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!
Cool update! :) I like the shirt Brigitta made you. It's very pretty!
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to become confused as to which person is which now, though. :P Hopefully you can clarify for me!
I wouldn't worry about the Richard shirt. I'm sure when you start school, it's epicness will be realized. :P (Or not, but who cares?)
Good luck with language camp! It must be at least a bit difficult.