I'm sorry that this took me so long...

Let me start off by apologizing for the lateness of this post. I should have done this a long time ago, but didn't know how to say it, and so I put it off.

For all of you who don't know, I'm back in the United States. I decided to return home, because my school said that the credit hours that I was earning in Switzerland wouldn't be sufficient for me to graduate, contrary to previous beliefs.

If I wouldn't have returned home, I wouldn't have graduated High school. If I didn't graduate from High school, I would have had to complete another year when I got home. If I would have stayed another year, I would have lost all of my scholarships, acceptances to colleges, and most importantly, all six of my hard earned congressional nominations to military academies.

It was a tough decision, but a decision that I made, and don't regret because I understand the need for it. I would have loved to continue my exchange and become completely fluent in french, but I will have to settle for studying here in the United States.

For all of you back in Switzerland, I will miss you, and don't think that you are gonna get away with not keeping in touch! For all of you state-side... well, I'll see you around!


PS: I am going to keep up this blog, just because I like it so much, But instead of My exchange, I will fill it with my adventures and happenstances.... so, if you were only here for the foreign exchange part of it, this is your stop, you should unsubscribe... for all the rest of you, hold on, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

FRENCH NOTE #2

So, I can pretty much understand everything that people say, and almost everything dans les films. The only exceptions are at school with my professors, my history teacher, and M. MORON en particulier.


Now, talking is a different story. It almost seems in some cases that I'm taking steps back, in the sense that  certain people have no ability to understand what I say. When I talk with my host family, or friends at school, all goes well, but I tried to engage in a conversation with a lady at Migros, and she couldn't understand a word I said. Our conversation ended with her saying, in french, "I'm sorry, I don't speak your language" and walking away. I almost told my host family, but I'm starting to learn which things to tell my family and not. Certain things, like something really embarrassing for example is not to be told, because they will tell the rest of the family and all of the rotary people. It is especially important that I do not do anything, that could even be perceived as bad, or funny in front of my host brother, because he will immediately tell my host mom who will continue the grape vine.

I really like my host family, but the story telling gets really old, really quick.

The Jet-list

Okay, so I recently engaged in a riveting conversation with my mother about the things that I would regret not doing, if I left without doing them... If that makes any sense.

We decided that I should make a list of all the things I wanted to do, and I will check them off as I do them, That way no regrets when I get back.

So for lack of a better name, I will be naming this list "The Jet-List". Like the Bucket List must be completed before "kicking the bucket", the Jet-List must be completed before kicking the Jet... boarding the Jet... whatever comes first.

Anywho, just a small explanation for the little list that will soon appear on the side of the screen.

Y'all have a good one!

Weekend du Cervin (Matterhorn Weekend)

So i recently (Two days ago) got back from an extraordinary weekend Rotary trip to Zermatt Switzerland with a whopping 140 (roughly) exchange students . While this was my third time there, I loved it just the same and saw a new side of it, as well as the old.

We participated in a scavenger hunt of sorts that was split up into teams of eight, and involved two facors.

1.) Complete the Missions- The missions consisted of a series of tests such as "find a fried egg" or "take a picture of a wedding"

2.) Trade up- We started with a cheap candle (others with pencils or other assorted cheap items) and we had to trade them for something better. Well one thing led to another and by the end, we had obtained a TV, a club shirt, a stack of postcards, a small heart shaped fuzzy pillow, a bottle of alcohol and a few other small assorted items. And that's only what we had at the end, not what we had traded in between. other groups ended up with skis, snowboards, wine, hockey equipment etc. Rotex told us after that people in the years before had gotten couches and TVs as well.

we stayed at la Maison du junesses, which pretty much means House of Youngsters (kinda like the YMCA) and the next day took a gondola i didn't even know existed. I think pictures are worth a thousand words, and videos show 26 frames per second, so my 11 minute video of the inside of a glacier equates out to about the complete Harry Potter Series and Twilight combined... enjoy

Doubt

Someone much smarter than me (only one) once said "If you open the door of doubt, you'll never be able to close it" and I am finding out more and more how true that is. So, my doubt is ultimately contained to what I am achieving here, but to fully understand it, we will have to delve a little deeper.

I found a pattern that I am happier about being here when I am at home, speaking a lot of french with friends, or doing something fun, than when I am in classes, and at first I thought that that is to be expected. After a while I thought maybe it was Senioritus kicking in, or perhaps a natural effect of taking an unusually hard course, but after a little longer that feeling I felt in class was more of the unsatisfied "I'm not getting anything done" or "I have more important things to do" feeling, that I would have when I stayed at a party or dinner too long.

I often feel like I should be doing something to prepare for college after this, and get the rolling feeling in my stomach (the one you get before you take a test you haven't prepared for), when I think about unprepared I might be. Tout le monde keeps telling me to relax and enjoy my year abroad, but they (the students) are a year behind me and will have their senior year to catch up when they get back.

Well I've definitely opened the door of doubt, and it's like a flood rushing in, and very hard to shut. I have and will continue to try to stay positive and make the best out of my exchange encore, but I am definitely having my doubts.

FRENCH NOTE #1

I'm at the point where I understand most of what most people say to me, most of the time. Exceptions include most of my teachers, and people from Canada. when I don't understand, most of the time it's only one word in the sentence that throws me off. I have trouble with conjugation and politeness, but I cant usually get my point across without much trouble.

(This is just to serve as a sort of milestone, so I can understand later how my french was when I wrote this... If that makes any sense at all)

Happiness Meter Steadily Increasing :)

Well as the titre suggests i'm feeling a whole lot better each day. I'm sure that my recent bursts of happiness are not even close to related to the care package I received in the mail, but seriously the doritos, oreos, and jerky have been doing wonders for my psyche by giving me just a taste of the states.

I joined the l'equippe d'air comprime, which for non french speakers is the air-soft team. Unfortunalty it is not like the air-softing in the US, which includes a little combat, but is strictly target competition. The crazy thing is that I am actually really good at it, go figure. I am definitely having a whole lotta fun, and found a cool, productive way to spend my saturday mornings.

It's not like I'm not having a good time, but every day at school, I feel like I'm just wasting a year. I'm getting better and better at french, i am having a new and exciting adventure every day, but when i go to school, i just sit there for hours trying to understand what my teachers are saying. I've decided that some of them must be extra terrestrials, because the sound that is coming out of their mouths doesn't even resemble french. I almost feel like recording M. Moron (Geography) and playing it for my family, to see if they understand.

all of my fellow students are starting to get sick of me, and I even over heard one saying he'd wish  I would just go home. I have fun and try to socialize, but I am getting on their nerves because I hardly ever understand the assignment. It probably didn't help that my last three lunches either melted, or exploded in the microwave, causing everyone to wait while I cleaned it.

My host brother and I are starting to get sick of each other too, I am starting to understand why Mike (my older brother) would beat the crap out of me sometimes. I think the only positive outcome of me switching host families will be a break from Quentin. He's a cool kid, but I could never live with him for longer than 6 months at a time.

All in all, even though i still have a lotta problems to work out, I'm really havin fun. I still cant shake the feeling that I'm wasting my time, but i have the knowledge that i'm learning french to console me. I am gonna talk with my old french class in Evanston over Skype this Friday, and I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Catch y'all later, dan