Pictures, Pictures and more Pictures!

What I've been up to

Well it has almost been a month. It's crazy how fast time flies by.... I'm about to start my last week of german class and I'm happy to say that my german is coming along very, very  well. My host family and I are talking more in german and I can put together sentences as well (with the words I know haha). Volleyball is also going very well, it is helping me keep in shape. You hear about people going on their exchanges and gaining like 30 pounds, but that's not going to happen to me! I have volleyball twice a week and the practices go from 2 hours to 2 and a half hours. Each training we also do 30-45 minutes of intense conditioning. I have also learned how to jump float serve, and have began developing it to be a very, very good jump floater. (Sorry for all these volleyball terms). I have also recently gone on a Bern excursion with my german class. We got a tour of the inside of the Zytglogge, which is the main clock/clock tower in Bern, and separates the old city form the "new" city. Then we went and saw the bears (all three of them were out, so we got lucky!) and then we walked back into Bern and had some gelato. It was a great day! This coming Saturday (so in a week) I will be going to a music festival called Energy Air, which is put on by one of the most popular radio stations here in Switzerland. Some artists that will be preforming are Kodaline, Family of the Year, and Bastian Baker. The best thing is that the ticket was free!!!! Also I will be taking a trip to Italy in September with my host family. We will be going to a couple different cities, one of them being Milan! I'm so so so so so so excited and can't wait! Tschüss!

Fun In Switzerland

Switzerland continues to amaze me. Everything from the public transportation to the scenery to how amazing the chocolate is. It is so, so, so good. I haven't been homesick, although I probably will be down the road. I think it is a combination of Switzerland looking like California's spring and the fact that I'm aways pretty busy. German classes are 5 days a week and on top of that I usually stay after class and walk around Bern with the other exchange students. I have also been to Interlaken already and on Monday a bunch of us exchange students are planning a day trip to Thun. I have also already been to one of my host club's Rotary meeting, which was really fancy. And when I say really fact I mean really fancy. Like three-course-meal-with-coffe-at-the-end fancy. I start school on September 8th, and since I am in the language part of my school, I will most likely be taking a trip to Spain this year! (This is awesome because Spain was my first choice for the countries I wanted to go to). I have been fortunate enough to already know who my second and third host families are and to have met them as well. Overall I am loving it here in Switzerland and I can't wait for the rest of the year!

First Week In Switzerland

It has now been a week since I have arrived in Switzerland. My fist reaction as I saw the country though the window of the airplane was "Wow it's so green". And it is. Everything is green. Green and beautiful and fresh. The expected exhaustion was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, allowing me to go to a swiss music festival my second day here. It was located in Bern, right in the heart of the city. Musicians and performers from all over the world came to be a part of the festival. In typical swiss fashion I have been taking the train and tram everywhere I go; to school, to the city (Bern), to other cities, and it is just amazing. I love how I can just hop on a train and go to Zürich or Interlaken or Geneva (not that I have..... yet haha) My host family is very nice and was very welcoming. I have two host brothers who are 18 and 15. I had a host sister, but she left for New Mexico for her Rotary exchange. I have been at German class (Deutchkurs) for 5 days now as well. I am learning a lot and can communicate with my host family in a combination of english with german words scattered throughout. Each morning I walk about 10 minutes down to the train station to go to my class. The walk is breathtaking, literally. When I come back home I have to walk up about four hills, and this takes 15 minutes. I am so lucky to have this opportunity to live in such a beautiful place. Every day I am in awe of the scenery and the views. The rolling hills and the snow-capped Alps in the background, the flowers lining the windows in every house, the cows with their cute little bells and all the gardens. One thing that surprised me was the abundance and availability of fresh fruit. Each morning consists of granola, yogurt and fruit, which is a breakfast I would expect back in California. The weather is all over the place, with one day being windy and rainy and the next humid and sunny. I absolutely love it. The other day I wandered around Bern with two other girls in my class and we found a sand volleyball tournament happening right in front of the Parliament building!!! Naturally, I had to stay and watch at least 2 matches, and it was a good thing that I did because I was able to see the swiss national men's sand volleyball team play! I had met my "oldie" (an exchange student who has been here since January) there at the game, and after he took me to see the bears and the rose garden. My host sister also showed me around the school I will be going to, Gymnasium Kirchenfeld. The school is beautiful, with 4 levels and an entrance that is a Parthenon-look-alike. I will begin attending school in the beginning of September. I have also found a club to play volleyball at! It is called Volley Muri-Bern and the girls who I am playing with are at the same high level that I am used to. I have since learned how to jump-float serve, and it has gotten very good. Today I went over to another exchange student's house (her name is Amanda and she is from Brasil) and played some fuzball and hung out with a group of other exchange students. The funny thing is that intend of yelling "no" just a couple of times like I would normally do, I yelled "nein!". From the way this week has turned out I am looking forward to the rest of my exchange and everything that will come with it.

First contact

I have finally heard from the Swiss Rotary Youth Exchange!!! Nothing about where I will be staying or which club will be hosting me, but its better than nothing! One thing that is great to know is that I will be staying in the German part of Switzerland, so at least I know which language I'll be speaking. Im secretly crossing my fingers to be somewhere near Zürich or Bern (well I guess it's not that secret anymore, haha)! Waiting isn't as hard as I thought it would be, but this is probably due to the emails I have been receiving from them recently. I still can't wait to hear from the club that will be hosting me and my host parents!

I've been trying to look up as many blogs as I can that are written by exchange students currently in Switzerland right now, so I can get a feel of what it could possibly be like. From what I've gathered there will be TONS of skiing, wandering around beautiful cities and lots of new people as well as trying new foods. All of this I am looking foreword to, especially the food, 'cause boy do I love food. 

One of the things that I've been worried about is not knowing the language enough to be able to communicate, but that was out to rest as I have recently heard that they provide a Rosetta Stone program before you leave and then put you through a 2-3 week language school. 

One last thing before I  go is that I am soooooo looking foreword to meeting all the other exchange students from around the world that will be in Switzerland as well! Like so freaking excited!