The Past Week...

For all of you who have been wondering, the past week of language camp has been a bit difficult seeing as she almost always talks in German and we do not always understand her. My host family has also been trying to speak more German at home, which is a good thing, if frustrating at times. My host brother Thierry won't speak English with me, even though I know he knows English. You start to feel a bit stupid when everyone has to speak English for you and you think you should know how to say something in German. Unfortunately, few of us really know anything more than simple greetings. Yeah, learning which noun takes der or die or das is important, but not very helpful in conversation. On occasion, we actually understand something, usually when we are not tired, and then we don't know how to respond in German. This is going to take some work.......

On Thursday, I went with my host sister Kim around Bern and we saw a lot of it. I finally saw the bears. I've also realized that if you head in any direction you will arrive at one of two things; der Bahnhof (the train station) or the Aure (the river in Bern). From there, you can get anywhere in Bern. Bryanne and Helena (the other Brazilian exchange student) joined us later on it was fun.

On Friday, everyone from my language camp stayed in Bern for lunch, with the exception of two people. The boys decided to take off, so us ladies got ice cream and found the make up section of a store unintentionally. That would have been fun, if I actually cared about make up and painting my nails. After that, I slept over Bryanne's house. Christina, Stefan, Brigitta, and Kurt all had a party to go to, so they made these arrangements. It was a lot of fun. We made our own pizza at about 10 pm. Bryanne taught herself a song on the piano so I got to hear some good music. I was telling her about my latest story and she gave me some good ideas.

The next morning we got up at 11 and went to Murten, which is this cute little town by a lake. It was really nice there and we saw a giant chessboard. I liked it a lot. When I got home I actually went in the pool. It was a good day.

My Welcome Orientation was Sunday. There were way too many people there. Lots of exchange students which was nice, but it was very crowded. We got into groups and went over the rules and presented our rule to everyone there. Mine did a skit on sexual harassment.

Today was my first Rotary meeting. I think it went well. I had to introduce myself in German. At the end I was invited to a classical music concert in Luzern by a Rotarian on Wednesday, so that should be fun. It's formal and it's the premier of this piece. Then I came home and studied German before going to Bryanne's house (again) for a party. I met a Rebound student named Yuri. He was in California last year. It was interesting.

Sorry, no pictures this time. I have some but I really need to go to bed so they will be put up at another time. If you have any comments or questions or something, please, please write it below. It's hard to tell how many people are reading this blog if no one leaves any comments.

Tah Tah For Now (TTFN)

Language Camp (School) and the Days Before

Hm, let's start with what I did on Friday. I went into Bern with Bryanne and Elena with my new GA, which allows me free train, tram, bus, and ferry transportation throughout Switzerland. I also set up a bank account at the post office as the same rules do not apply to them. In Bern we saw a famous clock and went up the tower at the Münster called the Turm. The Münster is a really old church. It has very detailed carvings and is very nice as far as churches go. The tower staircase was also really tiny. How it was built is pretty interesting. It was first a very little church, then they expanded it several times to make it what it is today, minus the tower. When they first tried to build the tower, they didn't have enough money. The view was amazing.

After Bern we went to the opening of Elena's mother Brigitta's new studio. Her paintings and ceramic works were beautiful. I particularly like a porcelain set painted black with blue flowers. I should have taken a picture of it. Brigitta made me this shirt:

Close up of the Edelweiss design

After that Christina's parents came over. They were very nice. Kim and her boyfriend came too. Stefan also gave me a very nice compliment that day. He said I was adapting very well and quickly. I think that's a good thing. My only disappointment: No one laughed at my vampire smiley face tee-shirt! Now I'm afraid to wear the Richard shirt... If you've never seen these shirts, don't worry about it.

Saturday, I went to Brigitta, Elena, and Bryanne's house while Christina, Stefan, and Thierry took Cyrill to the airport to say good bye. I gave Cyrill a set of cards with a picture of New York on the back. I would have taught him Briscola if I had thought to bring a deck. Bryanne and I played the piano together and talked while Elena packed. Then we went into Bern again to get Bryanne a phone. Brigitta and Elena took me to a soap shop and we got free popcorn there. We met up with Bryanne and Elena's father at Starbucks of all places. When we got back to the house, some of Elena's friends came over. Bryanne and I went downstairs to her room so it wouldn't be akward and worked on friendship bracelets. I wondered if this was a good idea, but when we went up for dinner and her best friends and boy friend arrived, it was tiring to listen to all that Swiss German. It was sad when they were leaving and were saying good bye to Elena. She left for Canada on Sunday. On a different note, I found a German National Geographics magazine with an article on "Ardie" in it which I borrowed. Translating it is my latest project, and the three sentences I did on Saturday are looking pretty good. It seems that direct translations are nearly impossible.

After sleepig over Bryanne's, Christina picked us up and we went to an Italian restaurant for lunch. The food was very good. After lunch, we went to the cinema to see Inception. It was great, especially the end. I really liked it. Bryanne left a little while afterwards and Christina's neighbor Margrit, an interesting older woman, came over. She lived in the States for several years. I also received a package from my parents. Thank you so much for the birthday present, even if it was a few days late! ^.^

Today was my first day of Language School! It was three and a half hours of just German. Our teacher speaks very little English. Hooray. Actually it wasn't too bad. Most of the class is about the same level as me, although it looked like the two Canadians of our group and another girl had no idea what the teacher was talking about, and Bryanne could actually talk to the teacher. The rest of us had a basic understanding of the lesson and her instructions, which came directly out of a textbook. The first time I was asked how old I am, I said 7. The German word for seven is sieben and for 17 is siebenzen. I left out the -zen (10). But we all made some mistakes today so it was good.

It's rained so much these last few days that Stettlen now has a lake. It's a muddy brown color.

Before the rain

After the rain

And last, but not least, pictures of the Münster and Bern from the Münster, donated by Bryanne because I forgot my camera that day. There are also last minute group pictures of my host family and I that will eventually be put up here.

Bryanne and I

Elena and I

Tschüs!

My Birthday, the 4th Adventure

Thank you to all of you who wished me a happy birthday yesterday. I had a good day. There were a few problems, the first of which being that I can't get a Swiss bank account as an American Citizen. From what I've seen, the preferred method of payment in Switzerland is by a credit card that isn't really a credit card. It links directly to your bank account and you can use it at something like an ATM to get cash. So perhaps it is more like a debit card. Anyway, since Americans can't have a bank account, Christina is looking into other possibilities in giving me my stipend.

Other than that, nothing has really happened these last few days. I took the train into Bern with Cyrill, I am now registered as living here, I met Kim Annabel, her friend Sybil (though I think I spelt it wrong), the Brazilian exchange student Bryanne, Elena who will be leaving for Canada I believe on Sunday, Alice who is looking into the exchange program, my third host mother Yolanda, and my actual counselor Marion. Christina is the official club exchange counselor, but she can't host me and be my counselor, so I have Marion. It was a very interesting birthday. Elena is definitely ready to go (she wanted to just speak English with Bryanne and I, but Cyrill kept distracting her with Swiss German), more than Cyrill is I think. We'll see when they get there.

My language camp starts on Monday. Yay! I am curious to meet the other exchange students and, of course, learn High German. Christina thinks I will pick up on High German fast and will also learn a fair a amount of Swiss German. I told her I'll do my best!

And now what you've all been waiting for... PICTURES!!!!

Kim and Sibyl playing ping-pong while Cyrill is on the phone (Sibyl is the one in her bathing suit)

Yummy Bread sticks

Yummy little sandwiches

My Yummy Birthday Cake

Me blowing out candles (They have this cool lighter that looks like a really large candle)

Again, Stefan took more pictures, which I am sure you will all see at some point or another. And before I forget, I actually got presents: a Swiss travel guide (in English), a handmade tank top (which I like a lot), some popular bear-shaped cookies (I guess that's the best description for them), and money for the BOOK STORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! \^.^/

Tschüs!

Adventure 3: The Family Lunch

So, the family lunch was a lot of fun. I had no idea Brigg was only twenty minutes from Italy. Stefan's mom offered to take at some point. She speaks Italian very well, so she was telling me in Italian. I (mostly) understood, but it was it didn't help that I was listening to lots of German at the same time. The house we went to was built by Stefan's father outside of Brigg in the Alps (which are absolutely gorgeous, majestic, and awe-inspiring). There were even some wood carvings he had done. I think everyone in Switzerland has a heated towel bar.

The Alps from the Cabin

Stefan's father's Woodcarvings

The food was again very good. I got to try Raclette, which is when you cut a chunk of cheese and melt the top layer. This is then scraped of quickly off and put on potatoes and meat. It's very yummy and is only found in the Canton of Wallis (where Brigg is). The type of cheese you use is called Turtman in High German and Turtmänner in Wallis. Interestingly, and slightly off topic, they use "Merci" for "Thank You" and "Ciao" for "Good Bye". Everything else sounded German.

Making Raclette Step 1: Melting the Cheese

Making Rachlette Step 2: Removing the Cheese

These are Sugar Cubes with a Canton Flag on the Wrapper.

Yummy pastries

I got to meet Stefan's sibling sand their spouses, and his nieces and nephews. I really like his sister Ursula and her husband. She has two kids, a four year old boy named Mateo and a six year old girl named Alessandra who was very shy. Matteo was ridiculous. They live in Zürich and invited me to come visit them some time. I think I will.

Those trains I wrote about last time are really cool, so here's some pictures of them:

The trains as we were waiting to get on.

The train as we were getting on

Stefan took more. He said he will give them to me, so there might be more in the future. Anyway, ciao ciao! Or tschüs!

The Second Adventure: Settling in

I am safe and sound in Bern! I'm really really tired right now, probably jet-lag settling in. However, I've had a pretty productive day. This morning my host parents picked me up from the airport in Zurich at 8:30 am. (Remember there is a six hour time difference.) They are both really nice, speak very good English, and have been to the USA several times. After the language camp, they will only speak to me in High German, and probably Swiss German too. My host brother Cyrill had a friend David over, so they were outside playing ping-pong while I talked politics (of all things!) with Stefan, my host father. My other brother Thierry was asleep, so I haven't seen him much yet, and Kim-Annabel is in Moscow (she's a flight attendant). Christina took me to the mall to show me around, and keeps asking me what I want to eat. I keep replying I don't care, I'm not picky. She made a yummy warm pasta salad for lunch.

Tomorrow, I am going to a family lunch in Brig. That's two hours south of Bern in the Alps. Apparently, they have a kind of train that you drive your car onto to take you to the other side of the mountain. It sounds really cool. According to Stefan, it's something his family does every year and they always have lots of cheese. -.- Oh well, I'll have to try some sometime. There will be other stuff there though.

As far as my host presents, the "I Love NY" golfballs were a hit, as was a map I had of the area. They seem very interesting, and I'm reallly looking forward to the months I'll be spending with them. They are also very good cooks. We had these really yummy lamb chops for dinner. Also, they use mustard in their salad and on their pork. An interesting tidbit. It was all very good. I will definitely gain weight on this trip if the food is all this good. Add in Marzipan and Chocolate....

So far, I'm off to a good start, I think.

Valentina

First Official Entry: The Evening before Departure

Well, I'm leaving tomorrow! At 10:00 am. It isn't a direct flight in case you're wondering. I'm taking a group flight to Zurich, so I have to go to Dulles Airport in VA first. That flight doesn't leave until 6 pm. Ignoring the several hour wait in the airport, it should be an interesting flight. The advantage to taking the group flight is that I will meet almost all of the kids from the USA who are going to Switzerland through Rotary Youth Exchange. That will be fun.

I'm really excited right now. I've already packed, so it's just a matter of a few hours till I leave for a year, a whole year. It's going to be so weird. But great. It's a little nerve-wracking too; I'm finally meeting my (first) host family. I wonder what they're expecting and if I'll meet those expectations or surprise them.

Good bye, New York. I don't know if I'll miss you. Good bye, my friends and family. I will miss you all. However, that is not going to stop me from doing this exchange. Even if I'm not in regular contact with you, know that I am thinking of you. Do not rely on Facebook as your only means of communication! I can't guarantee I'll be on regularly. Use your email people!

Best of wishes and luck to you all,

Valentina