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

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

Photos! :)

Ok, so while I mail fail epically at posting, I have been taking a million photos throughout the year, and have finally found a way to share them on my my blog. So, if you want to view my photos from this year, just click on the "Becky's Photos" tab on the right, and it will take you to all of my flickr albums. I'm working on my January-beginning of February update, so hopefully soon I'll get caught up.

Au revoir,

Becky

Bonne Année 2011!!

December 31, 2010… Last blog post of the year:

Salut!

Well here we are at the end of 2010, and it has been quite a year, one I will never forget. Looking back at this year, I never would have been able to anticipate what would happen. This year probably held some of the biggest changes of my life; graduating from high school, getting my braces off (not quite so life changing haha), moving to Switzerland, learning a foreign language… yeah the list just goes on and on. But it's been a great year, and I can't wait to find out what's in store for 2011!

Next year I'll post all the photos from my trip to St. Moritz and the Glacier Express.

Au revoir,

Becky

Joyeux Noël tout le monde de La Suisse!

Joyeux Noël, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Here's a little update and video about what I've been up to this December.

Right now there's a flurry of snowflakes falling outside my window, and I can't help singing "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" over and over again. But anyway, back to December, and what Christmas season is like over here.

The first weekend in December we celebrated the "Fete de St. Nicholas." This is basically a festival where (at least in my village) one person dresses up as St. Nick (robe and all) and then a bunch of other people are "barefautares" (sp?), dressed all in black (they even painted our faces black), who are supposed to "scare" the bad children. I got to be a barefautare with the Jeuness in Sorens, and we went from house to house giving children bags of peanuts and oranges. When we got to the house, usually the parents had presents set out on the porch that St. Nicholas would them give the children, and then a barefautare would give the parents a switch, just in case the children mis-behaved. :) It was a really neat experience!

I also went to the Fete de St. Nicholas in Fribourg with Laura and her family. At this festival they carried St. Nick around the town on a chair and sang, so strange, but fun. :) The pictures do a much better job of explaining.

In Switzerland they have a lot of "Christmas Markets" in the different towns, and I got to visit a couple of different ones. They're basically a bunch of little wooden booths set up selling all sorts of different things (a lot like a craft fair). They're really fun to walk thru, and it's always fun to see all the different little Swiss things.

During second week of December I went to St. Gallen to see Vanessa and take the ACT. Yeah, I couldn't get away from that test even in Switzerland. But on the plus side I got to see Vanessa and we had a lot of fun doing things in St. Gallen. I took the ACT at this boarding school that cost around $70,000 a year, so yeah let's just say there was more Gucci there then in Milan. It was a really pretty school, and the room I took the test in overlooked the city of St. Gallen, so who knows how good I did, but it was definitely a pretty view! Afterwards, I got to eat lunch at Vanessa's school and meet her friends, and then she and I walked around St. Gallen.

 On December 12, my Rotary YEO here took me and the other exchange student in my Rotary club to Geneva with his family for the Fete de l'Escalde. It was so fun! Everywhere there were people dressed in period costumes, and marching around playing the drums and fife. I also got to see the Swiss President, who was speaking at a sort of assembly type thing in a park. It's so crazy how different the security is here! In the U.S. you would never be able to just walk into a tent and here the President speak. We walked up to the top of the bell tower in the cathedral, and had a magnificent view of the city. After all that we watched the parade, and broke this cauldron made out of chocolate (apparently it's a tradition). Ah how I love Swiss traditions! :)

For Christmas my family celebrates on the 24 and the 25. On the 24 we got all dressed up, and Sophie did my hair and make-up (it's so fun to have a big sis :) ),  and then went to Jacques brother's house to have supper with all of his family. We had a big multi-course meal, and on the wall was a list of the course and who was supposed to help serve it, and I felt so special when they even remembered to put me on there. :) After dinner everyone started singing Christmas carols and then Swiss songs, and then someone got the bright idea to ask me to sing. I, of course, tried my best to get out of it, but to no avail, so I had the express privilege of singing the national anthem a cappella. Yeah, easily one of the most mortifying moments of my life. However, even with my awful rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner," it was still a great night. After that we went to mid-night mass, and then off to bed!

On the 25 Sophie and I prepared Christmas lunch because Francine had had to work the night before. I love how pretty the Swiss make there food, every plate was like a little piece of artwork. A bunch of family came over, and we opened Christmas presents with everyone. Sophie, Julien, and Simon gave me a really pretty pearl drop necklace, and a really sweet card, and Jacques and Francine gave me 2 private ski lessons (SO excited to start!!). Then we ate lunch, and chatted as the snow fell outside the window. All in all a VERY Merry Swiss Christmas!! :)

Here's a video from what I've been up this December:

Click on this link to view my Christmas Movie!

Au revoir,

Becky

Lots to be Thankful for!

So I had this post all written out, but somehow forgot to post it. So while you're munching on Christmas cookies, here's a little story about Swiss Thanksgiving. :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Here in Switzerland they of course don't celebrate Thanksgiving, so I decided to spread the turkey love to Europe. :)
Yesterday I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for my family, and I think they actually liked it. :)  It was a bit of a challenge because no one eats turkey here, so I ended up just making turkey breasts instead of a giant gobbler, and I had to make the stuffing from scratch, but all in all it was definitely a success. My mom sent me some decorations, canned sweet potatoes for the casserole, and the surprise favorite,  cranberry sauce (what can I say? They know whats good.) I was scrambling around like a mad women trying to get everything ready, but fortunately Francine helped me, and my mom was nice enough to skype with me like 20 times, while I was trying to figure out if the turkey was finished. Here are some pics from the evening:

Bonne Appetite!

Today was a little tough because of course I had to go to school, but in English class I told everyone what Thanksgiving was and for the rest of the day my class kept saying "Appy Tanksgiving Becky!" or my personal favorite "Appy Turkey Day!", they are all so sweet! :) I got to skype with everyone back home before they all chowed down, which was really great-not quite the same as being there, but it was nice to say hi to everyone. So all in all not to shabby of a day. And to keep up the tradition I'm going to list a few of the things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving.
First of all, I'm so thankful for my familys, both at home and at my Swiss home. I am so blessed to have such amazing parents that would let me go on this adventure, and that the've been there for me when things have gotten tough. Thank you so much for sending me care packages, you have no idea how much I love (and use) all the things you send me! Thank you also for taking the time to talk with me when I have problems, even when you're swamped. I'm also very thankful for the friends I've made here, both Swiss and the other exchange students, I've had so much fun going on all these different adventures with you guys! Also, I'm so thankful for my friends back home, thanks for the cards and skype dates :) I love getting to hear about what's going on over there, miss you guys lots!
And last, but most definitely not least; thank you God for giving me this opportunity to grow, learn, and have one of the most challenging and amazing years of my life!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Au revoir,

Becky