Hey everyone!
Well, this is strange. Today I'm going to write my last blog post from Switzerland. And probably my last blog post in general, at least on this blog, at this time in my life (since I will go back to normal Minnesotan life, and I'm not going to chronicle that.)
So much has gone on in the past week, it's been kind of crazy.
Last Sunday I went to Zürich in the evening. By the time I got to my host aunt's house (around 21h30, after taking the train, a tram, a bus, and walking 10 minutes) I was rather soaked since it had been raining hard the whole time. I went to bed pretty soon after getting there.
Monday morning I woke up and went into the main part of the city to meet Sakshi at the train station around 11h30. It took us a while to find each other because the station is so huge, but eventually we did. Since she had a bag of clothes that we didn't want to lug around we went back to my host aunt's house to drop it off. Then when we were done we went back to the Banhofstrasse, which is the street where all of the big shops are. In India it is apparently really important to bring back gifts for everyone you know when you leave the country, and Sakshi still had to buy some for a couple of friends. They wanted bikinis from H&M because, as Sakshi told me, bikinis are hard to find in India. We spent the afternoon walking around and shopping for her friends, visiting the Grossmünster cathedral and St. Peter's church, and going to the grocery store to buy lunch for the next day, before going back in time to eat supper with my host aunt and uncle at their house.
Tuesday it was raining off and on the whole day. In the morning we decided to sleep in, I think we got up around 10h30 or 11h00. After showering we ate the lunches we had bought the day before. Then we took the bus and multiple trams to the Kunsthaus art museum, where we spent the afternoon. We saw a special exhibit by Katharina Fritsch with a lot of modern sculptures and screenprints, and then visited the permanent collection. When we were done there it wasn't late enough to eat dinner, so we went to the train station to buy my ticket to come home the next day and walked around the Banhofstrasse looking for some place that sold sunglasses cases, which I needed. Afterward we took the tram in the direction of my host aunt's house, but stopped on the way to eat at an Italian restaurant. Then when we were done we went home.
Wednesday we left Zürich in the morning, taking the train around 10h30 so that Sakshi would get to Fribourg in time to catch her bus at noon. When I got home it was around 13h00, and for the rest of the afternoon I just hung out.
Thursday morning I got up early to go to Fribourg at 9h00. I looked around for a Swiss flag to put on my wall in the US. Then at 10h00 I met up with Alicia and Claudine at the train station. We went in the car to Morat, which is way at the northern part of the canton. There we went to this place called Papiliorama (that means "butterflyrama" in English.. but yeah, it works better in French.) There were three large domed greenhouses which we went in- one with nocturnal animals (it was cool, but hard to see them in the dark), one with tropical butterflies, and one with other tropical animals. Also my favorite part was the Swiss butterfly gardens, which was a large area with native plants and butterflies enclosed under a net. It was pretty cool. Around 13h00 we left, and we hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we stopped at a shopping center on the way home to eat at a Migros restaurant. After that, Alicia and Claudine drove me home and we had to say goodbye ("au revoir", not "adieu", because I plan on coming back!) It is not easy saying goodbye to all of the incredible people I've met here.
That night at 21h00 I went over to my friend Bérénice's house. We had planned to sleep in a tent when I came over, but it was pretty cold and windy out. We decided to layer on the blankets and clothing and try it anyway (luckily they had two very nice down sleeping bags.) After setting up the inside of the tent and bringing all our things out, we settled down to sleep. Around two in the morning I woke up because I had to go to the bathroom, and Bérénice woke up also because we heard horses making noise nearby. I went to the bathroom while Bérénice went to check out the noise- turns out it was her horses who had gotten out of their enclosure so she had to put them in the stables. After this we went back to bed (it was chilly outside but surprisingly comfortable in the tent.)
Friday we slept in until around 9h30, I think. After we woke up we went inside to eat a nice breakfast of bread, nutella, and coffee. I took a shower, we watched a part of a movie with Bérénice's little brothers, and then I helped Bérénice make lunch. After eating we went outside to pick cherries, which are especially good this year. Since it was too far to reach, Bérénice went to get her horse and picked cherries sitting on her back. It was pretty efficient. Later we watched a movie, and then her boyfriend drove me home (they were on the way to eat supper at a friend's house.) Another au revoir.. that sort of sucked.
Saturday I slept in and bummed around the house in the morning and early afternoon. Around 16h30 I went for a super difficult bike ride with my host dad and brother in which we rode for forty minutes to my host uncle's house (who wasn't there when we arrived.. but we went into the pastures and ate cherries off the trees anyway) and then around an hour and a half back (there were more hills for the return.) It is really pretty biking here, but super difficult. What the Swiss consider "foothills" are pretty extreme. I was exhausted when we got back and in the evening my legs hurt so much I could barely walk! It is pretty cool though that we actually biked on one of the roads that the Tour de France will be passing on next weekend.. On July 19th it is passing through Romont, where I just spent a year of school. Well anyway, after we got home we ate dinner around 19h00. At 20h00 I called my parents to talk for a bit, then called back half an hour later to talk to Emily who happened to be at the house for ten minutes. I can't wait to see them all!
Sunday was another day of intense fitness. Around 11h45 we took the car to a walking area and forest in the Gruyère. We followed a walking path called Le Sentier des Pauvres (trail of the poor) which leads past a monastery. The trail was made around 1300 with the construction of the monastery as a path to haul the stones needed to build it. After the construction was finished the trail remained, and once per week a monk would lead the poor from a chapel at the beginning of the trail to the monastery where they would be fed. Or at least, that's how the story goes! We first walked for about 30 minutes and then found a picnic area where we ate the lunch we had brought with. After this break we walked for maybe an hour or an hour and a half more, passing the monastery. We got eventually (After walking mostly uphill) to la buvette (a little cafe with a terrace) which is at the bottom of the winter ski station. It was open, since it was the weekend, for people hiking through. We stopped to use the toilets and drink some coffee. When we were done we started heading back to where the car was, but somewhere on the way we lost the trail (which at this point wasn't too clearly marked.) We ended up walking though some fields and then down a road, and after maybe another hour we got to the car. We headed home, stopping on the way at a cafe to get some ice cream.
When we got home I showered and got ready to go out again. I took the bus at 17h00 to Romont to meet up with my friends Margaux, Célia, and Marjorie. We took the train to Fribourg, where we went to see the movie Ice Age 3 in the theatre. It was pretty funny. Afterward we took the train back. At the station I had to say goodbye to Margaux and Marjorie, and that was really sad. Célia took the same bus as me but I had to say goodbye to her when I got off.
Today I got up around 10h00. Tonight I am going to a party organized by my friend Marianna where there will be some of my exchange friends (as well as her Swiss friends that I don't know.) We are sleeping over there.
Tomorrow I'll come home in the morning or afternoon after saying goodbye to my exchange friends, including Sakshi. That's not going to be easy. During the day I'll finish packing my suitcases, cleaning my room, and getting everything ready to go.
Wednesday I'm leaving around one in the afternoon. I have to take the 18h00 train from Fribourg to Zürich (the only direct ones leave from Fribourg, not Romont) but Béatrice is the only one who can drive me since Bernard won't be there the afternoon. She is going to visit her parents in the nursing home that afternoon, which is close to Fribourg, so I am going with and then afterward she will drop me off at the train station with my bags. At 19h30 I have to meet an AFS volunteer at the station in Zürich, who will bring us by van to the hotel where we are spending the night next to the airport.
The day after, my flight leaves at 9h50. I get to Minneapolis in the evening after a long day of flights and layovers. I am so excited to come home! Sad to leave Switzerland too of course, but mostly I'm feeling good about the change.
Before I go, I'd like to say THANK YOU for keeping up with my blog throughout this year, and being interested in all of the things I've been doing. It has been an amazing year for me and I've learned so many things. Hopefully you've been able to learn some of them too through my blog.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Hold on
Hello all!
I'm aware that I'm due to write one last Sunday blog post before I come home, however today has been insanely busy. So I am going to write tomorrow (since I have nothing going on until evening.)
Sorry for the hold up!
I'm aware that I'm due to write one last Sunday blog post before I come home, however today has been insanely busy. So I am going to write tomorrow (since I have nothing going on until evening.)
Sorry for the hold up!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Soixante-quatre
Alright, let's see..
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I had school. And it was ridiculously boring. We didn't do ANYTHING.. seriously on Monday, six out of the seven hours we watched movies. Same thing Wednesday. It was pointless.
Wednesday night we had our souper de classe (class supper) at this cabin in the forest that is not that far from my school. We got there around 20h30 and ate roasted sausages and meat around maybe 21h30. After that we just hung out. There was dancing and music in the cabin, a huge campfire outside, and lots and lots of beer.. some people got pretty drunk (it's still sort of weird for me, but less so) but not everyone, and there are people that didn't drink at all. Around two in the morning Andréanne, Florianne, Daniel (these are kids in my class), and I tried to go get some sleep. Luckily Florianne had brought a tent, though it was pretty uncomfortable sleeping on the ground (I hadn't brought a sleeping bag, which was probably stupid.) We ended up talking for maybe an hour, then we tried to sleep some. I think I slept maybe an hour.
So, then it was Thursday morning. A little before five in the morning I got up. There were still people up who had partied the whole night, most of them sitting around the campfire. Others had gone and tried to get some sleep. At five we had to start cleaning up the cabin and picnic area, which took us maybe an hour.
Then we started to put our costumes on. It is the school tradition for the 4th year students, who finish school earlier than everyone else, to go to school the morning after their last day in costumes and bother the students and teachers. Also we had to go one last time to class so that our class teacher could give us our grade report. So the disguise this year was doctors and injured people.. most people dressed up as doctors but I opted to be a burn victim by wrapping my entire face in gauze with a cap and sunglasses (the effect was pretty cool.) When we were all ready we walked to school. You have to remember that no one had gotten more than two hours of sleep so it was pretty crazy.
It took us around an hour to walk to school, but luckily it was mostly a descent. We passed a lot of people who looked at us really strangely on the way. When we got to school there was no one there yet, so we started getting ready, because the tradition is to run around and squirt water on people. The guy in the cafeteria gave us a bunch of free croissants, which was really nice since no one had eaten much, and whoever organized the souper de classe hadn't thought to buy breakfast. We had maybe forty minutes between the time the first professors and students arrived and school started in which we ran around and tried to be obnoxious as possible. At my school, only the teachers are allowed to enter the building before 8h00, so the students had nowhere to go to hide from us. When they finally all went inside, my grade all went in as a group and ran around the halls shouting and banging on doors (really, when I think about it, I can't believe this is even allowed.. Swiss school is so strict!) Then finally we went to class to get our grades. Twenty minutes later we left school, and I had to say goodbye to nearly all my school friends- I'm only planning on seeing two of them before I leave.
We took the bus home and got here around 9h00 or 10h00, I don't remember anymore. I closed the shutters and curtains and went immediately to sleep until 15h00. Then I woke up to eat some lunch, and I skyped with my friend Mikayla. Afterward I didn't do much, and went to bed around 21h00 that night.
Friday I woke up early at 6h30. I showered and made a picnic lunch for myself because I was going on a trip to the Moléson (it's a mountain nearby.) There is a group of around forty orphans from Poland who are visiting the area for ten days, and some of the adults in my village volunteered to help out with their outings. If I understood correctly, some rich Polish guy who lives in my village and made his fortune in Switzerland sponsored the vacation because the orphans come from his hometown. Anyway, my neighbor is one of the volunteers, and she told my host mom (who in turn told me) that if I wanted to go on any of the trips with them I was welcome to. So I decided to go on Friday.
In the morning we went to the cheese factory that I have already been to twice. So that was kind of boring! But around lunchtime we took the funicular from Moléson-sur-Gruyères at 1111m altitude (it's a village that you can drive to) up to the intermediary station at 1520m, where there is a restaurant and picnic area. After there is a télépherique that does up to the summit but we didn't take it, but it was cloudy up there anyway. We ate lunch at the picnic area, and then once we had finished we walked along one of the paths for maybe half an hour. Afterward we took the funicular back down.. the volunteers and I would have liked to walk back down but the kids were too tired (a few of them were maybe only seven, the others were mostly between seven and thirteen.) When we got back to the village, the kids went on these motorless go-karts, where the ski lift took them to the top of the course and then they had to come back down (it's hard to explain, click here to look at the Moléson website about it.) When they were done everyone was tired so they headed back to the chalet where they were staying. Two of the volunteers who are from my village drove me home and I got there around 17h00. The rest of the evening I didn't really do much.
Yesterday I went in the morning to Romont to get my haircut. However since I didn't make an appointment I had to wait two hours, so I walked around the town and sat in the church for a while. After that I found a nice shady patch of grass, and luckily I had brought a book with. For lunch I came home, and in the afternoon I went through a lot of my belongings to see what I could get rid of. I also started packing the box of things that I will send in the mail.
Today I am going with my host family to Begnins, which is on Lac Léman. We are doing to eat lunch there because apparently they have really good perch filets or something. It sounds good. After that we are going to the Lac de Joux which is north of there to take a walk around the lake. After we get home I have to leave at 18h00 because I am going to Zürich! It's going to be a busy next few days.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I had school. And it was ridiculously boring. We didn't do ANYTHING.. seriously on Monday, six out of the seven hours we watched movies. Same thing Wednesday. It was pointless.
Wednesday night we had our souper de classe (class supper) at this cabin in the forest that is not that far from my school. We got there around 20h30 and ate roasted sausages and meat around maybe 21h30. After that we just hung out. There was dancing and music in the cabin, a huge campfire outside, and lots and lots of beer.. some people got pretty drunk (it's still sort of weird for me, but less so) but not everyone, and there are people that didn't drink at all. Around two in the morning Andréanne, Florianne, Daniel (these are kids in my class), and I tried to go get some sleep. Luckily Florianne had brought a tent, though it was pretty uncomfortable sleeping on the ground (I hadn't brought a sleeping bag, which was probably stupid.) We ended up talking for maybe an hour, then we tried to sleep some. I think I slept maybe an hour.
So, then it was Thursday morning. A little before five in the morning I got up. There were still people up who had partied the whole night, most of them sitting around the campfire. Others had gone and tried to get some sleep. At five we had to start cleaning up the cabin and picnic area, which took us maybe an hour.
Then we started to put our costumes on. It is the school tradition for the 4th year students, who finish school earlier than everyone else, to go to school the morning after their last day in costumes and bother the students and teachers. Also we had to go one last time to class so that our class teacher could give us our grade report. So the disguise this year was doctors and injured people.. most people dressed up as doctors but I opted to be a burn victim by wrapping my entire face in gauze with a cap and sunglasses (the effect was pretty cool.) When we were all ready we walked to school. You have to remember that no one had gotten more than two hours of sleep so it was pretty crazy.
It took us around an hour to walk to school, but luckily it was mostly a descent. We passed a lot of people who looked at us really strangely on the way. When we got to school there was no one there yet, so we started getting ready, because the tradition is to run around and squirt water on people. The guy in the cafeteria gave us a bunch of free croissants, which was really nice since no one had eaten much, and whoever organized the souper de classe hadn't thought to buy breakfast. We had maybe forty minutes between the time the first professors and students arrived and school started in which we ran around and tried to be obnoxious as possible. At my school, only the teachers are allowed to enter the building before 8h00, so the students had nowhere to go to hide from us. When they finally all went inside, my grade all went in as a group and ran around the halls shouting and banging on doors (really, when I think about it, I can't believe this is even allowed.. Swiss school is so strict!) Then finally we went to class to get our grades. Twenty minutes later we left school, and I had to say goodbye to nearly all my school friends- I'm only planning on seeing two of them before I leave.
We took the bus home and got here around 9h00 or 10h00, I don't remember anymore. I closed the shutters and curtains and went immediately to sleep until 15h00. Then I woke up to eat some lunch, and I skyped with my friend Mikayla. Afterward I didn't do much, and went to bed around 21h00 that night.
Friday I woke up early at 6h30. I showered and made a picnic lunch for myself because I was going on a trip to the Moléson (it's a mountain nearby.) There is a group of around forty orphans from Poland who are visiting the area for ten days, and some of the adults in my village volunteered to help out with their outings. If I understood correctly, some rich Polish guy who lives in my village and made his fortune in Switzerland sponsored the vacation because the orphans come from his hometown. Anyway, my neighbor is one of the volunteers, and she told my host mom (who in turn told me) that if I wanted to go on any of the trips with them I was welcome to. So I decided to go on Friday.
In the morning we went to the cheese factory that I have already been to twice. So that was kind of boring! But around lunchtime we took the funicular from Moléson-sur-Gruyères at 1111m altitude (it's a village that you can drive to) up to the intermediary station at 1520m, where there is a restaurant and picnic area. After there is a télépherique that does up to the summit but we didn't take it, but it was cloudy up there anyway. We ate lunch at the picnic area, and then once we had finished we walked along one of the paths for maybe half an hour. Afterward we took the funicular back down.. the volunteers and I would have liked to walk back down but the kids were too tired (a few of them were maybe only seven, the others were mostly between seven and thirteen.) When we got back to the village, the kids went on these motorless go-karts, where the ski lift took them to the top of the course and then they had to come back down (it's hard to explain, click here to look at the Moléson website about it.) When they were done everyone was tired so they headed back to the chalet where they were staying. Two of the volunteers who are from my village drove me home and I got there around 17h00. The rest of the evening I didn't really do much.
Yesterday I went in the morning to Romont to get my haircut. However since I didn't make an appointment I had to wait two hours, so I walked around the town and sat in the church for a while. After that I found a nice shady patch of grass, and luckily I had brought a book with. For lunch I came home, and in the afternoon I went through a lot of my belongings to see what I could get rid of. I also started packing the box of things that I will send in the mail.
Today I am going with my host family to Begnins, which is on Lac Léman. We are doing to eat lunch there because apparently they have really good perch filets or something. It sounds good. After that we are going to the Lac de Joux which is north of there to take a walk around the lake. After we get home I have to leave at 18h00 because I am going to Zürich! It's going to be a busy next few days.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Soixante-trois
Hello everyone! I am quite tired at the moment and not really motivated to write on my blog (I'm going to go take a nap afterward!) so maybe this is going to be shorter than normal. I feel like since I'm coming home so soon anyway and will see most of you soon after, it's less important to keep you all informed about my life here, so that's why lately I've maybe been less descriptive and everything in my posts.. I hope this doesn't bother you too much!
Well, this will be my third-to-last blog post, if I continue to write on Sunday afternoons as I generally do. Can you even believe that? I'm coming home so soon.. (eighteen days! Not that I'm counting or anything, haha.) I have lots of mixed feelings about coming home, but the positive ones definitely outweigh the negative ones. It's almost a problem how exciting it is that July 16th is approaching. Every few hours I will think about how soon it is and get really jittery and a little nervous. In a lot of ways, I'm feeling now the same way I was feeling 11 months ago, when I had approximately eighteen days left before leaving Minneapolis: nostalgic, excited, sad, happy, nervous, etc. I guess in a lot of ways I've come full circle.
This last week in school was really boring.. I had my last tests of the year, in history (I got a 5) and math (5.3.) I also got my chemistry test back (4.4) and the grade for my history presentation (6!) The teachers had to enter all their grades in the computer by Wednesday, which means for the last five days of school they can't give us tests or grades. We started watching movies in English and German, and next week we'll watch in French, math, geography, and probably chemistry and/or biology too. So basically it's really boring and pointless going to school (except to see my friends of course!) A couple of the teachers are still trying to teach us but we are like zombies when they start saying anything intelligent, and no one has any motivation to try (even the teachers seem lazy.) At least there are only three days left this week and then we're free!
This weekend was pretty cool. There was the annual braderie in Romont, which is like a little festival that everyone goes to, with booths selling items and food, maybe some music, and a carousel for the little kids. Mostly it's an event for the locals to get together and to see everyone they know from the area who maybe they wouldn't otherwise see.
Friday night I went with Bernard, Béatrice, and Andréanne to eat dinner there. We also walked around and saw a lot of kids in our class and talked to them, but unfortunately it was rainy so it wasn't that lively.. everyone was telling me that normally the crowds were shoulder to shoulder, but this year there were way less people. I think we left around 20h00 or 21h00.
Saturday I had a pretty busy day. I woke up around 9h00. For lunch I ate at the house. Then afterward I went in the car to the braderie at 13h30 to meet up with Margaux, who was getting off her shift making crêpes to raise money for the camp she goes to (or something like that.) We walked around and saw a lot more people we knew.. since it was during the day and not raining there were a lot more people and little kids. She had a really nice idea of taking pictures of me with all the monuments of Romont, so we did a tour of the town.. she's going to make me a CD with those pictures, the ones she took when we went to Lac Noir in February, and some she had taken of our class and friends at school. After this I ate a chocolate crêpe and she ate some ice cream. It started raining really hard around 16h00 so we had to take shelter under an awning. At 16h30 the rain let up a bit and I went to the station to take a train to Fribourg, and Margaux walked home. I went to Sakshi's house afterward.
At her house her house parents were home so we took an apéro together, and then ate dinner and dessert. We ended up spending from like 19h00 to 22h00 eating and talking with her host parents (who are really nice) just about how our years went, amongst other things. I speak French better than the last time I went there so I was able to answer their questions about my experience here, my culture, and my life in the US a lot better. After we finished eating and talking Sakshi and I went to watch TV and talk.. I think we stayed up until around midnight or 1h00.
This morning we woke up around 10h00 and ate a brunch (bread, cheese, ham, jam, nutella, orange juice, coffee, etc.) at around 11h00. At 13h30 I took the bus to Fribourg, and it took me forever to get home because there are hardly any buses on Sundays and I had to wait around a long time (so I drank two coffees and read a book.) I got here around 16h00, and now I am just hanging out. I don't usually like Sundays because it means there is school the next day, but I am ready to get this week over with and start enjoying my summer vacation!
Well, this will be my third-to-last blog post, if I continue to write on Sunday afternoons as I generally do. Can you even believe that? I'm coming home so soon.. (eighteen days! Not that I'm counting or anything, haha.) I have lots of mixed feelings about coming home, but the positive ones definitely outweigh the negative ones. It's almost a problem how exciting it is that July 16th is approaching. Every few hours I will think about how soon it is and get really jittery and a little nervous. In a lot of ways, I'm feeling now the same way I was feeling 11 months ago, when I had approximately eighteen days left before leaving Minneapolis: nostalgic, excited, sad, happy, nervous, etc. I guess in a lot of ways I've come full circle.
This last week in school was really boring.. I had my last tests of the year, in history (I got a 5) and math (5.3.) I also got my chemistry test back (4.4) and the grade for my history presentation (6!) The teachers had to enter all their grades in the computer by Wednesday, which means for the last five days of school they can't give us tests or grades. We started watching movies in English and German, and next week we'll watch in French, math, geography, and probably chemistry and/or biology too. So basically it's really boring and pointless going to school (except to see my friends of course!) A couple of the teachers are still trying to teach us but we are like zombies when they start saying anything intelligent, and no one has any motivation to try (even the teachers seem lazy.) At least there are only three days left this week and then we're free!
This weekend was pretty cool. There was the annual braderie in Romont, which is like a little festival that everyone goes to, with booths selling items and food, maybe some music, and a carousel for the little kids. Mostly it's an event for the locals to get together and to see everyone they know from the area who maybe they wouldn't otherwise see.
Friday night I went with Bernard, Béatrice, and Andréanne to eat dinner there. We also walked around and saw a lot of kids in our class and talked to them, but unfortunately it was rainy so it wasn't that lively.. everyone was telling me that normally the crowds were shoulder to shoulder, but this year there were way less people. I think we left around 20h00 or 21h00.
Saturday I had a pretty busy day. I woke up around 9h00. For lunch I ate at the house. Then afterward I went in the car to the braderie at 13h30 to meet up with Margaux, who was getting off her shift making crêpes to raise money for the camp she goes to (or something like that.) We walked around and saw a lot more people we knew.. since it was during the day and not raining there were a lot more people and little kids. She had a really nice idea of taking pictures of me with all the monuments of Romont, so we did a tour of the town.. she's going to make me a CD with those pictures, the ones she took when we went to Lac Noir in February, and some she had taken of our class and friends at school. After this I ate a chocolate crêpe and she ate some ice cream. It started raining really hard around 16h00 so we had to take shelter under an awning. At 16h30 the rain let up a bit and I went to the station to take a train to Fribourg, and Margaux walked home. I went to Sakshi's house afterward.
At her house her house parents were home so we took an apéro together, and then ate dinner and dessert. We ended up spending from like 19h00 to 22h00 eating and talking with her host parents (who are really nice) just about how our years went, amongst other things. I speak French better than the last time I went there so I was able to answer their questions about my experience here, my culture, and my life in the US a lot better. After we finished eating and talking Sakshi and I went to watch TV and talk.. I think we stayed up until around midnight or 1h00.
This morning we woke up around 10h00 and ate a brunch (bread, cheese, ham, jam, nutella, orange juice, coffee, etc.) at around 11h00. At 13h30 I took the bus to Fribourg, and it took me forever to get home because there are hardly any buses on Sundays and I had to wait around a long time (so I drank two coffees and read a book.) I got here around 16h00, and now I am just hanging out. I don't usually like Sundays because it means there is school the next day, but I am ready to get this week over with and start enjoying my summer vacation!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Soixante-deux..
Hello again!
Let's see.. I just had a normal week of school. It seemed really long though, because it was my first five-day week in a while since I've had so much vacation time.
Monday I had my presentation about Antonio Vivaldi, which I was surprisingly not too nervous for. I think it's probable that living 10 months in a place where every time I open my mouth I risk making a fool of myself has helped do away with any fear I might have of talking in front of people. And now I feel very empowered, because I feel that if doing a presentation in French is such a breeze, then now whenever I have to do one in English it will seem doubly easy! So all in all, though it sort of sucked preparing my presentation and everything I am glad I did it. It was a good experience. I had to talk about three facets of Vivaldi so I chose la création de ses oeuvres majeures (the creation of his major works), son influence dans la musique (his influence in music), and la redécouverte de sa musique et "la renaissance Vivaldi" (the rediscovery of his music and the "Vivaldi renaissance.) All in all it went well! Other than that Monday was super uneventful.
Tuesday I had two tests, one in chemistry and one in IT. The chemistry one I think I did okay on.. at least, I answered all the questions, so that already counts for something. We'll get that back this week I think. The IT test was on Excel and it was not that hard except too long so most of us didn't have enough time to finish.. but it doesn't really matter. I also got my biology test back, and I got 4.8! I was happy and surprised about that. We had gym in the afternoon and we continued (yes, still) our unihockey/soccer/volleyball tournament.
Wednesday was normal.. we're still working on the same project in art class (Tintin and Titeuf.) Next week is the last time we'll have to finish so I had to work on it for a really long time this weekend.
Thursday was super uneventful and I don't even recall what happened. Oh yeah, I had three hours of study (the first because the others had a French test, the second because they had German class, the third because everyone had study.) I studied for the geography test the next day.
Friday like I said, I had a geography test. I feel I did so-so on it. I also had two hours of study in the afternoon so I did all my math homework. It's my last Friday two-hour study of the year! (Next week I have a Chemistry lab, and the week after we'll be done with school.) Friday night when I came home I worked on my art project for two or three hours.
Saturday morning I didn't do much. In the afternoon at 14h00 I left to go to Fribourg. I got there around 15h00 and then went to buy some things. Around 16h00 I went to the vieille ville, down by the river, to meet up with some AFS friends (Sakshi, Fernando, Carlo, Marianna, Sara, and two volunteers is all.) This was for the "Bye bye party" that AFS had planned. We made a fire in a fire ring on the edge of the river, and grilled sausages, as well as eating various salads, cakes, cookies, chips, etc. Around 19h00 it started to rain so we headed to the center of town. We split up- I stayed with Sakshi and Fernando and we went to get a coffee and talk. Around 21h30 I went home. I didn't get to bed until maybe 01h00.
Today I woke up around 08h00. I showered, ate breakfast, and then worked on my art project for another two or three hours (Just two hours of art class this Wednesday and I'll be finished.) This afternoon I am going to Fribourg because there is a music festival. At 16h30 my history student teacher is playing a show and so Andréanne, a bunch of my friends in my class, and I are going to see it. (His Myspace music page is here, but I should warn you that he's a better teacher than singer.. in my opinion..)
I am starting to think about lots of things.. packing (and how much crap I have to get rid of or send in a box), getting to the airport, how to fill up all my spare time with things so I don't waste any of it. I have something planned for all the last weekends (of which there are only three.. it's so surreal!) Also, my last full week in Switzerland (I leave the following Thursday) I am going to Zürich with Sakshi for three nights/two and a half days. It should be fun!
This next week I expect to be long and pretty boring.. Tuesday I have two tests, and those are the last for the end of the year. After that we will probably not do anything in school.. so if my next blog post is not very detailed, sorry in advance!
Let's see.. I just had a normal week of school. It seemed really long though, because it was my first five-day week in a while since I've had so much vacation time.
Monday I had my presentation about Antonio Vivaldi, which I was surprisingly not too nervous for. I think it's probable that living 10 months in a place where every time I open my mouth I risk making a fool of myself has helped do away with any fear I might have of talking in front of people. And now I feel very empowered, because I feel that if doing a presentation in French is such a breeze, then now whenever I have to do one in English it will seem doubly easy! So all in all, though it sort of sucked preparing my presentation and everything I am glad I did it. It was a good experience. I had to talk about three facets of Vivaldi so I chose la création de ses oeuvres majeures (the creation of his major works), son influence dans la musique (his influence in music), and la redécouverte de sa musique et "la renaissance Vivaldi" (the rediscovery of his music and the "Vivaldi renaissance.) All in all it went well! Other than that Monday was super uneventful.
Tuesday I had two tests, one in chemistry and one in IT. The chemistry one I think I did okay on.. at least, I answered all the questions, so that already counts for something. We'll get that back this week I think. The IT test was on Excel and it was not that hard except too long so most of us didn't have enough time to finish.. but it doesn't really matter. I also got my biology test back, and I got 4.8! I was happy and surprised about that. We had gym in the afternoon and we continued (yes, still) our unihockey/soccer/volleyball tournament.
Wednesday was normal.. we're still working on the same project in art class (Tintin and Titeuf.) Next week is the last time we'll have to finish so I had to work on it for a really long time this weekend.
Thursday was super uneventful and I don't even recall what happened. Oh yeah, I had three hours of study (the first because the others had a French test, the second because they had German class, the third because everyone had study.) I studied for the geography test the next day.
Friday like I said, I had a geography test. I feel I did so-so on it. I also had two hours of study in the afternoon so I did all my math homework. It's my last Friday two-hour study of the year! (Next week I have a Chemistry lab, and the week after we'll be done with school.) Friday night when I came home I worked on my art project for two or three hours.
Saturday morning I didn't do much. In the afternoon at 14h00 I left to go to Fribourg. I got there around 15h00 and then went to buy some things. Around 16h00 I went to the vieille ville, down by the river, to meet up with some AFS friends (Sakshi, Fernando, Carlo, Marianna, Sara, and two volunteers is all.) This was for the "Bye bye party" that AFS had planned. We made a fire in a fire ring on the edge of the river, and grilled sausages, as well as eating various salads, cakes, cookies, chips, etc. Around 19h00 it started to rain so we headed to the center of town. We split up- I stayed with Sakshi and Fernando and we went to get a coffee and talk. Around 21h30 I went home. I didn't get to bed until maybe 01h00.
Today I woke up around 08h00. I showered, ate breakfast, and then worked on my art project for another two or three hours (Just two hours of art class this Wednesday and I'll be finished.) This afternoon I am going to Fribourg because there is a music festival. At 16h30 my history student teacher is playing a show and so Andréanne, a bunch of my friends in my class, and I are going to see it. (His Myspace music page is here, but I should warn you that he's a better teacher than singer.. in my opinion..)
I am starting to think about lots of things.. packing (and how much crap I have to get rid of or send in a box), getting to the airport, how to fill up all my spare time with things so I don't waste any of it. I have something planned for all the last weekends (of which there are only three.. it's so surreal!) Also, my last full week in Switzerland (I leave the following Thursday) I am going to Zürich with Sakshi for three nights/two and a half days. It should be fun!
This next week I expect to be long and pretty boring.. Tuesday I have two tests, and those are the last for the end of the year. After that we will probably not do anything in school.. so if my next blog post is not very detailed, sorry in advance!
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