XXXVI. Integration

   This past week has been a little busy and a little stressful, but it's still been good. I guess I could begin by talking about the tests. I had a History test, and since all of it was comprehension and interpretation and writing long responses in German, I didn't stand much of a chance, but I could actually answer the last question to some degree. It asked how the US Constitution splits up the power in the US government, so I figured I should at least write something to that.
   I also got my Biology test back that we took a while ago, and when my teacher handed it to me, he was all smiles and telling me what a good job I did (I kind of thought he was joking, since I knew I had done a terrible job.). He was very proud that I earned 15 points.

   Out of 40.
   But hey, it was a huge improvement from the last test I took in his class. He didn't actually give me a grade, by the way.
   This last Thursday was a special day because my entire grade went to Engelberg for a field trip. We could either go skiing/snowboarding or ice-skating/curling, and since I'm not yet so confident in my skiing skills, I chose the latter. Even though I hadn't originally wanted to go, I had a lot of fun with everybody, and I surprised myself by drastically improving with ice-skating, especially since it was only the third time I had ever gone in my life.
   I also enjoyed being able to compare my accent with my Australian friend and a girl who spent last semester in England. Everybody here in Switzerland seems to be baffled that we understand each other because they assume that we all speak different dialects like they do, but it's pretty much the same, excepting the accents and a couple different words. For instance, Australians say, "autumn" while Americans and those from England say, "fall". Even when we each counted to 10 separately, we had to laugh at each other.

This is me (on the right) managing to balance on my ice skates with a girl from my class. This was taken a couple minutes after I first stepped onto the ice, so I wasn't quite comfortable yet.

This is me and my Australian friend.

This was the hall for the weird sport called "curling". We had to wear special shoes on the ice there; one shoe was slippery, and the other was anti-slip, so it was kind of weird when we had to walk. Basically we had to push ourselves off a platform, slide on the slippery foot for a short distance ,and then push one of the blue or yellow stones so that it would stop ideally in the green circle. The bulls-eye targets at the end of the hall are actually the reflections in a really big mirror because otherwise you couldn't see them. The other members of the team had to sweep the ice with these special brooms to make the stones slide faster, but honestly I don't think it ever made any difference. Personally, I thought the game was kind of boring, but it was funny to watch.

Part of the group I was with.

   The other reason why this week was busy is because I had two very long Kantibänd rehearsals at school yesterday (Saturday) and today (Sunday). Basically, I didn't have a weekend, but it wasn't so terrible as it sounds. Next weekend we have three concerts, so we had to make sure that we'll be ready. I'll be singing for most songs and playing the violin for two.

   I guess I can really say that I am integrated into my Swiss life.