St.Gallen Adventures

Yesterday started out as any other ordinary Saturday. I woke up around 8:30, ate breakfast with my host mom and talked about life. She then asked me if I had any plans for the day and I told her that two of my exchange friends had a Rugby game in St.Gallen (the other side of the country) and asked if I could go. She agreed, as she likes me to get out of the house and explore this beautiful country. It's about a three hour journey to St.Gallen, so I brought along my laptop and a few movies I rented from school to watch on the way - by the way, if you haven't seen "Long Walk Home" (also known as "The Rabbit-Proof Fence"), go do that now!

By the time I arrived in St.Gallen and got to the game, I only saw the last few minutes of it - they lost. There were about 10 other exchange students there, so we all hung out for a bit. We ate, sat and talked for a little while and then some people had to head home. The number slowly dwindled until there was only Emmeline, Jade and myself. We decided to head into the old city of St.Gallen because I had never seen it before. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I couldn't take pictures to show my brother how cool his soon-to-be new home is! Sorry Jake!

We walked around for a while and they showed me the world-famous Cathedral, and the red "living room" that is so awkwardly placed in the middle of the city. As we walked around, we could hear people yelling, screaming, shouting and singing and we wanted to check it out. We caught up with them just as they were forming a circle in the middle of one of the streets. We walked around them several times, and Im sure we looked like the biggest stalkers alive. Then we noticed that they were playing "Ninja", and we were shocked because we thought that only North Americans knew that game! After circling them a few more times, Emmeline said "Screw it! I'm joining them!" and proceeded to run towards them screaming "Ninja! Ninja! Ninja!". Jade and I followed and we looked like the biggest doofs around with the huge smiles that were plastered on our faces and our constant giggling. We ended up playing a few rounds with them and then they said in German "Thanks for playing with us! But we've got to move on now!" - or so we thought. So we grabbed our bags, said thank you and continued walking down the street. We still had no idea what they were doing or who they were - all we knew was that they were a group of 25, twenty-somethings who were having the time of their lives.

We walked down the street a little further, and we could still hear them and they still hadn't gone anywhere. Instead their group just continued to grow in size and now they had a man with a wagon wearing a white sheet and a veil, and a bunch of men in business suits...

Being the curious kids we are, we wandered back and sat on the side of a fountain and watched. They were now playing some sort of "duck, duck, goose" game but were standing and crawling through peoples legs...interesting. They noticed us sitting there watching them and asked us, as well as many other bystanders to join them. The other bystanders weren't so keen, but there was no way we were turning that invitation down. We joined them and played with them for a little while - still having no idea who they were or what exactly they were doing - and continued to mess up their games because we had no idea what was going on...

After playing for a while, we asked one of the girls what they were doing and she told us that it was the Bachelor party for the man in the white sheet (which we now understood to be his "wedding dress") and that the wagon he was pulling around was full of beer. We couldn't believe what had just happened - we had just joined a Bachelor party. WHAT?!

And to be honest, it was probably the most interesting and exiting experience of my life! Jake, I can't wait for you to get here and you can experience this as a daily event!

If crashing a Bachelor party wasn't on my bucket list, it is now and I think it should be on everyones!

So much live from Switzerland! I'll keep you updated on what I get myself into next weekend!

xoxo,
Madi

Appenzell & Technorama

Elle, Emma, Laura and myself in Appenzell

On Friday I met up with Elle, Laura and Emma for the day. We all met up in Zurich and then headed to the canton of Appenzell for the day. It was about a 3 hour journey from the time I left my house to the time we arrived in Appenzell, but we had a lot to catch up on, so it didn't seem that long. We didn't really have a game plan for the day, but we knew we wanted to adventure the city and part of the canton as it is so small.  We walked around for a little bit in search of food and we noticed how different the buildings looked compared to where we each live. I think that one of the most interesting things about Switzerland, that no matter where you go in the country, each canton has it's own culture and building structure and often it's own unique dialect of Swiss German. It is weird to think that in a country so small, it is so diverse and every place is individually unique! For example, only in the canton of Appenzell do the farmers wear a "spoon earring" in their left ear - cool, eh? 

The "unique" buildings in Appenzell as well
 as the Swiss and Appenzell-land Canton Flag

One of the main streets 

A beautiful building!

Appenzell is most well-known for its cheese and cheese products. Because of this, we couldn't leave without trying some! We walked into every single cheese shop we could find, and all of them smelled the same. Each one had a "cheese stench" which is when you have too many cheeses in one, unventilated area! Nonetheless, the cheese tasted better than it smelled which is definitely a plus! 

We also decided to put of tourist pants on and adventured into every tourist and souvenir shop in the city. I was on a hunt for badges or pins for my blazer. Don't judge me - although you probably will anyways - but my blazer has honestly become my most prized possession. I would normally be ashamed to admit that but when it has a Swarovski crystal bejewelled Canadian Flag on the flag on the back (thanks Mom), weighs close to 6 pounds, has pins from all over the world and is a "beautiful" red colour, I can only be proud to wear it and I have learned to embrace how nerdy I look wearing it. I LOVE IT.

My most prized possession...

Bejewelled Canadian Flag...

The beginning of the badge border!

I did end up finding 2 badges for my blazer and a few postcards to add to my photo album - incase I haven't mentioned this before, I'm making a photo album of postcards from every place I've visited here. Between my hot red blazer and my photo album of post cards, I'm fully embracing my exchange student life. 

On Saturday Elle and I met up again with a few other exchange students and we ventured to Winterthur. The Swiss Science Center "Technorama" is in Winterthur and my host parents and host sister have been raving about it for ages, so we decided to check it out. We got there around noon and thought we had plenty of time to go through it before it closed at 5pm - were we ever wrong. It was extremely fascinating and there was SO much to do that we lost track of time and had to rush the 3rd floor to make sure we finished on time. We visited the gift shop in search of pins, badges and postcards, but unfortunately walked out with nothing.

Switzerland is horrible. I can't even have fun in a Science Museum! 

After our adventures in Winterthur, I met up with Emily, Mark, Georgia and Alejo in Zurich for a little while before we travelled to Affoltern am Albis for a birthday party.

On Sunday I was so exhausted from the week, that I slept most of the day. The time that I wasn't sleeping, I was watching movies or lounging around. I began to sew the millions of badges I have collected onto my blazer as well. I can only do a few a day because it hurts my fingers after a while. 

I had an early bedtime on Sunday because after nearly a month off, the 5:30AM wake-up calls began again...

Over the break from school, I did a lot of travelling and sight seeing, but I also missed my class. Not class as in having school, but class as in my Swiss friends. As much as I love exchange students, I love the feeling of being challenged when I am with my Swiss friends because I have no choice but to speak German. 

When school started on Monday morning, it still looked like night outside and all I wanted was my bed! It didn't start to get light out until half way through the 2nd hour and I realized then and there how long, dark and cold this winter is going to be...

I had a lot of complements about how much better my German is getting and although I often don't believe it, I have realized that I sometimes will add a German word in the middle of an English sentence, or I'll write an English sentence with German grammar or I'll capitalize nouns in English because they do that in German. That must mean something right?! 

I think I am coming down with a cold because I am always tired. My throat hurts a little bit and all I ever think about is my bed! The last two days I have only had school until noon and when I get home I head straight under the covers and have a 3 hour nap. I am not the only one though, as many of my other exchange student friends are also tired all of the time. I think it has something to do with how hard we have to pay attention to everything and how hard we must work to understand and communicate with everyone. Its either that or an exchange year = narcolepsy!

I had a math test at school today, and my teacher wanted me to write it as an exercise. I tried explaining to her that I don't even understand this stuff in English, let alone German, but I told her I would try anyways. When she handed me the test, I took on look at it, shrugged, turned the paper over and drew her a picture comparison between Canada and Switzerland - complete with flags and the Canadian national anthem (or what I could remember of it...ooooppps!). I was able to answer one question but spent the majority of the hour perfecting my masterpiece. I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes... Cross your fingers and wish me luck?! Haha. I am a horrible exchange student - but at least I tried right?!

There's a short little update for you from Switzerland! It's almost past my bedtime here as I have another 5:30AM morning again tomorrow! Thanks for reading, and I'll try to update more often than I have been! 

So much love from the other side of the world, 

Madi <3

To those that keep asking....

NO I AM NOT HAVUNG ANY FUN HERE...

just kidding...

I've never seen something more truthful.

I came across this today, and the validity of every statement is astonishing.


How are you going to know....

What a dream is...if you've never completed one.
What an adventure is...if you've never undertook one.
What anguish is...if you've never told your family and friends "see you soon" with your eyes full of tears.
What desperation is...if you've never arrived in a place, alone, without understanding anything the others were saying.
What it means to miss someone...if you've never been away from home.
What diversity is...if you've never shared a roof with people from all over the world.
What tolerance is...if you've never had to get used to something different, even if you didn't like it.
What independence is...if you've never had to make decisions for yourself.
What it means to grow...if you never quit being a child to start your life in a new direction.
What disability is...if you've never had the to urge to hug someone, but the computer screen got in your way.
What distance is...if you've never looked at a map and said "Wow, I'm far".
What a language is...if you've never had to learn one to make friends.
What patriotism is...if you've never shouted "I love Canada", while holding a flag in hand.
What true reality is...if you've never had the opportunity to see many different ones and you can create your own.
What an opportunity is...if you've never taken advantage of one.
What pride is...if you never felt it for yourself when you realize everything you've accomplished.
What it means to seize the moment...if you've never seen how fast time passes.
What a friend is...if circumstances never taught you which ones are real.
What a family is...if you've never had one that supported you unconditionally, regardless of your whereabouts.
What your boundaries are...if you've never passed them to see what lies beyond.
What money is...if you've never had to manage it to get by.
What imagination is...if you've never thought about the moment you get back home.
What the world is...if you've never been an exchange student.

Geneva and the United Nations!

Yep, you read that right. I went to the United Nations World Head-Quarters in Switzerland. Working for the UN has been a dream of mine for a long time, so to be inside the building was incredible.

Six of us met up with each other in Geneva for the day. It was pouring rain outside and there were puddles in my shoes, but it was all worth it. When we showed up to the UN building, it was closed for lunch and we did not want to wait outside in the pouring rain for an hour and a half – so instead we decided to ride public transit to kill time. And it sure as heck did kill time. We were on the same bus for probably close to 2 hours, but hey, we stayed dry and warm, were able to catch up with each other, and when we got back to the UN, it was open again. Some might call it crazy, but we call it being efficient.

The tour of the UN cost 7 CHF each, which was incredible considering how interesting it was. I was the “leader” of our group, which really meant nothing, except for the fact that I got a badge with my name and picture on it. The tour lasted about an hour and we walked all through the building. We stood in the General Assembly room and walked through the Human Rights Chamber where all of the decisions on Human Rights are made. We saw a bunch of the other important rooms as well, and it all felt so surreal. We went into the gift shop, which was actually reasonable priced considering it was such an important gift shop and in one of the most expensive countries in the world… I bought a few postcards for my photo album and a few pins and badges for my blazer. 

Representing Canada in front of the world!

The General Assembly of the United Nations

I WAS THERE!

I still can’t believe that I was in the World Head-Quarters of the UN, but I was and it was awesome. There is also the Red-Cross Museum in Geneva, but we didn’t have time to visit it yesterday. Looks like another trip to Geneva is in order!

This Week's Adventures!

I had my second Rotary meeting on Monday and lunch and it is always a bit intimidating. My hosting club doesn’t have any female members so it’s just me and the guys… Everyone is extremely nice and they love to practice their English with me. It is really cool to see people go from having a conversation in Swiss German with someone to having a conversation with me in English. And I can’t wait until that person is me! When the meeting began I was asked to stand up and introduce myself to the club (again), and tell them what I have been up to the last little while. I had to do it in German, obviously, and I was a little bit nervous to do so. I started with “Hello Everyone” in Swiss German and everyone started to chuckle, which calmed me a down a little bit. I then said “My name is Madi, I am from Canada and my German is not very good” and smiled. One of the men interjected and said “No, it’s really good”, but I’m pretty sure he was lying ;). I then continued on and told them about my adventures of the last few weeks. I was surprised at the fluidity of my sentences and I must say, I was a little proud.

After the meeting, I met up with Caroline in Solothurn. I hadn’t seen her in over a week because she was on vacation with her host family in the South of Italy. We walked around the old city for a while and did a little bit of shopping. I keep telling myself I’m poor so that I won’t buy anything, and so far it’s working!

On Tuesday, I was home alone in the morning, but was asked to have lunch ready for noon when my host dad came home. Luckily I didn’t actually have to do the cooking myself because my host mom had made everything the night before. All I had to do was heat things up and have the table ready – easy enough. It was just my host dad and I for lunch, but we managed to carry on a steady conversation. We talked about the military and the differences between the Canadian military and the Swiss military, and he talked about the differences from when he was in the military to the military nowadays.

After lunch, I went to Zurich where I was meeting up with Emily for the afternoon. We took a train to Winterthur – an area just outside of Zurich – and went shopping for the afternoon. Most of the stores we went into were in full Christmas mode with wrapping paper and cards on the shelves and decorations displayed on multiple tables. It was weird to see because it isn’t even Halloween yet – but because they don’t celebrate that here, it also made sense.

Not going to lie, I thought of you Mom

We ended up running into 2 other exchange students on the street, so we stopped at a small café for a little while. When we were back in Zurich, the other 2 had already left, so Emily and I walked around for a little while downtown and then headed home.

Zurich Train Station

This week I also received 2 Halloween cards from my parents and my dogs – thanks Mom, you’re cute – and a girl in my class at school sent me a post card from her vacation in Barcelona. I love getting mail, but it is always so much better when it is unexpected and so thoughtful!

From Mom, Dad, Stella, Riki and Arti

From Andrea in my class

Liechtenstein Adventures!

On Sunday, myself and 4 other exchange students ventured to Liechtenstein – a very small, bordering country of Switzerland – to meet up with another exchange student, Alex, who lives there. Liechtenstein has a population of 36,000 people and is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It is still run by a monarchy – whose castle we saw – and is both similar and different from Switzerland. They also speak German, but have their own dialect – much like the different areas of Switzerland. There are only 9 unemployed people in the entire country (who are of working age…). The landscape is different than that of Switzerland, but mountains can still be seen.

The Castle of the Royal Family

Castle of the Royal Family

 Adriana and I rode the bus and train together to Zurich where we were meeting up with Morgan and Mark. Coming from Ecuador, Adriana is not used to the colder climate here, so she was freezing when we were at the train station waiting for the others. It was probably 10C outside, so it wasn’t too cold, but she was pretty much dying. She can’t wait for winter! Mark and Morgan showed up around 10:25, and then we had to board our train. The train ride was about an hour and we talked about anything and everything – but mostly exchange, as it seems to be the common topic and experience for all of us, all the time. When we got to Sargans, we met up with Jade and then got on the double-decker bus to Lichtenstein. The bus was double-decker, so we ran straight up to the second floor and sat right at the front like the little keeners that we are. We could see everything and it was a little bit scary sometimes because it felt like the bus was going to hit so many things all the time. We rode the bus for a while and then got off in Vaduz, and met up with Alex. We walked up a hill to the Prince of Liechtenstein’s castle, which just looks like an old medieval castle. We could tell he was home because the flag outside was raised. Alex said that he acts like any other normal person and will eat with his family in the city and drives around town. His license plate is 00000, so everyone knows when it is the Prince. He also owns 2 or 3 of the banks in Liechtenstein, and is a very wealthy man.

During our walk down from the castle, we stopped at a little lookout area where we could see Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein all at the same time. We walked around Vaduz for a while and purchased souvenirs, because we are such tourists. Most stores were closed because it was Sunday, so we walked around forever and talked.

Parliament House