Herbstferien: Woche 1

Today is Friday of the first week (of three!) of fall break.

On Saturday I went to the local Schutzenhaus (shooting house) with my host family and I tried shooting for the first time.  It was okay, but I don't really think it's my thing. 

On Sunday I played minigolf for the first time since I was nine.  I lost but that's okay because I had fun anyway.  Later this week I went to the garden center with my host mom and picked out some tulips to plant before the winter.  She says they will bloom in six or seven months.  I'm excited because I don't think we have tulips in Hawaii.

Yesterday was super cool because I went to a real castle!  We don't have those in the US!  Anyway, this castle was really big and up on a hill so you could see super far and it was really pretty.  You could even see three other castles from that castle.  It also had the most beautiful garden I've ever been in with really big bright flowers.  So after visiting my first castle, I've decided that my goal in life is to live in a castle.  It was really cool.

(Hedwig, is that you?)

Giant hole in the kitchen...

Wooooowwww

Cow crossing

Palm trees in Switzerland??

And here I attempt to write about my week in very simplified German without using google translate:

Heute ist die erste Freitag von Herbstferien.

Am Samstag, ich bin in das Schutzenhaus gewesen.  Am Sonntag, ich habe Minigolf gespielen mit meine Gastfamilie.  Am Dienstag, ich bin nach die Gartencenter  gegehen und ich habe tulipen gekaufen mit meine Gastmutter.  Am Mittwoch, ich planted die tulipen.  Am Donnerstag, Ich bin nach der Schloss Wildegg gegehen.  Es war sehr cool!  Es hat ein gross Garten mit grosse und sehr schone blumen.  Der Schloss war gross und alt und hoch und mega cool! :D

Weeks 4 and 5

Not too much has happened in the last two weeks, so I decided to heap both weeks into one blog post. (Or, I'm just being lazy.  You decide.)

Two Sundays ago I went to a horse race with my host parents.  It was in the capital of my Kanton Aarau, Aargau.  There was a race about every half hour and in between races we went into a tent behind the stands for food and drinks.  The races are as much a social event as they are a sporting event.  It was very cool to watch, but what they don't tell you in movies is that it smells like pee and cigars.

After the horse race, I got to try fondue for the first time!  It was sehr gut.  We ate it all together and my host sister Julia and her boyfriend even came.  Afterward we all played cards together.

Last Wednesday was the last day of the language course in Zurich.  After school, a few of us went to a park by the lake and hung out for a while.  I'm sad that I won't get to see the other exchange students every week anymore, but hopefully we'll still see each other sometimes.

Last Saturday was my school's Tag der offnen Tur which is open house in German.  We had to wake up early on a Saturday to go to school, but it was okay because there were free croissants (which are SO GOOD HERE) and we only had three classes.

Next week is break (in which I will write college essays and a ten page research paper) and the next week is arbeitswoche!  It's a week where I'll go to Lausanne on the Genfersee (Lake Geneva) with my class and basically be a tourist.  I'm so excited!  I'll also get to be there for my birthday.

In other news, I've started reading Harry Potter in German!  I think it will help me with my Deutsch because I know those books inside and out.

Until next time,

Tschuss!

Orientation Weekend

Last weekend, I participated in an AFS orientation camp in Sursee.  I took a bus and two trains to get there with my friend from Brazil who lives in the same region of Switzerland as me.  I got to meet lots of new exchange students because our camp was mostly people from the Luzern German school and only a few from my language school in Zurich.  Our volunteers who ran the camp were also pretty cool because they were still pretty close to our ages.  We mostly played games but we also talked about AFS rules, went on a short hike, and went to a fair!  The fair was pretty fun.  I rode the ferris wheel and one other ride.  

Today in language school, I had to give a presentation on Hawaii.  I made a slide with some pictures of the Big Island.  I had to google Hawaiian food for the presentation, and it made me realize how much I miss it.  I didn't even think I liked Hawaiian food that much, but I've realized since I left that Hawaiian food is a much broader category of food than I realized.  Of course I miss my family and friends too, but I (thankfully) can still talk to them. :)

Ade!

First Days of Kantonsschule

On Thursday and Friday I had my first days of real school in Switzerland.  In Swiss high schools, there are four grades like in the US, but they are later because they go to middle school for two extra years here.  You also have all of your classes with the same people, but still change classrooms and teachers.  School starts here at 7:45 usually, but I didn't have to go until 9:20 because my class had Spanish class which I don't have to take.  When I got to school, I went to the secretary's office to meet my "coach" who is in my class and showed me around and introduced me to the others in the class.  I had German, Chemistry, English, and Physics on Thursday.  German was so over my head that it was easy, because I didn't have to pay attention. Chemistry was hard because my class was doing pretty advanced stuff and 'm already bad at chem.  I was actually able to understand some of the Physics because they were still doing the easy stuff.  English class was probably the best though, because everyone had to speak English in class so I understood everything.  I also introduced myself in English class because when you're new in a school in Switzerland, you have to introduce yourself to the whole class at once.  But my English teacher had me introduce myself in a different way than usual.  I went out of the classroom with three classmates and a subject to talk about (like school or family) and we asked each other about the topic.  Then we went inside and I presented them and they presented me.  It was a good way to get to know my classmates.  After morning classes we had a two hour long break so some of my classmates and I watched movies in a "black box" which is a black room with bean bags for watching movies.  

Friday was a very easy day.  The sports teacher wasn't there, so I didn't have to go, and I don't have to go to French, so I started at 10:25 with double math.  The regular math teacher had a substitute for the beginning of the year, and it was her last day, so we ate cake and played games for the second half of the class.  Then I had German class for exchange students at a neighboring school, and then I was done!  

I definitely like kantonsschule better than language school in Zurich, and I'm excited to be there full time!

Ciao!

Week 1 of School

I started German language school on Monday in Zurich.  School starts at 10:00 am and to get there I have to take the bus, then the train, then the tram which takes about an hour.  It kind of sucks to wait so long to get to school, but at least the scenery is beautiful!

The public transportation here is very good.  The buses/trains/trams are always on time.  They are so on time that I can get off a train at 3:21 and make the bus at 3:27.  (Also, the buses don't smell bad here, so that's a plus!)  It's so different from Hawaii's buses which have arrival times that end only in 5 or 0 and are quite unreliable.

Language school is good for the most part.  It's a little difficult because the teacher only speaks to us in German which I can't understand very well yet, but I already know much more German than I did when I first got here.

On Thursday, I walked around Zurich with my school.  We got to see all the old, pretty buildings and the lake.  It was gorgeous!

On Friday, I went to an AFS welcome party for my area.  We went to Bremgarten and had a campfire by the river.  I got to meet the other exchange students in my area, and some of them will go to the same school as me.  We roasted sausages and pizza dough together.  I think this is the first campfire I've ever been to where we didn't have s'mores.

Until next time,

Tschuss!

Summer Adventures and Switzerland Arrival

I started my journey on July 4th.  I left Hawaii with my sister for California.  We stayed there for a month with our dad and did lots of fun things.  In the beginning of our trip we had a family reunion with our cousins, aunt and uncle, and halmony (grandma).   

Together we got to watch the World Cup, eat lots of yummy korean food, pick strawberries as Swanton Berry Farm, and watch The Lego Movie about 50 times with these two crazy monkeys.

Later, after everyone went home we went to the San Francisco Palace of the Arts and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Later, we got to go on a family vacation to the Grand Canyon with our dad.  We drove about 750 miles in 12 hours to get there, then spent a day walking around and looking at the canyon.  We were all excited to be there because none of us had ever been before.

A few days after we got back from the Grand Canyon we had to leave California.  My sister was especially sad because she had to go back to school when she arrived in Hawaii.  I on the other hand was excited because I was on my way to see New York!  My international flight to Switzerland was from JFK airport to Zurich airport, so I decided that I would stay with my grandma and uncle (who is a Buddhist monk) at Blue Cliff Monastery in Pine Bush, NY before I left.  The day after I arrived, I went to Manhattan with my uncle, my grandma, and Phap Lac (Brother Happiness).  While we were there we went to the Museum of Natural History, visited Columbia University and Barnard College, took the subway, and ate street food.  It was a good day.

Living in the monastery was very interesting.  I got to be there for the August Mindfulness Retreat.  It was very peaceful and beautiful, and I got to meet lots of new friends.  The food was also very good.

On Monday the 11th I left the monastery to go to my Gateway Orientation at the JFK Hilton.  There were sixteen other students going to Switzerland from the US, but there were also students going to Thailand and Sweden at the orientation.  We did a few little games before dinner, then after dinner we split up into our country groups for information sessions.  The Switzerland session was led by a man who went to Switzerland with AFS 27 years ago, and he answered all our questions about being an exchange student in Switzerland.  The next day, Thailand left early in the day, but the rest of us did a few more activities before our flights.  We did a geography quiz and a celebratory toast, then ate lunch.  After the Sweden group left, there were no more planned activities so we bonded and played some games before we had to go to the airport.  

The flight to Switzerland was a little over 7 hours long and I only slept for one hour.  My host family picked me up at the airport and drove me to their house in Freienwil.  Most of my host family speaks English.  So far, Switzerland is not too different from the US, but there are a few little differences that I found interesting.  The locks on the doors in the house are actually old fashioned keys.  In Swissgerman, they call the crosswalks Zebrastreifen which translates to zebra stripes.  Also, the toilet paper is shaped differently.  Out of all of the things I was expecting to be different, the shape of toilet paper never crossed my mind.  I also went to the Swiss supermarket Migros in Baden today with my host mother.  There, they lock the shopping carts together and you have to put in 1 Franc to take one, and you get it back when you return the cart so nobody steals them.  Smart!  Also, both the front and the back wheels turn. 

I like that the Swiss Francs are so colorful!

 Today I also gave my host family some key chains and some Mauna Loa coconut macnuts and Reese's becuase they don't have peanut butter or macnuts here.  They loved it! :)  I also showed them my yearbook because they don't have those in Switzerland either.

This is the view out of my bedroom window.

Next week I will start German language school in Zurich for one week.  Then after that for three more weeks, I will go to language school from Monday to Wednesday and public school in Baden on Thursday and Friday.  Then I will start going to public school all week.  My host sister Beatrice goes to the same school.

I will try to keep this blog updated as the year goes on.  Feel free to leave comments!

Tschuss!

Host Family Placement

I have been placed with a host family in Switzerland!

My host family lives in a small farming town 30 minutes north of Zurich called Freienwil.  They have a 19 year old daughter, a boy and a girl (twins) who are 20 years old, a dog, a cat, and five quails.  The twins live away from home.  I will be going to the district high school, or Gymnasium as they call it, in Baden where the younger daughter went to school.

I have been emailing the family, and they sent me some pictures of them and the area they live in.  They live in such a lovely place, and I'm so excited to  see it and meet all of them in person!

The family has had lots of previous experience with AFS.  They have already hosted one girl from Bolivia, and their younger daughter went on an exchange to France for a year with AFS.  I'm very lucky to have a host family that already has experience with AFS.  Hopefully it will make the adjustment period smoother.

Another thing that I hope will make the adjustment period smoother is language learning.  I have no previous knowledge of German, but I have started learning through the Rosetta Stone account which AFS has given me.  When I get to Switzerland I will take a couple weeks of language classes before I start real school.    Hopefully that will help a little.  My host family knows some English, so when I get there it won't be so hard to communicate, but hopefully it doesn't stop me from speaking German!

I'm so excited to meet my host family, and be an exchange student in Switzerland!

Study Abroad Year

Next year, starting in August, I will be going on a study abroad trip to Switzerland.

I'm going with a program called AFS (American Field Service) which sends high schoolers all around the world to stay in another country for a year to be immersed in its culture.  With AFS, I will stay with a host family, and go to a school near where they live.  I chose AFS because I think I'll be able to have a fuller cultural experience in Switzerland if I stay with a host family than if I were to just visit.  I am now waiting for a host family placement, so I'm not exactly sure where in Switzerland I will be living yet.

I was initially inspired to study abroad by my mom who was an AFS exchange student in New Zealand for a year when she was in high school and had one of the greatest years of her life, so hopefully I will too!  I ultimately decided to go abroad because I've never been out of the country before, and I feel that I have a deep-rooted desire to experience another part of the world. I've also always thought that it's kind of pointless to go on a vacation if it's just for a week because there's not enough time to learn anything about the culture.  I've always wanted to learn to speak another language fluently.  Hopefully by the time I've come back to the US next year, I will have done all of these things. (I will share my experiences in Switzerland throughout next year on this blog.)

I've started a Sponsor-an-AFSer fundraiser which is an online fundraising tool provided by AFS to allow potential sponsors to make easy, secure, and non tax-deductible contributions to my AFS program fee.  I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider donating to my trip.  Every donation helps!  Please share this blog with others who would consider donating to my trip as well, and remember to check my blog throughout the year to see how my trip's going!