Abroad in Switzerland: 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!