Ch-ch-ch-changes

Yes, I just quoted David Bowie in the title of this post. But, in my defense, CH are the initials of Switzerland, and I have been trying to make that into a pun for months now. Honestly, it is a little pathetic how excited I was for a pun opportunity. Uh, oh. Emma is making puns and thinking about cliched 70's music. It must be summer time!

Nothing in the world like a Lake Zug sunset

I just switched host families on Sunday, moving from the still snowy mountains of Menzingen down to the populated Lake Zug. It was very strange saying goodbye to the Baumanns, who I have been with since mid-November. Christoph was at work, and Andrina and Micha rolled out of bed at an insanely early hour of 9 am to say goodbye, but then stumbled back to bed. There was no crying or hugs as Barbara drove me to my new home, just some handshakes and farewells, partly because it was just my siblings I was saying goodbye too, and partly because I will probably see them again in a week. One of my good friends Sienna is moving there this Tuesday, and I spend the night at her house all the time. Except next time I do, it will be in my old bedroom, and with my old family, but I won't be their daughter.

My new house! Right in downtown Zug

Barbara drove me down to my new family, the Schwerzmans at around 10 am that morning. Unlike my other two host families, I had met the Schwerzmans many times before I moved in with them, because Sienna lived here from August to January.

I have a host mom and a host dad, and a host sister named Laura who is two years older than me. She is friends with a lot of my friends from school, so I see her often already, and she is very friendly. She spent a year in Ontario on exchange, and her English is perfect, which is an added bonus.

Our dining room

Our living room

Terrace on the lake

As much as I already miss the Baumanns, I really enjoy it here. My host family is really sweet, and I absolutely adore the new location! We are right on the lake, and just a few houses from Alt Stadt. I could  walk to my school, or bike to the train station in 5 minutes. When I was sick my first day here, my host mom even brought me a tray of home made chocolate muffins to me bed. Plus, my new bed is like a bed from a hotel or a chick flick where all the girls jump on a bed in slow motion. Hotel pillows and everything.

My hotel bed :)

I love my new room!

Nothing like waking up to this in the morning...

...or going asleep to this

The seasons are definitely beginning to change as summer slowly melts over Zug like butter in a pan. The temperature has been rising over the last few weeks, topping 70 degrees a few days ago. I am not exactly sure how this can be happening since it is STILL MARCH, but the summer is absolutely starting to be breathed into the warm air, as it blows over the shining lake.

Schön Zug old town

All the students migrate to Lake Zug after school ever day in a mass exodus to the lake's grassy shores. All the teenagers form small circles with their friends on the grass, sharing some Swiss bread and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. It has become one of my favorite moments of the day, and one that I already know I will always remember. How can Switzerland be this amazing?

Swiss friends on the lake

To add to my euphoria from this unprecedented amount of sun rays, yesterday my German teacher was sick, and when a teacher is sick in Switzerland the class is just cancelled. Because of this, I didn't have any lessons for the rest of the day. Phoebe, Sienna and I were wandering through Zug looking for somewhere to eat lunch, when Phoebe mentioned how good pizza sounded at the moment. We all agreed and were about to go to Zug's pizzaria when someone mentioned how much better REAL Italian pizza would taste. We simultaneously looked up at each other and had the exact same thought: why not just get some real Italian pizza?

If any Rotarians are reading this, don't worry, we didn't actually leave the country--we did the next thing better. We all took the train to Lugano. Lugano is at the southernmost tip of Switzerland, and is surrounded by Italy on all sides of it's city boundries. It is only a two and half hour train ride from Zug if you catch an inter-regional train, and the train ride goes right through to Alps, which is gorgeous in itself. We arrived to Lugano at around 3 pm, and even though we got lost, were able to luckily find our way to the lake since Phoebe can speak Italian.

The gorgeous streets of Lugano

Lugano was absolutely gorgeous, and felt like we had suddenly been transported to a different country. The buildings were painted with orange and red hues, and had Rome and Juliet-like stone balconies tat cast shadows over the small alleyways. The lake was bright blue and glistening in the sunlight, and perfect for enjoying our Gelato at. And yes, they had really good pizza too.

Why not? Wieso nicht?

It was an amazing and lovely afternoon spent with my two friends, even though most of it was on trains, we were able to have a marvelous day. We had so many adventures in a mere few hours; like being chased by a man yelling Italian at us, trying to order pizza from a waiter who did not understand what we meant, and taking the wrong train and almost ending up in Italy. And the best part was it all happend on a school day, because we wanted Italian pizza for lunch--so we went to Italy.

Zug Altstadt and Pizzaria

Although today was pretty boring to Monday in comparison, my exchange year is still going wonderfully. Last week I went to a music camp with my class for a few days up in a cabin in the mountains, to practice for our Abbey Road concert. It was surprisingly really fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed singing Beatles songs all day. The Zug Big Band also came with our class, and accompanied us on every song. They were fantastic. It was really interesting hearing Beatles songs arranged to swing music, and they all legitimately sound really good. Our concert is in two weeks, and expected to sell out.

I love my city!

I also have been able to start understanding a little Swiss German lately! My sudden knowledge of Schweizer Deutsch happened so abruptly. As an exchange student in Switzerland, you learn to tune out what people are saying when the speak Swiss German. I automatically stop trying to understand what is being said when Swiss German is being spoken around me, but when High German is spoken my brain starts to listen again, because I can't help but listen since I understand High German. It is kind of weird now that I think about it.

Anyways, I was eating pizza at a restaurant with some exchange students and Swiss people. We were all speaking English, (yeah, dont get me started. We always TRY to speak German with them, but Swiss people 90% of the time would rather speak English with you, because they dislike the German language, and frequently the German people for that matter) and some of my Swiss friends were speaking Swiss German together. My friends Jonas and Yanick were next to me, and were saying "Wow, I feel really powerful. We could be talking about them now, and no one would understand what were saying". I almost immediately said "No way, I understand you", to which they both looked at me with confused expressions. It took me a second to realize they had been speaking Swiss German, and I had understood every word! It was such a great feeling! They both said "You understand Swiss German? What! We better watch what we say now."

I am in no way fluent in Swiss German, but when people speak it around me, I now try to actually listen to them, and frequently, I can understand what they are saying. Does this mean I am slowly becoming Swiss-ier?

My friends from Oregon, Tennessee, California, Kansas,
Colorado, Ohio and Nova Scotia! Exchange students
get around ;)

I can't believe it is almost April; where has the time gone? I am trying to enjoy every last minute I have on exchange here, and to have as many adventures as I possibly can. There are so many things to look forward too--in 3 weeks I have break, Rome and Venice, Paris, Berlin and then Milan! And each of those trips will happen in consecutive weeks, one after the other! When I am finally done with vacations, it will be May 27th! These are going to be some crazy weeks coming up, and I am so excited!

Can I never leave?

Please?

Beginning of School

Hello everyone! Switzerland is so much fun, and I am having the time of my life. Sorry I have taken so long to update, but as you can immagine, I hardly have time, and our internet goes out really easily. Actaully, I'm typing this at my school! Lots of stuff has happened since I last wrote, so this is going to be a lengthy post: you have been warned.

So many people have been asking me, "So, how is it?", and honestly, there is no way I can explain. Life is beginning to feel normal over here, and things dont feel as foreign as they used to. Immagine having to explain to someone exactly what life on Vashon is like; sure, you can give some funny annecdotes, but they will never truly know. It is so weird to think that my life over here is completly unknown to my friends and family at home. They have never had Margrit's cooking, talked to Elle or Sienna or gone to Migros to buy lunch.  hope these pictures and my stories will help you to understand whats happening here as best as I can!

Last week, Rotary took the exchange students and I took underground caves formed at the bast of a river. They were made by rain water dripping down rocks for hundreds of years! We had to hike through a forest to get to them, (one of the few forests I have seen so far) and it really reminded me of home. Being by the river looked just like it would if you were hiking near the Columbia back in the States. The caves were very intricate, and exciting to look through. It was really damp and cold too, and it reminded me of something you would see in Scooby-Doo.

This is a close up of the weird rock formations--they're kind of gross, aren't they?

Then after that, I met my host mom Margrit to go on a boat to celebrate the 125th anniversay of their family's company. I took the bus and walked there, and snapped some prettz pictures of Zug on the way to the marina.

The boat was super nice, and was decked out (haha, no pun intended!) with tables with white table clothes and fancy wine glasses.It was almost more like a yacht, and I really enjoyed it.

Only down side was that everyone was smoking on the deck. I mean, EVERYONE smokes here...even teenagers at school, because it is legal when you are 16. Sorry to go on a mini-rant there, but that has been one of the biggest things that has been bugging me, it is really hard for me to watch kids my age smoke, when the probably don't know the after effects of it.

It was still a beautiful night, and we went swimming in the lake and watched the sun set, and ate a LOT of food. I tried my first cherry kirsch, which Zug is famous for. I had no idea that it was alcoholic, so when I took a bite, it surprised me and I spit it out on the plate. All the adults were laughing, but I was reallz embaressed. Well, at least I know now that even cakes can be spiked!

That weekend, I also went with my host mom to a farmtown in Bern, her hometown, to see her family. It was VERY rural out there! We took a hike (have you noticed a trend in my weekends? Hiking basically every one? So Swiss.) and at a great brunch on top of a mountain; cheese, bread, yogurt and hash browns. That is a typical Swiss breakfast, lots of lights appetizers like cheese and bread, because lunch is there most important meal of the day. There were even yodelers there! And we went to here sister's house to celebrate her birthday.

The next week, Rotary took us to hike the Wildspitz. Very very hard hike for us Americans! Well, except Laura who was booking it up with the Swiss people...haha. It wasn't that hard I guess, but our guides were going really quickly, so it was hard to keep up with them. It wasn't that bad at the end, and the view was great! We had a 4 course meal afterwards (consuming twice the calories we burned I'd assume) and met a lot of Rotarians, who were all so kind and nice. Fun night!

Me and my friend Sienna have an ongoing rivalry about whether Hilo or Seattle is better, so I was very happy when one of the Rotarians said they knew what the space needle was! First one! My exchange friends always jokingly say that all we have is vampires. Pshh.  Sienna just though it was funny that I had only met one person who had heard of it, when everyone here drinks Starbucks.




This weekend, I went to Einsedeln with my host family. It is a beautiful BEAUTIFUL monistary (how do you spell that? Spell check wont work in English grrrr) in Schwyz. I couldn't take pictures, but found some on Google!

It is probably the most beautiful thing I have seen in my whole life. No joke. The building itself if gorgeous, but inside is even more spectacular. Just for reference, those benches in the picture below are about up to my shoulder in height. This picture doesnt even do the buidling justice.



The ceilings are huge, and covered with a painting worthy of Michaelangelo (again, how do you spell that?!?) of angels and clouds, and Jesus and humans and EVERYTHING. It looked like something from Anastazia or the Davinci Code. There was even a secret morgue underneath for monks who have died! Definitely Davinci Code worthy.



I could have stared at the ceiling for days. I kept hearing Viva la Vida in my head, because the giant picture of people and angles jumping to the sky seemed like a mural of all human existance, sorry if that sounds to corny. It in all seriousness was...for no better word...EPIC.


Some other things I have been up to but havent gotten pictures of are going to Lucerne and eating on the lake, going to an art museum in Zurich with my class and going to musical theater rehearsals for Aida. Life is so much fun over here, and so relaxed. When I was late to class yesterday, my teacher just told me it was fine, and to go outside and read! I love being an exchange student. Every night I go somewhere else, and every day is a new adventure of trying new foods, taking trains, and visiting some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Its not all fun and games, however. It is hard never being in your old home, where you could not worry about dressing up for dinner or where everything goes, or even being able to fight with your parents when you have a bad day (is that weird I miss that mom? It was a good stress releiever!) and to top that all off, you are in a constant state of confusion, because you never know whats happening, and it is hard never knowing what people are talking about. I used to be good at speaking, and now I have the skill level of a 4 year old.

I havent gotten to homesick (yet). I will get pangs of it when I see something and think "Oh! Anna Rose would love this!" or something only someone from Vashon would understnad.And as I said before, it is so hard for me feeling stupid all the time, especially in school. Its ironic how Switzerland is the land of mountains, because here I have had some of my highest highs, and some dropping lows.

I still love it though, and do not regret coming one bit. Until next time!

More Swiss Times!

Hey! Sorry it has taken me a while to blog again, I have just been so busy! I will try to write the highlights of my week though!

Hm..where do I start? Ok, last Friday I left school early to go with the exchange students to hike to Zugerberg, the closest mountain to Zug. They really are like my family, since only they know exactly what I am going though.

We rode up this tram to the top of the mountain, then hiked around with Rolf, and saw some cow pies! haha. From left to right that is Carlos (Columbia), Bianca (Mexico), Me, Sienna (Hawaii), Elle (Colorado), Laura (NY), Pavel (Russia) and Pusit (Thailand).

Then we went for some homemade Swiss ice cream! Delicious! And took some pictures of the lovely view over looking Zug. These are my friends Laura and Elle in the picture below, who are from New York and Colorado.

The next day I went to Schwyz with my host sister to meet her brother and sister at the summer festival, where they were serving beer at a booth. We sat down in the beautiful old town, listened to music and yes, drank some good 'ol Swiss beer and Rivella.

Then on Sunday, my host mom took me to hike the Rigi. It was a pretty hard hike at the end, but well worth it for the view!

We took a REALLY high gondolla type thing to the top of the mountain, where I took this picture from. I almost got a little dizzy, so it is good I don't get scared of hights, like the Chinese tourists next to me. On the top of the mountain, it plateaus, and that is where I took this picture of the farmhouses who raise cows. They were so lonesome up there, just them and the cowbells! But I guess some people love the solitude of being alone in the mountains, which I can kind of understand in a way, it is just so beautiful!

We hiked for two and a half hours, on the flat section, overlooking Lake Lucerne. The final bit was definitely hard, but I was very proud of myself that I could keep up with my super-human host mom, who was like booking it the whole way up no-stop!  The next picture is not one I took, but it shows where we hiked too--the tippy top! You can't see it from this picture, but the Rigi is one of the foothills of the Alps!

This is the lovely view of the Alps from the top of the Rigi! It is not as pretty in the picture as it was in real life...which I guess is true for everything, but I think you will get the jist of what it looked like.

Here is a picture from the top of the Rigi, looking to the Alps. I can't imagine how high we were when I took this picture, and the Alps still look huge! 

School is going pretty well, and I am making Swiss friends instead of just hanging out with exchange students (told you so Dad!).  School is pretty excruciatingly boring though, because I can't understand a word the teachers are saying, except for yesterday, when I think they were asking when World War I started, and I couldn't answer because I can't speak German! Grrr. It is so hard not being able to be the smarty pants I normally am in school, especially in English, which I thought I'd be good in! Haha, it was a ton of grammer I never learned, like, "what is the second singular present perfect", and my German friends had to help me! Eeek. What is wrong with American schools? Well, at least I could help them when they said "I drankst the tea,"

I made some new friends today in Gym, and we talked about music together, which is great, because my class is a music major, meaning we all chose it because music is our favorite subject. Actually, Gym is even fun over here...today, we jumped on trampolines the whole period! I was pretty skilled at it, you know me and my trampolining skills...haha.

And also, my host mom signed me up for a ballet class which I went to last night, and a Glee Club which I just came home from! Glee Club was so much fun! The teacher said we were going to sing an "unknown song" at the end of the class, and it was Seasons of Love! Everyone was so surprised I already knew it!

I love Switzerland so much. I love the transportation system, which makes it so easy to get ANYWHERE. I love how friendly and nice everyone is here. I love how people dress very fashionably for school, and try interesting clothes instead of just wearing North Faces and Uggs (haha, I know I do that too at home). I love the food, how beautiful the lake is, and how the Old Town looks like something from a story book. I love how people bike everywhere, and you have a 2 hour lunch, where you can walk to downtown or the lake or the market. C'mon, only in Switzerland could rock climbing be your PE class.

I feel like I am living a dream, and never want to leave. I just wish I could see my friends and family, who I miss so much. I wish there was some way to bring them to this new adventure with me! Oh yeah, and I wish I could actually speak German :) haha

Love and miss you Vashon and all the people on it. So much. Don't change to much while I'm gone! I LOVE YOU! You have no idea how much I miss hearing "Welcome aboard the Washington State Ferries..."

Life in Die Schweiz!

August 22nd, my first full day!!!

After waking up at 12:00 (I know it's late, but I was jetlagged!) I was picked up by my rotary counselor Rolf. He then took me to get a Swiss bank account (mwahah!), finnish immigration and introduce me to my principal. We drove around the sweltering Zug (38 degrees celcius!!!!!!) and I noticed somethings--all the machines were so hi-tech in the immigration office, and everyone was so friendly! Also:

1. Everyone is weirdly tan//beautiful here. If you didn't know it, you would think you were in Italy!
2. The town is SO well put together. There is no wasted space--even the trashy places look nice. There are no gross roads filled with huge parking lots like in Seattle, even their McDonalds was in a nice building, and put NEAR the road, so YOU DONT HAVE TO DRIVE THERE, you can walk!
3. There are negative floors on building, some malls have escalators without stairs, and sometimes there is a yellow light between the red light and green light. 

Here is a virtual tour of my street, right before Rolf picked me up. It is quite quaint!

When I got back, I went to meet Eva and Michi at the lake. Eva is my host sister, and lived in Canada for a year, so here English is PERFECT. I would think she was American if I met her. Michi is her Canadia cousin, who's Mom lives in Geneva, so he biked over here to say hello (pretty long bike ride if you ask me...). They are both so nice, and it is great to talk to them. Then we went to the lake!!

This is lake Zug! It was so refreshing after a hot day.

There were a ton of people there! Everyone rode their bikes though, those healthy Swiss :p

This is a shot of the mountains in the backround--the Rigi is the tallest one.

August 23rd

Today, I went to school! It was AMAZING. Our school is HUGE and basically like a college. Everyone is in a class, whom they switch classes together with. You sometimes have like an hour or two gap with your class, so you can hang around the school and go to the cafe, or for lunch, walk to town to buy food. It is so nice walking in the sun with your classmates everywhere! And lunch we just ate in the beautiful market//indoor mall, which I will put up pictures of soon. I love my school! I wish VHS was like it!

Here is my schedule:


You cant really read it, but the day is divided in 45 minute periods, and the dark ones are free periods for my class, so school starts and ends at a different time everyday!

School itself was definitely hard. I can't understand German! The teachers would teach a whole class, without me understanding a word, which is hard and boring. But the girls in my class are very nice. I'm in the music major, which means my class takes an extra 4 hours of music every week. And the building itself is so modern and HUGE! I think there is 9 building of 6 floors! With 1700 students, because it is the only high school for the whole Kanton of Zug. I'm excited and scared for school, because it is interesting, but I feel like such a burden having to make the teachers translate just for me. At least I am getting along with my host family great, they are such nice and funny people, and tonight we went on a walk in a thunderstorm! Definitely a great way to end an interesting day :)

To end my blog of the day, here is a video tour of Steinhausen, my neighborhood suburb. I will put one up of Zug later--enjoy!