Past Week

Hello again! I apologize once again for the gap between posts. I have just been crazy busy! I am now finished my second week of language school and I find I am getting much better at German. I now have a better understanding of the grammar and how to properly order a sentence to make it past tense or current tense. It is all very confusing but I think I'm getting the hang of it now. I just started my third and final week of the course today and although I'm going to miss seeing all my exchange friends every day, I am really excited to start regular school next week in Chur.

So anyway, this past week:
The routine for the first half of every day is pretty much the same all the time. Wake up, get ready, take the bus to Landquart, take the train to Zürich, take another train to Oerlikon to where the course itself actually is, then sit in class all day and learn German. However the second half of every day is a new adventure. Usually it consists of a bunch of exchange students from the course walking (getting lost) around Zürich for a  few hours before taking the train back home.

Exploring the city

On Wednesday as we were taking the train back to Zürich from Oerlikon, we passed a spot on the river that looked as if it would be great for swimming. When we got to the station we stayed on the train because it looked like it was going to go right back to the river... However the name was only similar to the name of the station by the river so we ended up getting lost on the other side of the city. But it was a good chance to explore the area! The next day we actually managed to find that spot on the river and it was so awesome! It had a strong current so it was nice to just relax in the water and float down the river a bit. We also found some good places to jump into the water, for example, the big bridge that passes over it.

After swimming

On Friday we went back to the swimming spot with a bunch more people and stayed much longer. It turned out to be a really awesome day and really made me realize how lucky I am to have this opportunity to live in another country and do awesome things like that.

Saturday morning I woke up at 7:30 to go on a hike with my host dad to the top of the mountain overlooking our village. We got on the Alplibahn (gondola) at 8:30 and arrived about 3/4 of the way up the mountain about 15 minutes later. We then started hiking uphill for about two hours until we reached the top. I was super tired and very out of breath, but the amazing view was definitely worth every step:

Made it to the top!

After eating a quick snack while enjoying the view, we headed down the other side of the mountain. This took about two hours as well. Once we got about 1/4 of the way down we stopped at a restaurant on the side of the mountain for lunch. After lunch we rented these weird mountain scooter things and followed the road down for about 10km. After reaching speeds of up to 50km/h, we made it to the bottom. It was honestly one of the most amazing experiences of my life!

The mountain scooter

We got home about an hour later where I had a quick shower before heading out again. This time to Zürich for the giant street parade. It was basically a huge parade with super loud music and lots of famous DJs and performers like Robin Schulz and many others. I had a great time there with my friends and it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

Street parade!

 The next day was a relaxing day. I went with my host parents to the center of Switzerland to spend the day on their boat. We just drove around, swam, ate food and had a great time. Much deserved after the day before.

City of Lucerne

Anyway, that has been my past week. Sorry about how long this post was. I will try to post more often in order to keep the posts shorter. Thanks for reading! Tschüss!

Quick Update

I have now finished my first week of Language School. It has been a lot of work so far but I can already tell my German is improving. I can read most easy things and understand when people talk to me slowly. The grammar is definitely my weak spot though.

On Friday after class, I came home and relaxed for a few hours before going to Churer Fest with my host parents. Churer Fest is basically a big street party in the old part of Chur.

Walking up to the festival

When we first got there, we were all pretty hungry so we got some beef on a stick that was cooked over a fire which was sooooo good! And apparently very swiss. After that, we had swiss sausages and chatted with some people for a bit. Eventually some of my exchange friends arrived at the festival so I went with them and we just walked around for a bit and had a good time. Also I was able to meet a bunch of Swiss people that I will be going to school with in a few weeks so it'll be good to have some friends for when I get there.

Saturday I took the train to Zurich to meet up with my oldie Briana and tour around the city. First we went to Coop for lunch (Coop is an amazing grocery store that they have in Switzerland. They literally sell everything there. We ate in the restaurant section) then we walked down to Lake Zurich. We walked along the shore for a bit and talked about exchange and did some sightseeing before we went back to the station so I could get back to Chur. Here's some pictures of the city:

I went to Churer Fest again that evening and met even more swiss people. I'm not very good at remembering names so it was a little bit hard to keep track of all the people I was meeting, but it was still a good time nonetheless.

Anyway, thats just a quick update of what I did this weekend. Tschüss!

Welcome Meeting and Deutschkurs

Hello again everyone! Sorry for the short break between posts, I have been very busy with homework and other things now that the language course has started.

So first things first, on Sunday was the welcome meeting in Olten for all inbounds. Olten is two hours away from Chur so it was a long day of driving, but I was with the other exchange student living in Chur for the drive so we took the time to get to know each other. Her name is Claire and she comes from Canada as well, so it was good to have another Canadian to talk to on the way. We arrived at the meeting around 2pm (we took the scenic route to get there so the drive was a little over two hours)

Scenic drive to the welcome meeting

and were instantly welcomed by the other exchange students. As soon as I walked in the door, two oldies (exchange students that arrived in January are called oldies, I'm considered a newbie) named Ruby and Juliett came up to me and introduced themselves and hugged me. We had been talking over the internet before that so they knew to look for me. After we were all signed in, it was time to meet everyone else. There are just over 80 inbounds that just arrived in Switzerland the past few days so I didn't get the chance to meet everyone, however I met as many people as I could. All the Canadians were easy to find as we are the only ones with red blazers. Everyone else has dark colours so we stood out very much. After the initial introductions, we were all separated into groups according to the language we natively spoke, so that we could all understand what the rotarians had to say. The information was the same as I already learned in Canada a few months ago. Just boring stuff about insurance, rules, how to deal with different situations and stuff like that. After that was all done, I met a few more people then we headed home. It was so nice to finally meet everyone, and I'm sure we'll all become very close over the course of this year.

The next morning was the first day of language school, called Deutschkurs. The course I have to attend is all the way in Zurich, so that is a one hour commute every morning and afternoon for the next three weeks. However I don't mind so much as I just use the time to sleep and chat anyway. I ride the train everyday with the two other exchange students living in Chur. Claire (Canada) and Josh (Sweden). In the morning we are all too tired to talk so we just sleep on the way there. The first day of the course went by in a blur. First they had us all take a test to divide us into the classes, the advanced class and the slower class. I scored 21 out of 46 so I just made it into the advanced class.

The advanced Deutsch class

As soon as we split up, the teacher started going off in German. Most of it is difficult to understand but she talks slow enough so its not too bad. But very hard to pay attention! I am trying my best though. After class we usually walk around Zurich for a bit and see what we can find before catching the train back to Chur.

Everything is going well here and super smooth. I'm adjusting to life very well and it is all beginning to seem normal now. Alles gut in die Schweiz!

Hanging out with Claire and Josh in Zurich

I clearly fit in the trains here

I may or may not be super tall

I swear this is safe and allowed

Zurich HB (main train station)

Past few days

The past few days here in Switzerland have gone by so fast, I can't believe tomorrow will be a week since I was dropped off at the airport. On Wednesday, my host mom and I drove to the village of Sagogn for the going away party of her nephew Jan. Jan is going to Canada for a year on his rotary exchange. Also, his family will be hosting me in a few months so it was good to meet the entire family so early. On Thursday, I had my first rotary meeting with the Chur-Herrschaft Rotary Club. It was a lunch meeting and the food was very good (as is pretty much all the food I've had here so far). The entire meeting was in German so I didn't understand most of it, however there were a few words here and there that I was able to pick up. Also my host mom has been helping me a lot with my German. Whenever we are talking about simple things, she will often explain things in full German, and actually to my surprise, I'm able to understand most of what she is saying. However, I'm not good at responding yet so I usually respond with just a simple Ja or Nein, which isn't a lot, but it gets the job done. Anyway, after the Rotary meeting, we went over to the cell phone store and got a plan for my phone. We were successful this time because it was only a two month contract so I did not need proof of me staying here for a year. After that we walked all over the old part of Chur, which was very eye opening. I was amazed at the architecture of the city as the whole area was older than the entire country of Canada! Here are some pictures of the city:

This is the school that I will be going to after I finish the language course

Seeing the old part of the city for the first time was awesome! It made me realize how lucky I am to have this opportunity at such a young age to live in Europe for a year. 

On our way back from the city, we stopped by the train station so I could get the tickets that will allow me to travel into and out of Chur every day for school. Yesterday was the first chance I got to use them. I went into the city again, this time by myself using public transportation, to hang out with my friend Lara, a previous exchange student that spent her year in Canada. We just chatted and walked around the city for a bit before I eventually had to go back for dinner. So far, my exchange here in Switzerland has been amazing! I have the welcome meeting in Olten tomorrow where I will finally get to meet all of the other exchange students, then on monday the language course in Zurich begins. I will be posting about those very soon, but until then, enjoy these pictures I took while on a walk around the village I'm currently living in: