Yes, you DID read that right.. I have only to get through one more week of school before having another two weeks off. I will never get used to the amount of vacations the Swiss have during the school year.. So far I have planned that I will go to Lucerne and maybe Bienne with Andréanne, go to Geneva myself, and now there are tentative plans for us to go to Europa-Park, this huge theme park in Germany (it's not very far into Germany though.) And also, of course, we will celebrate Easter and probably eat a ton of chocolate (Andréanne says that at Easter there is more chocolate than at Christmas, though I am having trouble imagining it.) It should be a very enjoyable two weeks and I am looking forward to making the best of it since it's the last big vacation we have before the summer vacation when I'll be preparing to come back home.
This last week was, you know, usual.
Monday I stayed home from school because I was feeling really tired. I still had a cough and runny nose, but I probably could have gone to school if it weren't for the tiredness. I am much better now though. I don't think I did much besides sleeping in, tidying my room, and playing with the cat.
Tuesday I went to school. We got our math tests back and I got 5.4/6 so that was nice. I have never liked math as much as I do now (because it's one of the few classes where I don't feel at a disadvantage and I can do just as well as not better than the others with a bit of studying.) In biology we watched a movie about genetically modified plants, sort of like a French and more sophisticated version of Bill Nye the Science Guy. For lunch I ate a cheese sandwich that was like a third of a baguette but they put one random tiny pickle in, I don't really understand why they did that. Gym was pretty good since we played badminton.
Wednesday I finished my April Fool's fish.. well no, I didn't finish, but we had to take them home because this Wednesday is April first. I had three hours of study (German, real study, and the English teacher being sick) and I spent all of them studying for the geography test which we took Friday. I have learned lots of crazy things in geography, like why there can be two solar eclipses within a month of each other, and why we always see the same face of the moon, and that we are actually closer to the sun in winter than in summer, but in 11,000 years the seasons will be inverted.
Thursday I studied more for the geography test during my free hours. The test was on everything since January, which was a huge amount of material, so that's why I had to study so much. The teacher probably should have split it into two tests, but he didn't so there you go. The last two hours of the day we went ice-skating (indoors) and that was sort of fun. I used to be okay at ice-skating (nothing special, but at least able to skate around fearlessly) but now I am terrible and I don't know what happened. It's not a big deal though. At first we got tested on this course the teacher made where there were seven things you had to do (making an effective stop, skating backwards at a reasonable speed, skating along a straight line on one skate, skating while dribbling a tennis ball in the air, and some other things.) I got.. ehem.. three out of seven. But that's okay. Afterward we split the rink into two sections and played hockey- the boys against boys and girls against girls (they aren't sexist, we requested it that way.) That was fun too, I was la gardienne de but (the goalie.)
Friday we had our geography test. It was pretty hard, and plus the second unit, which was about Swiss rail and transport projects (like the St-Gothard tunnel) and types of human geography, I hadn't studied as much. I also randomly realized on Friday the fact that we (Midwesterners and probably others) say "a whole nother." What? Yeah, I'd never even thought about it before. Why do we split the word "another" by putting "whole" in the middle? Why don't we just say "another whole"? And why did I never realize before that we say it? Also in English class I was talking, and I have to say that, weirdly enough, I can hear my own accent now.
Saturday was uneventful but relaxing. It really rained for the first time (usually it's like 90% snow) and that was nice since I like the rain. Everything is getting green here!
Today we switched into daylight saving's time.. it's almost eight and still sort of light out, which seems strange. Around eleven we left to go near Lac Noir, in the German-speaking part of Fribourg, where we had a gathering with Béatrice's side of the family at a restaurant. I think there were around 15 people in all, one of whom I'd never met and didn't speak French so we had to speak English together which was weird (since being here I have gotten used to being the one speaking a second language, and it seems weird that others should have to do it for me.) The one that didn't speak French is Andréanne and Nicolas's cousin of around thirty. His dad explained to me that for the most part the younger generation of Swiss Germans learn English much better than French or Italian (it's advantageous for getting work and such) even though other Swiss don't speak it (meaning that in order for the French and Italian speakers to keep up they must speak really good German.) After lunch we went to an uncle's house (the one that came over with his family around Christmas) and ate cake and had coffee with the family. Then we left around five, and came home, and now I am typing this.
This Tuesday my grade (around sixty students) is going on a ski trip in Valais which should be.. interesting. Luckily we get to go off with our friends as long as we stay in groups of four or more, and if my friend Bérénice is as horrible at skiing as she says she is, we will be staying on the small hills and it should be good fun. Well I hope to stay on the small hills anyway (from what I've seen of skiing in the alps, the small hills are like the hugest hills we have at home.) I'll fill you in on all of that next week!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sick
Hello everyone
Blargh, sadly I've been feeling sick since last Tuesday, so that really put a damper on my week (erm.. hopefully that's the right expression.) At first I had a bad cough, and that sort of turned into a sore throat and stuffy nose. I've been really tired, though when I go to bed I have a lot of trouble sleeping. Hopefully this will pass soon (I'm already feeling a little better) and I will be feeling 100% by the end of this week.
So, without further ado, the usual recap of my week...
Monday was average though the weather was pretty nice.. I was able to go to school with just a sweatshirt in the afternoon. Almost all of the snow has melted here (the week before there was a 5 foot pile obstructing our mailbox, and now it's gone) and things aren't completely brown.. more like olive drab but whatever, that will change soon enough.
Tuesday was a really, really lovely day. Probably like 60°F I would say, and sunny. For gym class we went outside and played volleyball and football, and a very Swiss thing happened. In the middle of playing I heard some really loud noise, then when I looked up on the street I saw tens of tanks rolling past. Gigantic, armed tanks with soldiers in them.. it was strange. After school when we got off the bus in our village, I noticed that there were tanks parked all over the place.. in people's driveways, in the parking area next to the local football field, etc. There were soldiers sitting around on camp chairs, playing cards, smoking, and eating chips. I really can't stress enough how strange this was for me, though it wasn't uncomfortable or anything. For some reason, the Swiss military doesn't seem threatening, even when they are in your village.. this might have something to do with people's attitudes toward it (no one was surprised) and also because their military takes a completely defensive and peace-keeping role. Anyway, I went for a bike ride which gave me the weird feeling that I was pedaling through the French countryside during WWII or something.
At dinnertime my host mom asked "Did you see the tanks? Were you surprised?" and those sorts of questions, and my host sister was like "Mom, of course she's seen tanks before" to which I had to say, "Erm, no actually I haven't!" She was surprised. They explained that they were probably doing some sort of night practice operation (they rolled out of town at sunset).. "preparing for a war that will never come", they said. Just the way the military is here is so different for me.. every man is obliged to do service, so it's part of everyone's life. They don't hide the military, as they sort of do it the US (of course, in the US they might do their maneuvers in the countryside, as they do here.. it just happens that Swiss countryside is way more populated than that of the US.) And also, the Swiss army doesn't seem like a threat, like something to fear.. it seems almost wholesome even (as I said, with Switzerland being completely neutral, the only reason for the giant military is to ensure that no one bugs them about being neutral. They never actually do anything...)
Yeah, so that was my strange, cultural Tuesday experience.
Wednesday we started a new art project. Des poissons d'avril! (April Fools fish.) In French, April Fools is called April Fish, and it's celebrated by the kids with the prank of all pranks, the ultimate.. sticking a paper fish on someone's back! Yes, I agree, it's pretty harmless. But it's the tradition, and what the kiddies do, and probably where we got the tradition of playing pranks on people. Anyway, we are making cartoonish paper fish in art now, and then painting them, to put up in our house on April first. I probably won't be done by then, since I didn't really get started, but that's okay.
Thursday was quite normal, school-wise, though the weather took a cold turn and la bise came (it's the name they have for a cold wind.) I was feeling rather crappy with my cough and all.
Friday I had a math test in school about vectors and I think I did alright. It was confusing though. I went to the local (tiny) shopping center after school to get a MUCH NEEDED haircut. I went four months without, yuck (you know, with short hair, that's not such a great thing.) I didn't have an appointment so I had to wait a bit but I got home in time for dinner, after taking the bus. The only bad thing about the haircut is that before, I had some hair covering my ears, so they didn't get cold as fast.. quelle dommage.
Saturday I very much wanted to sleeeeep innnnn, and I had the time too, and I'm sick so you think my mind would shut up a bit and let my body rest, but it was not so. I woke up at like eight, I think (it's ironic because when I feel great I can sleep until eleven) and then ate a little breakfast. Andréanne, Nicolas, and Béatrice went shopping but I stayed home because there was nothing I needed to buy. I just hung out, then in the evening I skyped with my mom.
Today I again woke up earlier than usual. For lunch we had a nice cheese fondue... did I mention fondue is good? No? It's good. Now I'm just whiling away my Sunday afternoon.. I don't know yet if I'll go to school tomorrow, it depends on how I feel in the morning and if I can actually sleep tonight. Luckily if I don't go, I won't miss a lot... Mondays are boring!
Blargh, sadly I've been feeling sick since last Tuesday, so that really put a damper on my week (erm.. hopefully that's the right expression.) At first I had a bad cough, and that sort of turned into a sore throat and stuffy nose. I've been really tired, though when I go to bed I have a lot of trouble sleeping. Hopefully this will pass soon (I'm already feeling a little better) and I will be feeling 100% by the end of this week.
So, without further ado, the usual recap of my week...
Monday was average though the weather was pretty nice.. I was able to go to school with just a sweatshirt in the afternoon. Almost all of the snow has melted here (the week before there was a 5 foot pile obstructing our mailbox, and now it's gone) and things aren't completely brown.. more like olive drab but whatever, that will change soon enough.
Tuesday was a really, really lovely day. Probably like 60°F I would say, and sunny. For gym class we went outside and played volleyball and football, and a very Swiss thing happened. In the middle of playing I heard some really loud noise, then when I looked up on the street I saw tens of tanks rolling past. Gigantic, armed tanks with soldiers in them.. it was strange. After school when we got off the bus in our village, I noticed that there were tanks parked all over the place.. in people's driveways, in the parking area next to the local football field, etc. There were soldiers sitting around on camp chairs, playing cards, smoking, and eating chips. I really can't stress enough how strange this was for me, though it wasn't uncomfortable or anything. For some reason, the Swiss military doesn't seem threatening, even when they are in your village.. this might have something to do with people's attitudes toward it (no one was surprised) and also because their military takes a completely defensive and peace-keeping role. Anyway, I went for a bike ride which gave me the weird feeling that I was pedaling through the French countryside during WWII or something.
At dinnertime my host mom asked "Did you see the tanks? Were you surprised?" and those sorts of questions, and my host sister was like "Mom, of course she's seen tanks before" to which I had to say, "Erm, no actually I haven't!" She was surprised. They explained that they were probably doing some sort of night practice operation (they rolled out of town at sunset).. "preparing for a war that will never come", they said. Just the way the military is here is so different for me.. every man is obliged to do service, so it's part of everyone's life. They don't hide the military, as they sort of do it the US (of course, in the US they might do their maneuvers in the countryside, as they do here.. it just happens that Swiss countryside is way more populated than that of the US.) And also, the Swiss army doesn't seem like a threat, like something to fear.. it seems almost wholesome even (as I said, with Switzerland being completely neutral, the only reason for the giant military is to ensure that no one bugs them about being neutral. They never actually do anything...)
Yeah, so that was my strange, cultural Tuesday experience.
Wednesday we started a new art project. Des poissons d'avril! (April Fools fish.) In French, April Fools is called April Fish, and it's celebrated by the kids with the prank of all pranks, the ultimate.. sticking a paper fish on someone's back! Yes, I agree, it's pretty harmless. But it's the tradition, and what the kiddies do, and probably where we got the tradition of playing pranks on people. Anyway, we are making cartoonish paper fish in art now, and then painting them, to put up in our house on April first. I probably won't be done by then, since I didn't really get started, but that's okay.
Thursday was quite normal, school-wise, though the weather took a cold turn and la bise came (it's the name they have for a cold wind.) I was feeling rather crappy with my cough and all.
Friday I had a math test in school about vectors and I think I did alright. It was confusing though. I went to the local (tiny) shopping center after school to get a MUCH NEEDED haircut. I went four months without, yuck (you know, with short hair, that's not such a great thing.) I didn't have an appointment so I had to wait a bit but I got home in time for dinner, after taking the bus. The only bad thing about the haircut is that before, I had some hair covering my ears, so they didn't get cold as fast.. quelle dommage.
Saturday I very much wanted to sleeeeep innnnn, and I had the time too, and I'm sick so you think my mind would shut up a bit and let my body rest, but it was not so. I woke up at like eight, I think (it's ironic because when I feel great I can sleep until eleven) and then ate a little breakfast. Andréanne, Nicolas, and Béatrice went shopping but I stayed home because there was nothing I needed to buy. I just hung out, then in the evening I skyped with my mom.
Today I again woke up earlier than usual. For lunch we had a nice cheese fondue... did I mention fondue is good? No? It's good. Now I'm just whiling away my Sunday afternoon.. I don't know yet if I'll go to school tomorrow, it depends on how I feel in the morning and if I can actually sleep tonight. Luckily if I don't go, I won't miss a lot... Mondays are boring!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Blah blah blah
Hello everyone! Another week has gone by.. Life moves pretty fast in Switzerland (the weekends especially.....) Weirdly enough there are now only THREE weeks left until the next vacation, which is two weeks long. I can't believe sometimes that everything happens so quickly.
For the Easter vacation I have some smallish plans.. During the first week, Andréanne and I purchased day passes from the commune for only thirty francs each which will allow us to travel unlimitedly the whole day (though the commune can only give out three each day, I think, so you really have to plan ahead.) We are going to go to Lucerne and maybe Bienne, two smaller Swiss cities that are really pretty but I might otherwise not see (the train tickets are really expensive since they aren't on the main Zürich-Berne-Fribourg-Lausanne-Geneva line, and they're kind of out of the way.)
Obviously I'll be celebrating Easter with my host family (the chocolate bunnies that are already in the grocery stores do, by the way, trump anything I've seen before in the US in size and quality.) During the second week of vacation I think I am going for three days to Geneva and staying two nights in a hostel. Sakshi is coming with me the first day but then leaving since she doesn't want to stay overnight. Plus, she's already spent a lot of time in Geneva since she came to Switzerland with her family last year, before she came on exchange, and she's already gone a few times this year. I'll probably try to meet up with the other American students (there are three girls who live in/near Geneva) and then otherwise just see the main sights and museums.
So, anyway, here's a recap of what I did this last week...
Monday was boring and average.. we really didn't do anything worth writing about.
Tuesday was my first real time doing gym for quite a long while.. we had to run for twelve minutes. That was more tiring than it usually would be, and my pace was slower than usual, but I didn't have to stop to walk or anything so that's good. After the running we practiced our gymnastics routine, which we ended up filming at the end of the hour. I think I did like two somersaults on the mat plus one from the trampoline.. all in all it was super easy and as my host sister said, our routine "wasn't at all good, but it was original."
Wednesday was also boring, with nothing of consequence taking place.
Thursday we got back our biology tests, and I got a 4.3 (out of 6.) I was quite happy with that! My host sister got 3.9, so I felt kind of bad, but it didn't really matter to her. It's true that I really did study (with all of my ridiculous amounts of study hall, it would almost probably look bad if I didn't get a better note than some of the others once in a long long while.) Anyway it doesn't matter at all if I get a good grade or not in biology, since I've already got the credit since I took it in the US, but it's still nice to know that I CAN get a good grade on a biology test in French. This week we had gym on Thursday (instead of economy which we have every other week) and we played volleyball. It was quite entertaining.. at the beginning we did some drills and then split into teams and played matches.
Friday was rad in a very boring, normal, Friday sort of way.
Saturday was interesting! I ate lunch early, around 11:15, and then went to Fribourg on the bus and then the train. I bought some items I needed and drank a coffee, then met Sakshi at the train station. We went to see Slumdog Millionaire at this tiny theatre that played it in the original version (not dubbed) which was cool. I thought the movie was good but not as great as it was hyped up to be.. still worth seeing and everything, just not amazing. After the movie we rushed over to catch a bus to Sakshi's house. That evening we watched Shrek 2 (the movie choice over there was pretty slim) and then went to bed.
Today I woke up and we ate brunch around 11 with Sakshi's host family. I got home from their house around four. The usual cousins and close family had come over for lunch and they were still here when I got here. I actually arrived just in time for dessert. Afterwards we played cards and I sort of helped Thomas, one of the cousins, put together a lego thing. Everyone left around 6:30, and now I am typing this!
Nothing exciting's coming up this week, though I'm hoping I can go get a much-needed haircut next weekend.
For the Easter vacation I have some smallish plans.. During the first week, Andréanne and I purchased day passes from the commune for only thirty francs each which will allow us to travel unlimitedly the whole day (though the commune can only give out three each day, I think, so you really have to plan ahead.) We are going to go to Lucerne and maybe Bienne, two smaller Swiss cities that are really pretty but I might otherwise not see (the train tickets are really expensive since they aren't on the main Zürich-Berne-Fribourg-Lausanne-Geneva line, and they're kind of out of the way.)
Obviously I'll be celebrating Easter with my host family (the chocolate bunnies that are already in the grocery stores do, by the way, trump anything I've seen before in the US in size and quality.) During the second week of vacation I think I am going for three days to Geneva and staying two nights in a hostel. Sakshi is coming with me the first day but then leaving since she doesn't want to stay overnight. Plus, she's already spent a lot of time in Geneva since she came to Switzerland with her family last year, before she came on exchange, and she's already gone a few times this year. I'll probably try to meet up with the other American students (there are three girls who live in/near Geneva) and then otherwise just see the main sights and museums.
So, anyway, here's a recap of what I did this last week...
Monday was boring and average.. we really didn't do anything worth writing about.
Tuesday was my first real time doing gym for quite a long while.. we had to run for twelve minutes. That was more tiring than it usually would be, and my pace was slower than usual, but I didn't have to stop to walk or anything so that's good. After the running we practiced our gymnastics routine, which we ended up filming at the end of the hour. I think I did like two somersaults on the mat plus one from the trampoline.. all in all it was super easy and as my host sister said, our routine "wasn't at all good, but it was original."
Wednesday was also boring, with nothing of consequence taking place.
Thursday we got back our biology tests, and I got a 4.3 (out of 6.) I was quite happy with that! My host sister got 3.9, so I felt kind of bad, but it didn't really matter to her. It's true that I really did study (with all of my ridiculous amounts of study hall, it would almost probably look bad if I didn't get a better note than some of the others once in a long long while.) Anyway it doesn't matter at all if I get a good grade or not in biology, since I've already got the credit since I took it in the US, but it's still nice to know that I CAN get a good grade on a biology test in French. This week we had gym on Thursday (instead of economy which we have every other week) and we played volleyball. It was quite entertaining.. at the beginning we did some drills and then split into teams and played matches.
Friday was rad in a very boring, normal, Friday sort of way.
Saturday was interesting! I ate lunch early, around 11:15, and then went to Fribourg on the bus and then the train. I bought some items I needed and drank a coffee, then met Sakshi at the train station. We went to see Slumdog Millionaire at this tiny theatre that played it in the original version (not dubbed) which was cool. I thought the movie was good but not as great as it was hyped up to be.. still worth seeing and everything, just not amazing. After the movie we rushed over to catch a bus to Sakshi's house. That evening we watched Shrek 2 (the movie choice over there was pretty slim) and then went to bed.
Today I woke up and we ate brunch around 11 with Sakshi's host family. I got home from their house around four. The usual cousins and close family had come over for lunch and they were still here when I got here. I actually arrived just in time for dessert. Afterwards we played cards and I sort of helped Thomas, one of the cousins, put together a lego thing. Everyone left around 6:30, and now I am typing this!
Nothing exciting's coming up this week, though I'm hoping I can go get a much-needed haircut next weekend.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
A Rather Uneventful Week
Monday I had a history test.. I wrote so little that I didn't even bother turning it in at the end. But hey, everyone else thought it was incredibly hard, and they've been speaking French since they were two, so I don't feel too bad. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Tuesday was my first day back in gym since spraining my ankle. It feels a lot better, though not 100%, and I'm going to have to be careful what I do in gym for a while. I was kind of worried about having gym again, but we ended up doing nothing. I'm not even kidding you. Nothing. You will recall the gymnastics routine that I was worried about doing, and glad that I missed. Well, actually, I didn't completely miss it. The teacher told us to incorporate me into the group, even though I can't do most of the gymnastics with my ankle, and it was all choreographed before, and I think they're supposed to film it next week. Long story short, I will maybe do one somersault, if we get it worked out. We ended up not working on the routine, because one of the other groups that was filming the whole hour was using all of the gym mats we needed, so we really couldn't do anything. I don't think I'll actually end up doing much though.
Wednesday was super boring school-wise. After supper in the evening I went to Fribourg for the second AFS stamm. It was my turn to present my country, so I did as the others had in February and talked for maybe five minutes and showed a flag and map of the US and picture of Minneapolis I had printed out. Then Carlo from Mexico showed me up by pulling out a laptop and giving an extensive twenty minute powerpoint presentation.. haha. It didn't really matter though, because no one was expecting us to give a presentation like that, he just went above and beyond. At the meeting there were two new AFS students, one from Costa Rica and one from New Zealand, who arrived here about a week ago. It was funny, because they were exactly like we were when we arrived- terrible at French. I felt very old and wise with them there. When I asked the Costa Rican where she was from (in English) and she told me, she was like "you don't know where that is, do you?" but I did know where it was (between Panama and Nicaragua!) Apparently most people, when she says she's from Costa Rica, say "is that the same thing as Puerto Rico?" That makes me a bit sad. I told her though that the only thing I knew about Costa Rica was that they have a bunch of nice beaches, because my aunt went surfing there.. After the stamm I took the train home an hour later, because the last time I was the first to leave and I didn't really get to talk to everyone I wanted. There were still maybe ten people left (out of 15 or 20) when I had to take the train, but we all kind of scattered at the same time. It felt weird to be taking the train at 10:30 on a school night, but not unsafe. I love Switzerland.
Thursday I was pretty tired.. I generally go to bed around nine or ten on school nights, but Wednesday night I think it was around midnight. In biology we had a test, and I had really studied for it. I actually think I might have gotten an okay grade! I answered ALL of the questions, which I'm quite proud of, since it ended up being like two pages of writing. Usually, either from a lack of time to develop my ideas in French, or just because I don't have a clue as to the answer, I finish less than half of my biology tests. We'll see how I really did though.
Friday was incredibly boring. In history the professor handed our tests back and then we watched part of the movie Elizabeth which we had started before. Cate Blanchett's French voice is kind of creepy.
Saturday I woke up around ten. We ate lunch, and then around one we drove to Lausanne. That's the second biggest city in French Switzerland, and the fourth biggest agglomeration in the country. The weather was lovely since Lausanne is on Lake Léman and has sort of a different climate than here, even though it's really close. There was no snow, the grass was starting to grow, and there were even little flowers blooming. It's not winter anymore!!! Béatrice, Bernard, and Andréanne went to this exposition about homes and gardens. Apparently it's sort of for people who want to renovate or build a new home, with paints and bathtubs and landscaping.. Andréanne said it sucked but the other two seemed to like it enough. While they were at the exposition for maybe three hours, I walked to and around the center of the city. There were lots of people around, and a surprising number of tourists. I bought a scarf at H&M, plus some stabilo markers and a pen, walked around, and went to the cathedral. First I walked around the outside, and then I went in and walked around the inside. It was really pretty (considered the "finest gothic building in Switzerland", according to this website I'm reading) and fairly gigantic. Afterward I went back to the exposition center to meet up with the others (it was quite a trek, and I started off in the wrong direction, but luckily I had a map.) We left Lausanne, got home around seven, and the rest of the evening was uneventful.
This morning I got up around ten. We ate raclette for lunch, and it was really super. I spent the afternoon working on the many flagged emails in my inbox and writing a letter, and now I'm doing this. That's about it. I think I may go take a walk this evening, if I don't fall asleep first.
Nothing too big is coming up in the near future. Next weekend I'll probably go see Slumdog Millionaire with Sakshi on Saturday, and then stay over at her house in the evening, if it all goes according to plan.
Only four more weeks of school until Easter vacation!
Tuesday was my first day back in gym since spraining my ankle. It feels a lot better, though not 100%, and I'm going to have to be careful what I do in gym for a while. I was kind of worried about having gym again, but we ended up doing nothing. I'm not even kidding you. Nothing. You will recall the gymnastics routine that I was worried about doing, and glad that I missed. Well, actually, I didn't completely miss it. The teacher told us to incorporate me into the group, even though I can't do most of the gymnastics with my ankle, and it was all choreographed before, and I think they're supposed to film it next week. Long story short, I will maybe do one somersault, if we get it worked out. We ended up not working on the routine, because one of the other groups that was filming the whole hour was using all of the gym mats we needed, so we really couldn't do anything. I don't think I'll actually end up doing much though.
Wednesday was super boring school-wise. After supper in the evening I went to Fribourg for the second AFS stamm. It was my turn to present my country, so I did as the others had in February and talked for maybe five minutes and showed a flag and map of the US and picture of Minneapolis I had printed out. Then Carlo from Mexico showed me up by pulling out a laptop and giving an extensive twenty minute powerpoint presentation.. haha. It didn't really matter though, because no one was expecting us to give a presentation like that, he just went above and beyond. At the meeting there were two new AFS students, one from Costa Rica and one from New Zealand, who arrived here about a week ago. It was funny, because they were exactly like we were when we arrived- terrible at French. I felt very old and wise with them there. When I asked the Costa Rican where she was from (in English) and she told me, she was like "you don't know where that is, do you?" but I did know where it was (between Panama and Nicaragua!) Apparently most people, when she says she's from Costa Rica, say "is that the same thing as Puerto Rico?" That makes me a bit sad. I told her though that the only thing I knew about Costa Rica was that they have a bunch of nice beaches, because my aunt went surfing there.. After the stamm I took the train home an hour later, because the last time I was the first to leave and I didn't really get to talk to everyone I wanted. There were still maybe ten people left (out of 15 or 20) when I had to take the train, but we all kind of scattered at the same time. It felt weird to be taking the train at 10:30 on a school night, but not unsafe. I love Switzerland.
Thursday I was pretty tired.. I generally go to bed around nine or ten on school nights, but Wednesday night I think it was around midnight. In biology we had a test, and I had really studied for it. I actually think I might have gotten an okay grade! I answered ALL of the questions, which I'm quite proud of, since it ended up being like two pages of writing. Usually, either from a lack of time to develop my ideas in French, or just because I don't have a clue as to the answer, I finish less than half of my biology tests. We'll see how I really did though.
Friday was incredibly boring. In history the professor handed our tests back and then we watched part of the movie Elizabeth which we had started before. Cate Blanchett's French voice is kind of creepy.
Saturday I woke up around ten. We ate lunch, and then around one we drove to Lausanne. That's the second biggest city in French Switzerland, and the fourth biggest agglomeration in the country. The weather was lovely since Lausanne is on Lake Léman and has sort of a different climate than here, even though it's really close. There was no snow, the grass was starting to grow, and there were even little flowers blooming. It's not winter anymore!!! Béatrice, Bernard, and Andréanne went to this exposition about homes and gardens. Apparently it's sort of for people who want to renovate or build a new home, with paints and bathtubs and landscaping.. Andréanne said it sucked but the other two seemed to like it enough. While they were at the exposition for maybe three hours, I walked to and around the center of the city. There were lots of people around, and a surprising number of tourists. I bought a scarf at H&M, plus some stabilo markers and a pen, walked around, and went to the cathedral. First I walked around the outside, and then I went in and walked around the inside. It was really pretty (considered the "finest gothic building in Switzerland", according to this website I'm reading) and fairly gigantic. Afterward I went back to the exposition center to meet up with the others (it was quite a trek, and I started off in the wrong direction, but luckily I had a map.) We left Lausanne, got home around seven, and the rest of the evening was uneventful.
This morning I got up around ten. We ate raclette for lunch, and it was really super. I spent the afternoon working on the many flagged emails in my inbox and writing a letter, and now I'm doing this. That's about it. I think I may go take a walk this evening, if I don't fall asleep first.
Nothing too big is coming up in the near future. Next weekend I'll probably go see Slumdog Millionaire with Sakshi on Saturday, and then stay over at her house in the evening, if it all goes according to plan.
Only four more weeks of school until Easter vacation!
Monday, March 2, 2009
My Vacation in Detail
So, as you all know, I just had a week off of school. Another week off of school, I should say, since we have a really really hugely ridiculous amount of breaks here. But I'm not complaining!
Saturday, the first day of vacation, we all piled into the car after lunch and drove about two hours to Valais, a canton in the southwest of Switzerland. Valais means "valley", and that's a very fitting name. The canton comprises of the big east-west Rhône valley with smaller north-south valleys branching off of it.. Loèche-les-Bains (or Leukerbad in German, which they speak there), the town where I went, is in one of these. It's sort of a weird place, geographically, because the valley isn't that big, so it's quite obvious that you're wedged between two sets of mountains. I think it would be pretty claustrophobic to live there, because everything seems so isolated, but it was nice visiting. Valais is the canton that the Swiss part of the Matterhorn is in, but we didn't go see it.
Here's a map taken from Google Maps that shows how we had to go to get to Valais. Take a look at the scale- the valley is only maybe 3 or 4 miles across at the widest.
After taking a mountainous road that kept climbing for maybe twenty minutes, we got to Loèche in the late afternoon where we unloaded our bags from the car into the studio apartment we were staying in. We went to get a café with Bérnard and Béatrice before they left again (they were just dropping us off, not staying) and then we went to the Migros to get provisions.
On Sunday it was snowy and the visibility was bad, so Nicolas and Andréanne decided not to go skiing/snowboarding. I should mention that in the town there was a huge, huge amount of snow everywhere. I guess that's what happens up in the mountains, but I really wasn't expecting to see anything that trumps Minnesota snow accumulation. Anyway, we went to Burgerbad, which advertises itself as "the largest alpine thermal spa in Europe." I find this confusing, because to be alpine it has to be in the alps, and the alps are exclusively in Europe, so couldn't they call it "the largest alpine thermal spa in the world"? In any case, the baths were really nice, but crowded. There were lots of Italians that drive over to Loèche for the weekend or the day and then leave again. It was fun and relaxing though.
On Monday Nicolas and Andréanne went skiing in the afternoon.. I thoroughly explored the town, took a few photos, and worked on some homework. In the evening we went out to a pizzeria, and then when we got home we watched the movie Persepolis. I also just finished reading the series. It was cool because now I can watch it without subtitles.. and it's funnier in French, too.
Tuesday was my last full day at Loèche, so I took the télésiège (gondola) up to the ski area with Nicolas and Andréanne around noon. It was the perfect day to do that too, because even though it was windy it was also really sunny with not much fog. As soon as we got off at the top we went to eat in the restaurant, and then afterward Nicolas and Andréanne took off to enjoy the runs. I walked around a bit and took some nice pictures and then took the télésiège back down to Loèche. Afterward I wanted to do this walk on a shoveled walking path that Béatrice told me about. It is a 45 minute walk with a little café at the end, and maybe some nice photo opportunities, I'm not sure. I started my walk but it was so terribly windy (I could hardly walk) and cold that I abandoned and went back to the studio. In the afternoon we went to the bus station and bought my one-way ticket back home for the next day.
These are the pictures I took at Loèche and on the way home. I suggest you click here to look at the bigger versions:
On Wednesday I packed all my bags and caught the bus around 11:30.. to get back home I had to take a bus, and then a train, and then switch trains in Lausanne, and then wait, and then take another bus, but luckily there were no problems. As long as you're in the right place at the right time, Swiss public transport is easy. On the train I sat across from this Australian couple (at least I think they were Australian), which was really funny. It took me like an hour of sitting across from them and sort of listening, but not really, to realize that they were speaking English and not German! I'm so used to the Swiss that English-speakers surprise me a bit now. Anyway, after around three hours of travelling (including waiting) I got home.. I unpacked my bags and repacked them to go to my friend Margaux's house. Around seven Béatrice drove me over there.
When I got to her house, Margaux's mom and eleven-year-old sister Tania were there too. We sat around and talked for a bit.. they were pretty curious about me, since they had heard about me from Margaux and almost became my host family (they were the second family that said I could live with them when I had to change families.) They have three dogs, two of which are her dad, Eugène's, hunting dogs that live outside. The other is named Kiruna (named after a town in Sweden), a black lab that they kept as a puppy before she became a seeing-eye dog. After awhile she herself became blind so they took her back. It was fun having a dog (especially a lab) around for a few days. Margaux's mom is bilingual since she always spoke German with her family growing up, but they moved to the French region of the country when she was little, so she did all of her school in French. She mostly speaks German at home to help her kids become bilingual (it definitely gives them an advantage in school, and later an advantage in the workplace, to speak German well in this German-dominated country), but of course since I was there they mostly spoke French.
Wednesday evening we watched Pirates of the Caribbean.. after that Margaux's dad came home. He is the director of a fromagerie (cheese shop) so his job is to buy and sell cheeses. He brought home around five kinds of cheese for everyone to try, and I tried all of them with a glass of wine (which I like now.) Some were better than others.
On Thursday morning we got up around nine to go to IKEA, which is a little bit past Lausanne. It was super weird going to IKEA.. I mean, if you think about it, it's probably one of the only places that (besides the language) is the same in Minnesota as in Switzerland. Even McDonald's differs between countries, but not IKEA! Same blue building, same children's play area, same furniture, same Swedish foods in the store and cafeteria. The only difference I noticed was that in addition to everything IKEA sells in the USA, here they also sell really basic clothes, soap, shampoo, lotion, backpacks, and suitcases (though there's not much variety.) We did a tour of the IKEA showroom and then went to eat in the cafeteria, where of course I ordered the meatballs with lingonberry sauce. Just like at home! Though, sadly, they replaced the boiled potatoes with french fries. You would think they would have potatoes in Switzerland and french fries in the US, but it isn't so.. After driving home from IKEA we (Margaux, her mom, her sister, Kiruna, and I) walked from her house to Romont, then around the town. In the evening we watched the movie Ocean's Thirteen.
The next day, everyone woke up a bit early. We got our bags packed, and around eleven we took two cars (with the dog, skis, bags, five people, and snowshoes it was necessary) to Lac Noir, a town centered around a lake (that's why the town's name means Black Lake) in the western part of the canton. Actually, they speak German there, so the name they use is Schwarzsee. There is a chalet that we stayed in that one of Margaux's uncles owns, but lots of different friends and family go to stay at. Friday afternoon Tania, Margaux, and I went sledding in one of the empty fields (presumably for cows or sheep in the summer, since it was fenced off) next to the chalet where there was a big giant hill. It was definitely the prettiest sledding experience I've ever had since we were pretty high up and could see the whole town and opposing mountains. We sledded for around two or three hours. I have to say, it was one of the best experiences I've had yet on exchange.
For dinner we had fondue, which I now know how to make perfectly since Margaux's dad showed me exactly how it's done. Afterward we went to this ice palace (palace is an exaggeration, but that's what the makers called it) that some local person makes every year. For those of you that have seen it, think that one farmer in Clearwater with his Christmas light displays every year, but times it by five and make it ice structures instead. It was pretty kitsch (they use that word lots here too), but funny. We had some good laughs.
Here's the pictures I took there and at the chalet. Click here for the bigger version:
On Saturday, before lunch, Margaux, Tania, and Eugène went skiing. Irène, Margaux's mom, went for a long walk with the dog. I stayed home and did some necessary studying. We ate lunch around two, after everyone got back. After lunch we decided to go sledding again for a few hours, which was just as amusing the second time.
On Sunday we ate breakfast, then afterward went to take a walk on the Lac Noir. It was nice except that it was really sunny and the snow was bright so our eyes hurt. After walking across the lake (it's small) and then doubling back alongside it we stopped at a café to get something to drink. We went back to the chalet for lunch, where one of Eugène's brothers (who owns the chalet), his wife, and his two kids met up with us. We ate a fondue chinois with deer meat (from hunting) and then a cake that the brother brought with (he is a baker.) We got all of our bags together, and then around five, Margaux, Irène, Kiruna, and I left the chalet in the first car. They dropped me off at home where I unpacked everything and got ready to go to school this morning....
Which I will describe in the next post, since my fingers are starting to hurt.
Saturday, the first day of vacation, we all piled into the car after lunch and drove about two hours to Valais, a canton in the southwest of Switzerland. Valais means "valley", and that's a very fitting name. The canton comprises of the big east-west Rhône valley with smaller north-south valleys branching off of it.. Loèche-les-Bains (or Leukerbad in German, which they speak there), the town where I went, is in one of these. It's sort of a weird place, geographically, because the valley isn't that big, so it's quite obvious that you're wedged between two sets of mountains. I think it would be pretty claustrophobic to live there, because everything seems so isolated, but it was nice visiting. Valais is the canton that the Swiss part of the Matterhorn is in, but we didn't go see it.
Here's a map taken from Google Maps that shows how we had to go to get to Valais. Take a look at the scale- the valley is only maybe 3 or 4 miles across at the widest.
After taking a mountainous road that kept climbing for maybe twenty minutes, we got to Loèche in the late afternoon where we unloaded our bags from the car into the studio apartment we were staying in. We went to get a café with Bérnard and Béatrice before they left again (they were just dropping us off, not staying) and then we went to the Migros to get provisions.
On Sunday it was snowy and the visibility was bad, so Nicolas and Andréanne decided not to go skiing/snowboarding. I should mention that in the town there was a huge, huge amount of snow everywhere. I guess that's what happens up in the mountains, but I really wasn't expecting to see anything that trumps Minnesota snow accumulation. Anyway, we went to Burgerbad, which advertises itself as "the largest alpine thermal spa in Europe." I find this confusing, because to be alpine it has to be in the alps, and the alps are exclusively in Europe, so couldn't they call it "the largest alpine thermal spa in the world"? In any case, the baths were really nice, but crowded. There were lots of Italians that drive over to Loèche for the weekend or the day and then leave again. It was fun and relaxing though.
On Monday Nicolas and Andréanne went skiing in the afternoon.. I thoroughly explored the town, took a few photos, and worked on some homework. In the evening we went out to a pizzeria, and then when we got home we watched the movie Persepolis. I also just finished reading the series. It was cool because now I can watch it without subtitles.. and it's funnier in French, too.
Tuesday was my last full day at Loèche, so I took the télésiège (gondola) up to the ski area with Nicolas and Andréanne around noon. It was the perfect day to do that too, because even though it was windy it was also really sunny with not much fog. As soon as we got off at the top we went to eat in the restaurant, and then afterward Nicolas and Andréanne took off to enjoy the runs. I walked around a bit and took some nice pictures and then took the télésiège back down to Loèche. Afterward I wanted to do this walk on a shoveled walking path that Béatrice told me about. It is a 45 minute walk with a little café at the end, and maybe some nice photo opportunities, I'm not sure. I started my walk but it was so terribly windy (I could hardly walk) and cold that I abandoned and went back to the studio. In the afternoon we went to the bus station and bought my one-way ticket back home for the next day.
These are the pictures I took at Loèche and on the way home. I suggest you click here to look at the bigger versions:
On Wednesday I packed all my bags and caught the bus around 11:30.. to get back home I had to take a bus, and then a train, and then switch trains in Lausanne, and then wait, and then take another bus, but luckily there were no problems. As long as you're in the right place at the right time, Swiss public transport is easy. On the train I sat across from this Australian couple (at least I think they were Australian), which was really funny. It took me like an hour of sitting across from them and sort of listening, but not really, to realize that they were speaking English and not German! I'm so used to the Swiss that English-speakers surprise me a bit now. Anyway, after around three hours of travelling (including waiting) I got home.. I unpacked my bags and repacked them to go to my friend Margaux's house. Around seven Béatrice drove me over there.
When I got to her house, Margaux's mom and eleven-year-old sister Tania were there too. We sat around and talked for a bit.. they were pretty curious about me, since they had heard about me from Margaux and almost became my host family (they were the second family that said I could live with them when I had to change families.) They have three dogs, two of which are her dad, Eugène's, hunting dogs that live outside. The other is named Kiruna (named after a town in Sweden), a black lab that they kept as a puppy before she became a seeing-eye dog. After awhile she herself became blind so they took her back. It was fun having a dog (especially a lab) around for a few days. Margaux's mom is bilingual since she always spoke German with her family growing up, but they moved to the French region of the country when she was little, so she did all of her school in French. She mostly speaks German at home to help her kids become bilingual (it definitely gives them an advantage in school, and later an advantage in the workplace, to speak German well in this German-dominated country), but of course since I was there they mostly spoke French.
Wednesday evening we watched Pirates of the Caribbean.. after that Margaux's dad came home. He is the director of a fromagerie (cheese shop) so his job is to buy and sell cheeses. He brought home around five kinds of cheese for everyone to try, and I tried all of them with a glass of wine (which I like now.) Some were better than others.
On Thursday morning we got up around nine to go to IKEA, which is a little bit past Lausanne. It was super weird going to IKEA.. I mean, if you think about it, it's probably one of the only places that (besides the language) is the same in Minnesota as in Switzerland. Even McDonald's differs between countries, but not IKEA! Same blue building, same children's play area, same furniture, same Swedish foods in the store and cafeteria. The only difference I noticed was that in addition to everything IKEA sells in the USA, here they also sell really basic clothes, soap, shampoo, lotion, backpacks, and suitcases (though there's not much variety.) We did a tour of the IKEA showroom and then went to eat in the cafeteria, where of course I ordered the meatballs with lingonberry sauce. Just like at home! Though, sadly, they replaced the boiled potatoes with french fries. You would think they would have potatoes in Switzerland and french fries in the US, but it isn't so.. After driving home from IKEA we (Margaux, her mom, her sister, Kiruna, and I) walked from her house to Romont, then around the town. In the evening we watched the movie Ocean's Thirteen.
The next day, everyone woke up a bit early. We got our bags packed, and around eleven we took two cars (with the dog, skis, bags, five people, and snowshoes it was necessary) to Lac Noir, a town centered around a lake (that's why the town's name means Black Lake) in the western part of the canton. Actually, they speak German there, so the name they use is Schwarzsee. There is a chalet that we stayed in that one of Margaux's uncles owns, but lots of different friends and family go to stay at. Friday afternoon Tania, Margaux, and I went sledding in one of the empty fields (presumably for cows or sheep in the summer, since it was fenced off) next to the chalet where there was a big giant hill. It was definitely the prettiest sledding experience I've ever had since we were pretty high up and could see the whole town and opposing mountains. We sledded for around two or three hours. I have to say, it was one of the best experiences I've had yet on exchange.
For dinner we had fondue, which I now know how to make perfectly since Margaux's dad showed me exactly how it's done. Afterward we went to this ice palace (palace is an exaggeration, but that's what the makers called it) that some local person makes every year. For those of you that have seen it, think that one farmer in Clearwater with his Christmas light displays every year, but times it by five and make it ice structures instead. It was pretty kitsch (they use that word lots here too), but funny. We had some good laughs.
Here's the pictures I took there and at the chalet. Click here for the bigger version:
On Saturday, before lunch, Margaux, Tania, and Eugène went skiing. Irène, Margaux's mom, went for a long walk with the dog. I stayed home and did some necessary studying. We ate lunch around two, after everyone got back. After lunch we decided to go sledding again for a few hours, which was just as amusing the second time.
On Sunday we ate breakfast, then afterward went to take a walk on the Lac Noir. It was nice except that it was really sunny and the snow was bright so our eyes hurt. After walking across the lake (it's small) and then doubling back alongside it we stopped at a café to get something to drink. We went back to the chalet for lunch, where one of Eugène's brothers (who owns the chalet), his wife, and his two kids met up with us. We ate a fondue chinois with deer meat (from hunting) and then a cake that the brother brought with (he is a baker.) We got all of our bags together, and then around five, Margaux, Irène, Kiruna, and I left the chalet in the first car. They dropped me off at home where I unpacked everything and got ready to go to school this morning....
Which I will describe in the next post, since my fingers are starting to hurt.
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