XXII. The coolest feelings

   For those of you lucky enough to live in Lititz, you probably received the Lititz Record Express this morning, and you most likely have noticed my article inside. For that article I mostly wrote about how I celebrated Thanksgiving last week, and to spare my fingers, I will not go on about it once again, but I can summarize by saying that I attempted to make a Thanksgiving dinner and introduced foreign food to my host family.

This is proof that I tried. In this picture, I am on the left, my host brother in the middle, and "Vati" (host dad) on the right. My "Mutti" (host mom) took the picture.

   This past Monday I went to Bern for the first time, and it wasn't just driving through. However, it was in the evening, which means that it was pitch black, and I only went with my school band to see a jazz concert. There was also a famous Onion Festival going on, so there was literally confetti everywhere in the city. Not joking. There was confetti in the train station, on the streets, and on the sidewalks. It had also rained a little that day, so that meant that some of the confetti would stick to my shoes.
   I think that I can honestly say now that I am beginning to understand Swiss-German. Just today, a girl whom I don't know very well, asked me how it was going and mentioned how cold it was in Swiss-German, and I understood her!
   I can't speak it though. I have enough work trying to make my High-German sound good, though one of my classmates did tell me that I have gotten better. I can understand more when I read random text in German, and I don't have to look up quite as many words per sentence as before.
   The weirdest part is, when after five minutes of listening to a teacher, I realize that I understood everything that he/she was talking about. That is the coolest feeling in the world, and then I become all pleasantly surprised and give myself a mental pat on the back (because it would look weird if I patted myself in the middle of class for no apparent reason). Then this very thought will distract me, and suddenly my concentration is broken, and the teacher begins to sound like the droning of a bee.
   It's not so much proof that I understand the language perfectly, because I don't catch half the words that people say, or I just don't understand all those little ones; it's more like I understand the big words and connect the dots. Actually, that is a perfect analogy. I miss some of the dots, but once you connect most of them, you can recognize the picture.
   Hopefully.
   Another strange thing about my life here, is that the way people view me is completely different from what it was in the US. In school at home, I was basically "the smart person". You know, the one who always gets really good grades, takes charge in group settings, and helps others with math. That was basically the most defining thing about me, and I always remember sometimes getting annoyed with other kids because they didn't always do what the teacher told them to do or I would just scratch my head and wonder how it was possible not to get straight A's.
   I find that I can relate with my classmates here in Switzerland so much better than at home. That sounds so ironic, because they grew up in a different country, and they speak a completely different language, but honestly, I understand people better now that I have crossed the ocean, so to speak.
   I now know what it feels like to know nothing on the test in front of me. I now know what it feels like to not even bother doing a task for class. I now know how to enjoy chilling with a group of kids when we are supposed to be working. I now know what it is to be thrilled with a grade that is far from perfect.
   Here, my classmates don't respect me because I know everything; they don't expect me to take charge for a group project; and neither do they respect me because they're afraid of America. Or at least I hope not.
   They respect me just for being me, and that's another one of the coolest feelings.

And just to clarify, since there is a high possibility that you who are reading this are a family member or a school teacher, I am actually trying to do my best in school, and I didn't come here to learn how to slack on schoolwork. So don't worry. I'll come back and still work in school. :)