Salut!
I need to get better about updating my blog... :)
Anyway here's what I've been up to:
This past week I have really been working on my French, and communication skills in general. The biggest challenge I've faced on my exchange definitely stems from not being able to communicate effectively; whether it's because I can't speak their language (which is most of the time :) ) or I just don't completely understand the culture- I've really begun to realize what a huge role the use of language plays in everyday life! At the same time it's also amazing to me how much you can communicate without words; a lot of the time even if I use the completely wrong word I'm still able to communicate (enough) to get by. So anyway that's my deep thinking for the week... Now onto what I've been up to :)
Saturday, August 21:
I went with Julien and some other kids from Sorens to the open air movie in Charmey. Probably one of the coolest things I have ever done! :) We took the ski lift up to the top of the mountain and watched the sunset; it was unreal how beautiful it was. Then, after the sunset, we watched Invictus (in French of course), and I think it was a pretty good movie; I didn't catch much of the dialog lol but it seemed pretty good. :) It was pretty amazing just sitting up there on the mountain looking at the stars and watching a movie; tres suisse!
 |
| Allison and I on the ski lift |
 |
| We watched the movie from the top of the mountain |
 |
| Sunset :) |
 |
| Julien and I |
 |
| Movie Time! |
Sunday, August 22:
I went to the Welcome Meeting in Olten, Switzerland for all the inbound exchange students. It was a lot of fun, I got to meet all the other Frenchies; there's only 10 of us, all the other 100 are in the German speaking area. 9 (including me) are American and there's one guy from Sweden. I also got to see Vanessa, the girl we hosted from Switzerland in 08-09! After the meeting, Vanessa and I took the train to Zurich and walked around for a bit. I am in love with that city! Well I guess I could say that about just about everywhere I've been, but still.... It is so clean and just, well European. :) I felt like I was in the big kid version of Disney World. After we finished walking around, I took the train and bus back home, and didn't get lost at all; I was pretty proud of myself, considering my history with Switzerland's public transportation system. :)
 |
| Zurich! |
 |
We walked around for about 15 min looking for that building with the green steeple
|
 |
Found it! It's a library, in case you were wondering :)
|
 |
Vanessa's future University
|
 |
Just like Disney, only better
|
 |
Sistas!
|
 |
River thru the middle of the City
|
 |
La Gare (Train Station)
|
 |
Famous weird statue in la gare
|
Monday, August 23:
Today I started language school. Language school has been an interesting experience; there are four of us (including me) that aren't very good at French and six that are pretty good, but we are all kind of in the same class. We are in different parts of the book, but we are all in the same room, and the teacher doesn't speak English. So I have been learning how to learn haha, but at the same time, even though it's been tough trying to understand what's going on, I do feel that I've definitely improved at least a little bit. Not that I could have gotten much worse. :) So anyway, hopefully, this next week is better.... I did make some good friends at the school, and it's been a lot of fun getting to hang out with people you can have a conversation with. We all walk around after school and try to speak French, which is pretty funny considering most of us can only talk about the weather and the scenery; but it works. :) The school is in Fribourg, so I have to catch the bus at 7:30 am, which I consider a crime against humanity, but c'est la vie..... I'll have to take that bus for school anyway, so I suppose it's good I'm getting used to it. :) Monday evening I went to my fist Rotary event with the club in Bulle. It was a party and tour of a cheese cave up in the mountains in Charmey. I had double cream and meringue for desert again which made me pretty happy! After we went on the tour of the cheese cave, I had to introduce myself, in French, to the club which was interesting; but I think it went ok, they were all very nice, and at least pretended that they understood what I was saying. :) So, after all of that, I definitely did not have a problem going to bed!
 |
Sunrise from my room.... Pretty, but I kind of wish I hadn't been awake to take this :)
|
 |
| Fribourg |
 |
| Cheese Cave |
 |
| Too cute not to take a picture! |
 |
| My new best friend that totally understands my French :) |
 |
| A little kid playing the accordion at the party-only in Switzerland! |
 |
| The chalet where we ate dinner |
Tuesday, August 24:
More language school!
Wednesday August 25:
Language school, and then I went to the movies with Julien and some other kids from Sorens. We saw "The Expendibles", and I have decided that action movies are definitely my best friend, because you can always figure out the plot whether you understand the ten words in the movie or not. :) The movie theater in Bulle is way smaller than those in the US; it had about four rows lol, but it was a lot of fun.
Thursday, August 25:
Language School! Woo-hoo!
Friday, August 26:
Guess what? Mooooore Language school! After school I went to lunch with some girls in my class, and when we went to order the lady thought I was German (why I don't know) I was like "Nein sprenkenzie duetch"(no I can't even come close to knowing how to spell in German lol) haha it made ordering interesting; she of course didn't speak English either, but we did get to pratice our French skills. What little we have. :) When I got back home I went with Sophie and some other people from Sorens for dinner, which was a lot of fun.
 |
| With Laura (who's from Kansas) at the restaurant |
 |
| Chillin in Fribourg |
 |
| Bjorn from Sweden at the Bus Station in Fribourg |
Saturday, August 27:
I went to Chexbres to visit Laura (exchange student from Kansas). She lives right on Lake Geneve, it is so beautiful (big surprise) in that part of Switzerland! I took the train there, and after I got there we went to Lausanne. Amazing city! We walked around the old town, and saw several really beautiful cathedrals. We also walked along the lake at sunset, which was pretty awesome. We had pizza, and that made me think of home. :) While we were walking around we stumbled upon some techno music festival, that just happened to be going on right there in the middle of the city. So of course we stopped and watched a bit. Then later that evening when we were walking along the lake, there was a different Irish pop festival going on, where we saw people singing in French while wearing kilts- so I'm not really sure where they were from, seeing as how they were representing like three countries lol. It was just so random! Afterwards we went back to her house and talked till 2am. Probably the most I've talked since I left the US lol.
 |
| View from Laura's Window |
 |
| At the Train Station in Chexbres |
 |
| Just had to take a picture :) |
 |
Cathedral where when we got to the door it just opened, and then we entered and someone is playing phantom of the opera-esque music..... creepy.....
|
 |
| Amazing Organ |
 |
| Lausanne |
 |
| This door we had to open for ourselves..... |
 |
| Cathedral from the 1100s |
 |
| Lausanne |
 |
Yay for CHF (at least that's what were guessing that big "C" is)
|
 |
| There were swans everywhere! |
 |
| Pizza! Laura was pretty excited :) |
 |
| But then so was I :) |
 |
| At the techno festival |
 |
| Swiss pastries, yum! |
 |
| Random Irish/Scottish/Swiss/French concert |
 |
| Sunset on the Lake |
 |
| Only in Switzerland do they give you chocolate with your hot chocolate :) |
Sunday, August 29:
Today Laura and I took the boat from Lausanne to Montreux. The weather was absolutely perfect! Our original plan was to go to Geneva, but because it was Sunday the boat schedule was a little strange so we ended up heading to Montreux. When we got there we took the bus to the Chateau de Chillon. I'll just let the pictures do the talking; suffice it to say, it was amazing! After we got some bread, cheese and chocolate (of course!) and picnicked on the boat on the way back to Lausanne. We had a lot of fun, and got to see some really neat stuff; definitely a successful weekend!
 |
| On the Boat |
 |
| Vineyards |
 |
| Boat like the one we were on; That's the French side of the lake |
 |
| Sailor we met on the boat |
 |
| Chateau de Chillon |
 |
| Why hello! |
 |
| weird bathtub in the castle |
 |
| All the stairs were super steep, I'm really surprised I didn't tumble down them lol |
 |
| View from the tower |
 |
| In one of the towers |
 |
| Where's my knight in shining armor? |
 |
| Picnic on the boat! |
 |
| On the train back to Chexbres |
 |
| Picture from the train |
So that's pretty much what I've been up to this past week! Tomorrow I have more language school, so hopefully my French will really start to improve, but I'm not holding my breath. :) I've been told that even the worst students eventually get the language down, so we'll see. Either way, I'll have definitely learned some new communication skills!
Au revoir!
