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

The adventure continues...

Friday was another fun and confusing day here in Switzerland. My youngest host sister, Celine, is involved with a theatre company in our village. She has been practicing almost every night for the past few months for a big theatre production and Friday was the opening night. When I got home from Basel in the early evening I had 15 minutes to get ready before we had to leave. My host parent's friends came over and we all walked to Neuendorf (the next village) - you can actually walk to the next village here...so crazy. My host sisters Natalie and Marielle & her boyfriend Pascal met us at the theatre and we dinner in the theatre's restaurant. After dinner we headed up into the barn where the play was. A barn, yes, but a very nice barn. We had to walk up some stairs to where our seats were and in front of the seats was the stage. It was small - only seating about 140 people - but it was very theatre-esq, complete with stage lights, special effects and an incredible set. The play started at 8, and that is when things got interesting. The play was all in dialect, so I wasn't even able to pick out the German words that I do know. Swiss German is very hard, but I paid attention and laughed when the audience laughed and clapped when they clapped. It was really fun to see my host sister acting though because she is definitely in her element. She was the youngest one in the production, but she was very good. At intermission I asked my host mom what was going on because I had no idea. There were ladies laughing at a table and then the next scene was men sword fighting... It turns out the play is based on a real historical story/myth and the writer wrote his own story around it.


Kuoni was a man hundreds of years ago who lived in a castle not far from our village. He was a bad man and when he was killed he was buried in the walls of the castle and cemented in...awkward, I am aware. People today sometimes say that they can hear Kuoni's ghost when at the castle. 

So the play was about a young lady Lara and her affair with Kuoni's ghost. It was the night before Lara's wedding (which explains the lady's laughing at a table - her bridal shower) and the sword fighting was set back in time and was how Kuoni was killed. The entire play was set in the 1800s, so the characters wore traditional old fashioned outfits with bonnets and all. There were some loud sound effects and fireworks, so of course I jumped because, well, I'm me, and my host family was getting a riot out of it. It was a really cool play, and I am glad I saw it - I just wish I could have actually understood...

After the play, my family and I went to the bar which was attached to the theatre, and we socialized with the cast and other people that went to the show. I obviously didn't drink, but it was still fun to be there with my family and talk with everyone in my very broken German. My host sister, Natalie, and I had a heart to heart (in English...) and it everything she said reassured me that I am liked by host family and that everything was a-okay! I love my host family and definitely won the lottery, but you never truly know how they feel about you until they tell you. I had the biggest grin on my face for the rest of the night after our talk and I felt the most relieved I have felt in a long time. The bartender used to live in the US twenty years ago, so he was asking me all of these questions and it was really cool to share my life with complete strangers who were so interested in it! We got home from the bar around 1:30 and I went straight to bed because I had a busy, busy weekend ahead of me.

I had to wake up at 8am on Saturday so that I could get ready for my first Rotex weekend! Rotex is an organization run by former Swiss exchange students. They plan weekends every so often for all of the current exchange students in Switzerland, but because there are over 100 of us, they have to split us up into East and West groups. One group will have a weekend one week and then two weeks later the other group will do the same thing. For our first weekend, they took us to a high ropes park in Bern. We had to take a theory test and pass a practical test before even being allowed on the parcours - some serious, serious stuff. I always knew I was afraid of heights, I just didn't know how afraid I was until yesterday... But once you are 12 meters up in the trees, you really have no choice but to finish the course. There were 7 different courses and each course had different elements. The first one my partner (Rocio, from Peru) and I went on mainly consisted of suspension bridges...perfect. I tried not to look down, but you kind of have to so you can see where to step. I'm sure my face was hilarious, but I was so proud of myself for doing it and not giving up. My favourite part of the course was the zip lines, so even though I vowed several times that I wasn't going to go again, we found a course that had zip lines as its main element. How many people can say they went zip lining in the trees of Switzerland? Not many. Except that I can now. It was such a fun day, but I am definitely feeling it today, haha.

After our adventures in Bern, all 60 of us headed to Langenthal for the the night. We all boarded a bus and I'm not sure the other passengers knew what to think... We almost missed our train, but thankfully we all made to Langethal in one piece. We stayed in a scout house for the night, girls on the top floor and boys on the middle floor. We had Alps macaroni for dinner (macaroni and cheese with potatoes and onions) and we all sat around and talked for a long time. It was really fun to meet everyone and talk to the Rotex members. After dinner dessert was served which consisted of different desserts from all over the world. We all had to bring a typical dessert from our home country, so there was a variety of different delicious foods. I brought maple sugar candies and so did a few of the other Canadians, but the more the merry, eh?! That's another thing... everyone makes fun of "eh" and "sorry" because the Canadians use them so much. After dessert we talked for a couple of hours and then headed up to bed. It was SO hot upstairs that we were sweating in our sleep. At 4 in the morning, I opted for the floor instead of my bed because it was much colder.

This morning we woke up, all extremely tired and groggy, ate breakfast, made sandwiches for lunch and ventured into downtown Langenthal for the afternoon. It is Sunday, so everything was closed, but it was still cool to see everything - all of the old buildings and cobblestone streets. We headed back to our respective houses around 3pm. It was a great weekend, but I am exhausted and will definitely sleep like a baby tonight. :)

I also had a conference call with my (real) family this evening. My dad is currently in China for work and is 12 hours ahead of Ancaster and 6 hours ahead of me, so there are only a few times when calling works for everyone!

I have to do a presentation in German tomorrow about my life and family in Canada. This should be interesting...if I survive, I'll let you know how it goes...

Another thing about my life right now is that my host family has stopped speaking with me in English. It is definitely difficult at times, but I am also learning a lot. I try my hardest to speak with them in German, but when I can't because I don't know the words, I will say it in English and my host mom will tell me how to say it in German. They only speak High German (Germany German) at dinner so that I can attempt to follow along. I can tell that they appreciate that I am trying to speak their language and that feeling alone makes me want to try harder and harder.

A lot of my friends back home are moving into residence this weekend and it is weird knowing that I am not doing it with them. That said, I wouldn't trade the life I have now to go through it with them. I will have that opportunity later, but for now, I have the most amazing experience ahead of me and I am living in a dream (or at least that's how it feels).

Much love from Harkingen,

Madi

I saw this Sun Flower while in Langenthal today and I thought it was the most amazing thing ever.
Definitely put a smile on my face, did it out one on yours?

Just an old train at the station and I thought it was pretty cool looking!

Here is the link to the rope park we were at, check it out: https://www.ropetech.ch/

When the language barrier diminishes even for a second.

Yesterday started out just like any other morning here in Switzerland. Up super early and running to the bus stop. I got to school a little bit early, so I sat in the cafeteria and read the German grammar books my beautiful mom sent me. As I was sitting at the table, I noticed two girls coming towards the table and couldn't figure out why they were coming to MY table when there were a hundred OPEN tables. Well, it turns out the two girls were my classmates and had noticed me sitting alone and invited me to join them at their table where a couple of other kids from my class where sitting. I was so relieved that they made this gesture. Even though it may be a small gesture, it speaks volumes when I feel so lost because of the language barrier. I sat at the table as they talked and worked on math, and even though I didn't really understand anything, the fact that I was part of something now made me smile from ear to ear. I have never really understood the feeling of inclusion until now, and it definitely is one of the most satisfying feelings I have ever had.


When class actually started, I sat through a lesson in History on the French Revolution (or at least that's what I think it was about...) and then it was off to a lesson of German. My German class is really interesting right now because they are reading Spring Awakening and have debates on certain topics that arise from it. And even though it is in German, I understand something every so often and when I piece it together it can be quite comical.


I didn't have my language class in Basel yesterday so I went to Caroline's host family's house for out 3 period lunch break. Caroline has the sweetest host mom ever (NEXT TO MINE OF COURSE) and she made an amazing lunch!


When we went back to school after lunch, my class was SO confused when they saw me because I am usually never there in the afternoon. We had Physics and Chemistry in the afternoon. If Physics doesn't give you a headache in English, try sitting through Physics in German (I swear my head was pounding...). Chemistry was actually the best class I have had in yet here in Switzerland. Some of the girls in my class invited me to sit with them, so I was elated. I introduced myself to the teacher and he said to me in German that he would only speak to me in German because that way I will learn faster - gotta love him! They started Organic Chemistry yesterday in class and I was able to understand it completely! I had taken it twice in school (once in class and once in an upgrade), so even though it was in a completely different language, it actually all made sense. So much sense, that my headache from Physics subsided and I was able to fill out the worksheet in no time. I was so happy to FINALLY fully understand something, so happy that I emailed my high school chemistry teacher just to thank him for teaching it so well. Here is the email I sent:


Hello Mr Hatala!

I hope all is well with you, Stacy and your new baby!

I know you said at the end of the semester that you wanted to hear from us and wanted to know how and what we were doing with our lives now. Well that was less than 8 months ago and already so much has changed. I am currently on Rotary Youth Exchange in Switzerland for a year. I arrived at the beginning of August and will return to Canada at the end of July 2012. This country is absolutely beautiful and I love everything about it...well almost everything. They speak German here which is a very difficult language to understand. I go to high school here although it doesn't count for anything (obviously) because I have already graduated and will attending University when I come back home. All of the lessons are in German, so by the end of the day I have a huge headache from concentrating so hard...well almost everyday. Yesterday was a little bit different. I had Chemistry yesterday afternoon and of course they were learning Organic Chemistry (just my luck), which is one of the reasons I am sending you this email. I just wanted to say thank you for being such an amazing teacher last year that I was able to understand everything the teacher was saying even though it was in a foreign language. I sat there with the biggest smile on my face and nodded along to the lesson because finally something in German made complete sense to me. And when the teacher handed out the worksheets, I was able to answer all of the questions - for once in my German school career. So thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me feel a little bit better about the language barrier I am currently facing!

Good luck with the new Biotech class, nothing can live up to us!

Madi

It may be a little corny, but it is the truth!

After Chemistry, I left the class really fast so that I could catch the bus to go into downtown Solothurn. As I was walking in the hall, a girl in my class Nadine came running after me and asked if I was going to the bus. When I told her I was, she asked me if I would wait for her and then that way we could go together. I obviously said yes and we walked to the bus together. 

Once on the bus I met up with Caroline because we were going into downtown to look at possible phone plans and buy some stamps for me. When we got to the post office, I waited in line and when my number was called I walked up to the desk and asked the lady in German if she spoke English. Unfortunately her answer was no, and my nerves escalated ten fold. I warned her that my German wasn't very good but that I would try anyways. She smiled and nodded. Turns out, I made sense, she was able to understand me and everyone and everything turned out a-okay. This was one of the best feelings I have had since I've been here in Switzerland. When the language barrier diminishes, even for a second, a wave of pride and confidence washes over you and you can't help but smile and give yourself a pat on the back. 

When I got home from Solothurn, we ate dinner and then headed over to our neighbour's house for a party. It was Beald's birthday and there were quite the festivities underway. It was a fun night, but I was exhausted when we got home. I didn't get to bed until almost midnight and man was I ever tired when I woke up this morning.

Today was just like any other day. School in the morning, Basel in the afternoon and a hell of a lot of public transportation mixed in there. Today at school I had sport (gym) where we did high jump - definitely a unit I failed. I looked like a complete and utter idiot, but hey, I already stand out, don't I?! One thing that is different here is that the gym class in co-ed because they same group of kids have the same schedule every single year. After Sport, I had Biology. And once again, thanks to Mr. Hatala, I actually understood what was going on. Well thanks to Mr. Hatala AND the fact that the text was in English and translated to German...

Then off to Basel it was. Thankfully Caroline has recovered from the flu and was able to be my side kick once again. We also discovered the world's largest juice box at the station today, caught up on lost time and had a few laughs.

Not kidding. The size of a freaking pencil. What is this?

Tomorrow is going to be another busy day, so I must go to sleep now!

Until next time, 

Madi 

A dying lion, a city train and a steam boat!

First of all, I just have to mention that I keep waking up really freaked out. I have dreams where I am with my family and friends and then I wake up and I am not in my room. Then I have to remember where I am, and I'm no longer frightened. So odd.

Today I trekked back to the absolutely beautiful city of Luzern with my German class and our teacher. It was a mini field trip and it was definitely one of the best I have gone on!

I missed my alarm this morning, so I was in a rush to get out the door so I could catch the right bus to meet up with others at the Olten train station! And thank goodness I caught the earlier bus and not the later bus because we got stuck in crazy traffic behind farm equipment. What normally takes 25 minutes or half an hour took over an hour! I was running like a mad man to my platform but luckily made it with time to spare!

There were 3 of us meeting up in Olten and the rest of the class was on a train from Basel because they all live close to one another. We saw them through the window of the train and got on the same car as them. There was no where for me to sit, so I stood and pretended to "surf" the whole way to Luzern. It reminded me of being on the TTC during rush hour.

We got off the train in Luzern and headed out of the train station to the beautiful arc outside. The arc is the only part of the old train station that survived a major fire in 1971. It is really interesting looking and is the center mark of the transit square.

Our teacher took us for a small walk around the city and on the famous Kappel Bridge. The sun was shining strong and the water was a beautiful shade of blue and green and it reflected the sunlight. The water is also very clear and at some points we could see the rocks on the bottom. The buildings are very old, but are incredible to look at. The architecture is ridiculous and the mountains in the background make everything that much more beautiful. I still feel like I am living in a dream and that my life is not actually real.

After we walked on the bridge and through part of the town, we went on a little train and took a tour of the city. It went all over the city and we were able to turn to a station in English, so we understood everything! The city of Lucern is so beautiful and it is even better when someone explains the history behind everything to you as well! 

After our train train trip, we ventured over to the famous dying lion statue and took pictures and laughed at how touristy we were being. This time when we asked someone to take our picture, we made sure they got the statue in the background...

Reppin' Canada hard here in Switzerland

After our adventure to the dying lion, we went on a boat trip on the "Lake of 4 Cantons". It was so beautiful and we were able to see things up close. The boat we were on wasn't a steam boat, but many of the tours boats are. We sat in the bow of the boat and there was a Swiss flag off the back and when it would wave in the wind, it was a constant reminder of how lucky I am to be where I am.

The boat trip was amazing and lasted for one hour. After the boat trip we walked around the city a little bit more. I stopped at a little shop and bought some post cards to send home and picked up a few badges for my Rotary blazer. Because Luzern is a tourist city, many things are quite expensive - but hey, you only live once right?!  

We stopped by the lake and sat for a couple minutes and there were 2 swans that were swimming in front of us. They honestly sat there with there bums in the air for 10 minutes. It was so funny, I had to take some photos and a video.

I kid you not!

It was an amazing day in Luzern and I can't wait to go back again soon!

When I got back to the apartment, there was a wonderful package waiting on my bed! The package was from my mom and had so many goodies in it! A beautiful card from her complete with kisses on the seal! 

Books, Maple Sugar Candies, German Grammar books, Peanut Butter, Canadian Salmon, my phone
and my famous mother on a CrossFit Ancaster flyer (you go girl!)

Kisses on the outside and on the inside!
Love you Mamaa!

Until next time, 

Madi

Expanding the Family.

Please don't get the wrong idea from the title. I am not physically adding anybody to my family and neither is anyone else... By "Expanding the Family" I mean that I have successfully expanded my exchange student family. 

Yesterday afternoon I headed to Luzern to meet up with exchange students that I hadn't met in person yet. Sure we had been Facebook friends for a couple months and we knew what each other looked like from photos and what each other was up to thanks to lovely status updates, but it is always different meeting someone in person and having a real conversation with them. And so it is by this that I mean I have expanded the family. No one is pregnant - I promise. Just a simple play on words. 

A few of the "Crazy Canadians"
Left to Right: Emily (Nova Scotia), Carly (British Columbia), Me (Ontario),  Kim (British Columbia)

We walked around Luzern for a little while and I think it may just be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. A big lake in the middle of the city with old steam rolled ships giving tours, tourists everywhere and a magnificent back drop of mountains and mountains and more mountains. The buildings are a sight to be seen and the sunset was spectacular. We visited the famous "dying lion monument" and had someone take our picture in front of it...too bad he missed the monument. The "oldies" as we call them gave us a small tour of the city and then took us to a park by the lake where we sat and talked for hours. There were probably 20 of us and we sat and talked like old friends. We talked about homesickness and sight seeing and how long a year seems right now. Then we realized that before we know it, it will be the end of June and we will be asking each other where our year went. We will all be fluent in German (hopefully) by then and can have the same conversations in a different language. A couple of us got hungry and headed back to the train station to buy braid bread and the cheapest package of ham we could find to eat for dinner. We came to the conclusion that the life of an exchange student is similar to that of a college student - hungry and poor. We obviously split the loaf of bread with as many people as possible so that we still have money for tomorrow's dinner and next month's lunch. Food is a necessity to life, but man, is it ever expensive when you're living in Europe for a year on a budget. The evening was really fun and I am so glad that I met everyone! I am definitely looking forward to doing it again! 

The Gang in front of the Lion Monument.
Did I mention the photographer missed the monument...

I am excited to be able to think and dream in German and understand the ridiculously difficult dialect of Swiss German. I'm sure this will all come with time, and although I want it all to happen right now, at this instant, I keep reminding myself that this is a growing process and a journey. I have to savour every moment of it and live my year to the fullest because before I know it, I will be on a plane on my way back to the (lousy) continent of North America.

See guys, I can cook!

 

Yesterday morning I made my host family pancakes for my host mom's birthday and they loved them (- see Mom, I CAN cook more things than KD)! This was such a relief because I was so nervous about cooking for my family. They also loved the maple syrup and kept asking how much to put on the pancakes - so cute! My host mom took pictures of me cooking so that we can prove to everyone that I actually did cook something!

Just like Canada, complete with Pure Maple Syrup! 

Celine and I eating the Pancakes

Today is just a "lazy day" as my host dad said. I have been looking forward to a lazy day for a while! I am always so tired! This morning I was homesick for a little bit, but as the day progressed everything is good now! I ate brunch with my host parents and host sister and then watched fairytales on TV with my sister for a little bit. Now I am updating this, chatting with friends and learning German all at the same time - look at my multitasking abilities, haha.

Tomorrow I am going to Luzern again with my Language class for the day. We are doing a boat trip and a tram trip so it should be a good day! I'll be sure to keep you all updated! 

Much love from Switzerland, 

                                                                                    Madi <3

Time heals everything.

Just thought I would let everyone know that my day today was much, much better.

I had the first 2 periods off because they are classes that I am not required to take, so I was able to sleep in today and take a later bus to the train station. I got lost at school once again (surprise, surprise) but I managed to run into a bunch of people from my class so they told me to stay with them and all would be fine! They took me to class and hopefully I won't get lost again. I don't have a phone here yet - or handy, as they call them - but when mine arrives they said they would give me their numbers so that if I get lost I can ask them where they are and how to get there!

People told me before I came that it would take time for the Swiss people to warm up to me and not to expect theme to be my best friends right away. I can see that in the past week, a lot of them have warmed up to me more, so I hope that when I start going full days to school that everything will work out and I will make friends in my class faster. We are both trying, so I hope that in a couple of weeks, I will be able to speak more German with them so that they don't have to speak with me in English - although they do like doing that.

That's all for today and I have a busy day tomorrow! It's my host mom's birthday, so I offered to make pancakes for breakfast with REAL maple syrup and everyone is quite excited! Then my host parents are going out with friends to celebrate her birthday so I am heading to Luzern to meet up with some other exchange students! Should be funnnn!

xoxo,
Madi

There's no place like home.

Today was hard. I was overwhelmed, lost and all I wanted was home. I felt a little pit like Dorothy and wanted to click my heels, and say, “There's no place like home" and end up in my mom's arms. This feeling was only temporary, but it was strong. So strong that I didn't know what else to think. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it here. I love my family - I like to believe that I have the best family in Switzerland actually. I don't want to ever come home, but today, was really rough. 

Let me explain myself a little bit more. 

Because I live really far away from the school I go to, I would have to wake up at 5AM in order to get to class on time. And for the time being I attend a German class in Basel every afternoon. I spend almost 5 hours a day on public transit (which is very efficient I must say) and by the time I get home it is almost 7PM. So because of my schedule with the German course, Rotary told me that I need not got to school until 8:30, so that I am not absolutely wiped by midday. Rotary told the school and I thought everything was clear with all parties. 

So this morning I took my usual route to school and arrived at 8:20, which is normally plenty of time to get to class before the lesson starts. Well today was different - very, very different. I had never been to this particular class before and therefore didn't know where the classroom was. I looked at the school map on the wall in the cafeteria to find the class. I read the map, knew where I had to go and was on my way - or so I thought. I got to the area of the school where I thought the room should be and to my surprise it wasn't there (have I mentioned that the school is hugeeeee - 4 floors, almost 2000 students, 200 teachers - ya, very, very big). By this point, the bell had already rang and the students were in class, so the hallways were empty. I continued to wander around for a little bit just to make sure I was in the right place - well I wasn't, but I'll get to that in a minute. 

After wandering for a little bit, I saw a man down the hall and ran up to him. I asked him in German "Where is room B103?" and of course he answered in German - duhhh. I do understand quite a bit of German, but when people talk very fast, it is often very difficult to understand them. So I then asked him in English if he spoke English and unfortunately he said "Nein". So I replied with "Ok, vielen danke!" and we both walked our separate ways. 

At this point I was beyond lost, very confused and very late. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, but I kept telling myself not to cry. I didn’t know what else to do, so I went up the stairs to the second level to talk to the Secretary in the office. I went up, walked into the office and started talking to her. I asked her were the room was and how I could get there and explained that I had been wandering around for a long time and couldn’t manage to find it. She took my schedule, saw the room number and the look on her face was not one of pleasure. She asked me where my friends from my class were and I explained to her that they are in class already, but I live far away from the school, so there was an agreement that I could come for the second period for the time being. She then explained to me that in Switzerland, it is very important to be on time for everything and that the class I was supposed to be in started at 7:35AM and lasts for 3 periods, so it was not alright that I was showing up halfway through the class. And I understand where she was coming from, but at the same time, my schedule was never explained to me, the agreement had been made and I had no idea that this class (drawing and painting) started earlier (the schedule is in German and might as well be in gibberish right now…).

The secretary then continued to inform me that the class I was supposed to be in is located in another building about a 10 minute walk from the main campus – more NEW and IMPORTANT news to me. She called for the Headmaster of the school who was in his office working. They had a conversation in Swiss German and I just stood there wanting to cry. I knew they were talking about me and they were talking a different language, so not only was I completely and utterly confused, I was also extremely overwhelmed and being an emotional person to begin with, it was hard to just stand there and listen. I wanted to cry and the tears began to well up even more. But I sucked them back and stood there.

After their conversation, the Headmaster said that he would take me – by car nonetheless – to my classroom. At this point all I wanted to do was go home (to Harkingen) and have my Canadian mom give me a big hug and tell me everything was going to be ok. And I knew that everything was going to be ok, but sometimes when things are overwhelming, I lose all rational thoughts. I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks, but I quickly wiped them away so that the Headmaster wouldn’t see. In the car he asked me how I was adjusting to Switzerland and if I was enjoying my stay. I told him that I love the scenery and that I have an amazing family (both in Canada and in Switzerland), so everything together was making the adjustment much easier – well everything except for setbacks like this.

We pulled up to the other building and the Headmaster showed me to my class. I was so grateful to him for taking me there, but being so overwhelmed, I didn’t know what to do. We went upstairs to the room and went inside the room where my class just looked at me, smiled and then went back to work. The Headmaster explained the situation to the teacher in German and I could understand most of what he was saying which made tears roll down cheeks again. I took my seat, thanked the Headmaster and then started to cry. I didn’t want to cry, but I couldn’t do anything else. And if being the new exchange student wasn’t enough, I was now the new exchange who was cry during class.

One girl in my class Aline (my sort of friend), gave me a big hug and told me in English that it was ok. She was an exchange student to Arizona 2 years ago, so she’s been in my position and knows what being lost in a new place feels like.

This morning was tough, but I got through it. I might look like a fool, but I think my class understands for the most part. I have always wanted to get lost in foreign country, but for some reason it has lost it’s charm. I am thankful to everyone who helped me today. Sometimes emotions just get the best of me and I can’t do anything but cry.

Everything is better now though, and I look back on the situation and realize that every experience teaches a lesson. Some are big, some are small, but all are useful. The lesson learned today: where room B103 is located.

I hope all is well with everyone at home and all I could think abou today was home and my friends and family. I am so lucky to have such a great host family who listened to my story tonight and laughed with me (and at me).

Until next time,

Madi