Noël, etc.

Hello everyone

My last week was pretty busy, but relaxing too. I celebrated Christmas in Switzerland, which I enjoyed a lot, though it definitely wasn't the same as being at home.

Okay to start, I honestly can't really remember what I did on Monday and Tuesday last week, so I guess it wasn't that interesting!

Wednesday was Christmas Eve.. I woke up and helped Béatrice prepare a bit for that evening by making these smoked salmon and fresh cheese things. Andréanne and Nicolas went to José and Tata's house (brother of Bernard, and his wife- so my host aunt and uncle) who live in the same village as us. They took down chairs from the rafters and set up tables for the event there the next day. After they came home we all ate lunch together. Then, we visited Béatrice's parents who are in a nursing home. It was quite surreal because everyone there spoke German (it's in a different part of the canton) and so it felt a bit like my first day here, when I understood absolutely nothing. Béatrice's sister Denise also came on the train to visit at the nursing home, and so when we were all done she came home with us. Around seven, Tata (that isn't her real name, by the way) and José came over, and the eight of us ate dinner together. Afterward we opened presents and then watched the movie Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis, which I have now seen three times here..

On Thursday, Christmas, we went to José and Tata's house for a giant family gathering for the people on Bernard's side of the family. There were around 30 people including us. I had already met nearly everyone at the birthday party of another host uncle. I recieved chocolate from at least 5 people, which is nice but now I have such an insane amount of chocolate that I am overwhelmed by it. I would share it with my host family but they have the same problem, so I guess I will just (sigh) have to deal with it. With these 30 or so people we ate fondue bourguignonne, which I hadn't yet tried. It's like fondue chinois, with the raw meet that you cook in the fondue pot, except instead of using a bouillon to cook the meat you use oil. I think they taste nearly the same but the bourguignonne definitely smells more. After eating we ate dessert (ice cream, raspberries with cream, spice bread, and meringues) and then played card games. When everyone else had left my host family and I helped clean up and then went home.

On Friday, because there was quite a bit of raw meat and other food left over from Christmas, my host family and I went back to Tata and José's to eat.. again.. fondue bourguignonne. It was good the second time too, and just as smelly! We ate pretty fast because in the afternoon Andréanne had to work and I had plans with Sakshi in Fribourg. After lunch my host family dropped me off at the station in Romont where I bought a ticket and caught the train for Fribourg, and then met up with Sakshi around two. We shopped for a coat for her because her other one is too short and not warm enough (I'm suprised she even has one since she's from Chennai- formerly Madras-where it's rarely less than 70°.) For me we found ski socks and long underwear. After we ate crèpes and then parted ways.

On Saturday, I woke up fairly early to get ready to go skiing with Nicolas. Andréanne couldn't come because she had to work so it was just us. We left around ten to drive up to Charmey, which is that village in the mountains where I went to les Bains de la Gruyère with Alicia and Claudine. There we parked and took this ski lift up to this station higher up the mountain where the snow hasn't yet melted. There weren't that many runs but they were longer than those at home, and Nicolas told me that it was the smallest ski station around.. so obviously skiing somewhere where there are actually mountains is different than skiing in Minnesota. It was weird to ski from way high up on the mountain to a little less high on it, instead of going from the top of a hill to the bottom. It is also different because it's much sunnier and warmer since you're looking down on all of the clouds. More pictures of Charmey can be found here.

Today Andréanne wanted to go snowboarding and Nicolas skiing. I would have gone again too but the girl who owns my ski boots needed them for two days (though that's the only time all winter) so I decided to go snowshoeing with Bernard and Béatrice. We went to a different ski station called La Berra where we parked and the ski pistes were immediately there, instead of taking a lift. The snowshoe path we took was pretty but so much work. We basically climbed up the mountain as far as the ski lifts went, and then a bunch farther. It took around 2 hours for the ascent and then an hour for the descent, and I was (am) ridiculously tired. After getting back home Nicolas, Andréanne and I watched Pan's Labyrinth which we had taped last night.

Tomorrow I am going to Berne for the first time with Béatrice, her friend, and Andréanne. It isn't far; about 40 minutes by car. Andréanne is going to go shopping and I think Béatrice and her friend I haven't yet met are going to show me some sights. Berne is the political capital of Switzerland where the federal government is based, however it's not as big as Geneva, the most international city of the country where lots of organizations are based, or Zürich, the most commercial city. I am glad to be going there though since I haven't really seen much of Switzerland outside of canton Fribourg.

And after that I unfortunately have homework to get started on. Next Saturday night Andréanne and I have our Souper de Classe, which should be interesting (it's a party where everyone in our class gets together and probably most of them get drunk.) Sunday is la Fête des Rois for which AFS is holding a get-together in the afternoon, and I think my whole host family is going with. And then after that.. unfortunately.. school. Two weeks go fast.

I hope all of you had excellent holidays and, if you have congé, I hope you're enjoying it.