An Update on Mah Status

Alrighty- I'm back from my week long vacation on the beach... in Italy... with Ice cream... and despite all the R&R from the beach, I'm really tired. Every day i have been sleeping in and every night, I go to bed relatively early. But sure enough i am tired all day long, and totally exhausted by the time i actually go to bed. part of me thinks its the heat (It's REALLY hot here), But everybody here says it's just jet lag. If it was jet lag, i think i would be tired during the day and awake during the night, but i'm tired all of the time... maybe I should drink coffee. Anyway, The Update is I'm tired, and my french course starts on monday. I cant sleep in, so I hope I dont fall asleep in class. So, here are some photos of my trip.

Starting to notice the little things

OK, so this post isn't very exciting but, I'm staring to notice the little things that make these two great countries... different. pour example, tout en Suisse est plus petit, except the walks. the walks are really really long. i have a theory that the countries are really proportionally sized. since Suisse is so small, so is everything inside it (the cars, the stores, the houses, the steak). OK, so you know how things that are smaller work faster? (cats can run faster than humans, giant things in movies seem to move really slow etc) well its the same concept here. people in Switzerland walk, talk and drive twice as fast as in the states. I think part of that is because Americans are really lazy, but yeah... it makes sense proportionally.

Aussi, the language is really different as well (and i don't just mean the words themselves). did you know that in french, there is a word for "look out, there is something dangerous that could injure and or kill you so you should pay close attention to what i am about to tell you next"? It's Attention. I know what you are thinking, we have that word too, but we don't use it like they do. they can say attention, voiture... or attention, ton belle-mere and people immediately understand and act accordingly. that is so cool, but at the same time, they don't have a word for why or please. the have to use pour quoi (for what) and S'il vous plait (if you like)

I have to wonder what my accent sounds like. you know how there are lose accents that are like "ahh, i just wanna dunk you in my coffee" like Australian accents, Chinese accents, or some people from the south. and then there are the obnoxious accents like the Italians that make you wanna puke. I wonder if my accent is more on the "adorable" side or the "shoot me in the head with a large caliber sniper rifle" side.

I don't know how they planned this out but everywhere i go, everyone has the same type of windows and blinds. sometimes i wonder if i was in a car accident, and now im in a coma, and that's why every thing is the same. but in that case, how is my mind creating all of this french linguistic knowlege, that i was supposed to learn in class but goofed around instead.

My host brother likes the slinky that i brought him and I can hear him playing with it right know. Oh- Its so crazy, I dont know how he does it, but he is a sou-vent with a Rubik's cube. it's so intense, you can mix it up for ten minuets, till there is no way that the Rain Man could figure it out. you can hand it to him, and literally in 30 seconds or less he can solve it. it seems physically impossible, but he does it, again and again and again.

Anyway, je pense i am supposed to be doing something, so ill talk at you later

Salut!

HOLY CONOLE, A MISUNDERSTANDING

K, let me start of my saying wow, the biggest misunderstanding of all time just happened, but itwas still good, and I still had fun. So, over Face book chat with my host sister Amandine, we talked about going on a vacance to a cabin on Mount Rosa. Now what I didn't understand, was the fact that we were gonna climb a mountain, and then a glacier, to get to the most secluded Hotel/Restaurant known to man. Don't get me wrong, it was the most, just walking and having fun time, of my life, and it may have just been how hungry I was when i got to the top, but the food was spectacular(not as spectacular at Christens cooking, but still spectacular). the Cabane Vignette is on top of Mount Rosa, where the only way to get to it is by climbing the better part of the mountain, then one of two glaciers, or by helicopter. The hotel is self sufficient for water (from the glacier) and power (from the solar panels), but they have to fly in food.

Anywany, I had a ton of fun, and before I show you guys pictures, I want to say two quick messages.

To Mike: thank you for calling me a wuss whenever I wore a coat above freezing for the better part of my childhood. I'm serious, when we were climbing, i was aclimated to the cold, and when other people were wearing coats, Ijust wore a t-shirt, and I felt pretty awesome. Thanks for the helpful peer pressure bro!

To Ms. Cooper: I'm not trying to be a jerk, but during the first couple days of class you should focus on getting kids to memorize important phrases like, "I know we are on top of a glacier, with no bathroom in 20 miles, but I really need to go. so, if you and your family could just look away for a minuet, it'd be great" in french. No, but all joking aside, I knew how to say "May I use the restroom", and "where is the restroom", but not "I need to use the facilitree". I'ts just a thought for a more practical class.

Anyways, our trip ended up being two glaciers, one mountain, and 28km(11miles)

Ahhh... c'est un bon Matin

Woke up today, worked out, shaved took a shower, got dressed, and then saw an amazing site out of my window. i have a picture perfect window that looks out at the majority of Bulle (pronounced "boo-el", as I found out yesterday) and it was... sorry there was un chat meowing at my window and i had to let him in. that was weird, any way, c'est un good view.

My Ipod camera sucks, but you get the idea.

WHOOH, it;s been a long day.

I've been up since 7:00 mountain time and its 20h50 dans Suisse right now. To solve that math problem, basically take the time between the two times, and add 7 hueres pour time difference. Je tres fatigue.

My day went good, I met Philippe, Christine, Amandine, et Quentin although i'm pretty sure i spelled their names wrong. No one in my Famille speaks fluent English, but Amandine understands a little bit and can speak un petit peu aussi (probably a good thing). Fortunatly for me, my host Mere et Soeur are both AMAZING cooks, and it looks like like gourmet Swiss food for me. Demain we are taking a hike through the montagnes, which should be a blast. Well, I would right more but I've been up for14 hours, with only two hours of sleep and another 16 hours of awake time right before it. yeah, I'm REALLY tired, so just know that today went well, and i am looking forward to tomorrow. Note that the Novelty hasn't worn off and it seems like i am looking in on a movie of me doing all of this. The sheer reality that i know is out there just hasn't sunk in yet, and i hope it never does.

PS: my French class didn't really help a whole lot on grammar, and sentence structure, but i can pick out a lot of words from simple sentences, and understand what they are talking about.

Pullin' an ALL NIGHTER

I'm staying at the Hilton In Salt Lake City, its 4:24 in the morning, but i'm not sleeping. I could attribute it to excitement or nervousness (which i definitely am) but in actuality, i figure if i stay awake until people in Switzerland would go to bed, i can get on their time and skip the Jet-Lag. I think its a better alternative to going to sleep now, waking up at seven, getting on my plane, going to sleep until i get there, staying up a few hours, and then trying to sleep again. the way i figure it, its 12h24 in Switzerland so if i stay up till 22h00, and then sleep (it'll be on the flight) and then wake up in Amsterdam, i will be on Swiss time... We will see if this post makes any sense later on, because i am really tired... and i'm probably rambling... yeah, 9 and a half hours to go. i will keep you posted as i go, if i have Internet... yeah... D'accord, jusqu'a la prochaine,

This is daniel signing off...

PS: These posts will get more interesting, I'm just trying to get in the habit of writing them.

I have my departure date and I'm done packing

Well, the title pretty much sums up what i have to say. My flight leaves from SLC Air Port at 11:00 on Saturday August 6th, and I am really nervous. i haven't been sleeping because of the anticipation, and my parents are starting to get angry at me for sleeping in so much. I can't help it though, I am really excited... and worried. As the days grow smaller and smaller in number i start to get the feeling that the four years of french class aren't going to do squat, and I'm going to be totally clueless when i get over there.

It's reassuring when i talk (more like text) to Amandine over FaceBook. it's nice to know that I have some semblance of what i am doing, but speaking and understanding it may prove to be more difficult.

Its weird how when the days to leaving get closer, you start realizing all the things you are gonna leave behind. I don't mean objects like cars or guns (still gonna miss), but more like family, friends, pets, cheeseburgers. You know the important stuff. I broke up with my girlfriend the other day. We both saw it coming since the summer was starting to end but it doesn't make it any easier. I'm worried about her but I know that saying anything to her would just make it worse. I never fully understood all of those break up songs, and now they all seem to click. I also said "later" to my brother the other day, which was weird just to think about how long it might be till i see him. The reason i said later, is because im tired of people telling me goodbye. I always feel like "gosh, I'm coming back!". Also, it never ceases to amaze me how every day at least three people say "oh, I thought you had already left", probably the product of my dad telling everyone about it for the last couple months.

Well, even though it's all jumbled together, as of 22h44 mountain time, 8/1/2011, you are all up to speed on my life (Pre- Exchange).