Before Vacation

A Tough Week

Last week at school, being the final week before our vacation, was a week to finish all prior topics and wrap up with unit tests.  My class had a math, history, chemistry, and German test- all of which I was exempt.  Also, my extra math class was cancelled. I left early most days, slept in, or had a period to read my book.  It was truly wonderful.  Now, the school has “vario-woche” which I believe can be translated to “various week”.  Students choose an area of study and they do that for the whole week.  I am also exempt. So, tomorrow officially begins my three weeks holiday.  From Monday to Wednesday, I will be in the mountains of Davos (Eastern Switzerland).  In Davos I will be staying in my own room in a five star hotel.  This week is a renowned jazz festival in town which I hope to see some of.  During the day we will be hiking through the mountains! I had to practice in my borrowed hiking boots, and so yesterday, I went for a walk around town in my tank top, short shorts (it was so warm here) and enormous hiking boots.  Honestly- people in this town must question my sanity on a daily basis. When I am back from Davos, I will have a few days to repack because from October 1^st to 8^th I will be in Italy (Tuscany, Siena, and Pisa).  Then from approximately the 10^th to 16^th I will be in Tessin (Alps).  I can’t wait! Get ready for some more pictures- and reading!

Family Reunion

Something exciting that I realize I have not yet written about is the meeting I had last Sunday with my next two families! I will give you a bit the basics, and what I found out in two hours of whirlwind-German information.  (Barbara and I had to re-do it in English when everyone left to make sure I’d understood!) Second family, my dad is Willi, mom is Brigitte, and thirteen year-old sister is Ina (not sure if that is spelled correctly).  Willi is a percussion instrumentalist who has a few bands and is really cool.  He is tall, bald, and seems really friendly.  On Saturday night I went to his concert in Baden and it was a salsa band.  Totally awesome! Brigitte is very pretty with lots of curly, black hair, and a big smile.  She is a kindergarten teacher for deaf children, and I can sense her patience- which is greatly appreciated.  Their daughter was not at the meeting, and so I have not really talked to her yet, but she seems very sweet and I’m sure we’ll get along great. We will be going skiing together for a week in December in a chalet with ten other families- I am beyond excited! My last family is mother Katarina, and father Pius.  They are a little older than my other families, but both seem nice.  I did not talk to them a lot, and I am not sure which of their children are still living at home, but I know I will love them.  They like to travel, play music, and canoe! He teaches a course which I think I’ll take in hopes of a less stressful/painful canoe trip in killarney next year.  All in all, I am being totally spoiled by all families here and I couldn’t ask for anything better.

My Lost Career

While some people my age have made a lot of their money in the past by babysitting- this is not my case.  Occasionally, I visit next door (in Canada) to hang out with my eight-year-old friend while his parents are out.  However, my babysitting career ended many years ago when I was bit hard in the crotch by a small girl to whom I would not feed cookies before dinner.  It was only on Friday when I learned what my fault was; I am way to boring! I was invited by Luca for dinner next door and they had their babysitter watching them.  Their babysitter is a fifteen year old boy who is positively wonderful with kids.  When I came in, they were reading books, but this soon changed.  In Switzerland, they have this powdered drink that I am slightly afraid to try because it smells funky.  It looks like hot chocolate mix though.  Dinner consisted of this chocolate mix in chocolate yogurt, mixed with bologna, on bread.  I went with a more traditional cheese and cold meat combo, but the kids seemed to think they’d made a wonderful concoction.  With a cloud of chocolate powder I the air, it was quickly decided that the babysitter needed to be dressed as a girl. The poor boy was practically tortured with bobby pins, elastics, and earrings.  The whole time, he never said a word! It is amazing how much fun it is to be with kids and not be in charge.  This babysitter is my hero. 

A New Exercise Experience

In gym class this week, we did something very interesting that I never would have dreamed of.  We got into class and were told to get a skipping rope. Nice! I love skipping.  Plus, I know it’s an awesome workout.  I started to do some doubleunders to prepare myself for the workout.  Little did I know, doubleunders weren’t going to help me with this lesson.  Am I ever a lost cause in some areas.  The day’s activity was what I like to call “Synchronized Skipping”.  Yes, a dancing routine, while skipping, in time to music.  If you’ve ever seen me dance, or attempt to, you’ll know why this was disastrous.  Even with my eyes glued to our teacher in hopes of remembering or being able to follow her moves, I was hopeless. At one point we had to jump forwards, but I forgot and so the rope from the girl behind me got tangled in mine and mine when flying across the gym mid-dance.  I also managed to trip twice, move left instead of right, and get my hair tied around the rope mid-skip.  Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse we moved onto mini-trampoline gymnastics. There were mini-tramps with interspersed with obstacles you had to jump over.  Lots of mid-air butt-pushing when the teacher saw I wasn’t going to make it over these obstacles. I won’t go into more details, but I will say this- it wasn’t pretty. 

Double Production

This week my life was full of drama.  Theatre drama to be precise.  The first, was extremely boring.  An amateur production in Zurich that I am sure would have been good if I could understand a word.  I was surprised at how little I knew of what was going on.  It may as well have been said in Chinese! I quickly lost interest and I dozed on and off until it was over.  The second production however, was the highlight of my day.  It took place in Lydia’s room which was set up as a theatre, complete with stage and lighting.  A musical performed by her and Luca was the cutest, and most hilarious thing I have ever seen.  In the middle of her lines, she would occasionally come out of character to explain to me in slower, simpler German what was going on, before continuing.  I think Lydia was nearly every character in the play.  Old lady, mom, man, rock, you name it- she played it.  Lydia is extremely good at conveying emotion and getting into character.  Luca is extremely good at making a series of hysterically funny dramatic poses behind Lydia’s back during supposedly serious scenes.  I would pay to see it again, any time. 

Football Match

Today I saw my first football match with Barbara’s nephew.   It was Baden vs. some other small city and it was a fairly high skill level.  Great soccer.  When we arrived, he asked me where I wanted to sit- in the cheering section, or the quiet section? I obviously chose the cheering section and was led to a large group of young men all decked out in tee shirts, flags, and drums to cheer on the team.  I was the only female.  As the game went on, and the pile of empty beer cups got higher, there was much singing, cheering, and swearing.  I love when people swear here.  It’s one of the few times I know what is going on.  Through the constant cloud of cigarette smoke, I watched the game and had a good time.  I think I will go again sometime!

Until next time, best wishes from Switzerland