Hallo! I know I haven‘t written in a while, haha. I have been trying to sit down and type something up for the last two months but every time I've gotten distracted or got a bit bored. So...I promise I will fill you all in on the stuff I've left out from this one another time, but just because I don't have a lot of time I'll fill you in on what I did this weekend. Oh! I should let you know that I'm doing okay in regards to the Corona virus and everything. Anyways, for those of you from Rotary that are reading this, you may remember Sarah the exchange student from Switzerland that was in Bracebridge around seven years ago. We met up in her home town Aarau on January 5 for a coffee and we had a really good time together. She's now in Rotarex and a few weeks ago she texted me that they were having an outing at the Frey Chocolate Factory in Aarau and invited me to come; I of course said yes. So this Saturday was the day that we went but Sarah texted me the night before saying that she was sick and might not be able to come and then Saturday morning she texted me again saying that she was too sick to come. I at first thought it would be weird if I went to a meeting where I didn't belong but Sarah reassured me that everything was okay. It ended up being me and a couple that went. I met them at the Factory at 2 o'clock and we started off by making our own chocolate bar. You could either have a whole chocolate bar with the same type of chocolate or three different kinds; I obviously took the three different kinds of white, milk and dark chocolate. You could decorate them and add whatever toppings that you wanted. And the chocolate bars where actually soo thick! About one and a half times the size of a normal one. I decided I would give my chocolate bar to my host cousin Shianne and her family because when I was done with the chocolate factory I went over to their house in Chur. When we were finished with the chocolate bar making we started the tour of the factory. Or what we thought was the factory. We were given iPads and headphones and then were shown to this room where there was a screen and an elevator. But it wasn't an elevator it was just a small elevator like room where you had to wait a bit and then a door opened on the other side. It was really cool but it was also to quick. I think we did the whole thing in about 10 minutes. It was just one floor and then you go down these stairs and then its over. You get to try all the chocolates you want on this conveyor-belt. Overall it was really good but I wish they had more to show. With the iPads you would scan this little code on these screens and then you would watch these videos and they talked about how they make the chocolate, or how they ship it, and stuff like that. We finished at around four o'clock and then the couple were nice enough to drive me to the train station in Aarau. It was about two hours to Sargans (the town next to Shianne's town). I had a very nice ride there, I was pretty tired though. They picked me up at the train station and then took me to their house. We talked for a bit and had dinner. We had a really good time together. We ended up watching "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" which is like a talent show but just for singers. They have like maybe 20 groups at the beginning and then they do singing competitions until they are left with just one person. This time they did it in partners and there were two groups that we really fantastic. Then we watched the strangest dating show called "Take Me Out" and it was so weird. So, Shianne's house is actaully on a huge hill, that is at the bottom of a mountain (or a really big hill here I guess) but across from her house is again another mountain/hill. And it's so pretty there.
So, Sunday we (Shianne, her father, her sister and me) drove to the other side of the valley where we took a Gondola up to a peak in the hill/mountain and ate breakfast there. Shianne's mother (my host father's sister) hiked there and joined us for breakfast. After breakfast we went (Shianne, her father, and her sister; the mother had to go home and pack for a trip she was going on) went to this lake that I happened to go by one time when I was with Roman (my first host father) and we were going to Vrin and it is honestly amazing there. On the other side of the lake is cliffs and there is really this tiny little town that has about maybe 150 people that live there in the summer but apparently only 40 live there full time.
And there is no bridge to get there so all the residents own a small boat to get to and from their home. It was so different there. That morning we were just in the mountain and there was snow and it was cold but then in this part it was like summer and in some places there were even Palm trees! It felt kinda like I was in Greece. We stayed there for a while and then I had to get back to the train station because I was meeting my third host family at 5 o'clock in Burgdorf and it was a 2-2.5 hour train ride home. We went back to their house to get my bags and say goodbye to everyone and we happened to be literally just on time for the train and I ran to the platform because I would've had to wait another half hour till the next train. I did make it. The train was really crowded but I think that was only because it was a direct train to Zurich. From Zurich I went to Olten, and one thing that I was told when I first got here was that all the trains go to Olten and I can officially say that is true. I always have to go to Olten to get home if I'm coming from the East. And from Olten I went to Burgdorf. Christa, Roman (first host parents who are friends from my third host family) and I arranged to meet infront of the music school downtown. Other than that I had no idea what was gonna happen. I didn't know a thing about my third host family other than there is three kids who are around the same age as me but a bit younger and that they live by the big church on top of the hill in Burgdorf. Christa and Roman came and then we walked to my new host families house just for a get-to-know-you kinda thing. They have a wonderful house and is literally right beside the church. Apparently it used to be the minister's house long ago. Their house overlooks the downtown and they have a wonderful balcony and garden. It's really a lovely house. They showed me my room, I absolutely love it! I can see the mountains on a clear day and it over looks all of Burgdorf. We then went downstairs and talked in the dining room and had some snacks to eat. I have to admit the whole time I was focusing on just trying to keep my eyes open and my neck up because I was so tired I felt as though my head would just slam against the table. It was really good though. They are a really nice family. The eldest daughter is away on an exchange in England so I'll be in her room. We talked about dates when I could move in. It's either gonna be the 21 of March or April 4. I think it's gonna be good there. My third host brother and sister (around 17-15 years old) both have Harry Potter posters on their door so..... I think we'll get a long just fine. When we were leaving there was a really bad storm outside and really strong wind. I was a bit nervous because I had to go on a train and then walk about 8 minutes home from the Hasle train station (not a long time but in that strong wind I was quite certain I would be one of those nannies that get blown away at the beginning of Mary Poppins). I quickly went to Christa and Roman's house saying hello to Salome and Edna and then went to the train station. When I got to Hasle it was hailing and I was like, okay, not bad, I can do this, I'm Canadian, it's gonna be fine. They were small little pellets of ice that with the wind felt like thousands of little needles hitting my hand. I shielded my eyes from the hail with my hand so I could only see about three feet infront of me. But, I did manage to get home. I was soaking wet, I couldn't feel my hands and felt like a popcicle and I went upstairs to find all my host siblings in the upstairs living room. It took them about two minutes for them to look up and they were all like "OMG! Are you okay?!" I was okay... just needed to put on some dry clothes. That night we didn't do much, we talked, hung out. It was good. I was honestly so, so, tired. I went to bed at round 10 I think. Okay, so yesterday (Monday March 2) I didn't have to go to school in the morning because I only have one class but there was a test this day so I didn't have to go. I slept in for a bit, not as much as I would have liked to, but an hour more sleep is still good. I then did some chores around the house, some homework, made myself lunch and then went to school. I only had two classes of physics which, again, I was trying the whole time not to slam my head of the table. After that though two friends of mine (Jael (not my host sister Jael) and Anna) took me to his famous Cookie factory in.... somewhere near Langnau where you can try and eat as many cookies and you want. I thought it was gonna be more like a tour but it was just the store where you can buy them. They told me that usually you could try every single one of them but there wasn't that many there this time. We were thinking it was because of the Corona Virus. Anyways, it was still really fun. We weren't there for very long and Jael left earlier because she had a long train ride home. I went over to Anna's house afterwards and we had some tea and talked a bit. I then went home and got home at around 6 pm. I had dinner with my host family (two host brothers and Shianne. Jael was helping some school kids with homework). Aaron (my older host brother) went upstairs and was playing The Witcher 3 and I was doing some English homework on my laptop and Shianne came down. When Aaron was finished with the game we continued watching the german Crime/Horror show on Netflix called Dark. I found the first four episodes to be a bit boring but the fifth, they revealed something that was just so twisted I am still shocked. I went to bed a bit earlier as well. 11 PM. And that leads us to today. Tuesday. Dienstag. Nothing special happened today. Another school day. I will try and fill you all in on what has happened between now and my last post.
And there is no bridge to get there so all the residents own a small boat to get to and from their home. It was so different there. That morning we were just in the mountain and there was snow and it was cold but then in this part it was like summer and in some places there were even Palm trees! It felt kinda like I was in Greece. We stayed there for a while and then I had to get back to the train station because I was meeting my third host family at 5 o'clock in Burgdorf and it was a 2-2.5 hour train ride home. We went back to their house to get my bags and say goodbye to everyone and we happened to be literally just on time for the train and I ran to the platform because I would've had to wait another half hour till the next train. I did make it. The train was really crowded but I think that was only because it was a direct train to Zurich. From Zurich I went to Olten, and one thing that I was told when I first got here was that all the trains go to Olten and I can officially say that is true. I always have to go to Olten to get home if I'm coming from the East. And from Olten I went to Burgdorf. Christa, Roman (first host parents who are friends from my third host family) and I arranged to meet infront of the music school downtown. Other than that I had no idea what was gonna happen. I didn't know a thing about my third host family other than there is three kids who are around the same age as me but a bit younger and that they live by the big church on top of the hill in Burgdorf. Christa and Roman came and then we walked to my new host families house just for a get-to-know-you kinda thing. They have a wonderful house and is literally right beside the church. Apparently it used to be the minister's house long ago. Their house overlooks the downtown and they have a wonderful balcony and garden. It's really a lovely house. They showed me my room, I absolutely love it! I can see the mountains on a clear day and it over looks all of Burgdorf. We then went downstairs and talked in the dining room and had some snacks to eat. I have to admit the whole time I was focusing on just trying to keep my eyes open and my neck up because I was so tired I felt as though my head would just slam against the table. It was really good though. They are a really nice family. The eldest daughter is away on an exchange in England so I'll be in her room. We talked about dates when I could move in. It's either gonna be the 21 of March or April 4. I think it's gonna be good there. My third host brother and sister (around 17-15 years old) both have Harry Potter posters on their door so..... I think we'll get a long just fine. When we were leaving there was a really bad storm outside and really strong wind. I was a bit nervous because I had to go on a train and then walk about 8 minutes home from the Hasle train station (not a long time but in that strong wind I was quite certain I would be one of those nannies that get blown away at the beginning of Mary Poppins). I quickly went to Christa and Roman's house saying hello to Salome and Edna and then went to the train station. When I got to Hasle it was hailing and I was like, okay, not bad, I can do this, I'm Canadian, it's gonna be fine. They were small little pellets of ice that with the wind felt like thousands of little needles hitting my hand. I shielded my eyes from the hail with my hand so I could only see about three feet infront of me. But, I did manage to get home. I was soaking wet, I couldn't feel my hands and felt like a popcicle and I went upstairs to find all my host siblings in the upstairs living room. It took them about two minutes for them to look up and they were all like "OMG! Are you okay?!" I was okay... just needed to put on some dry clothes. That night we didn't do much, we talked, hung out. It was good. I was honestly so, so, tired. I went to bed at round 10 I think. Okay, so yesterday (Monday March 2) I didn't have to go to school in the morning because I only have one class but there was a test this day so I didn't have to go. I slept in for a bit, not as much as I would have liked to, but an hour more sleep is still good. I then did some chores around the house, some homework, made myself lunch and then went to school. I only had two classes of physics which, again, I was trying the whole time not to slam my head of the table. After that though two friends of mine (Jael (not my host sister Jael) and Anna) took me to his famous Cookie factory in.... somewhere near Langnau where you can try and eat as many cookies and you want. I thought it was gonna be more like a tour but it was just the store where you can buy them. They told me that usually you could try every single one of them but there wasn't that many there this time. We were thinking it was because of the Corona Virus. Anyways, it was still really fun. We weren't there for very long and Jael left earlier because she had a long train ride home. I went over to Anna's house afterwards and we had some tea and talked a bit. I then went home and got home at around 6 pm. I had dinner with my host family (two host brothers and Shianne. Jael was helping some school kids with homework). Aaron (my older host brother) went upstairs and was playing The Witcher 3 and I was doing some English homework on my laptop and Shianne came down. When Aaron was finished with the game we continued watching the german Crime/Horror show on Netflix called Dark. I found the first four episodes to be a bit boring but the fifth, they revealed something that was just so twisted I am still shocked. I went to bed a bit earlier as well. 11 PM. And that leads us to today. Tuesday. Dienstag. Nothing special happened today. Another school day. I will try and fill you all in on what has happened between now and my last post.
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