The Thoughts of an Exchange Student in Her Last Week of Exchange

As I begin my last week here in Switzerland, I've began to think what my life is going to be like when I return home to California. I know there will some certain things in my life, like starting my senior year of high school in August and playing varsity volleyball. But there are so many uncertain things, and that scares me a bit. I like to think that I'm a pretty strong person and can handle what life throws at me, but right now life is about to throw reverse culture shock and I'm not sure I'll know how to deal with that. It differs for every person, just like a fingerprint; just like every exchange is different. One of my best friend's here has done an exchange before and I've asked her what it's like, and the best thing she told me is that you can't plan for it and that everyone has a different experience with it. I used to think that I wouldn't be that affected by it, but as I am nearing my return date, I've come to realize that there is no way I won't be. Even though I know that people back home have changed, that life went on while I wasn't there, there is still a small part of me that believes that everything will be the same when I go home. I know that it'll seem like everything has changed, and in some ways it has. My friends will be a year older, there'll be new people at school, and overall life will have gone on without me. I know that I've changed and with that change I've created a new life for myself here in Switzerland. The thing that I don't know is how my Swiss self will be in my Californian life. Everything will feel familiar, but at the same time foreign. Some people think that reverse culture shock is pretty similar to culture shock, because hey, they're both culture shock so they must be the same, right? But it is different from regular culture shock because you literally can not prepare for how it will affect you. I know I've already said that, but it's the main thing going through my mind right now. I like to know how things are going to work out, and how I will be affected by stuff that happens, which is why this is hard for me. I would like to have the best experience possible when I come home, but for all I know it could be the complete opposite. There is no way for me to know what will happen. My exchange year has been one of the best years of my life, if not the best. I know that the life I have here is completely different from the life I had/will have in California. Knowing this, hopefully I won't compare my exchange life to my post-exchange life.
Even with all these things running through my head, I am pretty excited to come back home. I'm excited to eat burritos, to see my family in person, to drive a car again, to fully understand everything that is being said. I'm ready to come home, I just don't know if I'm ready to deal with the reverse culture shock.

Last Day of School Shenanigans.

This post is going to be just pictures, but this is me and my peruvian friend after we got out of class and finished swiss school!!!

Tenero Farewell Weekend

So this past weekend was my last Rotex/Rotary Weekend here in Switzerland. We spent our time at the Tenero Sportlager (Sport camp) right next to the lake. We started off the day by setting up our stuff in the military-style tents we slept in. Then, the August in bounds (oldies) had a small debriefing about how our year was, how we felt about our host families, etc. During this, the January inbounds (newbies) were playing sports or chilling in the sun. After the debriefing, the Oldies got to play sports as well. There were sand volleyball courts, so of course I had to play some volleyball! After about an hour of sports we all went swimming in the lake. There was a small dock that a bunch of us swam out to and jumped off of. It was so much fun!!! We swam for a couple of hours and then headed back to the tent area to have dinner (which was BBQ! well swiss BBQ anyways). We had some free time after dinner so a few of us went out and swam some more. We had to go back fro a small meeting, but after that ended we went swimming again! A thunder storm was rolling in and you could see the lightning on the other side of the lake, so we sat on the shore for a while watching the storm. Something really surprising was that there were lightning bugs (fireflies) there! We dana round trying to catch one, which we did and it was so cool. I never knew (or thought) that there would be fireflies any place other than the East Coast. On Sunday we got up pretty early and cleaned up camp and had breakfast. After breakfast we went on a hike up into the mountains that surround the lake, which was really pretty, even though my feet hurt so much afterwards. We got back earlier than planned from our hike so we were able to go swimming again for about an hour before we had to catch the train to Zürich. On Saturday night we had a circle where the oldies shared a favorite memory or gave the newbies advice. It was very emotional, but at the same time, gave closure in a way. The farewell weekend is like the beginning of the end for us oldies. Most of us only have around 35-15 days left in this amazing country we are lucky enough to call home. Overall, the weekend was amazing and one of my favorites, even though I know that will be the last time I see some of these people. I will never forget all the amazing people I've gotten to know, the crazy adventures we've had, as well as the chill moments. These people have become more than just my good friends, they have become my family.

To my newbies: I wish you all the best, seriously. It's been such a pleasure getting to know all of you and I want you to know that I am so so so proud of you. I'm excited to see the people you will become after exchange, because I know all of you will change for the better. Keep on keepin' on babes! I'm going to miss you so much, but I know I'll see you again somewhere in this small world of ours. You will always have a place in California as well as in my heart. Lots of love from your oldie Ali.
To my fellow oldies: We've been through so much together, it's hard to think it's only been a year. You guys are my family and I couldn't have wished for a better group of people. I love you all to the moon and back and I hope we will be able to see each other again someday. Hopefully we can do a huge rennin or something. Ya'll are some crazy people, but that's okay because crazy people are the best people. It's been a blast getting to spend this year with you guys and I wish you all safe flights back home. With so much love I think my heart is going to burst, Ali.

One Month Left - Reflections

So I officially have one month left of my exchange. It is so weird to say that I've been here for 10 months now. Time flies by so quickly, it's alarming. When I think back onto when I first arrived, it feels like it was just yesterday, but then I think of all the things I've done and everything I've learned and it makes sense that I've been here for almost a year. I'm having a lot of mixed feelings about going back to California. On one hand I don't want to leave Switzerland and this life I've created here, the people I've met, the friends and family I've gained. But as I am preparing to say goodbye, I realize that this chapter of my life is about to close, and that I have to learn how to deal with it. As sad as I am to leave Switzerland, I am equally excited to return home to California and see my family again. I'm excited for burritos, and driving, and beach trips. I've grown so much over the course of this year, and I wouldn't change this experience for anything. There have been ups and downs, but that's how life is. I never realized that I would get so attached to this place, these people, this culture. I'll be swapping train rides for car rides, mountains for the beach, raclette for burritos, my swiss life for my californian life. It's bittersweet, knowing the end date of the life you've cultivated and then realizing that that date is coming sooner than you thought. Even if I come back to Switzerland, it will never be the same as it has been this year. When I leave, I will be leaving this life behind, closing this chapter. And I'm not sure how I feel about that. I know I will be coming back home as a different person, and that my life probably won't be the same as it was when I left a year ago. I know there will be reverse culture shock and that life will be different. Even thought I wasn't there, life went on, people changed. Even though I know all of this, it doesn't seem real. Leaving Switzerland doesn't seem real. The fact that I might never see some of my best friends again doesn't seem real. And I know it won't seem real until I'm back in the United States. I'm not even sure it will seem real then.
This weekend is my last Rotex weekend here in Switzerland, my farewell weekend (for the oldies). I remember the Matterhorn Weekend so clearly, as it was the farewell weekend for my oldies, and thinking that my farewell weekend was never going to come, that it was so far away. But again, time goes by so quickly and in what felt like a matter of moments, it's the week before the farewell weekend in Tessin.
Throughout the year, I've measured time in different ways, in months, days, weeks. Each one is different than the other. When you say you have one month left, you feel as if you have much more time, than if you say "I have less than 30 days left". It's a weird feeling, knowing that they are both the same amount of time, but one seems longer than the other. Counting down the days, it feels like they are going by so slowly, but I know that when the time comes for me to board the plane back home, I'll wonder where all the time went in the last 30 days of my exchange.

A Post About Eurotour

If you've been keeping up with my blog, you know that in April I went on a 3 week long Eurotour. It was amazing! I saw an experienced all kinds of different things. Our tour went Zürich-Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam-Berlin-Prague-Bratislava-Vienna-Budapest-Postojna-Venice-Rome-Milan. We drove the entire trip on a bus, which wasn't all that bad.
The 10 hour ride to Paris from Zürich seemed a lot shorter than it really was, which I am grateful for, because 10 hours on a bus is a loooong time. Anyways, Paris was amazing! Our first day there, we walked from the Notre Dame to Chámps Élyseé (which is actually a really long ways to walk). We stopped at the Pont des Arts and I put a lock on the bridge with my newbie from New Zealand. For lunch I was able to meet up with two of my friends from California who are also on exchange (one there in Paris, the other in Belgium). After lunch we went to the Eiffel Tower and went all the way to the very top! The view was stunning, and you could see the entire city from up there. Our second day in Paris we visited Montmartre. It was so cool to see the Moulin Rouge and the Sacre Coeur Basilica, among other things such as Van Gogh's apartment and Pablo Picasso's favorite restaurant/cabaret. After having lunch in the Artist's Square, we visited the Louvre Museum. Although we only had 2 hours there, it was amazing to see some of the great masterpieces of the art world. After that, we went and had a typical french diner with a sunset cruise on the Seine afterwards. Seeing the Eiffel Tower all lit up from the boat was definitely one of my favorite parts of Eurotour.  The next day we took off for Amsterdam with a lunch stop in Brussels, where I saw the Mannekin Pis and the Atomium and ate french fries and Belgian waffles!
In Amsterdam we made bike tour around the city which was really nice, even though some parts were kind of scary (i.e. lots of traffic = lots of cars = scaryness when you're on a bike). We also visited the Anne Frank House, which was really eye-opening for me, in terms of seeing how WWII and the Nazi Regime affected people and their lives. I definitely suggest that if you ever go to Amsterdam, visit her house. After visiting the house, we took a cruise along the canals, which was really fun and allowed us to see more of the city.
After Amsterdam we made another 10 hour bus ride, this time to Berlin. During our day in Berlin, we visited many places, such as Checkpoint Charlie, the TV Tower, and multiple memorials. We also visited the remaining parts of the Berlin Wall, which I found really fascinating with all the artwork and murals that cover it.
After Berlin, we drove to Prague (Praha in czech). If you don't know, Prague was one of the few cities that wasn't bombed during WWII, so lots of the buildings are hundreds and hundreds of years old. Seeing all of the old buildings and statues was super cool. We walked all the way down from the Prague Castle, across the Charles Bridge to the Old Square. Prague was so different from the other cities we visited, but it was definitely one of my favorites. While in Prague we had a night walk, and got to see how the city changes from day to night.
From Prague we drove to Vienna, with a lunch stop in Bratislava. Bratislava is one of those semi-small cities that you only need a day or a half-day to explore, but is still gorgeous and fascinating. From Bratislava we drove on to Vienna. The hotel we stayed at was heaven. The food was amazing and the beds were like laying in a cloud. (It's called The Renaissance if you're ever in Vienna). During the day we took a city tour and saw all the old buildings and palaces, which were so beautiful. Later on in the day we took horse drawn carriages for a ride around the city. We then went back to the hotel for dinner and to get ready for an opera/ballet!
The next day we took a tour of the Schönbrunn Palace, which was one of the royal residencies, and then departed for Budapest! I can honestly say that Budapest was one of my most favorite cities we visited. We had a city tour and got to go inside of the Parliament building, which is one of the most beautiful parliaments in the world. One of my favorite things that we did in Budapest was go to the thermal bath house. When you get into the water, it doesn't feel like a normal pool. You can literally feel the difference in the water from the minerals, and it makes you feel so relaxed. After the visit to the thermal baths, we were treated to a folk show during a typical hungarian dinner. We didn't know that there were going to be multiple courses, so when more food came after we were full with goulash, we were so surprised. The folk show was really fun, and included dancing, music and balancing jugs of wine on heads.
After Budapest it was time to go to Venice with a stop at the caves in Postojna on the way! When we arrived in Postojna, we took a small train 5 m into the caves and then had about an hour long tour. We also got to see the cave salamanders, which are completely while as well as blind. In the middle of our tour the lights went out and it became pitch black. A lot of people (including me) freaked out a bit, but it ended up just being that they like to turn out the lights so that people can see what it is like in the caves without light. After out tour ended we made our way to Venice!
Our hotel was in Lido di Jesolo, which is a small city close to Venice. I was so stocked because it was right on the beach, which I hadn't seen in 9 months. Venice was all that I had hoped it would be. We were lucky enough to have beautiful weather with the sun shining and we had a nice ocean breeze. We had a city tour and then took a gondola along the canals. After the gondola ride, we took a boat to the island of Murano to see the glass factory. There we got to see one of the Masters make a vase using the glass-blowing technique. It was amazing to see it being made in-person. When we got back to the hotel we all got ready for a masquerade that was being put on for us (earlier in the day we had all bought Venetian masks to wear).
The next day we got to sleep in and have a bit of time on the beach before heading off to our second-to-last stop... ROME! Our hotel in Rome was about 30-45 minutes from the center of the city, but it still had a nice view of the surrounding area. Our first day in Rome we took a very long city tour (we walked 12 kilometers!!!) and got to see the Coloseum, the Foro Romano, Palatine Hill , the Trevi Fountain and many other amazing sights. The day was overcast but luckily it didn't start raining until we went for dinner. Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain when we got off the bus to walk to the restaurant. My shoes and pants were throughouly soaked by the time we go there. Since the inside had already filled up, some of us ended up sitting outside under a canopy. The food made sitting outside in wet clothes worth it though. W head 3 pastas, 2 meats and 2 desserts to share family style and it was some of the best food I have ever had. The nest day we visited the Vatican. We got to go inside and see the Sistine Chapel and well as all the artwork inside the building. W also got to visit St. Michael's Basilica, which I can confidently say is one of the biggest churches I have ever been in. After that we walked around the city some more, and stopped for a little bit on the Spanish Steps. In this square is also all the super expensive designer stores are, such as Dior, Chanel, Dolce and Gabanna, Emilio Pucci, etc. Me and my friend Lindsey decided to go into the Dior store for fun, but not only could we not even come close to affording anything there, just breathing the air felt like it was going to cost me thousands of dollars. After everyone had reconvened, we took the bus to the catacombs. Being down there was fascinating but also pretty freaky. The lighting is really dim and you almost expect something to grab your foot as you walk by. There weren't any more bones in these catacombs, since they were all removed to be able to preserve them. After finishing our tour of the catacombs we then headed off to dinner. The restaurant was a little family owned place, and the pasta and pizza we had was amazing. Italians definitely know how to cook haha. It was a great was to end our last day in the beautiful city of Rome.
We set off for Milan the next morning with a surprise lunch stop in Pisa. Seeing the leaning tower of Pisa in person was super rad.
In Milan another party was put on for us, but this time as a "farewell party". It ended up being a great night and a great way to end Eurotour.
Our last day was spent driving back to Zürich. Those three weeks while we were gone really allowed for spring to come to Switzerland. Everything was greener than i had ever seen it be, which is pretty hard to do since it was super green when I first arrived last August. I love seeing my second home like this because a green Switzerland is the best kind of Switzerland.
All in all, Eurotour was one of the best experiences I've ever had (besides coming on exchange). It has been one of the highlights of my exchange and I', so glad I was able to go on it.

P.S. To future exchange students: If you have the chance to go on a Eurotoue, or any other kind of trip with Rotary or your exchange organization, DO IT! It is definitely worth every penny :)

You can see all the pictures from Eurotour at https://www.facebook.com/ali.batchelder/media_set?set=a.925546084173141.1073741840.100001532753875&type=3

Eurotour is Coming!

Well I have less than 3 months left here in my wonderful Switzerland. Time is going to go by so fast, I can’t even comprehend it. I am now living with my third host family, and they are wonderful! My house has an amazing view of the hills surrounding Bern, and I can’t wait to see the sunsets from my backyard. I’m currently on Spring Break right now, and I start my Eurotour in 5 days! We’re going to have really nice weather in Paris (70 F!!!) and hopefully everywhere else! We’re going to do so many cool things, such as visiting the Louvre, visiting Anne Frank’s house, going up the Eiffel Tower, seeing the Berlin Wall, going to a thermal bath house in Budapest, visiting castles in Prague, gondola rides in Venice, seeing the caves in Postojna, visiting the Coloseum and Vatican in Rome, and so much more! I'm so excited to be able to go on this trip, since this is the first year in a long time that Swiss Rotary has allowed us to do the Eurotour. I'll be taking lots of pictures and also some videos that I will post on youtube after I get back! 

7 Month Update

Well it's official: I have been in Switzerland for more than 7 months. I have 3 and a half months left. It's so crazy how fast time flies. It feels like just yesterday when I was leaving San Francisco, ready to start this being adventure. I've experienced so many things people only dream of experiencing, and I still have many more amazing memories to make. I will be changing host families in a couple of weeks, and it's an understatement to say I will miss my second host family. They have been so amazing to me, making me feel like their actual daughter/granddaughter/sister. When my old counselor from back in California told me that I was going to bond a lot with my host grandmother(s) I didn't know what to expect really. I now know what she meant. My Oma is one of the most amazing people I've ever met and I've grown so close to her over the time that I've been here. Another person I have grown really close to this year is my host sister Joelle. Luckily, she'll be coming to Northern California for her exchange year, more specifically, district 5130 which is my sponsoring district! Hopefully she'll be living in a town close to me, if she's not in Windsor. The Eurotour is in less than a month and I couldn't be more excited!!!! 11 countries, 13 cities, 21 days. It's most definitely a dream come true.  I just hope we have nice weather! Last Saturday I took my B1 German proficiency test, and I'm pretty confident that I passed! It's weird to think that just a few months ago I only spoke half of what I can speak now. In just 7 months I speak German at the level of a German 4 class back in the Sates. Fasnacht season has come and gone, and I can say it was so amazing to experience. I only went to Bern Fasnacht but I still had an amazing time with my friends and soaking up swiss culture. Since Fasnacht is like Mardi Gras times Halloween, everyone gets dressed up, so naturally I put on my In 'N Out t-shirt, painted football stripes on my face and went as an American. A couple weeks ago I was also able to meet up with one of my mom's oldest friends and spend the day with her! Since I hadn't really seen much of Zürich yet (and that's where she lives), we spent the day touring around Zürich and I got to see lots of cool things, such as a building made of storage containers stacked on top of each other, the Viadukts shopping strip, and lots of more really cool things! I also got to go see Milky Chance play live in Zürich with a couple of my friends. He was so amazing, and I'm so glad I was able to go see one of my favorite artists live. The opening band Kafka Tamura were really good also, and are paling again in Zürich so maybe I'll get to go see them again. My newbies have been here for almost two months now, but it feels like longer. Soon, I'll be the oldie that's leaving and they'll be the newbies who are saying goodbye, but let's not think about that right now. I still have 3 and a half months left and I plan on making the most of them!

 Bern Fasnacht!

 Milky Chance!!!

 With Kafka Tamura 

 Viadukts - Zürich

 Shipping Container Building

 View from Cloud in Zürich

B1 Test Bound (7:00 am!!!)

Blockwoche in Emmental

This past week my school had the second Blockwoche (a project week) of the year, and I was able to explore more Swiss culture. We studies the Emmental region of Bern, which is close to the Bern Oberland. It consists of lots of farmland, with lots of cows and pastures. The towns are pretty small, but very beautiful, as is the scenery. Throughout the week I was able to experience lots of typical swiss things. On Monday we went to a family owned bakery and made chocolate bunnies and got a tour around the factory. One thing I was absolutely amazed by was how big their mixers were! They were so huge, that I could probably fit in one of the bowls if I sat down. On Tuesday we visited the Flyer bike company's factory and got a tour around that as well. Flyer bikes are special because they have a motor in them that helps you bike up large hills, such as the Swiss Alps. They can go up to 30 Kilometers per hour (I think). After that we had a typical swiss lunch, soup, salad and either Rösti or Swiss Macaroni. We then went and learned how to do Schwingen, which is Swiss-style sawdust wrestling. It was really fun! I even won a couple of times! On Wednesday we got to try a bunch of different homemade cheeses. We even got to make our own cheese, which we will get in a couple of months! We also saw typical swiss dancers dancing in the old swiss dresses. On Thursday we learned how to yodel and then we went to a gold/silversmith's workshop and saw how they make typical swiss jewelry. On Friday we had Rösti for breakfast in the school cafeteria (which is so much better than american cafeterias) and then we were done! The whole week was super fun and I learned a lot more about Swiss culture. I'm so happy I had this opportunity, because if it weren't for this week I would have not experienced a lot of these things! Another exciting thing that happened during this week is that I have begun to understand Swiss Bern German when it's spoken! I have been able to read and understand it for a while now, but being able to understand when it's spoken is the icing on the proverbial cake!