Well, it went a little too long between my blog updates, but I guess maybe that's good because it means that I am staying busy here.
School started, and it is fine. Though I understand an ok amount of the German when the teachers speak, I always seem to miss the important words. I never really know exactly what is going on then, but I am learning the art of the "exchange student human mirror." This is when you do everything the other students do: If they get out their notebook, you get yours out too. If everyone starts sprinting to class even though you still have plenty of time left, well, you sprint too.
As for my classes, they aren't easy: Math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, German, History, Music and English. At the moment all I'm trying to do is simply understand what the teachers are saying. It's a difficult balance and it's a very different mindset then what I had back home.
As for my fellow students, it is just ok. It is hard, because they are a very close group. The way their school works is that the students are in one class, and then they switch rooms. This class though has been together for 2.5 years now, so it makes it a little bit harder to just "walk in." But I know it takes time, so I just have to keep trying and stay patient.
After two weeks of school, it was fall holidays for the next three weeks. Within the first few days I went to Luzern with a few other students. It is a very beautiful city, and I am sure I will go back there often. It was also funny because we bumped into a few other students there, so it was kind of a nice surprise.
A few days after Luzern I had my birthday. I had a cute little cookie with a candle in it for breakfast, and then I just hung out out and had a relaxing day at home. For dinner my host-grandma, Nelly, came over and cooked my favorite dinner: curry sauce with rice, chicken, pineapple and peaches. For dessert we had a very good yogurt cake. It was a very nice day and was glad that it was during the break and not during school.
As a birthday present, my host family took me with them to Turkey for a week. Turkey is a such a different country than any I've ever seen, so it was really quite fun and interesting going to all of the markets and just seeing things. We stayed in a very nice hotel where we did lots of swimming, relaxing, eating, shopping and so much more. For me it was my first time being in a beach hotel like that, so it was a really fun and new experience. One thing about Turkey that was a little interesting was in the markets, just how much the employees would almost beg you to come into their shop. Sometimes they would even put their arm around your shoulder saying "come look, we have everything." And then they would bargain with you until a sale was made. Only a few stores had set prices, but the majority of them simply made the price on the spot, and then went from there. So, there were more than a few awkward times of just having to say you're not interested and then walk out, which is difficult if you're not used to doing it like me. All in all it was a fabulous week and I really feel lucky to have been able there.
For the last week of break I had a small cold, and unfortunately it doesn't really want to go away. It's more annoying than anything else.
For the last two days I went on a small overnight trip with the Rotary group. There were about 30 kids from all around the west part of Switzerland. We went to a cookie factory (Kambly) and ate way too many cookies, and then stayed the night at a small community center in a very small town near Bern, where we then played games and just had a nice time talking about all of our experiences thus far. The next day we went back into Bern and went bowling. It was a nice weekend and a good way to close off the break.
So, that is the last month in a nutshell, and it was a good one. Next time though I won't wait as long to update my blog.
As for pictures, I have some here- http://www.flickr.com/photos/54389909@N05/sets/72157625062421634/
and a few here-http://picasaweb.google.com/ian.b.neubauer/Switzerland#
More are on their way...
