asked an old man for an egg and a dish, and another woman cooked it for us. Haha We also had to trade an item for something better, by either talking to people in the street, or going into shops. We started out with an eraser, then we got a pen, then some Riccola cough drops, then a toothbrush (from another exchange student group), then a bundle of Yarn, then a fancy handwarmer, etc. and somehow we ended up with three things (I think I traded off another pen we had), and we ended up with a Matterhorn pocket knife, and two Swiss T-shirts.  Other groups found stuff in the garbage, such as A full table and six chair set (the table was a door), an old TV and a lamp, a cigarette costume, the list goes on. Needless to say it was an interesting way to spend a few hours.

That same day we toured the Matterhorn museum, ate cheese fondue, had a “disco” (really just a normal dance, but Mackenzie and I went all out with sparkly hats and tights), and just had an awesome time with a bunch of crazy exchange students. At the disco, the Rotary adults started dancing with us, and took mine and Mackenzie’s hats as they were dancing. Haha It was a good time ;] After the disco, they gave us another meal (basically a hamburger and fries), and every country had to sing a song from their country. The USA has the most people, so we couldn’t agree on a song, but we ended up singing “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. I hate that song, isn’t “Don’t Stop Believing” way better? But that’s what happens with 20+ American exchange students, we never agree. The other countries songs were great though; a boy from Thailand had to sing alone, but he got the loudest applause I think. :]

The next day, after breakfast, a single cloud covered up the Matterhorn, and that was pretty much the only cloud in the sky. But, we rode cable cars up to the “Little Matterhorn” and took pictures there. Then we went down a level, and played in the snow for a good hour or two. It was a lot of fun, I think especially for the exchangies from South America or warm Asian countries and have never seen snow. We made pyramids, tackled each other into the snow, and generally acted crazy. Haha

Then it was time to go home, and Mackenzie, two other exchange students and I ended up sitting with the Rotex, who I’m pretty sure were laughing at us the bulk of the two hour train ride to Visp from Zermatt. It was around 8 when I finally made it to Ipsach.

Then, on Monday, I went to Zweibelmarkt in Bern! :] I got up at 4:50  and got to Bern a bit before 6, and started walking around. People pelt confetti at each other, hit people on the head with plastic squeaky hammers, and buy lots of food and hand made things. I was there the entire day because I kept meeting up with exchange students; some would leave, and new people would show up. So I was literally there for around 12 hours. It was a lot of fun, but I was exhausted, especially after the crazy Matterhorn weekend added in. My bedroom floor is still covered in confetti from the stuff that got into my clothes, I’ll vacuum it soon, but it kinda looks happy ;] haha

In other news from this week, I got a 4 on my Math test! :D That’s kind of like a C I gather (Grading scale from 1-6, 1 is fail, 6 is perfect). But for having to translate the word problems and memorizing the formulas because I don’t have a book, I think it’s pretty good! :]

Hope you all had a great Turkey Day, and welcome to Dezember! :D I hope it snows here soon, so far it’s only in the Mountains or high “hills” (Basically mountains to us).

Tschuss!

-Anne-Marie

3 Months!

Grüsse!
    As of yesterday (11/11) I have been here 3 months!! I can't believe it, time has gone by so fast, and I am having so much fun here. My weekends always have plans, so for those of you who check this blog on Sundays, you may want to change it to Mondays because I have Monday afternoons off (of school anyway). These last two weekends had a few highlights, and as always were pretty busy. :]
    Last Sunday (not yesterday, so the 4th), my host parents took me to a gorge (I seriously could not remember that word in English that day, good thing the French word is the same). As always when my host parents take me to some nature thing in Switzerland, it was GORGEOUS. (Get it? GORGEous, haha ;] ) The leaves were all changing colors and there's a river running through it.. Ya it was just really, really pretty. Even when it started raining and all I had was my UWEC sweatshirt it was still really fun and soo pretty. Waterfalls started coming off of the sides, and it was just awesome :]
    Last Friday night (11/9, and who had the Katy Perry song start playing in their head, be honest ;] ) I went Irish dancing with my host mothers (1st and 3rd haha). That was SO much fun. And actually really hard! Lots of leg moving and with around 50 people there (or more) it got really hot. I was wearing a tank top and it was probably 40 degrees F outside. And after that I met up with one of my best friends here, Mackenzie, from Buffalo, New York. :] We hung out in Bern for awhile, and then I stayed at her house overnight.
    Sunday (yesterday 11/11), we had a country fair for all potential exchange students from Switzerland to talk with exchange students from the country they want to go to. 60 Swiss people want to go to the USA! The person in charge told us right away that we didn't have to do anything to convince people to come the the US. haha In fact she wanted us to tell them other countries might be a better choice haha. It's really hard not to talk good about your country though, but maybe because there were so many of us and we are so outgoing maybe we scared a few of them off... Oops.. haha Swiss people are definitely a bit more reserved than Americans (South America included, Brazilians are LOUD). So that was a fun time. :]
    School, is school... I have nothing really to say about it. haha I'm getting better with German everyday, including Swiss German. :] You know you are understanding the language and culture when you notice the random things they do while speaking. For example, they say "Gau?" and it's usually an exclamation. The "direct translation" is "Isn't it?" but it think it's more like our "right?". Here's an example: "Scheisse, es ist kalt!" To which another person would reply: "Gau?". (In English that's "Crap, it's cold!" "Right?") Another thing is they say "Tak!" when they take something or put something in place. And I started saying it too without realizing it.. I'm becoming Swiss! ;]
 Going to another hockey game this weekend, Allez Bienne, Allez! :]
Tschüss! -Anne-Marie

Herbst/ Winter

Hallo!
Don't worry I'm alive! :]
    Soo my last week of Holidays was fun! Had my first Rotary meeting, went riding with my host sister, hung out with some exchange students (some of the best people I have ever met in my life). My Rotary meeting on that Tuesday (10/9) went well, I was introduced to everyone in my club (but I honestly cannot remember a lot of names, I always meet waaay to many people at once...) I also gave a presentation all about me, my state, and the USA in general; all in GERMAN. I was seriously nervous, but I guess I did okay; I was understood at least... I hope.. One person said we should of recorded it and watched it at the end of he year to see how much my German will improve.. lol Oh well, I'll go to another meeting soon, every week my German gets better. I went to Montreux with a group of exchange students on that Thursday (10/11), and we walked around the city being loud and obnoxious like usual. ;] We also visited the castle that is literally ON Lake Geneva. It was gorgeous (like pretty much every castle haha). I love exchange students, I've probably said this a hundred times, but we act like family even if you just met them an hour ago. They're so easy to talk to and get along with.
    After my 4 weeks of vacation (kind of, never a vacation off learning German ;] ), I was back into school! So I've had 3 weeks now (the first one is hard to count though, it was more like a quick trial). I'm getting used to the schedule, but I still have to look up my schedule all the time to know where I'm going. I've "taken" a Physiks and a Chemie test so far (there were other tests, but these were the first I've actually been given. The teachers know I can't really understand anything yet, so I basically just translated the tests and did the few questions I could answer. haha School has been fun, I'm always exhausted by Friday though, my brain is just like "no more thinking so hard in a foreign language please". :] I can tell I'm getting better though, I can follow most conversations, picking out a few words that I understand, though the Swiss German is still a little rough. I understand the numbers and a few words though..
    As some of you saw on my Facebook, I carved a pumpkin on Thursday! That was fun, I also roasted the pumpkin seeds and I've been snacking on those all weekend. :] Friday I went to a Biel ice hockey game with some of my classmates, that was so much fun! It's a lot like our American football games, with all of the younger fans in a standing section and jumping and cheering for their team VERY loudly (mostly in French [Biel is a bilingual city, it's also called Bienne], but a bit of German too). Annd we won 6-1! So it was awesome. :] Yesterday (Saturday), I had a "Follow-up meeting" with the Rotary exchange program in Freibourg, with the "West" group of exchange students, which includes the "Frenchies" as we call them. (They are in the French part of Switzerland) We talked about any problems we might be having here, and how we are "integrating" into Swiss life. Most of us agreed school is hard, but we all love it here. After the meeting, the Rotary people bought us all lunch, during which it started snowing! So after our lunch, we walked around the city. Snow might not seem like a big deal to most of us Minnesotans or to the other exchange students from Canada and Northern states, but we had exchange students from South America with us who had never seen snow before! It was fun watching them freak out about it, and they were freezing haha. So it was fall for all of 2 weeks here... And now it's snowing. It hasn't been sticking to much around my house, but in the hills and in Bern they have a good layer. :]
    So I go back to school tomorrow! And I have to bike. I have been for the past few weeks, don't get me wrong, but now it's SNOWING and COLD. Crazy Swiss people. :]
Tchüss!
-Anne-Marie

Grüsse/ Salut/ Hola

Here goes nothing...
Prepare to be updated on the last 3 weeks of my Swiss life, crazy long blog style ;]
WEEK 1:
     My first week of my holidays. My class was in London, but couldn't take me due to it being to hard to get tickets and stuff like that, so I had an entire extra week off than other Swiss people. My host sister still had school, so she was gone most of the day, but we still went riding a couple times that week :]
    My host mom took me a the 3-Seenfahrt (3 lake) tour on Wednesday, it was gorgeous, but we both agreed we should have taken the train back, it was a long time to spend on a boat, and see the same scenery twice. the 3-Seen were Bielersee (the one I'm closest too), then through part of Lac de Neuchatel, then final through Murtensee to the village of Murten. We got off in Murten and climbed up the Ramparts (old castle wall surrounding part of he town). Really gorgeous view of the lake, with the old houses. (I have pictures, don't worry ;] ) The whole thing took up basically the whole day, and it rained on the way back, so that made it less enjoyable, but still a good day. 
    I'm going to be honest, the bulk of that week was spent by me being really lazy and not doing much. It was kind of nice to not doing much though, after being so busy and always going places since I've been here. Toward the end of the week, I packed for our two week trip to France and then Spain.
WEEK 2:
    This week started off with a 7 hour car ride with my host family plus a friend of my host sister, to France, Cap D'Agde to be exact if you want to look it up. (Guess it didn't really start then because that was Saturday, but it felt like that) That wasn't to bad actually, I had my iPod and my computer so it went by pretty fast. And it was GORGEOUS. We had a small apartment, on the fourth floor of a building that was literally ON the Mediterranean Sea. 2 minute walk to the beach. The view was AMAZING. (I have lots of pictures of that too). So there was lots of beach time that week. :] 
    The day after we got to Cap D'Agde (Sunday), went to a really cool castle called Carcassonne that had been restored to look like it did in all it's glory. (Well mostly) It was basically for tourists, there were lots of little shops you could buy little trinkets from, lots of little cafes and restaurants; and I heard a lot of British people haha. After the castle we went to a French town/ city and just walked around (honestly can't remember what city.... oops). There was a huge square cut out in the middle of town so that you could see the original Roman road that runs under the entire city, and you can actually walk on it yourself. You can see the ruts in the stone from the carts and wagons of the people so it's pretty cool. Monday and Tuesday were beach days! :] Wednesday we went to a cave called Grotte de Clamouse, which means something like "Cathedral Cave" or so they said. It was really cool seeing the weird things minerals can make with water given time. Some of it doesn't look real. I took some pictures, but they obviously don't do it justice because it's a dark cave... After the cave we went to an old village that had some really old building and awesome architecture. And when I say old, I mean old. The rest of the days were spent on the beach, but the night before we were supposed to leave (Fri. night), my host fams car started making funny noises. And it was past 9, and everything in France closes around 6 or 7. So that was interesting, waiting for a tow truck, getting a taxi back to our apartment, and then the next day packing and cleaning the entire apartment (so they didn't have to pay for the cleaning service), all of our stuff ended up in the hallway waiting for a call so we could get a rental car and go to Spain. Finally we got a car, but by that time the sky had started pouring buckets of water on to us, so packing all of our stuff into the car was interesting. You couldn't see out the back window, and my host sister, her friend, and I were all squished together on the bench seat in the back. So that's how our four hour drive to Spain began.
WEEK 3:
    We made it to Spain in the pouring rain. We had to run to get our stuff into our bungalow (Basically a small cabin). That week we were with my host fams church (unlike France, where it was just the five of us), so i met a lot of people. There were probably over 50 teenagers there, along with a lot of adults, and almost everyone soon knew I was the American. Basically that week was spent on the beach. I actually have tan lines! For those who know don't: I don't tan, pretty much stay white all year round. Somehow I got tan though (for me, still pale compared to everyone else...). We played lots of beach volleyball, badminton (minus the net), went in the ocean..
    On Tuesday, we went to Port Aventura, which is an amusement park. People, be proud of me! I went on almost every ride! Yes even the roller coaster called "Shambala" that was  "an expedition through the Himalayas" and literally was the biggest roller coaster I have ever seen. You went up this huuuuge incline, then down I'm pretty sure as steep as possible without dying. And the thing broke before we went on it, but I still did it! There were roller coasters that did full on upside down loops (one was called something with a dragon; looots of loops); and a ride like the power tower (for those who know valley fair) that brought you up higher than even "Shambala", then dropped you straight down as you thought you saw your life flash before your eyes. But this one was a little different, because when you get to the top, they tilt you forward a bit so they can see your even more scared face as you are forced to look at the drop you are about to do, then they take your picture mid-freak-out, and drop you. Should be proud of me though, the second time we went on it, I put my thumbs up to the camera. ;] That was a fun day...
    On Thursday I went with my host fam on  a tour of the Spanish countryside (AKA Hinterland), and it was gorgeous. I love European architecture. There are interesting differences between each country too, and I kind of just love old fashioned things. There's definitely plenty of that here. :]
    We left Spain on Saturday morning, and drove the four hours back to Cap D'Agde to get my host fams now fixed car. We stopped at McDonald's for a quick lunch (first time eating it in Europe, TAKE THAT STEREOTYPE). We had a seven hour car ride before us, and I thought I could just go on my laptop, since my iPod died just before we got to Cap D'Agde, but nooo it decided it didn't want to charge while in Spain, so I literally had seven hours of doing nothing but staring out the window, or trying to sleep (Can't really fall asleep in cars). Let's just say those seven hours seemed like a very long time.
WEEK 4:
    Sooo now I'm on week 4 of my month long holidays off school! I have my first meeting with my host club tomorrow (have to give a speech in German, yikes!), and then hanging out with some other exchange students later in the week. Then back to school next week! Though I kind of feel like it will be my first real week because the schedule was messed around so much the first, first week...
Anyway; hope you all enjoyed reading this and didn't doze off halfway through or something. ;] If you had to take breaks I understand! haha
Comment and I'll do my best to answer soon! No pictures until tomorrow, sorry, it's already almost 11 here..
Liebe grüsse,
Anne-Marie
P.S. I didn't realize there were so many options for commenting, sorry! If you want to leave a comment put it under "Anonymous" and leave you name at the end of you comment so I k

Three Crazy Things

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

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

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

Guten Tag

Hallo! :]
I'm not doing to bad on updating this... Once a week-ish isn't bad right? ;] So much happens in a week, though, it's crazy! So we'll go day by day so I can catch you all up :] Starting with Saturday....
Saturday-  I went to a farmers market in Biel in the morning, went Swimming in the lake again. Just hanging out with my host fam..  Not to busy.. :]
Sunday-  I was at a mountain! :] Rode a cable car up but we decided to walk back down.. My legs hurt for a few days after that. haha Gorgeous view though; could see three different snow/ glacier covered mountains with them reflecting off a lake. Really pretty :] I'll post pictures soon.
Monday- I was back to my language school! I'm slowly learning, but it's weird/ hard because we a learning German, but everyone speaks Swiss german here, which is a completely different dialect.. Hopefully I pick it up pretty fast. Also went riding again. :] My host sister has convinced me to enter a competition already.. It's this Sunday, and from what I understand it's like a Western Trail course, but you ride english.. If that makes any sense. The horse I ride is very stubborn and takes a lot of "convincing" sometimes.. I like her though :]
Tuesday-  Consisted of school and then I made my mom's Quesidilla's for my host family. They liked them I think... They ate them at least =P Then worked on my Hausaufgaben (Homework)
Wednesday- School, then a boat ride with my host mom and sister to an island where we swam in Lake Biel. It was really nice, water was warm and we found a little pier to jump off of :] And after that I went and worked out with a friend here. It was fun but I'm always so exhausted after. =P
Thursday-   Had school, then went with my host mom and her students (she teaches 3rd grade) to the beach. The kids were funny, I taught a couple of them how to do a synchro move! :] They go on so many field trips here for school! The high schoolers go to the movies and the younger go to the beach! Wish we had that in the US :] I also went riding again to "train" for the competition. It went pretty well, my horse decided it was scared of the woods though and took off running a few times. I was okay, Caroline has taught me well :]
Still feels weird that I'm 7 hours ahead of you all, you all just woke up and I already finished school! It was raining this morning so I walked in the rain to my train... But it had stopped for the moment in when I got to Bern thankfully.
Talking to Grady on skype, anyone can call me anytime and I'll try to talk to you for at least a little bit.. I also made it so that anyone can post a comment without needing an account. So post away! :]
Tschuss!
-Anne-Marie

Ich bin müde!

Hallo!
    For those of you who don't speak German, the title means "I am tired!". And it's true, I am tired but happy. I've been very busy the past couple days, and it's only my first week here!
    Monday I had my first day of language school, which is in the capital of Switzerland, Bern. That means I take a train to Biel which is 5 min. Then a train to Bern which is 30 min. Trains are amazing! They go everywhere! It makes everything say much closer. So school is from 8:45 until 12:45, then I catch a train home or walk around Bern. The city is so busy, there are so many different shops and things there. I found a bookstore with a whole floor of English books. :] Didn't buy one though, they are expensive!
Also on Monday, my host mom showed me around Biel (closest city to my village, Ipsach). It has a very beautiful old town that I took pictures of. :] Pretty much every city here has has an "Old Twon" and a "New Town" and they work surprisingly well together. It's interesting to see a really old building with a train running right by it... I also went horseback riding with my host sister on Monday! We rode Frieburg horses, which is a breed made in Switzerland. They are pretty big and stocky, they look like a smaller version of draft horses. Big thick necks, and all of their manes are cut short. I like em :]
    Tuesday I worked out with the girl who went on exchange to Canada, and I am still a bit sore. haha  Besides that and school, not much happened..
    Wednesday was a longer day and probably why I am so tired today. First I had school, then my host mom and sister met me in Bern and we went to the river Aare to swim! :] You walk up the bank and then hop in and float down. It is pretty fast flowing, so it was much quicker to go down than walk up. We went four times! :] Then on the way home my host sister invited me to go riding with her again, but at a different place (this one we rode Western and the last English, for those who know what that means :] ). Same Swiss horse breed though, the Freiburg. This one was bigger than the last, and I actually took pictures of this ride :]
    So today is Thursday and my host mom declared it a more "relaxing" day. I readily agreed. :] I'll post the pictures I was talking about and I'll post on my next free day! Tschüss!
-Anne-Marie

Hallo From Switzerland!

I probably should let you all know I actually got to Switzerland, huh? :]
    I was greeted at the airport by my host family, and my rotary counselors, who gave me a new phone (touch screen, nicer than the one I had haha), and a train ticket that is good for a train to anywhere! :]
    The day I got here I got sick for half the day, so I didn't do much. But I met a bunch of my host brother's friends that night at his farewell party (He is going on an exchange to Arkansas). Most of them go to "the school on the hill" as they call it and I am going to the one "on the lake", so I won't see them often. One girl, who went on an exchange to Canada, is a friend of the family's and is being very helpful. She goes to the school on the hill and she said she would show me around her town. :]
    Yesterday I went grocery shopping with my host mother and sister. Their shopping centers are like a small mall attached to a grocery store. And when you buy fruits or veggies, you put it on a scale, push a number (each item has its own number) and a price tag for what you want prints out for you. It's really cool! Another fun fact about Switzerland: all the light switches are opposite. Down is on, up is off.
    Today we dropped my host brother off at the airport,in Zurich, and I have to crown Switzerland as the king of long goodbyes instead of Minnesota. They actually have an observation deck where you can watch your person's plane take-off. We waved as it went up, along with others. :] After that we went to Schaffhausen, and we had to go through a little bit of Germany (Schaffhausen is like a point into Germany, google map  it :] ). We saw the Rhine Falls, where we took a boat to a rock in the middle of the falls! Next we went to town and stopped at an Italian cafe for lunch (Pizza is so much better here) and climbed a bunch of really steep steps up to a castle! There are vineyards around the castle, which is on the top of a huge hill, so my legs got a workout climbing the stairs. (Pictures of both places to come later!)
    We are back home now, and going for a swim in lake Biel, just down the hill from the house.
Remember I am 7 hours ahead of central time so if your wondering how I could do that much when it's only 9 in the morning that's why :]
    I will try to write again soon! Ciao!
-Anne-Marie

Goodbye USA, Hello Switzerland

I leave tomorrow!!! I have to be at the airport by 9 am, have a layover in Philadelphia, then get to Switzerland 9 am their time. (2 am our time). So jet lag is definitely going to be a factor! I am staying up tonight watching Sherlock Holmes to help me sleep on the plane (mom's idea).
I can't wait to meet my first host family and really learn about and experience a different culture. :]
See you back in the States in a year!
~Anne-Marie

8 Days and Counting

Welcome to my (fixed) blog!
This is where I will be writing while I am in Switzerland, to keep all you people in America up to date about what I'm up to in a foreign country. :]
No promises on how often I'm going to update this, because we all know how bad I am at remembering to do things, but I'll try to write at least once a month. ;]
I'm so excited to go experience the new culture, I keep having dreams I'm leaving but I wake up and still have however many days left. I have to keep working on my German......
Anyway, this is where I will be updating everyone about my life in Switzerland, so bookmark it, save it, if you want to keep tabs on me. Other than that see you in a year when I return! :]
~Anne-Marie