Wochenende & stuff

I have been here for almost 2 and a half weeks now. It still doesn't seem real that I will be living here for 11 more months, although, I am enjoying myself! When the days are gray, and if I sit in my room and ponder, a lot of me is sad to be away from you all. Then, I realize to be happy and give thanks for being here, in such a wonderful place. To grasp every moment of it, and relax.  

These past couple of days I have been going about to a few different places. I went to the town of ...

Winterthur . The Entrance.

For a music Festival, just the other day with other exchange students from my language school. It was a great day, and I enjoyed the music a lot. On a random note, it is incredibly impossible to find a public bathroom here in Switzerland, and if you want to use a toilet, you have to pay 2 franks to enter the bathroom stall. It is pretty ridiculous. I had to go really badly and I could find a bathroom. Finally, my Indian friend Charack told me that he saw outhouses at the festival.. after looking around for awhile. I was thankful. Another random note, many many people smokes cigarettes here. 

Swiss Hip hop music

During the weekend, I went to a 820th year Festival celebration for the town of Feslispoc (wrong spelling). My next door neighbor Luana invited me to go with another girl that lives in my neighborhood, Vanessa. It wasn't so, eh, exciting to say the least, so we sat down and listened to the band play... but soon enough we got bored, so we took the bus to McDonalds and ordered some ice cream. My first and probably last visit to McDonalds on my stay here in Switzerland. It is VERY expensive... like 3.50 Franks for a little icecream. It was fun though, we spoke german together and laughed a lot. My German skills are coming along.. my host family only speaks to me in German and I can sorta- ish understand what they say to me and what they talk about. But is makes me so excited when I can actually reply!!! Such a great feeling. 

Luana, Vanessa, & I at the fest

On Sunday my host father took me on his motorcycle and we rode around to Zug (which is a beautiful, beeeeautiful town by a lake, I really want to swim in). He also took me to my families apartment in the mountains. Words cannot describe how incredible the mountains are and landscape is here. I really wish I brought my camera to show pictures, but going on that bikeride was really nice. It helped me to soak up the goodness here and to take it all in. I have been kind of hard on myself lately, and this gave me peace. On the bike ride, I saw lots of goats and cute farm land, with amazing houses in the mountains! It made me so happy and free.

I am going to do homework now, and work on my German. Maybe take a bike ride later if I have time before Choir class. We sing Elton John "Your Song" and it makes me extra happy. :)

I Love you, everyone! 

Gestern und...heute..

overlooking streets in Zurich

I have been chilling around and going to the language course, yep!

With my free time I usually talk to my family and watch movies in German in the evenings.

I don't start school at my Katonsschule Wettingen until October 12th. That is a little upsetting, but it will give me a lot of time to travel around Switzerland and practice my German.

Tomorrow I am going to go to this youth Choir to see if I would like to join. It is with girls my age and it would give me a chance to meet new people and pratice my them.

It has been so nice here, with beautiful weather. I posted pictures on facebook.

Love you guys.

Ich freue mich.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

By- Max Ehrmann

Jessica gave me this poem before I left, and I fell inlove with it. Thank you JVU.

Anywho, life is great, everything is falling into place. There are times when I forget I am in Switzerland, and then I remember to look around and sink it all in. My typical day now is going to language school to spreche Deutsch. I take the bus and the train to get to my class, it is so peaceful. I love not driving. Sadly, my laptop is not connecting to the wi'fi here, so I cannot show pictures just yet. When I wake up in the morning, I hear loud ringing of bells from the church nearby. It rings like 100000 times at 6 am to wake me up. It could be bad, but I just accept it, I enjoy it, more than dislike it. The time difference is not bothering me anymore, I fall asleep fast everynight. I feel like I have less anxiety here, gahhh it feels wonderful. The weather is hot as well, and last night was a thunder storm with a down poar of rain. I told me host brother I like to run in the rain and he laughed and said I was crazy. I also imagined myself saying "Ich bin pfirsich" and I started laughing really hard. It means I am peach, I duno why it made me laugh so much, I guess the simpliest things are really getting to me these days.

Donnerstag & Freitag

Leaving and saying goodbye was very hard. It was a strange feeling, because I felt like I wanted to stay in the life I was so used to and comfortable with, and then feeling a sense of longing to move forward, on to another journey. After getting on the airplane in Seattle to Germany, I already felt like I accomplished something huge, I was totally putting myself out there, and exceeding my limits. If you know me, I love my friends and family to infinity, and leaving my home was dificult because I have grown attached to it. Feeling attached is not a good feeling, it made leaving harder. Every moment on the plane I chose to let go of things I have been holding on to, and thoughts that were in my head. I did not let go of the relationships, I will always treasure those in my heart. I read the letters you guys gave me and words cannot describe how blessed I feel for having such incredible friends and family supporting me, and it helped me to keep going. I want to thank everyone who came to the airport with me to send me off to Switzerland: My mom, Jeremy, Cheri, Keeva, Lucas, Jvu, Sarah, and Austin. On the airplane I met a wonderful girl named Thereza and she was leaving Washington to go home to Germany from a 2 month exchange she did in Spokane. She was so funny and we had a good time watching movies together and talking about life. Each plane ride went very smoothly with no complications.

Anywayssssss.... I am currently in Switzerland! It feels so good! The family is very open and welcoming, and I feel right at home here. My host mom picked me up from the airport, and we went and did some arrands around Mellingen, such as getting a GA picture, and registering my visa. I met my host brother Eric later on in the evening because he was at work when I arrived. It felt good to meet him, he is very nice.

The house is so beautiful, and so is the scenery! The small town of Mellingen is where my house is, it is 10-15 minutes outside of Baden. I took pictures, I will post those soon once my laptop's internet connection starts working. I also have a bathroom of my own, and a comfortable room with a balcony overlooking a beautiful view of my village. My host mom made a great meal of sausage, potatoes, and salad last night and a pie. It was so good!

As some of you might know, my German is pretty much non existent. Sense yesterday was my first day here, my family introduced me to new words, but we mainly spoke in english to get familiar here. I will put effort in everyday to understand German, I love hearing people speak it, and I am excited to learn.

I start language school on Monday in Baden for 3-4 weeks. I will study German there with other Rotary exchange students, and tomorrow I am going to an Rotary orientation to meet all the Rotary exchange students in Switzerland.

please leave your home address if you read this because I will try to write letters in my free time for the future.

I love all you guys!
Tschus!

My Address is..

Joelle Friend
Sonnenbergstrasse 5
CH-5507 Mellingen AG
Switzerland

Baden, Switzerland

I will be leaving for Baden, Switzerland in 5 days. As of right now, I am excited, but it comes in spurts. One moment I believe I am leaving in 5 days, feeling ready and so excited, the next moment I get a sinking feeling in my stomach of imagining myself leaving for a year. Sometimes I feel nothing at all, like I am not going!