You Know You're in Switzerland when...

Yesterday I felt like I was finally Swiss – I even told my host family how Swiss I felt and they laughed and agreed.

Yesterday was the annual Alpabzug event in Plaffien, Fribourg. The event only happens once a year and is a celebration of the farmers and their respective cows coming down from the mountains for the winter. The farmers and farm hands are all dressed in traditional Swiss clothing and the cows are adorned with big flower bouquets on their heads, and traditional cowbells around their necks. I can still hear the ringing of the cowbells in my ears. It was definitely a day for all of the senses – the sight of the traditional outfits, beautiful flowers and hundreds upon hundreds of cows and other farm animals; the sound of the cowbells, the huge crod of people, traditional Swiss music - alphorns, yodeling, Swiss accordions; the smell of cheese, Snapps, fresh bread and cow droppings (yum); the taste of Raclette, pretzel bread and meringues; and the feeling of being so fully immersed in Swiss culture that you almost forget your true nationality (well until someone asks you if you play hockey because you’re Canadian…but more on that later).

I took almost 300 pictures of the event and a few videos as well. It was one of the coolest things I have ever –and probably will ever – seen. To see everyone so proud of their lifestyle and to see how rich and beautiful Swiss culture really is was truly a once in a lifetime experience. It was an even more special experience for me because one of my host sisters, Lara, was coming down from the mountains, so we were able to spend most of the afternoon with her and her “mountain family”. We were in a private room in a restaurant and everyone was singing and dancing to traditional Swiss music that was played by two men with Swiss accordions. I sat there and observed for a long time as it was such a new experience and definitely one that I will hold on to for a long time to come. Everyone in the restaurant kept coming back to peak into our room to see what was going on. When I went upstairs to go to the bathroom, I could still hear the music from downstairs and when I came back, Lara grabbed my hand and said in German “Come now, we’re going to dance!” I had the biggest, goofiest smile on my face the whole time because I was so happy and so embarrassed at the same time - I couldn’t do the dance properly, but at the same time, I didn’t really care. I danced with a few other people throughout the night, and was just as horrible each time. My host family and I walked around the street – which was alive with people partying – for a little while and then went and ate some Swiss ice cream before heading home.

There were farmers selling the “Farmer Calendar” which is like Sports Illustrated but with farmers and animals. People look forward to the new editions all year long and they had the models there to sell them as well.

I am no longer a “Canadian exchange student in Switzerland”, I am now a “Swiss citizen with a Canadian passport” – or at least I like to think of myself that way.

P.S. I got my first Swiss sunburn…who even knew that was possible.

This is the life.

Can I live here please?

Hey there fella!

Today was a beautiful day! I got up for school, sat through 2 periods of math - which I actually understood (bonus points for me, finally!) - and then had to run a timed 600m. The run was supposed to be under 2:30, but that definitely wasn't going to happen - sorry, but it just wasn't. Thankfully there were other people in my class who run about the same speed as me, so I wasn't dead last - but I was dead tired. Waking up at 5:30 and then running 600m kind of does that to you. Lucky for me though, my class had a test for the last 2 periods of the day, so I was able to go home at 10am - that's what I'm talking about.

It was about 11:20 when I got home, so I cleaned my room a little bit before we had lunch. Everyone comes home for lunch on Wednesdays, so it's nice to have a big family meal at noon - very different, but very cool. After lunch, I helped my host mom with the laundry before heading into the Pre-alps for the afternoon. We had to deliver some flowers to my host sister Lara at her summer home in the mountains. There is a big festival this weekend when all of the cows and farmers come down from the Alps for the winter and all of the cows wear big flower arrangements on their heads and the people are dressed in typical Swiss attire - and Lara and her summer family needed the flowers for that. Thankfully we were able to drive with the car this time because Lara is staying in the house on the other side of the mountains right now; as I am not sure I would have had the energy to hike up the mountains again carrying a million and one flower bouquets. The sight from the house is spectacular and there is the constant ring of the cow bells in the distance. I love it up there, but I don't know if I could handle how slow the lifestyle is. I am a busy body, and that is definitely not a busy body lifestyle. Nonetheless, it is always beautiful to visit and see! The family that Lara stays with for the summer have a dog named Santa and I played with her almost all afternoon. I would kick stones and she would go crazy and chase them. It was fun and definitely worked as a substitute to my own puppies. 

I also received an email today from my Rotary district at home reminding us to make the best of our year and to try hard to make friends and learn the language and not to revert into speaking English and making excuses for ourselves. All of the outbounds from my district have been gone for at least a month, some even two, and although a year seems like a really long time right now, the email reminded me that this is MY year and whether I like it or not, it will be over before I know it. And although German is a very difficult language, it is coming along slowly, but surely and I am very thankful that people take the time to listen to be piece together sentences, word by word, and correct me when I'm wrong. I do find myself making excuses for myself sometimes and the email reminded me that I am hurting no one but myself by doing that. So today is the last day of excuses and tomorrow is the beginning of a new beginning. 

I am going with my host family on Saturday for the festival and can't wait! It is going to be so interesting and Swiss! I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as I can! But until then, take care and be safe.

xoxo, 

Madi

Tuesday's are lonely

Instead of dreading Monday’s like most people do, I dread Tuesday’s. This is because I have a three hour break in the middle of the day at school.  Normally that would be fine if I lived close to the school and could go home for lunch or if my class had the same break but they don’t. They have Spanish and French and because it is already hard enough learning German, I am not supposed to go to the other language classes as I will probably become extremely confused and I understand that. But I must admit, having three hours in the middle of the day is not fun – especially not alone – but is rather boring and lonely. I don’t want to sit around in the cafeteria for that long and I find myself even more tired after the break than I was before. Today I decided to make a trip into downtown Solothurn because I needed to visit my phone carrier (my phone would receive, but not send texts) and I needed a pair of shoes that weren’t canvas or sandals (poor planning and packing on my part).  So I took the bus after my last morning class and wandered around the downtown area for a little while. I got my phone fixed, bought a pair of shoes (which my host dad insists were made by the Canadian Indians…) and purchased some cue cards so I can make flash cards of German verbs (nerdy, I know). Although I tried to take my time shopping, I was bored after an hour and was alone with not a lot to do. All I really wanted to do was sleep, but that obviously wasn’t an option. I walked along the water for a little while and then decided to forgo the bus and walk back to school in hopes of not only getting exercise, but also killing some time. It took me about 20 minutes to walk back to school and when I got there my class was on lunch so I went and sat with them. They were all studying for Physics, so once again, I was a little lonely but I dealt with it.

When I got home from school today I told my host parents about the situation and they agreed with me that it is not very good nor beneficial to me to have such a long break in the middle of the day. My host mom said that she would call around and see if there was a course or language class that I could attend instead and I’m hoping she finds something!

At dinner tonight my host sister was very fidgety so my host mom decided it would be a good idea to play Jenga after. I warned them that I am not very good at Jenga, but I don’t think they fully understood until we started playing…haha. We played for about an hour and it was really fun – except that I was usually the one to make the tower fall over. My host dad would always grab the most important piece of the tower making me almost destined to make it fall. Everyone enjoyed it and it was definitely a great way to end a difficult and lonely day – with family and laughs. Perfect. 

Don't mind my face, but this game was intense - and it had JUST started.

The result of me playing Jenga...

The result of "strategy" apparently... 

Much love from the land of the Swiss, 

Madi

My absence results in a long post. I apologize.

Wow! Where to start? I've had an interesting week since I last blogged. From school choir, to lunch time horrors, to my first Swiss Rotary function, to opened mail before it got to me, to puppy printed birthday cards, to German physics assignments to getting written up by the train conductor, to a Swiss birthday party, to an inbound orientation...

Pull up a chair, good luck and I hope you can get through all of it...

Monday was the start of a busy - and interesting - week. I finally crawled out of bed at 5:30 after hitting snooze a few times, got ready for school and headed for the bus. The train was crowded and because it was a 'Regio' train, it stops at every station... Can you say funnnn?!

Because my language class in Basel ended last week, I am now at school all day and Monday was my first full day. I felt so grown up - like I had graduated from preschool. I survived the first four classes of the day - my old usual - and then it was off to Choir. And everybody that knows me, knows that I am completely tone deaf and couldn't sing a harmony to save my life. I usually get the "Hey Madi! Who sings this song? ... Yaa, so let's keep it that way." I kept shaking my head and telling the girls in my class that I couldn't sing as we walked to the auditorium for class. They told me that that's what everyone says, and I told them to wait a few minutes to find out the truth... They laughed, I laughed, and my stomach was doing flips. We walked into the auditorium and there were 40 new faces grinning at me. The teacher stopped me as I followed my class to the seats and introduced himself in English and told me he had heard from the guidance counsellor that I was not one for singing. He then proceed to tell me that he would be the one to change that. I gave him a "good luck" smile and sat down beside Aline. The 40 new faces were still staring at me and still had big grins. The bell rang signalling the start of class and the teacher began. He was talking in German - obviously - so I didn't really understand what he was saying until I recognized a few words. He told the class that I was a new exchange student and that I would be in the class from now on. He then turned to me and asked me to stand up and introduce myself...cue awkwardness here. I stood up, looked at the class smiled and then proceeded to introduce myself in English. It's a good thing everyone understands English, or it could have made an awkward moment even more awkward than it already was. I really regret introducing myself in English because I know I can do it German - and have many times before - but in a moment like that my brain freezes and I can only think and speak in English. After my introduction, the class began for real and I was mesmerized by the voices I was hearing. I didn't want to ruin the beautiful singing by opening my mouth, so I decided to pull a Britney Spears and began to lip sync. WIN. The songs were in German and Italian, so it's not like I could have sang them if I wanted to, but hey, this way everyone at least thought I could.

After Choir it was finally lunch time and I was starving. My class scattered off in every direction and I stood there confused. Then one girl in my class grabbed my arm and asked if I wanted to go with her and few others to the store down the road to buy something for lunch. I said yes, began to follow her when a girl from Choir stopped me. She introduced herself and asked me where I was from and if I was with Rotary. We began talking and the group of kids from my class disappeared into the hall. It turns out she was an exchange student last year to Australia (and you could tell...complete with an Aussie accent and some Aussie slang). We talked for 10 minutes and exchanged information and she offered to show me around town some time. I swear exchange students are just one big family; it's great and I love it. When we finished talking, the kids in my class were long gone, so I walked back to the Mensa to buy food from there. I noticed a few girls from class sitting at a table, so I walked over, smiled and sat down. I was starving and my stomach was growling, but there was a problem - I didn't know how the Mensa worked at lunch and I wasn't about to go at it alone. There was a big line up, so I sat tight and noticed the girls from my class pulling out their wallets. I waited until they got up and followed them like a puppy dog - I felt so pathetic, but I didn't know what else to do. I quickly lost them in the hustle and bustle of the Mensa and there I was, not only pathetic, but alone and pathetic. Atta girl, way to go. I decided to follow the line and see where I ended up. It turns out I was in the hot food line and took what the cafeteria lady put on my plate - chicken nuggets and fries. I paid for my food and walked back to the table to find that a few boys from my class had joined the table and were in a full on rice fight - definitely very entertaining. I ate my food while laughing at them, but everything was a-okay.

After school, I had my first Rotary function. It was very interesting and really fun to meet all of the men in my hosting club - there are no women. Because it was an extra function though and not a meeting, the wives of some of the Rotarians were also in attendance. The evening started at 6PM with a tour of a museum of old gas pumps and old cars. I knew people collected old cars, but I never would have thought that people also collected old gas pumps... Nonetheless, it was quite interesting even though I didn't understand half of what the tour guide said. Lucky for me though, there were banners with information written in German, French and English. After the tour of the museum everyone got in their cars and we drove up the road about 5 minutes to a little restaurant. The restaurant was closed to the public, but was open for us, which makes me think that a Rotarian or friend of a Rotarian owns the restaurant. Like all dinners here in Switzerland, this one lasted several hours. It was a 4 course meal and we didn't leave until almost 11:30. I was so tired because I had had such an early morning and I knew how early I had to get up the next day, so I think that made it feel even longer. It was quite an entertaining night though. I was only spoken to in German, so it was fun (and funny) to try to piece together sentences to respond back to people. There was the odd time someone would start speaking to me in English, and I'm not going to lie, it was very much appreciated - even if it was a 'mistake' on their part. The last course of the meal was ice cream that came in a flute glass with a mint leaf on top but the most interesting part about that dish was the presentation on the plate....

...the Rotary wheel was made out of cinnamon and nutmeg and was on the corner of the plate. I thought it was really cool and had to take a picture. Ten tourist points for me! 

Tuesday morning was definitely a rough one considering I had had almost no sleep. My alarm clock is my biggest enemy and I'm not sure it will ever get back on my good side. I went to every class at school, just like any other day and I understand more and more each day - well except for Physics... My physics teacher usually just lets me sit at the back of the classroom and do my own German work. On Tuesday though, he decided to give me some work - and not just any work, but the hardest work he could find. Ok, it probably isn't as hard as I make it out to be if you are a bilingual physicist. Regardless, it was hard. He handed me a text book, turned to a section, asked me to read it (I could use a translator) and answer the questions at the back of the section. I gave him the most confused look I think I've given anyone since I've been here and my class started to laugh because they knew there was no way I was going to be able to do that. I mean, I just graduated from 'German Kindergarten' last Friday... The other interesting thing about it is that he didn't give my class the assignment, so it was clearly to be busy work for me. I don't understand even Physics in English, and I don't understand German, so I have no idea how he expected me to be able to complete the assignment in the two day period he gave me. He continued to teach the class and I continued to sit there wanting to laugh at myself. I tried to translate the question but because they were physics question, half of the words were no where to be found in my Baron's German-English Pocket Dictionary. Gotta love having to roll with the punches...

After my physics fiasco, I came home to a package on my bed. I saw the address on the outside and I knew it was from home. I smiled to big and started to open it when I noticed it was already open.... The package had been cut open with a knife and then taped back together. I thought it was odd, but didn't think to much about it until I opened the package and saw that all of the cards my mom sent had also been sliced open and the money was strewn throughout the envelope. I asked my host mom about it and she said that it must have happened at customs but she isn't sure in which country. I emailed my mom just to make sure that I received the same amount of money that she had sent me and I had, so that was relieving. The package was full of cards from my family and family friends for my birthday which was the coming Thursday. There was even a card with paw prints from my dogs. When I read/saw that card I started to tear up and I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks. Lame, I know. But I miss my dogs so much so it was really cool to see that my mom put so much effort into giving me what I could have of them being half way around the world. 

Food colouring puppy prints from "unwilling" participants

Wednesday is my short day at school where I only have classes until 12:05. And lucky for me, this Wednesday was an even shorter day. My math teacher was away at a conference or something to that extent, so I only had class from 9:30 to 12:05. Because of my later morning, I was able to sleep in a little bit and take a later train to school. When I got to the train station, I met up with a girl from my class who lives a couple villages over from me. We rode the train together and talked a little bit. Then I heard the train conductor come into the train car, so I went into my bag to grab wallet and my GA - or transit pass - to find that it wasn't there... My heart started to race and I looked at Nadine and told her I had forgotten my GA. She looked back at me and said "Shit happens. But don't worry, I'll tell the conductor." I started laughing because to here a Swiss person say "Shit happens" in English is truly entertaining. When the conductor came to us, Nadine told him in German and he saw my Canada shirt, so he started talking to me in English. I had to give him all of my information and I'm sure my face was as red as my shirt. I filled out a few sheets and then he printed me a "ticket". I was fined for riding the train without a valid pass but I was lucky that I was only charged 5 CHF instead of 80 CHF or 100 CHF like I've been warned about before and I had 10 days to pay my fine. On the way home, my heart was racing because I didn't want to be caught by the conductor again and get another fine. 5 CHF might as well be 1,000,000 CHF, because to an exchange student, money doesn't come easy and I couldn't afford to get another ticket. Luckily for me, the train pulled into the station just as the conductor entered my car. Score. 

Thursday was my birthday and I had to say goodbye to my childhood. I wasn't expecting anyone at school to know it was birthday, but when I got to school, I got a few big birthday hugs from a few girls in my class. I might be two and half or three years older than some of them, but it definitely made my day. After lunch we had Ethics of Religion class and we were sitting there, the teacher was teaching when all of the sudden my class started singing "Happy Birthday" to me. My face went red, my cheeks got hot and my smile reached from ear to ear. When they finished I was about to say thank you, but before I could get it out, they started singing again, but this time in German. I was so happy, and even though the day wasn't over yet, I could tell that it was going to be one of the best birthday's I had ever had. I sat through the rest of the day and met my friend Caroline at the bus stop after school because she was coming home with me for my birthday celebrations. When we got to my apartment, my host family and a few of their friends were sitting out on the balcony. They all came up to me and gave me huge hugs, and I wanted to cry (only a little bit) because I felt like I was finally home. I may not be in Canada, but I am definitely home. As they say, "Home is where the heart is", and my heart was definitely - in that moment - at home. My host dad told me to come with him and he gave me 18 beautiful red roses (both of my host parents are florists if I haven't already said that) and told me that because I didn't have a boyfriend, and it was birthday, I deserved to have some flowers. They are absolutely beautiful and sit on my nightstand, so they are the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I see when I go to bed at night. He also told me that he made a trip to the city and bought me Canadian beer. He said that because I couldn't be in Canada for my birthday, he was going to bring Canada to me and handed me a Molson Canadian. Have I told you that I love my family?! My other host families came as well as my host sister's boyfriend and few of our neighbours and people that I have met since I've been here. We sat around, ate food and enjoyed ourselves all night. My host families gave me a leather wallet with the Swiss emblem on the front and my host sister's boyfriend, Pascal, gave me a Swiss Army pocket kit. Everything Swiss and everything is alright! 

Caroline and I

Blowing out the candles...so many...so old.

The beautiful cake my host mom made

Can you tell I live in a party house?

The end result?
A "Canadian Indian" courtesy of Ernst

My amazing fam

My nightstand complete with 18 red roses and beautiful cards from home

The weekend was the weekend.

On Friday after school I went and had my phone hooked up after almost 6 weeks of my having it. And although this may come as a surprise to many, I didn't miss having one but it is necessary so that I can keep in contact with my host parents. I met my host sister and some of her friends in Olten Friday night and on Saturday we lazied around the house most of the day. On Sunday I had an inbound orientation meeting and   met some exchange students that I hadn't met yet and after the meeting we went and explored Luzern together. 

All in all, it has been a great week here in Switzerland and I am loving every minute of it. So until next time, 

xoxo, 

Madi

Things like this only happen to people like us.

THAT MY FRIENDS IS A HAIL STORM IN SEPTEMBER IN SWITZERLAND.

What started out as a beautiful afternoon in Luzern turned bad - and fast. My friend Caroline and I decided to spend the afternoon in Luzern as it was one of the last good, warm days before Fall hit. We walked along the water for a little bit, strolled along the famous Kappelbrucke and grabbed lunch at a British Pub on the waterfront. It was a beautiful afternoon, the sun was shining, the water was glistening and the swans were swimming.

We noticed a paddle boat rental place, so we went to see how much it cost. Turns out it was only 20 Franks for half an hour, so we split the cost and went out in the old school paddle boats. It reminded me a lot of when I was younger and would go with my family to Center Island in Toronto and go out on the paddle boats and I had a little bit of nostalgia. 

We paddled around for a while then climbed into the back, put our feet in the water and turned some J Biebs on our iPods. The view was spectacular and we were having a great time. There were plenty of other paddle boats in the water and there were even a few steam boats full of tourists. We took pictures and enjoyed the scenery when we noticed that the sky was getting dark very quickly. Out half hour was almost up, so we started to paddle back into the dock when it started to rain. It started as a drizzle and progressed fast into a downpour. The dock was full with everyone trying to get out of their paddle boats, so we docked it on the shore and abandoned ship just in time. It started to hail, big, white chunks of ice were coming full force from the sky. We ran for cover under the rental shack, but we were still getting pelted and  our clothes were soaked. It felt like I had gone paint balling with the pros and had forgotten my protection. 

The hail persisted for 20 minutes and the rain got heavier and heavier. We decided to make a run for it into the train station 500m away. We were absolutely soaked, dripping onto the ground, and I had puddles in my shoes. Luckily we weren't the only ones who had that experience, but we were still the laughing stock of many people in the station. We found a discount clothing store in the basement of the station and bought the cheapest, driest clothes we could find.

It was definitely an adventure, and we were laughing the whole time, but I'm positive that things like that ONLY happen to people like me. 

A mistake I'm glad I made.

This morning I made a 'mistake' that allowed me to have one of the most beautiful mornings I have had here in Switzerland. I woke up at 7:30 having to go to the bathroom with all intentions of going back to bed. Usually the apartment is really quiet in the morning, but today was different. My host sister Celine was getting ready for a floor ball tournament and my host mom was up helping her. But because we only have one bathroom and they were using it, I had to wait my turn. When they were finished, I was still in the hallway waiting and my host mom came up to me and asked if I wanted to go with her for a hike into the Jura Mountains in an hour. My first though was "Absolutely not. Not after the Alps. I don't think I could do that again if I tried." But I knew that I did not come to Switzerland to sit around and do nothing. I can sleep any other time, but I can't go hiking in SWITZERLAND everyday. She took me outside onto the balcony and showed me where we would go and explained the hike to me. Although I was reluctant at first, I said "Yes, absolutely! I would love to come with you!" and the more I thought about it, I actually did want to.

Within the hour we were changed, had our hiking boots on and were getting into the car to drive to the starting point. We drove for about half an hour through the tunnel to the other side of the Jura. We live on one side, but had to get to the other side to begin our hike. When we got to the starting point, there were a lot of cars parked because it was such a beautiful morning. We began our ascent and we talked and talked - in German :) - and eventually reached the first look out point. She explained to me the history of the place and then we continued up to the top. It wasn't a very long hike, but it was absolutely beautiful and I am so glad I went with her. We sat at the top for a little while and looked out. We could see the Alps in the distance and I took picture after picture after picture. But it was ok because I was wearing a Canada shirt, so people knew I was a tourist...

My host mom kept telling me that she often does this alone, so she is happy that I went with her today and asked if I would go again, and I obviously agreed. She also said that when my brother gets here in February he will have to come with us as well! I must say, she is quite excited to have a hiking partner. 

Not the best photo of me, but here we are together at the top of the mountain.
Aren't we cute?!

After we finished our hike, we drove 20 minutes through the mountains and stopped at a beautiful restaurant atop another peak of the Jura Mountain range. We had a chocolate croissant and drank some orange juice. It was a beautiful, beautiful morning. Who needs sleep anyways?!

I am so happy that I made the "mistake" of waking up so early this morning but I am sad to know that next time I make the same mistake, it won't lead to such a beautiful morning...

Now off to Luzern for the afternoon with some friends!

Until later with much love from Switzerland,

Madi

I had Thursday off of school because it was Sport day and I have to leave at 11am for Basel so I was told to take the day off. I was able to sleep in a little bit, which was very much appreciated. I still had to wake up relatively early because I had an appointment with the Immigration Office at 9:30 in Solothurn.

The Immigration Office is right beside the train station, so I was able to find my way easily and not get lost...thank goodness. I felt like a criminal at the appointment because they have to take finger prints and a picture that might as well be a mug shot. They only spoke to me in High German, which was good, but also difficult because I still don't understand everything. But I made it through and am happy that I understood enough to survive.

After my appointment, I had some time to kill before I had to go to Basel for German class, so I wandered around downtown Solothurn for a while. I went into a few stores, but this is Switzerland and nothing is cheap. I then took the bus to Caroline's house because there was not enough time for me to go home before having to leave again. When I got to her house, I rang the doorbell and stood there for a while but there was no answer. I just figured she was in the shower or out so I left and went back to the bus stop. About 20 minutes later she shows up at the bus stop. She was surprised that I was there and asked why I was there. When I told her it was because I came to her house, she was shocked. She told me that she didn't know it was me and she thought it might be a German speaker, and because she can't speak German very well and she was home alone, she didn't want to have an awkward moment, so she just didn't answer the door. Ohh,  the life of an exchange student.

We got on the bus and headed to Basel like every other day. We had a big test on Thursday because the class was almost over so it was our overall evaluation test. I didn't find it too difficult, surprisingly. We had to wait until Friday to find out how we did.

Thursday was also an exciting day for my family back in Canada because our new exchange student, Julia, from Taiwan arrived! I've seen a few pictures and she seems really cool.

Yesterday was Friday and I had school like normal. In the afternoon, I trekked to Basel for the last and final time. It felt like the end of an era to be honest. I have been doing the same thing everyday for the past month, so to realize that I will no longer be doing it is an odd feeling, but also a welcomed one. It means that I can now go to school all day and will be with my class more and will have more opportunities to make Swiss friends - definitely a positive thing.

Outside of the Basel train station yesterday there were 4 men buskering and playing Jazz music. They were really good and the crowd was definitely enjoying it. I loved it and couldn't not give them money, they were spectacular!

When I got to my class, the teacher handed back our exams and we were able to look over them, but then had to give them back because Rotary needs to look at them and see how well we are doing and how much we have learned. It looks like I won't be going home anytime soon because I got 83% on the test! I was so happy! Our graduation certificate will come in the mail soon apparently.

After everyone looked at the exams, we headed into the Old City of Basel for the afternoon with our teacher. She took us to an old church and we were able to look out over the wall and see the Rhine.

After the church, some people left to go home and the rest of us (with our teacher) went to a newly renovated Cultural Museum. It was really pretty and had a lot of cool artifacts - including an entire floor on Chinese history. I bought a small pendant for my blazer in the gift shop after so that I can remember the experience!

They correct my German which is also awesome!

Today has been a normal day here. A boy from my class at school added me on Facebook this morning, and then added me to our class' group. I feel so included now, even though I have to use a translator to see what everyone is saying.... But it is definitely an awesome feeling. A few of the girls also added me and have been messaging me, so it is pretty awesome! 

So funny, but so fun!

It is "Cleaning day" according to my host dad, so I have some work to do! But then I plan on going on a long bike ride to get some much needed exercise! 

Until later,

Madi