Changing Host Families?

Hello all

I found out last Sunday that I may be changing host families. The reasons for that are varied, the biggest being that my host parents don't act at all like parents to me, and not even really like friends. I talked to my AFS liason's daughter about this (who exchanged last year to the US) and while she said it wasn't like a family for her either and everything turned out fine, she was suprised to hear that there is absolutely no affection for me from my host family. I've never been hugged or anything. I also think that, while my host parents are nice enough people and they always make sure I am taken care of in all the physical ways (make me lunches, wash my clothes, etc.) they really don't have enough time to host a student. I think for them, hosting a student was different than they thought it would be (I don't know what they thought it would be) and they've realized it's not working out great for them or me either.. so yeah, it would be better for everyone if I changed families, I think, and that may happen soon. Or not soon. I'm unsure.

Luckily, while this is obviously a difficult situation, it's not too much for me to deal with. School is pretty hard and yes, at times boring, but it is so demanding that I have almost no time to feel homesick or anything. For instance on Tuesday I swam 800m in gym class (which for me is a lot) as well as had a bunch of other intellectual classes in French. So, it is both a blessing and a curse for me to be ridiculously occupied all the time. Everyone at school is really nice. When they found out I would be switching families and maybe schools too they were all like 'No! You can't switch schools!' Two weeks of school and my French is already improving, a girl in my class said she could tell the difference and I don't think she was just saying that.

Wednesday I went to the house of my AFS liason and her daughter (Claudine and Alicia) for dinner and to talk about how exchange was going (this was just after they found out I wanted to switch families.) They too said my French had improved a ton since the last time they saw me, maybe a month ago. Hearing this from everyone really makes it worthwhile being here. It's hard for me because I can't really see the progress I'm making, but when people point it out to me it feels great. Claudine and Alicia are very friendly and attentive to me, and I feel that I can contact them with any problem and I am lucky that they were assigned to me.

I think that things are going well for me here, in general. Yeah it really sucks that I wasn't just assigned a perfect host family from the beginning, but I am mature enough that I can deal with it and will learn from it. I've been here for 6 weeks and I've only had one emotional breakdown which I think is pretty good! And as far as the AFS 'cycle of cultural adjustment' goes (see: http://www.uazone.net/Adjustment.html ) I think it applies to me but only in little bits. I was realistic enough to not let the honeymoon stage get the best of me and I am not even sure which stage I'm in now because none of that completely applies to me. Sometimes I think negatively about life in Switzerland but then later in the day I will think about how something here really is good.

Since I got some questions in comments on my last post, I'll answer them here. And I encourage everyone that has a question to ask me because then I don't have to worry that I am forgetting to write about something important!

-1. 'What time periods/nations does your history class cover?'
Right now we've just started a unit on the Renaissance, and when I arrived the class was just finishing up the Middle Ages. I am not sure what we'll be working on in the future.. it is possible and probable that my class already studied Swiss history so I probably won't learn that. Maybe we will just continue learning about Europe.. I'll keep you updated.

-2. 'If it covers something you already studied here, I'll be curious to know if the European perspective is different.'
I never really studied the Renaissance much so I couldn't tell you if the viewpoint differs. I think one of the biggest differences is just that all of this history happened in and around the country- when we talk about the Middle Ages it's not as abstract because there are marks of it (the château one can see from my school, for instance) everywhere.

-3. 'I'd also like to hear more about how you participate in your English class.'
Well for the most part I just listen and try not to laugh at my fellow students' mistakes (because I know I sound just as ridiculous in French) but sometimes the professor asks me to read something aloud or asks me if I think something is right or wrong. Also he will question how we say certain things in America. That's about it. I do some of the homework, but not the tests and obviously not the memorization of 20 irregular verbs each week. I can't believe I am going to get credit back home for this class... though I am learning some of the names of the verb tenses I've been using my whole life!

-4. 'And for English class, do they say that you are saying things wrong since you aren't saying them like someone from Britain? And since you don't spell "color" "colour"?'
Luckily my teacher is cool enough to realize the differences between American English and British English, and while he will point out if I pronounce something differently I am never reprimanded for it. And so far I haven't had to write anything, so I'm not sure about the second point.