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.