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
Jersey and New York, and normally all this damage would be too close for comfort (I was just in New York two months ago), but now I am thousands of miles away. 

   I also hear lots about the election. People here keep asking me, "Are you for Obama or Romney?" If I say Romney, they practically attack me (figure of speech of course). Basically everyone likes Obama. I've now taken to a safer method of answering by saying that my mom is for Romney, and I trust in her opinion.

A glimpse of the snow we had from last Sunday.

That is my house (withe some construction necessities).

The street I live on.

Pretty flower

Lots of snow.

   There is also another reason why I titled this post "Thinking of America." I would now like to begin to tell you a relatively short story, one that I would like to call: 

The Perilous Scholastic Adventure To

Zurich

   If you have pressing matters to attend to, I suggest you read this later.

   Before I came to Switzerland, I had made the decision to take the PSAT while I was abroad so that I might be eligible for the National Merit Scholarship. I signed up to take the test at the Zurich International School on October 31 at 3:00.

   Please be aware, October 31 is Halloween, and Halloween was yesterday.

   Naturally, I had to take public transportation to Zurich because it was in the middle of the day, and my host parents were certainly not going to drive me that far when they had to work. I took (with permission) the afternoon of school off, and left my house at 12:15.

   I took the bus to the Zofingen Bahnhof at 12:21. At first I was worried that I wouldn't have enough time to buy a ticket before my train came, but it turned out that I had plenty of time, there was barely a line, and I somehow managed to converse with the person without relying on English! I was so proud of myself. 

   So then I waited for the train which came at 12:43 and went to Olten where I had to switch trains to get to Zurich. The second train took a little longer, but I got to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station in Zurich) with no problem.

   Then the problems began. I had to take a third train to a smaller town called Kilchberg which is just outside of Zurich, and it was with the S-Bahn. I don't really know what the S-Bahn is, but before I left, my host mom told me that it was probably underground. From my last trip to Zurich, I knew how to find that, so I went down two escalators, looked around for signs that pointed to the S-Bahn or Linie 8, and I didn't find any. I went back up to the main floor, somewhat confused. Where could it be?

   The 15 minutes that I had between trains was now about down to about ten. I still had time. I looked around for a person who looked approachable, and then practiced what I would say in my head. So, I asked a woman where the S-Bahn was, and she told me it was around the corner and down the escalator.

   I followed her directions and went downstairs for a second time. I saw signs for Gleis 41 and 42, but absolutely nothing for S8 or S-Bahn.

   I went back up, panicking a little now. How hard could it be to find the S-Bahn when there are signs plastered all over the place? Desperate, I looked at the paper in my hand with directions. 

   Then I saw it. It said Gleis 52. That was SO much more helpful, but where was Gleis 52?

   Desperate, I asked a man smoking a cigarette where it was, and he pointed out the direction, and then I could follow the signs. I had only two minutes left.

   I followed the signs, walking quickly, but what I didn't realize was how FAR I had to walk. By the time I got to the S-Bahn on the other side of the station, I missed the train.

   I looked on the board to see when the next train would leave for Kilchberg, and guessed there was one in about 15 minutes at 2:06. I guessed because it didn't actually say the town's name but two of the same names as the train that I was supposed to go on.

   I took the train, and got to Kilchberg where I then looked for the bus. There was only one busstop, and I was supposed to the take the bus at 2:06, but since I missed the train, I had to take the next bus. It was 2:20 and the next bus didn't come until 3:06, so considering my options, I studied the provided map very carefully and then ventured on foot.

   The streets were not labelled very well at all, and I had to turn around several times because I was headed in the wrong direction. Then I had to ask two different people how to get to the school. Then I had to ask a third person on the campus how to get to the main building. I didn't even know where the test was going to be.

   Finally, at about 3:03, I entered the building where I saw signs in English and heard students and people talking in fluent English! The receptionist told me where to go in flawless English, and so I awkwardly entered a huge room filled with tables and students quietly writing things on pieces of paper.

   Yes, I was late, but I didn't miss a whole lot. 

   To summarize, the test was of middling difficulty, but what made it harder for me were the set time limits. I'm sure that if I had just one or two minutes longer per section, I could have done much better. It didn't help that I was nervous from the surrounding atmosphere and a little cold.

   The test finished at 6:00, so I quickly set it up so that I would receive my results and then walked to the bus station. I hadn't planned my way back, but I figured it wouldn't be too difficult.

   I literally watched the bus pull away from me because I was 15 seconds too late, so I had to wait for half an hour in the dark and cold. Due to Daylight-Savings, it was already pitch black.

   Finally a bus came, but it didn't go to Kilchberg, so I was confused. I took it to a small tram station in Zurich where I became utterly lost. I called my host mom and tried to put on a light voice so that I didn't sound like I was on the verge of tears. I pretended that this was just a funny situation.

   I finally got it sorted out that I could take a tram to the Hauptbahnhof, so I took the next one that came. I never rode on before, and it really is an interesting experience. 

   There was even a group of Americans that came on board, which I assume might have been either because of Halloween or the premiere for the new James Bond movie.

   Sadly, I didn't have time to even figure out why there were so many Americans at the school where I took the test. It was really peculiar because they all live in Switzerland, but they speak English. Maybe their parents have jobs or something; I don't know.

   Anyway, I was immensely relieved when I returned the the Hauptbahnhof, and from there it was a piece of cake to get home. It just took a long time.

   I got home at 8:30, physically tired, mentally exhausted, and actually bleeding from a scratch on my toe from another toenail, but I was so relieved just to be home. My Halloween costume as a lost American was so convincing that I didn't even get any candy.

   That, my friends, is one of the adventures of being an exchange student.