Lake Constance (Bodensee)
A beautiful Katholic Kirche in St. Gallen
St. Gallen
My Deutsch class. Love and miss you all
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
September 25, 2012,
Changes;
So i've been in Switzerland for a little over a month now. I cannot believe time is going by so quickly. In this short amount of time I have changed alot, for the better of course. I feel as if I left the old Hannah in Pennsylvannia and found the real me in Switzerland. The day before I left I had an orientation with AFS in New York and a man that had gone to Switzerland for a study abroad about 16 years ago(or something like that) said you will change alot and I didn't beleive him but it is really true. I am now very independent and much more happy about my life. I now realize how much my parents, family, and friends mean to me. I am so blessed to have parents that support me in any decision I make in my life. I still cannot believe my parents said yes when I asked them if I could study abroad. Someone once told me that absence makes the heart grow fonder and it is so true. Of course I love my family and friends but I never told them enough how much I love them and now I do. Sometimes I get homesick and miss my friends and family alot but then I realize that this is what they want me to do in my life and they are proud of me for doing this. Alot of people ask me how can you leave your family for a year and dont you miss them and of course I do but I know im am here for a reason. Others ask why did I want to come to Switzerland and I still do not have a clear reason. I wanted to go to France beacuse I have two years of french and only one year of german so I only wanted to go to France. But when I found out the program was full I had the option of going to Belguim or Switzerland. So I did my research on both countries and came to the conclusion that Switzerland would be good for me. Im still not sure why I wanted to come here but I know I casme here for a reason. Maybe I will soon find out why, I hope so at least. So right now I am learing so much I feel like my head is going to expload at the end of the night. I am learning alot of german and swiss german. I try to talk german as much as I can but everyone wants to learn "american english" beacuse everyone here has to learn british english. So its hard to learn but I think I have made a huge improvement since I arrived here. So im sure your wondering what I do everyday other than go to school and eat alot of choclate. Well I dont have much time in the weekdays to do anything. I have school until 5 and only get home around 6 and then I have to do my homework, well try to and then have a little free time and then its time to sleep. I am always tired here, I dont know if it's beacuse it's cold or because I have to translate so much in my head. lol. But on weekend I go to town and shop or find a map and find some cool statues or something that the town is famous for. So, today I got great news, I have a new host family for when my family goes on vacation. They live in Basil which is about a 2 hour train ride from St.Gallen. But I am very excited to meet them and from what my host mother told me it seems like they are very excited to have me living in their house for 2 weeks. They said they are going to take me sightseeing around Basil which is soo awesome. I want to see as much as Switzerland as I can while im here. So far i've been to Zurich and I live in St.Gallen. I love hearing the differnt accents of swiss german. Also learning about the differnt cultures of the differnt cantons. There is 26 cantons and each one is uniqe in every way. The only thing I am not looking forward to is the 2 hour train ride, when you are with a friend the hours on the train go by so quickly but when your alone it seems like forever. Also having to pack everything again sucks but I know this is going to be a fun adventure. Well everyone keeps asking me if I had found a boy yet, the answer is no. lol. Right now im trying to focus on learning german and school.
Changes;
So i've been in Switzerland for a little over a month now. I cannot believe time is going by so quickly. In this short amount of time I have changed alot, for the better of course. I feel as if I left the old Hannah in Pennsylvannia and found the real me in Switzerland. The day before I left I had an orientation with AFS in New York and a man that had gone to Switzerland for a study abroad about 16 years ago(or something like that) said you will change alot and I didn't beleive him but it is really true. I am now very independent and much more happy about my life. I now realize how much my parents, family, and friends mean to me. I am so blessed to have parents that support me in any decision I make in my life. I still cannot believe my parents said yes when I asked them if I could study abroad. Someone once told me that absence makes the heart grow fonder and it is so true. Of course I love my family and friends but I never told them enough how much I love them and now I do. Sometimes I get homesick and miss my friends and family alot but then I realize that this is what they want me to do in my life and they are proud of me for doing this. Alot of people ask me how can you leave your family for a year and dont you miss them and of course I do but I know im am here for a reason. Others ask why did I want to come to Switzerland and I still do not have a clear reason. I wanted to go to France beacuse I have two years of french and only one year of german so I only wanted to go to France. But when I found out the program was full I had the option of going to Belguim or Switzerland. So I did my research on both countries and came to the conclusion that Switzerland would be good for me. Im still not sure why I wanted to come here but I know I casme here for a reason. Maybe I will soon find out why, I hope so at least. So right now I am learing so much I feel like my head is going to expload at the end of the night. I am learning alot of german and swiss german. I try to talk german as much as I can but everyone wants to learn "american english" beacuse everyone here has to learn british english. So its hard to learn but I think I have made a huge improvement since I arrived here. So im sure your wondering what I do everyday other than go to school and eat alot of choclate. Well I dont have much time in the weekdays to do anything. I have school until 5 and only get home around 6 and then I have to do my homework, well try to and then have a little free time and then its time to sleep. I am always tired here, I dont know if it's beacuse it's cold or because I have to translate so much in my head. lol. But on weekend I go to town and shop or find a map and find some cool statues or something that the town is famous for. So, today I got great news, I have a new host family for when my family goes on vacation. They live in Basil which is about a 2 hour train ride from St.Gallen. But I am very excited to meet them and from what my host mother told me it seems like they are very excited to have me living in their house for 2 weeks. They said they are going to take me sightseeing around Basil which is soo awesome. I want to see as much as Switzerland as I can while im here. So far i've been to Zurich and I live in St.Gallen. I love hearing the differnt accents of swiss german. Also learning about the differnt cultures of the differnt cantons. There is 26 cantons and each one is uniqe in every way. The only thing I am not looking forward to is the 2 hour train ride, when you are with a friend the hours on the train go by so quickly but when your alone it seems like forever. Also having to pack everything again sucks but I know this is going to be a fun adventure. Well everyone keeps asking me if I had found a boy yet, the answer is no. lol. Right now im trying to focus on learning german and school.
Monday, September 17, 2012
September 17, 2012
Today was my fist day in the kanton schule (high school), and let me tell you it was not so easy. So my schedule is completely different then in the states. In my school i have anywhere from 4-5 lessons a day and anywhere from 2 hours for lunch to 1h30m. So this means sometimes I can come home for lunch which is so cool for me because in the states we only have a half an hour for lunch. Also, I only have math, german, english, physics twice a week. While in the states I have the same classes every day. So maybe this will be better or worse for me, well see. But hey today I had english class and understood everything lol. Only because in my first two classes I had no idea what the teacher was saying. The only class I somewhat understood was math and that is beacuse I already knew what they were learning.
I hope in about a month I can actually understand the lessons so then I know that I am learning more than just german.
So I dont have any funny stories or embarassing moments, which is good. Most people have a funny story to tell about how they tripped or fell out of their chair. Luckily none of this happened to me. Im sure it will at some point but glad it wasnt on my first day.
So im sure you are wondering how the kids in my class are and if I could actually have a conversation with them. Well the kids in my class are awesome, they are so nice and they all are so funny. And most of the kids can speak english because they have had two years, so their english is better than my german. But most of the time they explain alot in german and if I dont understand then they will try to tell me in english. I love when people ask me questions about America because most of the time they say oh do you live in New York or California and do you drink beacuse in the US the drinking age is 21 and many other funny questions. I think so far the best question I got asked was on the train going home from school, a couple of boys started talking to me and after about 2 minutes I finally said I dont understand I speak english and then they said oh you live in america and all the steriotypes after that of course. But they ask me "are you in love" and i replied "huh? why do you ask that" they said "oh beacuse you have a ring on your finger". I was so confused and then they tried to explain that in Switzerland when someone is engaged the ring goes on their right hand instead of their left. So after that day I dont wear my ring at all. I think this might explain why a boy sat next to me everyday waiting for the train and never said a word to me. Or he just knew I was american, gosh I have no idea.
But hey on the bright side I have 2 more weeks of school and then 3 weeks of vacation for the holiday. The only problem is my host family is going on vacation to Turkey so I will have to stay with another host family. But I know I will still have fun. Since I have arrived here I have become so open to talking to new people and I am alwways excited to meet someone new. Well I mean I kind of have to be open to talking to new people lol.
Now, other than having to learn german super quick so I understand the lessons in school is to learn swiss german. It amaing how I can understand conversations in german and then when it comes to swiss german, I have absolutely no idea what they are saying. Even the numbers are differnt in swiss german. I need to learn quickly so then I know what people are saying in the trains and busses also their jokes.
Well now I have a ton of homework that I do not understand at all. Lucky me (:
Today was my fist day in the kanton schule (high school), and let me tell you it was not so easy. So my schedule is completely different then in the states. In my school i have anywhere from 4-5 lessons a day and anywhere from 2 hours for lunch to 1h30m. So this means sometimes I can come home for lunch which is so cool for me because in the states we only have a half an hour for lunch. Also, I only have math, german, english, physics twice a week. While in the states I have the same classes every day. So maybe this will be better or worse for me, well see. But hey today I had english class and understood everything lol. Only because in my first two classes I had no idea what the teacher was saying. The only class I somewhat understood was math and that is beacuse I already knew what they were learning.
I hope in about a month I can actually understand the lessons so then I know that I am learning more than just german.
So I dont have any funny stories or embarassing moments, which is good. Most people have a funny story to tell about how they tripped or fell out of their chair. Luckily none of this happened to me. Im sure it will at some point but glad it wasnt on my first day.
So im sure you are wondering how the kids in my class are and if I could actually have a conversation with them. Well the kids in my class are awesome, they are so nice and they all are so funny. And most of the kids can speak english because they have had two years, so their english is better than my german. But most of the time they explain alot in german and if I dont understand then they will try to tell me in english. I love when people ask me questions about America because most of the time they say oh do you live in New York or California and do you drink beacuse in the US the drinking age is 21 and many other funny questions. I think so far the best question I got asked was on the train going home from school, a couple of boys started talking to me and after about 2 minutes I finally said I dont understand I speak english and then they said oh you live in america and all the steriotypes after that of course. But they ask me "are you in love" and i replied "huh? why do you ask that" they said "oh beacuse you have a ring on your finger". I was so confused and then they tried to explain that in Switzerland when someone is engaged the ring goes on their right hand instead of their left. So after that day I dont wear my ring at all. I think this might explain why a boy sat next to me everyday waiting for the train and never said a word to me. Or he just knew I was american, gosh I have no idea.
But hey on the bright side I have 2 more weeks of school and then 3 weeks of vacation for the holiday. The only problem is my host family is going on vacation to Turkey so I will have to stay with another host family. But I know I will still have fun. Since I have arrived here I have become so open to talking to new people and I am alwways excited to meet someone new. Well I mean I kind of have to be open to talking to new people lol.
Now, other than having to learn german super quick so I understand the lessons in school is to learn swiss german. It amaing how I can understand conversations in german and then when it comes to swiss german, I have absolutely no idea what they are saying. Even the numbers are differnt in swiss german. I need to learn quickly so then I know what people are saying in the trains and busses also their jokes.
Well now I have a ton of homework that I do not understand at all. Lucky me (:
Sunday, September 16, 2012
September 16, 2012
So this is where I will be writing about my life in Switzerland. I am currently studying abroad in Switerland for a year. In this time i hope to learn German (at least be able to have a conversation). Also learn some Swiss german, and most importantly learn about the swiss culture.
So I arrived in Zurich, Switzerland on August 24th. The flight was about 7 hours and absolutely terrible. Of course the day of my flight I had to get sick. But on the good side, i've been here for 3 weeks and absolutely love it. Everything is so beautiful and the people are beyond nice.
When I first got to Switzerland I had no idea that almost everyone knows English. This was the best thing ever because when I miss my train or bus(like i do alot), I can always find someone to ask which time the next train, bus comes. Also when I got on the bus going the opposite direction of where I needed to be there is always some nice swiss person willing to help me find my way home. I think the train is the coolest thing ever. I guess im a typicial american, because where I live we dont have trains or busses. Also because I have my liscence so I can just drive wherever I need to. So just by taking the train and bus was a differnet but cool thing to me.
So for the past three weeks I went to a Deutch course. In the class we had AFS students from all over, China, Paraguay, Venezualla, USA, Chile, Dominican Republic, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia and Indonesia. Most of the students spoke spanish but evenyone spoke english fluently. We all had so much fun in that class. We talked about our host families, what we did on the weekend and how we are adjusting to the swiss life. In the class I learned the basics of the german lagnuage and about Switzerland. One day we got to walk around St.Gallen and see a beautiful Catholic church and then we walked up about 30 flights of stairs in the top of a Protistant church to see the amazing view of St.Gallen. Another day we went to the Botanish Garten, it was beyond cool there. And on the last day of the Deutsch course we got a map of St.Gallen and directions in german and we had to go find a statue of a man. After we arrived back at the school we had a little party and talked about how much we are going to miss eachother and how we want to stay in the Deutsch class for the whole year.
Tomorrow I have my first day of school in the Kanton Schule. I am quite nervous and excited at the same time. I am looking forward to meeting my new class. Although I know it is going to be a rough day, beacuse all the lessons are in german and I think I will be completely lost half of the time. Including the fact that I am still sick with strep throat and sound horrible. Since I arrived here I have been to two different doctors and still am sick. I hope that I do not have to get my tonsills taken out while I am abroad. Then my trip would be like some of the horrible stories I have herd about students abroad having to get surgery and having other tragic things happen to them. I just hope I can get better soon so I can actually enjoy the short 9 months that I have left. Geez 9 months, time is going by so quickly.
Well I guess I wrote enough for now. (:
So this is where I will be writing about my life in Switzerland. I am currently studying abroad in Switerland for a year. In this time i hope to learn German (at least be able to have a conversation). Also learn some Swiss german, and most importantly learn about the swiss culture.
So I arrived in Zurich, Switzerland on August 24th. The flight was about 7 hours and absolutely terrible. Of course the day of my flight I had to get sick. But on the good side, i've been here for 3 weeks and absolutely love it. Everything is so beautiful and the people are beyond nice.
When I first got to Switzerland I had no idea that almost everyone knows English. This was the best thing ever because when I miss my train or bus(like i do alot), I can always find someone to ask which time the next train, bus comes. Also when I got on the bus going the opposite direction of where I needed to be there is always some nice swiss person willing to help me find my way home. I think the train is the coolest thing ever. I guess im a typicial american, because where I live we dont have trains or busses. Also because I have my liscence so I can just drive wherever I need to. So just by taking the train and bus was a differnet but cool thing to me.
So for the past three weeks I went to a Deutch course. In the class we had AFS students from all over, China, Paraguay, Venezualla, USA, Chile, Dominican Republic, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia and Indonesia. Most of the students spoke spanish but evenyone spoke english fluently. We all had so much fun in that class. We talked about our host families, what we did on the weekend and how we are adjusting to the swiss life. In the class I learned the basics of the german lagnuage and about Switzerland. One day we got to walk around St.Gallen and see a beautiful Catholic church and then we walked up about 30 flights of stairs in the top of a Protistant church to see the amazing view of St.Gallen. Another day we went to the Botanish Garten, it was beyond cool there. And on the last day of the Deutsch course we got a map of St.Gallen and directions in german and we had to go find a statue of a man. After we arrived back at the school we had a little party and talked about how much we are going to miss eachother and how we want to stay in the Deutsch class for the whole year.
Tomorrow I have my first day of school in the Kanton Schule. I am quite nervous and excited at the same time. I am looking forward to meeting my new class. Although I know it is going to be a rough day, beacuse all the lessons are in german and I think I will be completely lost half of the time. Including the fact that I am still sick with strep throat and sound horrible. Since I arrived here I have been to two different doctors and still am sick. I hope that I do not have to get my tonsills taken out while I am abroad. Then my trip would be like some of the horrible stories I have herd about students abroad having to get surgery and having other tragic things happen to them. I just hope I can get better soon so I can actually enjoy the short 9 months that I have left. Geez 9 months, time is going by so quickly.
Well I guess I wrote enough for now. (:
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