IX. Waking in a new world

   The coolest thing about waking up every morning is knowing that I will learn of lot of interesting things. I'm picking up on a lot of the German, but I understand a lot better than I can speak. Last night I went with my host brother Timon to his youth group, and everyone was so nice to me (They spoke in High-German for me even though it probably didn't make much of a difference.). I can practically feel the pride oozing from my German teachers.
   This was my first observation of young people in Switzerland. It was so strange because it is exactly the same as in America: how they gesture, how they laugh, how they greet each other, what they talk about (when I can understand it)... The only thing different is the sound that comes out of their mouths. Well, they also shake hands very often and hug their friends more than we do as "hello" and "goodbye". The guys also
know how to cook. :)
   Today my family took me to Aarau, a very small city about 20 minutes from Vordemwald. That is where my German course will be for the next month. As I understand it now, I will go to the German course in Aarau for the first few days of every week for four weeks, and the second half of each week I will go to the Kanton Schule Zofingen (that is the equivalent of a high school). Then after my fall break in September, I will be going there full time.
   Hmm... the differences of a Swiss home. Well, all the toilets are different; they have a big button that you press to flush. Secondly, there is very little carpet. In my house I think there is only one or two small rugs, and the rest is all linoleum. I've found that the Swiss also like a certain kind of decoration to put anywhere and everywhere. This is commonly a string hanging from the ceiling with any kind of object attached. At my house, we have strings with fake flowers, Bible verses, seashells, etc. The Swiss also hate to throw anything away. My Swiss mom Myriam served lunch yesterday entirely from leftovers of the past few days.

   Now, here is what I'm sure all of you have been waiting for: my first batch of photos in Switzerland.

Here is the backyard, the view from my balcony (yes, I have a balcony, which is pretty awesome). A lot of construction is going on because their retaining wall was broken, so is doesn't look so pretty. That is the garden house.

This is their vegetable garden.

Here Timon and I stand by a mammoth at a museum in Aarau (I must say that that museum has a queer fondness for mice... shudder).

This is one of the streets in the old section of Aarau (not all of the city was this pretty).

The Swiss like their clocks.

   Don't worry. I should have more photos of my host family, house, and life in general soon. Until then, I hope these have sufficed. Now, I must switch my English brain off. :)