XXVI. Last day of the year

   As promised, I will talk a little about Christmas and a few of the biggest differences between here and my home.

Me and my host family in front of our Christmas tree, which is lit with real candles.

   Normally on Christmas I wake up relatively early so that we can open presents as soon as

XXV. 'Twas the night before Christmas

   I'm sorry that I am not keeping my blog posts to a good schedule, but as I'm sure all of you are busy with the holidays, you can imagine that I have been busy as well.

   Since I am not very much in the mood for writing at the moment, and there would be way too much to write anyway, and I took lots of pictures recently, I will indulge you with photos instead. Enjoy!

I went to a Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) in Murten, and the following pictures were taken there.

XXIV. Through the storms

   Let me just say that in the past week (or two) we got battered with snow. You know how in a stereotypical winter, it snows in December, and the snow actually stays on the ground? That's how it is here, and I love it.

That is the snow on my balcony railing (the railing is only about a couple inches thick) after the first major snowfall.

XXIII. How to celebrate St. Nicholas' Day

   In the past week the weather has been crazy. We have been getting snow almost everyday with small intermissions of sun or rain. So, we don't exactly have a foot of snow on the ground right now because it has time to melt a tiny bit before it snows again the next day, but we still have several inches (or I guess I should say "centimeters" since I'm in Europe now). Actually, speaking of measurements, I just realized today in art class that a normal ruler does not exist here. Of course it should be like a "no, duh" fact, but I just never thought about it before. The closest rulers to a foot are either 20 cm or 50 cm long.

   Anyway, December is really busy what with the holidays coming up and all. My host parents are working a lot. My host brother has lots of concerts, I have a couple concerts, and we both have lots of

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.

XXI. Lucerne and my polka-dotted bubble

   This last weekend I met up with some American friends, and we went Christmas shopping in Lucerne. Shhhhhh!! Don't tell anyone!

The bridges in Lucerne

   Before I begin to indulge you with lot more pictures, I must first say that although I had the best couple of days this last weekend, they did come with consequences.
   My friend Hannah has a Gleis 7 card which basically means that she can travel everywhere in Switzerland for free as long as it's after 7:00 at night and before 5:00 in the morning. Of course she

XX. The realities of reading

   For once, this week was almost about normal as it could be. Living the life as a foreign-exchange student is not, as one might presume, always filled with excitement and adventures. For school, I am stuck now trying to read books in German, and that is SO not exciting. I don't know how my fellow classmates do it because, not only do they have to read German books, but they all have to read multiple English and French books too.

This is pretty much the first and only book that I can actually understand! "Märchenland" basically

XIX. Thinking of America

   As you may be aware, Hurricane Sandy was recently born, combined also with a typical winter storm, and it brought its winds, gales, and utter power onto the Northeast of America. Of course, my American home was pretty much in its direct path, and for two days I constantly sent prayers to God to keep my family and home and country safe. It was practically torture to have to go to school when the sun was shining and to not be able to check the news or even know how my family was doing.

   God must have heard my prayers because my family soon emailed me to say that they were fine, the worst was over, and the only damage was that the fence was a little twisted. They didn't even lose their electricity! I was immensely relieved.

   It is very odd to receive all the news about the US from across the ocean. I keep seeing pictures of New

XVIII. Tripping through fall

   The trees are turning, leaves are falling, and it is snowing. Not joking. I have pictures (and a video) to prove it.

It is actually rather a remarkable feat for my camera, but those white specks you see are snowflakes... in October.

   This is fall in Switzerland, and it is going quite well despite my inevitable slip-ups in life. Yes, this post is about the girl who gets straight A+'s in school making mistakes.

XVII. Two roads diverged in a wood

   One of the strangest things that I often do in my life is subtract six hours from the time and imagine what I would be doing right at this moment in America. 

   9:00 - I'm sitting in Geschichte (History) trying to understand what the teacher is talking about, and I look out the window at the serene view of a grassy hill, some houses, and the sun rising. If I took a different road so to speak, it would be 3:00 am in the US, and I would be sleeping.

   12:00 - I'm eating lunch at home with my host family or just taking a temporary break from the day of school. It would be 6:00 am, and my American classmates are probably stirring in their beds and waking up to a new dawn.

   1:50 - I am speaking to my Swiss classmates in some other subject and wondering when I will ever be able to understand Swiss-German. It would be 7:50 am, and the Warwick school day is just beginning;

XVI. Copycat

   Last weekend was the latest trip that I made with my host family. We went to the Jungfrau mountain and rode about two and a half hours of trains to get to the top. It is not the tallest mountain in Switzerland, but it was tall enough that there was lots of snow up there. We got to walk through a glacier and view ice sculptures (and Scrat as you will soon see), we walked outside on the slippery, packed snow, and we warmed up inside a big building among hundreds of other (mostly Asian) tourists.
   This past week, however, I had school, but it wasn't like normal school (if you can call it normal). It was called "Sonderwoche" which basically means that it was a project week dedicated to one subject. I was not obligated to do it, but my host brother was, and I didn't want to be stuck alone at home for a week with nothing to do, so I chose to do Kantibänd. This subject, I have found, is extremely difficult to say because it is not entirely German but also not entirely English. You have to say "Kanti" like you would say "kahntee", and you pronounce "bänd" like "band". It is so confusing for me.
   Anyway, I joined as one of the singers since they didn't exactly have music for me to play my violin, and I

XV. Learning something new everyday

   I think that that saying just about describes my life right now perfectly. Everyday I learn how to say another word in German, or I learn how different Switzerland is from home, or I learn something new about American politics. Oh yes, I still know exactly what is going on with Obama and Romney. Everybody here does.
   This past week my host family and I went to a small vacation house in southern Switzerland where we did some sightseeing. Enjoy.

I finally got to see the Matterhorn!

XIV. Climbing mountains

   I am very pleased to announce that I have finally seen some of Switzerland in this past week or so. As this was my first week off of school I got to sleep in almost everyday, and I went with my host family to various places. And, yes, as I promised, I finally have more pictures. They can pretty much speak for themselves.

XIII. Ferien equals vacation

   Today was my last day of normal school for three weeks. Not even joking. It is Herbstferien!
   Okay, I am used to having approximately 9-10 days off for Christmas, and even though that stinks, that unfortunately is normal at my American school. But this isn't Christmas; this is only fall vacation, and it's going to be awesome. I won't tell you anymore, but I will leave you to speculate...
   This past week was good, but the main difference between this week and the last couple of weeks was that I rode my bike to school. It's not far, but separating my house from my school is a big hill that I have to labor over everyday.
   Yesterday was pretty tough because I biked to school early in the morning when there was fog and it was freezing cold, and my first two classes were Sport (Gym). After that I had a break from physical activity until I biked home for lunch, ate lunch, and then returned to school for the afternoon. Then I had to bike home for the fourth and final time that day, and I was exhausted. Either this will turn me into an athlete or it will compensate for all the chocolate and goodies that I've been eating.
   I guess I didn't mention that I did very well on my first math test; I got a 5, which is the equivalent of a B. The next stuff that we are studying though, I have already learned, so it's pretty easy for me. We also had a Geschichte Prüfung (History test) yesterday, and I couldn't do it even if I tried. It was entirely a written test about things that I have never learned in my life. Why haven't I ever been able to study World History in America?
   Anyway, I have learned how to play a typical Swiss game called BrändiDog, which is almost exactly like

XII. The first tests

   On Monday I had my very first test in school. It was for "Geografie" which is more like Earth Science than Geography. The last time I had Earth Science, I was in 8th grade, so obviously I didn't really know much on this test especially since I wasn't even at school for most of the lectures. I tried it anyway, just for fun and to get a feel for what tests would be like here in Switzerland. Well, a test is a test, and mostly I just guessed on the questions and tried my best to answer in German. It's hard when I know how to name something in English, but I don't know its German equivalent. 

This is Switzerland.

   We got our tests back the next day. Mine had a couple marks (or several) on it to show what I got wrong and what was sort of right. I didn't actually get a grade, but my teacher wrote "gut!" at the top, so I was happy. 

XI. English is everywhere

   Perhaps before I came to Switzerland, I was very naive or just completely dumb. I knew that English is considered a universal language for business like Chinese, but I didn't realize, that everyone knows it.

   For example, in that German course that I mentioned previously where I reviewed German for a grand whole three days, there were kids from Japan, China, Indonesia, a gazillion South American countries, and more, and everyone spoke English. Everyone but me was learning a third (or fourth or fifth) language through a second language. When I asked, they said that they all learned English in school. My fellow classmates in the Kanti (high-school) also know some English, but they are not necessarily fluent in it. 

   When my plane landed in Zürich, every single sign in that airport was in German and English. Not kidding. My family sings "Happy Birthday" in English, and lots of songs that we sing in church are either the same tunes with German lyrics or actually in English.

   Speaking of church, I went to the service last Sunday, and the entire sermon was in Swiss-German... It was at least half an hour long, and - I am not joking - excepting the Bible verse that was put up on the screen in High-German, I caught five or fewer words. 

   Yeah.

   The good news is that when people speak directly to me, I can understand almost everything that they say, and I have on occasion engaged in full, one-on-one conversations. My fellow female classmates have also discovered that I am good in Math, and so it is not an odd occurrence to find me, explaining a math problem that is written in a different language to students who can't understand it in their native language.

   There are so many differences between here and home that to list them all would make this post exceeding long, and you, my wonderful readers, would yawn, promptly turn off the computer and pick up a book instead. Therefore, I will treat you with a few differences in every post.

   I should probably begin with the ones that are kind of small but that really surprised me and that I have already become adapted to because otherwise I will forget about them. 

   Did I ever mention the blinds in Switzerland? They are much thicker and are built-in on the outside. Then,

X. Just smile and look pretty

Translation: My first day of school

   Well, I don't really have any tragic stories, any extreme blunders, or spectacularly embarrassing moments to tell, but basically my first day of school was boring, even more boring than my German course school in Aarau for the past three days.
   In that school I was with fourteen other exchange students who came here without knowing one word of German. The lessons were boring because I already knew the stuff, and I have actually tested out of going there anymore. Even though half of the kids spoke Spanish, everyone knew English, and they were fun to hang out with. Yesterday I even got to play my violin with a guy from Indonesia. So awesome. Everyone came from everywhere: China, Japan, Chile, Iceland, Columbia, Brazil, and several other countries, but today all of us went to our own respective Kantonsschule for the first time.
   Here is what I expected from what others have told me: Strict teachers, focused students, absolutely no phones, lots of clocks, lots of note-taking, no goofing around, a prompt bell schedule, and uncomfortable chairs that force you to sit up straight.
   Ha. Right.
   Honestly, I was very surprised. My host mom drove me to school, and a man who is probably the equivalent of a principal went over my schedule with me. In Warwick, my American school, our schedule is exactly the same everyday, but my schedule here is really weird.
   My first class was Geschichte (History). Actually my first class would have been Gym, but thankfully I got

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

VIII. This is really it

This part was actually written on August 23, but I ran out of time to publish it because we were called to leave. :)
   Right now I am sitting in the lobby of the JFK airport hotel with a whole group of teenagers attired in bright blue AFS shirts. A lot has happened in the past few days, and I still haven't even left the country yet.
   Saturday and Sunday were packing days, and a couple of my friends said goodbye to me then. Monday was pretty crazy; I finally had my braces removed and learned how to use retainers, and I also went to the dentist (I don't know how they both managed to be on the same day, but they did). Suffice it to say that my mouth was very tired.
   On Tuesday morning I said goodbye to half of my family, my cat Kiesha, and my house, and we went to

VII. Before I know it

   I just kind of had a light bulb moment today, actually more of a blonde moment, or a combination of the two. Or maybe one should call it a stark realization or the registering of something that's been staring me in the face. I'm leaving my home and my family and everything I've known in a matter of days. Yes, I already knew that obviously, and I also knew that my brother Joel is being deployed for the army in September. Well, actually he's going to Mississippi for a couple months of training, coming home for Thanksgiving, and then leaving the country in late October. And he'll be gone for a full year of twelve months with no leave. Okay, so I'm leaving for a year; he's leaving for a year; we'll come back at the same time...
   Wrong.
   In less than four days I am going to say goodbye to one of my brothers, and I won't see him for over a full

VI. The packing dilemma

   Well, here I am in the beginning of August, and I feel that time moves both interminably slow and exceedingly fast. Often (or extremely often) I get a random adrenaline rush, and I want to jump on a plane right now. On the other hand, I also want to sort of relish my last couple weeks here in the US and with my family.
   Last Friday I actually received my visa in the mail. I was all jittery and excited as I opened the envelope (because it's always exciting to receive a package) and pulled out my passport. Pasted inside was a formal-looking visa and a note saying that I had to register with the Department of Migration once I entered Switzerland. I still can't believe how fast the visa came. It took three days through the mail to reach the

V. The prime age

   I am officially sixteen years old now, and I have been only since the 26th. This is the age that every child wants to reach, when Americans can begin to drive, and when originally I would have been allowed to date. Well, I don't really feel much different, I won't get my permit until I come back, and I'm still not allowed to date either, but I don't really care that much because I am going on an adventure for the best year of my life, and it is going to be amazing. It practically ensures that I will never forget my sixteenth year, and it will be something special.
   Yesterday I had my birthday and goodbye party. It wasn't really much of a goodbye because several of my friends couldn't make it, and I still have three weeks before I go. As much as I wanted July to disappear

IV. Little surprises

   Somehow, slowly and painfully, a watched clock does move, and the days of the calendar do change. Now I have only about one month living here at home.

   As of right now, my mom and I are trying to get my Visa. We got the instructions not too long ago, and basically we have to gather lots and lots of papers, fill them out, and send them to the Swiss Consulate in New York. It's not quite as alarming as my original application was, but it's still taking a lot of work, and we barely started. You might say that a lot of AFSers are stressed out right now. At least I don't have to get an FBI check like some of the students going to Spanish-speaking countries do. Every country's visa process is different.

   Last Saturday, all the Speedwell scholarship winners and a few recent returnees went to Refreshing

III. Long is the wait

   With about two months stretched before me like the sand dunes of a barren desert, I cannot ignore this nagging discomfort of waiting. There is so much to be done, but I am powerless in speeding up time.
   I am waiting probably most importantly to receive my Visa information from AFS, and unfortunately I've heard that the Visa process can be very stressful. I'm also waiting to get my braces off (this will be dangerously close to my departure date), to get a suitcase and various other items for my travel (such as a laptop, camera, Skype, journal, etc.), to buy some fantastic gifts for my host family, to have my Goodbye/Birthday party, to finish my graduation project for school, and just about a million other things. Really all I want to do is just hop on the plane right now and go, especially since I was emailed my travel

II. So real

   I've been praying for a host family, although I didn't really know when I would get one. It could be today or it could be in a month. I walked home from school as usual, and I was dismissed early because we have finals. I checked my email right away, in some small hope that I got a family. Nothing. Slightly disappointed, but not any more than usual, I got off the computer, made myself a big snack, and got settled to watch a movie. One of my pet peeves is when the phone rings when I am busy, especially when I'm comfy, and my mouth is stuffed with food during the middle of a movie. So I grudgingly paused the movie, set my food down, kicked off the blanket, and grabbed the phone before the end of the third ring.
   The caller ID said AFS...

I. Anticipation of the summer before

   Unfortunately there isn't really much for me to say right now. If you know that I'm going to Switzerland, you know just about as much as I do. I have yet to be assigned a host family, so I do not know which part of Switzerland I will be living in. The good thing is, the country is so small that it doesn't really matter where I live. That is, unless I'm placed in the French canton (state). Then I might be in some trouble.
   So far, I have learned that my departure date is August 22, less than three months away. Now the summer appears very short, but at the same time, I am even more excited. My mom is, quite understandably, the opposite of excited, since I am the last of the nest to leave.
   I haven't gotten to do extensive research of Switzerland yet, but I've realized in recent conversations with