So I survived my German Presentation...

Monday marked my 4 weeks here in Switzerland and I am already asking myself where the time has gone. It sometimes feels like I just got here yesterday and sometimes it feels like I've been here for ages...

On Monday, my German class and I went to the Basel Zoo for the day. It was really fun - well everything except for the fish... There were a lot of "exotic" animals like Kangaroos and Penguins and then there were the not so exotic animals like Deer and Billy Goats. We had a good laugh at the fact that there were these animals in the zoo because to us, these are definitely not foreign. We visited all of the animal houses and watched the monkeys and apes climbing around everywhere. We went into the fish house and I ran past all of them like a 2 year old. I hate fish, and when they are all over the place, it is just disgusting... The Caribbean fish were kind of interesting - they looked more like plastic than anything else, so they were tolerable. At the end of the fish house were the Penguins. There were adult penguins and baby penguins, sleeping penguins and active penguins and one that reminded me of Happy Feet. I sat and watched the penguins for a long time while I was waiting for the others to finish up with the fish. I could have stayed there for hours and watched them. The baby penguins came and ran across the glass back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, then they would dive into the water and do it all over again. They were so adorable and I wanted to take one home. My German teacher told me that in the Winter the penguins are put outside and you can watch them in their "natural" habitat. Guess where I'll be after the first snowfall...

Doesn't get much cuter than this.
He kept doing a little dance back and forth across the glass.

After we finished in the fish and penguin house, we wandered over to the gift shop in hopes of finding pins or a badge or a small (cheap) souvenir for our Rotary blazers. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything, so we left the Zoo and headed home.

I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas and only a Hippopotamus will do.

Who knew Kangaroos could be so regal?

Flamingos

The 3 musketeers?

Old and Wise

Kind of cool...but still a fish! :)

Yesterday was another pretty typical day here in Switzerland. I had school in the morning and for lunch I went to Caroline’s house because our German course in Basel didn’t start until 4pm. We ate lunch, talked with Caroline’s host mom, attempted German with her host brother and Skyped her real mom in Kansas City.  Then we headed to Basel like usual and learned us some German. Our train coming home was s little bit late, so I was running to catch my bus home, but luckily I caught it just in time! Turns out, my host sister was also on the same bus, but we didn’t figure that out until we were walking home. My host mom had made pizza for dinner and the whole apartment smelled so good when we walked in.

I feel bad sometimes because my host mom has to keep reminding the family to speak in High German and not Swiss German so that I can understand what is happening. I always feel awkward because I know they would rather speak in Swiss German, but I just keeping telling them that “We’ll get there one day…”.

I went to bed really early last night because I was exhausted and it definitely paid off. For the first time since I’ve been here, I wasn’t tired when I woke up. WINNNN!

This morning I was at the bus stop waiting for my bus for school and a city worked started to talk to me. I felt so bad that I couldn't understand him, so I just nodded my head and said "Ja". Probably not the smartest solution, but it was all I could do in the moment. I think he understood pretty fast because he just walked away. 

School today was the same as usual. Except for the fact that I had Functions. There's a reason I dropped the class in English and here I am taking it in German. Talk about fun?! I also met my "homeroom" teacher for the first time today and she gave me a list of the class with names, addresses, phone numbers and birth dates. There are kids in my class who are a year older than me, and there are kids in my class who are younger than my brother who is three years younger than me. I've never felt so old in school, and I still can't believe how young some of the kids are. But I'm looking at the positives: they are all beautiful people, eager to help me, and very intelligent. But age is just a number, right?

I had Sport today as well, and wasn't that just a joy. It is fun, yes, but when I don't understand everything, I am definitely out of the loop. I stand there awkwardly until someone explains to me what the teacher said, and then I am still awkward because I don't always understand. Ohh, the joys of being an exchange student. :)

My next and final class of the day was Biology. I have a bigger respect for the sciences now because many of the things are similar in both languages, so I am able to follow along much more. I even asked the teacher a question today in German - and although it was only a simple, "Can I please have that sheet?", it took a lot of courage to even ask. I have to plan out the sentence a million and one times in my head before I even think about asking it, and even then I still hesitate. I know I have an accent and my grammar isn't that good, but I was proud of myself for asking...and I could tell my class was too. Once they realized who had asked the question, they turned around, mouths open (in shock), smiled and a few gave me a thumbs up. It is moments like that that make me continue to practice my German. One of the girls even turned to me and said, "You know more German than we thought you did, so I'm not speaking English with you anymore." Then she smiled and laughed. I love surprising people, but I definitely wasn't expecting that response. 

After school, I headed to the bus stop to catch the bus to the train station to head to Basel for language class. Caroline, Kourtnie (USA) and Rocio (Peru) were also with me. We stopped at McDonald's because Caroline wanted some chicken nuggets for lunch and I have never seen a McDonald's quite as elegant - yes, you read that right, McDonald's was elegant. There were leather chairs, a cafe, a basketball court instead of a play place and big lounge chairs. We couldn't believe our eyes, but everything made sense once we looked at the prices on the menu. A Big Mac meal - 12 Franken or the equivalent of about $15 Canadian. No wonder everyone is so skinny....

After our McDonald's adventure, I had to stop at the Post to buy some stamps. I went up to the counter and said to the lady in German that I only speak a little bit of German, but that I would try anyways. Her response to that was "No, I'll just speak with you in English then." So we conversed, I paid for my stamps and I thought that was it. But as she was giving me my change she said to me in German, "You are in my country, why should I have to speak with you in your language?". I was so taken a back, I didn't really know what to do - I knew what I wanted to do, but I couldn't politely tell her that I gave her that option. So I said sorry, thanked her for her help and walked away - all in German, nonetheless. 

The rest of the day was just like it usually is; train and tram to Basel, German class and then a tram, train and bus home. However something about today was also a little bit different; today I actually understood a little bit more. Everyday I understand more and more, but I am waiting anxiously for the day I can understand everything. 

At dinner tonight my host parents told me that they are planning a little party for my birthday next week and have invited all of my host families and my counsellor. It should be a good night, but I am nervous at how much I will be able to converse. 

No school tomorrow, but I have to go into Solothurn to visit the immigration office to register for my residency card and then off to Basel for my second last class. Tomorrow is also my one month mark in Switzerland and my best friends Becca and Haley turn 18. 

I'll keep you updated on my adventures again tomorrow, but until then...

Much love from Switzerland, 

Madi