LANGUAGE SCHOOL- Language school is right in the middle of Bern at the WWF (the one with the Panda sign, not wrestling) headquarters. There are eleven of us. Six from USA, two from Brazil, two from Ecuador and two from Canada. It is pretty difficult, but it isn't too bad. The teacher talks about 70% of the time in German, which was very difficult at first but now I understand most of what she says.
Party- I went to my first party this weekend. It was in the woods at kind of a campground. There were about 30 kids. Some spoke English and they asked me lots of strange questions. It was just very strange being there- not knowing anyone, the language, the "normal behavior." It was definitely an experience, and I think as the year progresses I will get be around it more and it will be more normal.
Swimming in the Aare!- This was a very fun day. There is a river that goes around Bern called the Aare. I was invited to tag along with a few people. The water was a bit chilly at 17 C (62 F) but it was worth it. It is a bit of a dangerous river, because the current is very fast. Several people die each year (most are Jamaicans) because they underestimate the speed and they are alone. It wasn't allt hat bad though, and there were many people there that day. It was a beautiful sunny day, and it was just such a strange but great feeling floating down a river in Switzerland.
Bike ride- I went on a bike ride (is it one word- "bikeride?") to the radio tower next to my town. It took about an hour and a half and the view was amazing. I could just see the alps through the clouds. On the way down we met back up with my host parents in another small town for lunch. It was another very beautiful day and a great way for me to see more of the country side.
Those are the main things from this week. For more pictures, go to my Facebook. Or Google "Bern Aare"and you will see some fantastic pictures of the Aare taken by professional photographers.
(The reason I don't post many pictures here is because it only takes one at a time, so it is very slow).
thanks for posting! it fun to read! Leah is in Lille- good family, good food, BIG city (2M) Be well!- Deborah
ReplyDeleteBie ride= Fahrrad :)
ReplyDeletealso for posting pictures I have been loading them all at once (like overnight or while eating dinner it can load) then putting them up one at a time is faster. Also, something I've been doing is using a Vokaben Heft to write down all the words used ofen or sound important that I don't know and you use one side of the page for English and the other for German, you might have already been doing that, I don't know, but if you haven't it can be really useful.
I can't wait to speak in German with you!