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
Friday, April 5, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
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
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
Saturday, February 9, 2013
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
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
Saturday, January 12, 2013
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
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
Monday, December 10, 2012
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
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
Saturday, December 1, 2012
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
Monday, November 12, 2012
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
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
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