School differences in Switzerland

My oldest host sister and some of my Swiss friends who are in the fourth/last year of College (which is basically high school, they just classify their school levels differently)  are all busy studying for the exams coming up. I can’t imagine what it’s like having to study so much because unlike how we do it in Canada with an end of year exam every year, they have an exam at the end of the fourth year for all of the subjects they’ve learned throughout the four years. I have a hard enough time just studying for one subject that I’ve learned that same year. Some other things that I have noticed are different in school are that we have the same classes all year-round, and in Canada I have half of my classes in the first semester then I have an exam then I have the other half of my classes in the second semester. They also have set classes for example, I am in 2D2 (2nd year, Deutsch (german), class #2) so for all of my classes I have the same people in them, like in middle school. The lockers in my school in Canada are 4 times the size of the “lockers”, I would call them cubbyholes. There isn’t much space in these lockers so everyone carries their school bags around and hang our coats on hangers and we just put our books that we don't need for that class in the lockers cause thats all that really fits. It was different for me because in Canada we aren’t allowed to bring anything to class except for our books so I keep my bag and coat and books and everything in my locker. One other thing that I have notice that are different compared to my school in Canada is that when we are absent they don’t call our house to be excused but we have a paper that has to get filled out with the date, reason, number of lessons and tests missed and then signature from a parent. I find this better because I remember how annoying it was when I would be excused from school for going to a sport tournament or something but still get called for everyday that I missed. 

Math class

everyone signing my flag on the last day

our cubby holes 

the coat hangers 

my class 

Bus driver appreciation post

I first stared taking the bus when I was with my first host family at the beginning of the year. This bus driver (I'm going to wing how to spell hist Swiss nickname cause I have no idea) Cübii was always so joyful in the morning and always asked how I was doing and at the beginning I had no idea what he was saying so I just did the typical smile and nod kind of thing. Now, I am not the best at getting myself around and especially not arriving on time. People always talk about how Swiss people are always on time blah blah its not really that true because my bus was often a few minutes late. Anyways I was a few minutes late one day but so was the bus because I watched it pull up to the bus stop and as I was looking my bike my bus driver was cheering me on but telling me to hurry up before he has to leave without me. When I got on the bus he started saying stuff to me in Swiss german that I didn't understand but I didn't know what to do until someone finally told him that I'm an exchange student from America, which I understood so I corrected them and said Canada. He laughed and then greeted me in English from then on until I could speak some more German. Awhile later I was late again but somehow he knew I was coming so he waited a minute and when I walked on the bus he said that he wouldn't leave without his favourite Canadian and its been something that I haven't forgotten. We would always have little conversations about bad drivers and the weather and it was so nice. When I changed host families I moved to a different town and had new bus drivers. Non of my new bus drivers were nice and joyful like Cübii and I couldn't have a conversation with them. I didn't realize how much of a positive impact he had on my day. My third host family lived in the same town where I used to take the bus at the beginning so I knew I would be seeing him again and one morning as my friend and I were waiting for our train I stopped and had a chat with Cübii for the first time since the beginning of the year and I just told him how he is my favourite bus driver and how he's a great man and I asked to get a picture with him so that I will never forget and he was so happy it made my day. After that chat and picture we would stop and chat while I waited for the train and he would introduce me to the other bus drivers as his favourite Canadian.

Paragliding

I WENT PARAGLIDING! A huge thanks to my host family for giving me this opportunity! So heres a cool story. One time my host family were talking and the topic of paragliding came up. We talked about adrenaline and I was saying that I like it and paragliding is on my bucket list. I think they were a little surprised because I was saying how I don't find the idea of it crazy and dangerous. My host parents started talking and they said they were going to make it happen. So my host mom got the chance to go paragliding as a gift and she has had it for quite some time but is too nervous to do it. Its not her thing. So she was very generous and they talked to the guy that was supposed to take her and arranged it so that I could do it instead. We waited for late spring when the weather was warmer and then it got pushed back a few times due to bad weather. After I changed host families it got a bit more complicated but after a few rain-checks due to storms I was finally able to do it. My host dad sent me a text to meet him in our town one Monday afternoon. I hopped on the bus at school and head over as soon as I could. I met with him and the guy, Beat, that I was doing this with. My little host brother was also there and it was the first time that we saw each other in a while so we were excited. He was holding my hand the whole car ride up the mountain to the spot  I would be taking off. It was really cute because earlier he was visiting the kindergarten that he will be going to next year and he was so excited to tell me all about it. When we got to the top we waited about 30 minutes for the wind to die down a bit. Being on the top of this mountain with nothing but cows was such a cool moment knowing that soon I would be flying. Beat walked me through all of the steps and geared me up. I was surprised because I wasn’t even nervous. As soon as my feet left the ground I fell in love with this. We were just hanging out above everything I could see everything. I felt so comfortable and I never wanted to go down. It was an amazing experience, I absolutely loved it. 

Venice - Zurich

Oh what a hard day it was. The past 2.5 weeks with my big exchange family couldn't have been better. This trip has been a blast!!! I can't believe that it's all over. Eurotour was amazing and I am so thankful to have made new and bettered the friendships that I have. This trip went by so fast, we were having such a great time we lost track of it. This was a great experience for all of us to get to know each other better and actually spend lots of time together. We explored and experienced Europe together and made unforgettable memories. You might think that we would have gotten tired of each other after the countless hours spent in the bus and in the heat but we get along so well were like a big happy family. The friendships that I have made this year with these people are ones that I hope to have for life. I will miss all the laughs and memories shared but I know that its not the end with this great group. One of the greatest things about exchange is the connections you make and a this trip allowed us to make great connections with everyone. My year has been the best year of my life and I think that this was an amazing way to end it. It was filled with new experiences, new people, my best friends, many laughs and jokes, new countries, new languages and unforgettable memories. We have helped each other grow and become the people we are to day. I am so thankful to have had such an amazing experience and to have shared it with such great people. It's sad that our exchange years are over and it scares me not knowing when I will see everyone again but I know that it will be soon because there is nothing that can come between us... other than the crazy prices of flights.

Budapest - Postonja - Venice

After a great adventure in Budapest we were in our way to Postonja, Slovenia. It was a hot day but lucky there was some natural a/c where we were going. We went on a tour through the caves of Postonja. We took a little train in and then did a walking tour. I was amazed by how beautiful it was. Everything was so natural and like nothing Ive ever seen before. After a while it got so cold because we didnt really know what to expect. It was a really nice thing to see and a great way to appreciate natures beauty.

Juan from Columbia 

Budapest

Our first stop was to go and see inside the parliament building. I couldn't get over how beautiful it was from our cruise the night before. Inside was the crown which was guarded all the time by 2 guards with swards and bulletproof glass. We saw many things inside, I don't remember it all but everything sure was beautiful. After we went and toured around Pest, we walked through the streets and made our way to this beautiful spot that looks over Buda. There is a spot along the river where they have metal shoes welded into the ground. This is a memorial for the jews who were all thrown into the river and died. They were to strip down and leave their shoes as they had value. For lunch we went to a market which was indoors to shop and have lunch. My friends and I got Hungarian Langos which are a deep fried pastry, sort of like beavertails I guess. The traditional toppings are sour cream and cheese so thats what we got and for dessert we got one with sugar... how healthy :) We went to go and eat outside and it was wonderful other than the fact that the pigeons wanted our food. I had a nice little surprise bumping into one of my Hungarian friends that I met in Switzerland! After our little tour we went to Buda to enjoy the thermal baths. We spent around 3-4 hours there and during this time my friends and I got massages. After our time in the baths we went to go and have dinner and a show. We went to a gipsy folkloric show, it was quite entertaining.  

in the parliament building 

Jade - Wisconsin, Indea - Canada 

Guita - Ohio

Jade and I 

Esteban - Argentina 

Benjamin - Argentina 

Vienna - Budapest

We started our morning off by going grocery shopping for a picnic lunch. After we went to the Schönbrunn Palace for a tour. The Schönbrunn has more than 1,000 rooms. It was a beautiful palace, I really liked all of the old furniture. Our tour of the palace was over an hour and then we went into the palace gardens for lunch. We set us our picnic and played in the shade while eating it was quite luxurious actually. One thing that bothered me was that in the middle of our lunch we all needed to get up and leave because they needed to spray the trees with pesticides and didn't want us around while eating. After lunch we met up in front of the palace to continue on our way to Budapest. I was so excited for Budapest. When we got there we thought we would just hang out and go to bed but a friend of Ursula (our Rotary chaperon and a very important Swiss Rotarian) who is a manager for Belo Europe planned a surprise for her birthday which was a few weeks prior to the trip. We thought we were just going for a night walk like we did in Prague but we actually got to go on a night cruise. He rented a boat for all of us to cruise down the river and back. There were drinks, cake, sparklers and party hats. It was a beautiful night and so nice to see Budapest at night. The view of the parliament building was amazing with all the lights shinning on it. It was so nice for him to do that for Ursula and to have invited us as well.

Sam - California 

Jade - Wisconsin, Indea - Canada 

Ursula is scared because there are fireworks on the cake (it ended up being too windy to light)

Sam - California 

the parliament building at night