Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Changement

Salut!

Ok, rewind back to the beginning of January with me for a bit.....

On January 8 I turned 18, which was pretty big for me. It really made me realize just how fast this year is going by! I can't believe Christmas and New Year's have already passed. Anyway, I ended up changing families on my Birthday, which was a little hard for me, but both my old and new families were so nice, and each had a party for me.
Friday night (the night before my birthday), I went out with Julien and some friends, and we had a lot of fun, they were so sweet, when it was 11:59 they counted down to mid-night, and all sang "Joyeux Anniversaire" (Happy Birthday) to me.
On the 8th I had a Birthday lunch of fondue (très Swiss), and Birthday cake at the Ropraz's, and they gave me this really pretty charm bracelet. Leaving was very hard for me; because I had really come to feel like I was a part of the family. They were so great to me, and helped me out so much with learning the language, and adjusting to cultural differences. I had such a great 5 months with them! However, part of the Rotary exchange experience is learning how different families live, and so off I went to my next family. But not without having to have Simon sit on my suitcases so I could try and fit everything. I have absolutely NO idea how I'm going to get all this stuff back to the US, but fortunately I don't have to think about that right now. :)

Here are some pics from my Birthday at the Ropraz's:





Because of the afformentioned packing difficulties, I didn't get to my next host family until late-afternoon, however they just live a little further up the mountain in the same village, so not to long to go.

Les Famille Gendre:

While it was quite difficult for me to leave my last family, my new family is wonderful as well. My host parents are Marc and Geneviève, and I have three siblings: Elsa (21), Bob (19), and Antoine (16), there's also a boy (Daniel, 16) from the Swiss German region that lives with us and goes to school here during the week because he and Antoine are doing an exchange so that they can learn German/French. On my first night there they had a little party for me with hamburgers (you know, me being American of course haha :) ), and cake, and they gave me a really cute Swiss t-shirt. Later Elsa took me out to meet some of her friends.





I'm so glad I'm fortunate enough to have two great families, and such nice friends that helped me have an unforgetable, fondue, chocolate-filled, très Swiss, 18th Birthday.

More posts to come... :)

Au revoir,

Becky

Fin des Vacanes

Salut!

During the last week of winter vacation I took several day trips with my host family, laura and zion, and of course hung out with Simon some too. :)

Before all the snow melted, Simon and I had a couple of days to play in it. Basically we buried each other in the snow, and then started to build an igloo, which just turned into an all out snowball war. Good times :)
Here are some pictures:
Cause….

 …..and effect

SO COLD


Monsieur Eskimo 


My house





Trip to Martigny, and the St. Bernard museum:
One day Laura and I went to the St. Bernard museum in Martigny. We had a little trouble finding the place, but after asking about ten people someone finally gave us a map, and then we were good to go. In the winter they keep all the St. Bernards at this museum, so we got to see them, and then there was this random museum on Napal on the top floor, so we picked up some Asian culture as well. In the museum they had a lot of interesting information on the St. Bernard Pass (of course), and the history of how St. Bernard's helped stranded travelers.

Here are some pictures:
Martigny

Hmmm… Which way?

Found it!




Note the Rotary symbol in the top right corner :)




Trip to Gruyère Cheese Factory:
On the last day of vacation Francine, Simon, and I went to Bulle to visit the Gruyère Museum, unfortunately it was under construction, and wouldn't be open until next November-a little late for me. So we ended up taking a tour of  the Gruyère Cheese Factory, and eating samples. Yum :)

Here are some pictures:



And then, just like that, winter vacation was fini.


Au revoir,

Becky

New Address

Salut!
As you know I've changed families, and just in case you were wanting to send me some snail mail (hint, hint ;) ) here's my new address:

Becky Seewald
℅ Famille Marc Gendre
Plan des Marais 27
CH-1642 Sorens FR
Switzerland
 
Au revoir,
 
Becky

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Fast Track to Heidi-Land, and ringing in the new year Swiss-style

Bonjour!

Well I was going to make "update blog weekly" my New Year's resolution, but obviously that didn't work out so well. So, first of all let me update you on what I've been doing for Christmas vacation.

For Christmas Jacques and Francine gave me private ski lessons (amazing right?), and so I have now officially skied er tumbled my way down the Alps. I have a bit of a speed problem, unfortunately I'm not so great at stopping just yet…. Kinda a problem haha. But the second time I went it was much better; I still have a LOT to learn, but I've been having a great time.
Here are some pictures from my ski adventures:



La Berra





Ok for some reason I can't get this picture to rotate, sorry
Glacier Express!
December 29-30:

Laura, Zion, and I were all supposed to take the Glacier Express to St. Moritz; unfortunately Laura and Zion had some bus trouble, and missed the train so it ended up being just me on the Glacier Express and they had to take another train to catch up with me later, because there wasn't a way to catch the train once it had left. However, it was definitely one of the most beautiful train rides I've ever taken; I felt like I had entered Narnia. The pictures definitely don't do it justice, but better then my lame attempts at explaining. The neat thing about this train is that it was all windows, even the cieling, so you felt like you could just reach out and touch the mountains. Here's some info about the train, and a map of the route:

"The Glacier Express is the most famous railway in the world. It travels from Zermatt to Davos or St. Moritz in around seven hours. It is a day trip through untouched mountain landscapes, glamorous health resorts, deep gorges, delightful valleys, 91 tunnels and across 291 impressive bridges."




Here are some pictures from the train ride, to see more pics just click on the photos tab to the right:
















We went sledding while we were in St. Moritz, and let me tell you that was quite the experience. We got up to almost 20mph, which doesn't sound like much unless you're the one flying down the Alps head first. :) Even though it started off a little rough, it was definitely an amazing trip!

Here are some photos:




















Swiss New Year:
For New Year's Eve I went to a party with Sophie and Julien, and the Jeuness. The party was held at this cute chalet way out in the country. The theme was "guys dress like girls, and girls dress like guys," why, I have no idea, but whatever. I obviously didn't think to bring "guy cloths" with me when I packed back in August haha, so Julien let me were one of his shirts, and I ended up dressing kind of like a Swiss cowboy. But anyway, it was a lot of fun, definitely a New Year I'll never forget!

Here are some pics:




Working on the update for January! :)

Au revoir,

Becky