Rotary!! :)

Remember when I said the previous post was my last one before Christmas? Okay I may have just lied.

I have some time to spare and I had an incredible night with my Rotary Club so I thought that I'd share my night with you! Tonight was Rotary's Christmas dinner, and the Rotary is really different than my Rotary club in Canada. I can share all the differences with people when I come back to Canada!

This evening was the traditional Rotary Christmas Dinner. They combined two clubs, the Muttenz Rotary club and my Rotary Club: Augst-Raurica. It started off with a Christmas service in the church, with another beautiful choir and a beautiful mass. The church was GORGEOUS, so old and antique looking. Here is a picture of it from the outside:

                            

After that we went to the local meeting room and had a big dinner which began with the choir singing wonderful songs. One of my favorite Swiss songs here is Alparosa, and they sang that so I recorded it. Listen to this video to hear their AMAZING voices...

I walked around and introduced myself to different people since Swiss Rotary club doesn't have too much involvement with their exchange students attending meetings and whatnot (my club is changing that next year with the next exchange student!! :) ) , so I didn't know too many people. It was nice chatting and getting to know such interesting people, I really enjoyed it. The food was amazing!! For starters we had pumpkin soup which has become my favorite soup, then pasta, meat and vegetables for dinner and an assortment of different desserts. Here is a picture of the dessert I received!

It was a really great evening, I was involved in conversations throughout the whole night and the best part is that I didn't speak a word of English! That's the best feeling ever. Woooooo !!

Here are some more pictures to give you an idea of what dinner with a Rotary club in Switzerland looks like!!

NOW ! I'm going to say my last Christmas wishes - MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE ! Stay safe and laugh lots.

Merry Christmas!!

I had a really good weekend, there were relaxing moments, hilarious moments, and moments when I danced so hard I thought my feet were going to fall off.

On Friday, Ana and I stayed at her house and just watched One Tree Hill (TV series) all night long, it was relaxing and I loved it!! It was nice to have a night in, relax lay down and just turn on the TV. Honestly, I don`t think I have watched a full episode of TV yet. Other than One Tree Hill which is on DVD, but I never have time and so in the last four months I have barely watched anything, which is the way it should be, so I`m very happy. (PS- I`m writing this at school on a German keyboard which is very difficult, so some symbols may not be correct because I can`t possibly find some symbols)

Saturday was the traditional Gymball Muttenz, basically like a Semi-Formal in Canada. You are allowed to bring as many guests as you want, so there must have been over 1 500 people there. It was amazing !! Everyone was so nicely dressed and so fancy, I loved it. I unfortunately didn`t take any pictures but I am in a few so once they are loaded onto Facebook, I`ll add them in here.

Sunday was also a great day because I went to my Rotary Counsellor`s house! We had a great supper and for Christmas, he bought me a beautiful Swiss watch !! I got to pick it out and of course I picked the one with a red band, with some swiss cross emblems on the band, with a big white cross on the main part of the watch where you read the time. It was SO nice of him !! I absolutely love it and will wear it all the time, and when I`m in Canada and want to know the time, I`ll think of Switzerland. It was an amazing gift! Peter, his wife Christine, his son and I all ate an amazing spaghetti dinner together. The last time I was there, was during the first week of my exchange I believe. It showed me how much I have learned since the last time I was there, because I remember that visit. It showed me how much my German has improved, how many different life lessons I`ve learned and all the challenges I have faced. It was the neatest feeling. Afterwards, I went with them to a choir show in the local church. It was amazing!! The choirs are everywhere here, as Christmas is just around the corner ( 4 days away !! )  so the choirs are the big traditions here in Switzerland and I love the shows they put on.
This is a picture they took and sent to my mom..

                           

I really apologize for my lack of photos I have taken lately, however I do have a few! As I walked to the Church on Sunday with Peter and Christine, there was an unbelievable sunset.

                           

Also, a friend from Orillia - Teresa Mayo, sent me mits in the mail !! I am so happy to proudly wear my Canadian mittens around Switzerland now..

                                

Also, as I waited in line for the dance on Saturday, here`s one of the only pictures I took that night, so sad about that!! In Basel, there are many sections around the city that have Winter carnivals or fests. Here`s a photo of a  tiny part to the big winter and Christmas display in Basel.

                               

So this Christmas is going to be a very busy one, and I`ll be sure to update you on all the different adventures I went on!! However, that won`t be until the New Year since I am so lucky to be going to the Alps for about 5 days in a house there. I`m going with Ana and her family, The Rohner`s. I always have an amazing time with them, so I`m REALLY excited.


So MERRY CHRISTMAS to all and a happy, happy New Year!!!!!!!!! I hope everyone has a safe holiday, filled with laughter, family and good food!!

Christmas in Switzerland!!

First of all I just want to say ..
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm so happy and I love Switzerland so much. I've already been here FOUR months!! The time is going way too fast, and it really needs to slow down now.. thanks mother time!!

I'd like to add that this blog is NOT for children that believe in certain things.
Okay, the Christmas in Switzerland is SO different than in Canada!! A fat jolly man in a red suit is unheard of here. No man creeps down the chimney on Christmas Eve, you don't have to make a plate of cookies for Santa and put out some carrots for Rudolph.

December 6th is a very special day in Switzerland and here's how the tradition goes.. Each village or town is a little different than the next since it's based on size and what's possible to do to keep the similar tradition going. In my village we have a Sport Hall that I have mentioned in previous posts, since I am apart of it. The men club have people aged 18 and up, I believe. They dress up two men, a Santa Claus (which is not our Santa, it's a man with a long red robe, kind of like a monk robe) and his partner Schmotsli. The parents signed up prior to this night, and the two people go door to door, to the houses that have kids. They bring the traditional Christmas Swiss food with them: oranges, chocolate and peanuts. That food is wrapped in a baggy and each kid is given one if they are good. When the mother or father sign up Samiclaus and Schmotsli to come to their house, they write down the places their child needs to improve in!! Samiclaus has a book and he reads out to the kids what he didn't like in the past year, and what they need to do differently. The kid agrees and get their treat.

This is what they look like:

Samiclaus and Schmotsli come from the Black Forest in Germany, and when they're finished talking to the boys and girls of Buus then they have to go back. It's a really cool tradition!!
It was quite funny because they are friends of ours, and since all the kids were 12 and older (family came over, about 15 people had dinner at my house) they knew that they weren't real. So Samiclaus and Schmotsli sat down, took off their robes and had a beer, I had a good laugh as I watched that.

Of course on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after there are constant full family dinners, just like in Canada. However, on Christmas Eve everyone goes to the church at 11:00 pm I believe, and watch a service in the local church. That is going to be beautiful. Then on the 24th or 25th, it changes every year and depends on the family, you open the presents then. Everywhere you go Christmas is a time for family to come together, but here it seems really focussed on the fact that you are together as a family and that is what is important to everyone. I haven't heard many whispers about gifts, it's about getting dinners ready for the family. I'm very excited for Christmas here.

The table beautifully set on December 6th :)

Tonight there was Christmas carolers outside my house, at the fountain in the centre of my village. It was absolutely gorgeous. They decorate so many random trees here, it is stunning on Christmas. The centre fountain has a giant decorated Christmas tree standing up in it. I took some pictures of the Choir singing, it may be hard to see the tree in the fountain but I hope you can!

Here's a video I took of it !!

I hope everyone is enjoying their cold transition into Winter! xo.

PS!!! I met my 3rd host family. I ate dinner with them at their house and it made me SO happy. They seem like an incredible family, and I felt really comfortable there already! It keeps me so excited for the future, since it's going to be really hard to leave the family I'm staying with now. It showed me that it's going to be really hard, but just take it one step at a time and it'll be okay because you're going to another amazing one. 

Cirque Du Soleil!

HOLY.

What a super show they put on, I've never been to one that incredible. For anyone that doesn't know the Cirque du Soleil, it's a big circus production made in Quebec. It was quite funny to watch a Canadian show, in Switzerland! Unfortunately I couldn't take any photos but I found the trailer for it online, so this will give you an idea of what I saw:

 http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/saltimbanco/default.aspx

On the right side of that website, you'll see a video that gives you a preview of the show.

I went with my Rotary Host Officer, Hanspeter and his wife Ruth. The same two people that took me to see the Swiss Indoors!! They're incredible people, we always have a lot of fun together and it's VERY nice of them to keep inviting me to places like that.

I can't believe how people bodies can twist and bend like I saw last night, and how strong these people are! It blew my mind to watch someone climb up a pole using only their arms, feet horizontal in the air, and made it seem like it was the easiest thing ever, it was shocking. Also, we watched their bodies fly in the air but somehow they were in complete control while doing so.

I couldn't stop saying 'Woahhhhhhh..' the whole entire show! I wouldn't even realize my jaw was almost touching the floor. I was actually so thirsty afterwards because my jaw was literally dropped.

It was unbelievable, I suggest to everyone to see a show put on by the Cirque du Soleil group, please put that on your bucket list, it was one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen.

Okay so I'm going to share a pretty embarrassing story with you, after much debate in my head if I should...

In my school here in Switzerland there are a few different cafeterias since there are a few schools on one campus. I was in the cafeteria called "Klein Mensa" which luckily "Klein" means small, however there were so many people in there than normal. The tables were all filled, just my luck.

I was playing Ping Pong with a friend from my class, which is towards the side of the cafeteria. The ball got hit out of the game and went rolling towards the centre of the Cafeteria where all the tables surround. I happily went running over with a little hop in my run since I was in a really good mood.. Little did I know, there was a wet spot on the floor. As I ran toward the ball, centre of the Cafeteria might I add, I completely wiped out.

It was faaantastic.

Matterhorn Weekend!

Another weekend I'll definitely never forget..

This past weekend I went to Zermatt with a bunch of exchange students!! I thought 5 exchange students together was wild, try 113! We started out with a major scavenger hunt, split into groups of 5 or so and had different tasks we had to complete.  We has to find 10 dialect words for that area, get a fried egg, get a picture of a bride and a groom, and the big finale was to trade the item they gave us with whatever we could find. The team with the best item won a huge Toblerone bar.. Unfortunately, that wasn't my group! We traded a spatula for a piece of delicious pie!! However, one group traded a spatula for 2 people so of course, they took the prize.

Then we toured a bit and had the best dinner ever - FONDUE !! I thought I was going to have a heart attack during that dinner, I ate SO much cheese.

Afterwards we went clubbing with the Rotarians that took us, that was priceless. We went to our first club from 8 - 10pm and we all danced really hard for those 2 hours.. When we finished we went club hopping to another one and stayed there for a few more hours! The Rotarians we were with, got up on the center platform and danced the night away with all of us, they were so much fun. 

Since we were outside all day and didn't have time to go back before we went out to the clubs, I went in sweat pants, big rubber boots and a sweater.. Perfect clubbing outfit! Not... However, I enjoyed being warm that day! So it was definitely worth it, and I danced away in my hiking clothes ! Woo!

                                         

On Sunday we went to the mountain Matterhorn! I was so excited.. We can't go on that mountain, but there's a mountain beside it that's a little smaller with chair lifts and we went on that.. It was 3000 meters high, so nonetheless it was FREEZING at the top with really strong winds. Some of the exchange students decided to stop half way, since it was just too cold for them because they come from Brazil, but the people that did go up had quite a shock. We went to the look out area and all of us had a massive group huddle to try to stay warm.. 

The Matterhorn is the most famous mountain in Switzerland, it's the mountain you see on the Toblerone package. The Matterhorn is a dream for the extreme climbers to climb, and 1 of 10 climbers sadly die on their way up. In the town we stayed in, there were many cemeteries filled with people that tried to climb the mountains surrounding it. It was quite sad to see.. here are some tombstones:

                                                       

We went to a Matterhorn museum and read different stories of peoples attempted journeys up the Matterhorn, it's quite scary.

The Matterhorn is beautiful, it was incredible to see it in person.. I will never look at the Toblerone Chocolate wrapper, or the Toblerone chocolate bar the same way again.. Every time I look at it, I'm going to remember this past weekend .. SO much fun. I love exchange students, so full of life and outgoing.. It's amazing to be surrounded by people like that.

Almost knocked out cold? Thanks Swiss houses!

Switzerland rains SO much!! It has consistently rained for the last 3 weeks, and I am always outside walking around so you always have to have an umbrella with you. Unfortunately mine broke today, so it'll be a little interesting for the next few days until I buy a new one.. I like rain, but when it rains here it gets really cold. However, the huge positive to it raining here, means it is snowing in the mountains!! It's really neat here since the altitudes are so different from village to village. My village sits higher than most in this area, so we are getting the snow while the other villages below us get the rain. I go to the Alps a lot, so when it rains I know that it is snowing up there, which is so exciting since I LOVE snow. The mountains are so beautiful, especially when they're covered with white snow, so the rain is a positive here. Although I have to walk in the downpours, I know come Saturday and Sunday when I stand on the top of the Alps, the rainy days are all worth it.

OKAY, I need to tell you about the Swiss house structures! The houses here are all absolutely stunning, I'm in love with the houses. I live in a 3 story apartment, each family has their own floor and my house is on the top floor.  It took my head a few rough weeks  to get used to the structure, since it's like a triangle roof so all the walls slant down with some weird corners in some rooms. I thought I was finally used to the structure of it, until last week when I almost knocked myself out cold! I just finished taking a shower and was drying my hair, and flung my hair forward. Once I flung my hair back, flying into a standing position, I smacked my head off the slanted wall. For five seconds I was convinced I had a concussion, but then a bit later I knew I was fine and couldn't stop laughing at myself. Almost 4 months living in this house, and it still manages to beat me up.
I can't really explain it, so I took pictures to help you understand what I mean...

The first two pictures are pictures of my bathroom here, that's the corner wall thing I was talking about.. it was pretty painful!

The Kitchen, hasn't beaten me up quite as bad as the bathroom.

My bedroom, luckily I'm not the person that spiratically jumps on my bed with joy, so this wall hasn't been too bad.

PS!! I'm going to the most famous mountain in Switzerland this weekend, The Matterhorn !! I'm going with all Rotary exchange students in Switzerland, I'm SO excited!! The Matterhorn is the mountain shown on the package of Toblerone Chocolate Bars.. mmmmm :)

 I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend! And thanks for supporting me by reading my blog, it means a lot to me. It feels nice to be able to share my adventures with other people. 

Adam Lambert Concert

I haven't been to many concerts, but this may stay on the top concert list for a long time...

Last night I went to Zurich with my host sister and two of her friends from work, Melanie and Thomas. I was very excited but didn't really know what to expect since I only knew Adam Lambert's biggest hits, which are those typical party songs. I thought it was going to be all dancing and jumping, but it had some really emotional moments too.

I don't know if many of you know Adam Lambert, he came second on American Idol and became an idol for many, since he came out to the world and announced he was gay. The concert had many gay men, and to be honest it was the greatest vibe. You could feel how much of an inspiration he was, people stood there tall with their head held high, proud of who they are. Look how far this world has come! There were many emotional moments when Adam sat there talking to the audience, and you could feel the positive, emotional energy throughout the room. He told the audience that they're going to be okay, they're not alone and to not be afraid it's going to work out in the "Aftermath" which was the name of one of his songs he played. You could see tears in many peoples eyes and I just sat there knowing, every person in this room has their own story.  Here's the link to the song "Aftermath," that was a very moving song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo01ebRKbzc

After the concert, I got interviewed by the local radio! I basically said on the radio, what I said in the previous paragraph.

Adam has an amazing voice which was beautiful to stand there and flow with the music while being crushed by hundreds of people all standing together, some with tears in their eyes. There were also very fun party music moments too which was hilarious! Everyone had their hands up in the air, bouncing together and the room was filled with smiles. He is an excellent performer!

That concert has officially made me thirst to go to more concerts, so cheers to a new beginning for me.

PS! The first snow fall in my village was last night / today! It gets me so excited for Christmas, I always love the first snow fall. Here is a picture of my beautiful snowy village, from the back porch of my house:

 

Beautiful Mountains & MET CANADIANS !!

Just had one of the best days yet in Switzerland...

Today I went to the mountains in Lucerne, it was incredible. We took a train to the top of the mountain which was about 1 800 meters above sea level. I went with seven other exchange students and couldn't believe my eyes. We went above all the fog and clouds, and it was a beautiful sunny day. The best part of all was the HUGE snow ball fight we had.. a snowball fight on the alps was like nothing I've ever experienced. I tried not to get too distracted by the beautiful views, because whenever I did, I got pegged in the head. It was difficult to try to stop looking for half an hour! The group of exchange students I went with today, are incredible people. They came from Canada, Mexico and Argentina. One of my favorite things is to sit, relax and just enjoy the world in front of you. We did a lot of that, sitting there talking whether we were drinking hot chocolate, sitting in the snow, sitting on the top of the mountain- it was perfect.

When I was on the ship back to Lucerne, we were heading toward the exit and as I walked through the restaurant part I looked down and saw a Canadian luggage tag on a backpack. I immediately got excited and asked "Are you from Canada?!?" They said yes and it turns out they're from BARRIE !! Barrie is a city that takes 40 minutes to drive to by car, from my house .. I was in shock. They are two women a few years older than I am and they are staying in France for two months with Georgian College, and decided to come to Lucerne for the weekend. After a really enjoyable conversation, I gave them my Rotary card and told them I could show them around Basel if they want to check it out! This is SUCH a small world!! It was incredible, it just so happens we were on the exact same boat, same time, and I just happened to take the route I did and saw her back pack, I love the connections you make while you're on exchange, it's mind boggling.

Free Hugs Lucerne

Before I begin, please watch this video so you get a good idea of what I'm about to talk about..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4

Free Hugs is a campaign across the world, the brightens peoples day and puts smiles on their faces. I know some of you may think this is dangerous, to walk around carrying a sign that says "FREE HUGS" and get hugs from strangers, but we were with at least 20 exchange students, so there were a lot of people there in case something happened.

The feeling you got as you you watched a stranger walk in front of you with no smile, read your sign, suddenly have a big smile and open their arms for a big hug, there was no feeling better than that. Some people came up to me and said:
 "This is an amazing idea.. The world needs this."
"This place could use a lot more hugs."
"You kids are amazing!!"

One person told Ana "please give me a strong hug, I need a really strong hug."

Peoples faces were filled with smiles around us, laughter was everywhere, it was the greatest feeling. Lots of people would come up to us and ask for a picture with us, or video record us and the peoples reactions.

There was no better feeling I've ever felt, than what I felt today, putting smiles on many peoples faces. Lots of people even stopped to ask us about where we're from, and the big question was why are we doing this? All of us usually had the same answer "put smiles on peoples faces.."
After that answer, they'd usually give us the biggest hug or talk to us more about other stuff.

It was an unbelievable day, met some great people and it really showed me how good it feels to give hugs to strangers. All the hugs were as if we have known them our whole life, it was an incredible feeling.