I am tempted to title this post “So it’s been a while…” but I have used that as a title too many times already – which clearly shows that I need to get my butt in gear more often and actually update my blog. But with a constantly busy and exciting new life it is usually hard to find some downtime to inform all of you about my adventures and experiences. Today is the first day in a week and a half that I have had time to think, write and blog. So please bear with me because this post might be a little all over the place.
Since the last time I blogged, I have began my Herbstferien (or Fall Holidays) from school. In some cantons (like States or Provinces) the holidays are two weeks and in some cantons to the holidays are three weeks. I am one of the lucky ones who have three weeks of holidays so it has been a lot of fun so far and I’m only half way in.
The last time I wrote I left off saying I was headed out to Oktoberfest with my host sister. As it turned out, we didn’t end up going to Oktoberfest, but instead went to a surprise party for one of her friends. The party was fun, but I didn’t know anyone because it was a new group of friends. Sometimes I feel like a puppy dog following my host sister around, so I tried my best to be social – in German – with the people at the party. Some of the people I talked to were really interested in Canada and I explained to them – in broken my broken German – all about my life at home and how it compares to my life here in Switzerland. By 1AM, I was exhausted, but the party was still in full swing. Luckily the place where it was held is only a 5-minute walk from the apartment so I was able to go home to bed. My host sister loves to be social and party, so she stayed out most of the night but said it was ok if I went home because she understands how it can be overwhelming for me sometimes.
The next day I met up with my friend Caroline and we went to Bern for the day. Both of us had been to Bern before, but we had been to different places so we decided to go around and show each other the city. We kept getting on the wrong buses and trams, so we were on public transportation for a long time, haha, oopps. We walked around the downtown for a while and went and saw the bears by the Aare. She took up to this garden that looks out over all of Bern and it was really pretty. The sun was really bright though, so we couldn’t see everything – but what we could see was beautiful. After our adventure in Bern, we went back to her host family’s house for dinner and to watch Bridesmaids. At dinner I was invited to stay the night. After dinner we rearranged her room so that we could watch the movie comfortably on her computer. We Skyped with her mom for a while who is probably one of the funniest people I have “met”. We also Skyped with her boyfriend Max who is also quite funny. After we had our Skype sessions we watched Bridesmaids – which is hilarious – and we started to watch Friends with Benefits. During the second movie I kept falling asleep so I went downstairs to the basement where Caroline’s host mom had set up a bed for me. In the morning we woke up around 11 and ate breakfast. I headed home shortly after because Caroline had to get ready to go to the Britney Spears concert in Zurich that evening. She went with a few other exchange students and as much as I would have liked to go, the tickets cost 100 Francs. I like Britney Spears, but I don’t love her, so to me it wasn’t worth spending that much money just to say I went to see Britney Spears in Switzerland. So instead, I spent most of Monday passed out on the floor while my host sisters and I (kind of) watched TV.
On Tuesday I went with two of the other exchange students – Lauren (from Texas) and Caitlin (from New Zealand) – to Oberalppass in the canton of Graubünden. It was almost a 4 hour trip each way by train and we had to transfer several times because our destination was not near a major train station. After getting off our last train we had to hike up to our final destination which was Lake Toma. It is the beginning section of the Rhine river (or something like that, haha). We thought it was going to be a leisurely walk up to the lake because on the internet it was advertised as a nice 90 minute walk to the final destination. But apparently to the Swiss, a “nice walk” is a ridiculous hike through the mountains. But regardless, it was really fun, just not what we were expecting when we arrived.
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| You can take the girl out of Canada, but you can't take Canada out of the girl! |
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| Postcard Perfect?! |
On Wednesday, both of my host parents had the day off of work, and they asked me if I wanted to hiking with them. And even though my legs were really sore from the day before I decided to go with them. We drove with the car to an area near Interlaken and then began our hike. We hiked for about an hour to “Trummelbachfalle” which is the only accessible waterfall in the world that is inside of a mountain. It was really cool but extremely loud. There are 10 different cascades in the mountain. The water comes from a glacier at the top of the mountain and up to 20, 000 liters of water flow through it per second. There was a small gift shop on the way out and my host dad stopped to buy me a few postcards and 2 badges for my Rotary blazer – one is of Trummelbachfalle and the other is from the town that the waterfall is found in. We then got on a bus and took a gondola up the mountain for lunch. The restaurant we ate at had a spectacular view and very good food. After lunch we continued to hike for another hour or so and then took another gondola back down to where we had first began. It was a really fun day and everything in Switzerland is so beautiful.
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| One of the waterfalls inside the mountain! |
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| The view from the Restaurant |
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| My host parents and I before we headed back home |
On Thursday I met up with Caroline in Solothurn to go shopping for the afternoon. We wanted to go to Basel, but Caroline had forgotten her GA (our transit passes), so we had to stay in Solothurn. We discovered a whole new part of the shopping district that we didn’t know existed before and we felt quite accomplished.
On Friday I met up with one of the exchange students, Lorenzo, from Brazil. We met in Olten and then went back to his host family’s house to plan out our excursions for the next week. His host family is also very nice and his host mother speaks 4 different languages. She was really funny because she would tell us to speak German and then after 2 minutes, she would start talking to us again in English. The cycle continued all afternoon and we would laugh every time.
On Saturday I went with my host parents to a Swiss Military demonstration. It was pouring rain, freezing cold and of course everything was outside. Nonetheless, it was really interesting to learn about the things that the Swiss Military does and I am not complaining about looking at boys in uniform all day…
On Saturday night my host sister was going out with some friends and invited me to come along, but I was so tired from the demonstration that I stayed home instead and watched a movie and Skyped with my parents for a few minutes.
On Sunday afternoon I met up with two other exchange students (Paulina from Argentina and Adriana from Ecuador) in Olten. We sat by the river for a while and just talked. I had to be home for dinner though because my entire host family was coming over for dinner. We had cheese fondue and who knew it had wine in it?! My host mom asked me to help her make it so that I could see how it was done and she wrote down the recipe for me so that I can make it when I go home!
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| Before... |
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| I had to stir it FOREVER! |
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After!
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I also felt better than I have ever felt since arriving in Switzerland on Sunday. Like I mentioned above, everyone came over for dinner and the conversation was mostly in Swiss German and was happening pretty fast BUT I actually understood some of the conversation and could follow along with SOME of what was being said. I had a smile on my face the entire night and it felt better than Christmas morning. I was so proud of myself and I was finally able to pat myself on the back for everything I have been doing to learn German. My host parents talk to me in High German, not Swiss German, and they were "showing me off" to their friends who came over dinner. My host dad would say something to me and I would answer him and then he would turn to his friends and say "Look she understands so much!". The fact that they are also proud of my accomplishments is one of the best feelings in the world!
On Monday I went with 5 other exchange students (Hayley from Calgary, Morgan from PEI, Adriana from Ecuador, Lauren from Texas and Lorenzo from Brazil) to Lugano which is in the Italian part of Switzerland. It took us almost 4 hours on the train to get there but it was definitely worth it! It is a beautiful city and we enjoyed eating Gelato and playing the Pedalo boats on the lake. In the morning we went to the "Swissminatur" which is a park with all of Switzerland in miniature form. All of the big attractions like Matterhorn and Zermatt are there as well as all of the historical churches and cathedrals. It was really cool and now we can say that we were in all of Switzerland in one day!
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Swissminatur!
Everything looks so real! |
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| Matterhorn |
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| A gondola that actually worked! |
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| The old buildings while we were on the Pedalo |
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| Lorenzo, Lauren and I on our Pedalo |
On Tuesday, I met up with Lorenzo, Adriana and Hayley again for the day. We went to the city of Fribourg and took a train to the Callier Chocolate Factory which is the oldest chocolate company in Switzerland. We took a tour of the factory and were taken on a virtual tour of the history of chocolate. It was really interesting and was extremely well put together. At the end of the tour there was a room full of chocolate at the end where you good eat as much as you wanted for free. Let's just say I figured out how Santa feels on Christmas Eve after eating all of the cookies...
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| And that's only half of it.... |
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| The room full of chocolate...and they kept bringing out more when the plates would get empty. |
In the afternoon we headed back to the city of Fribourg and met up with another exchange student, Mary Kate, from Florida. We walked around the city for a bit and then Mary Kate and Lorenzo head home. The rest of us met up with Chris, who is a former exchange student. He went to Arizona a few years ago and now lives in Fribourg for university. He took us to this really cool cafe that over looked all of Fribourg. I would have taken a picture, but the sun was so bright so that you couldn't see anything clearly.
Yesterday I had a much needed lazy day as I was so exhausted from the last few days. I watched a few movies and slept most of the afternoon. I also wrote a few letters, learned some German and cleaned my room! Although it was a lazy day, it was still a productive day.
Today I took the train to Aarau and met up with Morgan. She lives there, so we walked around the city for a little while and then went to a French crepe place and ate chocolate and banana crepes! Yumm!
This week I also received a few packages in the mail. One from a former babysitter of mine, Tanja, and one from my German teacher, Rosi, who taught me some German before I left.
Tomorrow I am going to Europa Park in Germany for the day with Adriana and her host family! I have heard great things about it and I am really excited to go! It is supposed to be like the Disney World of Europe! :)
I am sorry about the length of this post, and I hope it won't be so long before I post again!
Much love from Switzerland,
Madi <3
