A Little Better Each Day.

As the title suggests, I really am feeling a little better each day, although I still feel like crap. As sick as this may sound, it made me a little happier to talk with other exchange students and hear they feel the same or worse than me. I felt a little better not because I get joy from their pain (like it is with most people) but because I can relate to it. It puts me at ease a little to know that I am not the only one having a rough time at the moment. I am put even more at ease when a past exchange student tells me that it will pass soon, and I can really start to enjoy my exchange.

I filled out my first report thingie yesterday, and I had an epiphany... that I spend WAY too much time on the computer. As part of the first report, we have to log internet and computer usage for one week. I found that I spend roughly 3 hours per weekday, 4-5 on weekend days, comes out to an average of 24-25 hours per week. That's over a day every week that I spend on the computer! "How is that possible? What could you possibly be doing?" you might say, well, I will tell you.

First of all, as required by Yvan Gougler, I am forced to check and respond to my emails every day...
EVERY TIME that I log onto my email there are always tons of things that I have to do (for Rotary, Military, Congress Nominations). As it stands right now,  I have 15 (not an exaggeration) essays to write, three of which by the end of the week.

Every other day it seems I get forms in the mail that need saving, printing, filling out, scanning or faxing back. Right now, that's fine because I have a family that lives in this century, but my next host family has only one computer (dinosaur), dial up connection (didn't even know that still existed) and don't use cell phones because the radio waves, give you cancer. I will not  be able to do my Academy stuff there, I don't know what I'm gonna do.
Secondly for school, I am required to do an hour an a half per day (except Friday) of my language program Tell me more, which comes out to a Whoppin' 6 hours per week!
Lastly, I spend maybe 30 minuets a week posting on my blog (not gonna change)

All in all, I think that my problem of depression and head aches may be partly caused by staring at a screen for 1/7th of my exchange.

Today was a good day.

Well, today was a good day that was born from a bad one, if that makes any sense.

Yesterday I got really sick, and today when I woke up, I was still pretty sick. But it's Saturday and I didn't have to get up early, and I was able to sleep in and make up for some lost sleep. After I woke up and ate some delicious lunch (didn't eat breakfast), i checked my mail, and found that I won a free ski weekend from a drawing that I had applied for, and forgot about. After that my family and I went on a hike, and drank Speitzi at the cabin at the top. All in all, it was a good day, even though I still feel a little sick. I'm crossing my fingers it'll be gone by tomorrow when we leave for EUROPAPARK!!!!!!!!! Sorry, sorry, I know I already bragged about it, but i'm just so excited.... YEHEHEHEHEHESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! nana-nana boo-boo! haha-haha!

De tout facon, I'll catch y'all later, I'm sick of typing... (two drums and a symbol).

-BIG SIGH- and I'm gonna blog about my problems...

WARNING: THIS WHOLE BLOG IS JUST ME COMPLAINING AND VENTING, SO IF YOU ARE DEPRESSED OR PRONE TO SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, DON'T READ THIS- IT'LL JUST MAKE YOU MORE DEPRESSED.

SO, where do I start...

Firstly, I am definetly feeling the withdrawal sensation from American life, know to most as homesickness, and as if it were a just a spite from a torturer, the friggen hundreds (over exaggerated, but still, probably 15 a day) emails from friends, family, military representatives, colleges, and random subscriptions from years past, are definelty not helping. Now, this is not an exaggeration, 5 out of 6 emails are BAD NEWS. Such as...

You need to fill out these online applications, copy these forms print them, fill them out, scan and or fax them back to six different individuals in only blue ink, and if its wrong, were gonna make you do it again, write 600 essays for the military and these colleges and the senators and the congress woman and I prolly shouldn't be writing this on the internet... but I am.

I am so sick of these emails, and I would not check it, but I get important "time sensitive emails" through it all the time. Okay, maybe it's just me, but what is it with every person in authority giving me one friggin week to get a whole crap-load of stuff done. seriously I can show you at least 12 emails in my inbox including the words "you have one week to comply" or "hurry and do this fast, or you wont be eligible" or something very similar.

Seriously though, if that isn't very bad, then I should tell you about my hand. So, the other day, I was mountain biking through the forest when out of nowhere a large log jumped into the path, while I was on a steep decline, going very fast, in the mud. Needless to say, I couldn't really swerve, or brake hard, I just kinda had to hit it. Anyways, a split second and a wholly crap moment later, I had completed a face plant, and subsequently landed on my right hand, which was doing some fancy acrobatics (bending the wrong way) on the ground.

De tout Facon, a small hospital visit, and a whole lotta left handed writing later, my hand is still sprained and I am trying to keep up in geography class... can you see where this is headed, because I didn't at the time, but its quite obvious now. The professor says something out of the blue (which is the hardest, because I'm not prepared), and its really fast, without enunciation and thus incomprehensible for me. Immediately, everyone in the class starts writing very intensively. Totally clueless, I look around the class to try to figure out whats going on when the Geo prof notices my... not-writingness.

Now, this would would almost be a momentous occasion, had it not been so utterly humiliating, and pathetic. That day marked the first day in my life, in any language, that I have ever been told that "If you don't stop slacking off in class, I am going to have to make you leave" immediately followed by a "totally clueless about what to write" gaze from me, and then a lecture about how Swiss schools are for students who want to learn from my trusty Geotorturer(i'ts a compound word, look it up). (keep in mind, that I add in humor for interesting reading purposes, but these stories are NOT EXAGGERATED)

All in all, at the end of.... whatever week it is now, I am very homesick and depressed, which I am still hesitant to write on the internet, but I am going to do it because this is a record of the bad times, as well as the good. I am happy to report that this week when I was thinking "I need a Vacation" my prayers were answered later that day, when my host parents announced we will be going to Europapark, followed by a two week sebaticle from school. YEHEHEHEHEHEHESSSSSSSS (screaming yes while laughing, in case you were wondering)

This is Daniel, prematurely saying TGIF, Catch y'all later!

End of week four, feeling fine.

As the title suggests, my fourth week at school just ended and I have really put a lot of my worries and problems to rest. I haven't had any problems with my Geo teacher (Mostly because I am flying under the radar and avoiding him) but it seems he has found other people to bother. I'm not sure if i mentioned this in my last post, but I have made a lot of friends, with the kids in my class. I am doing relatively well in school, considering its really hard to understand what most of my profs are saying. During French and German class, I get on a computer and do language exercises on a program called TellMeMore.

I would love to tell you a story about something that happened, but really it's been quite normal these last two weeks, just going to school and learning french. I would like to point out that Ultimate Frisbee isn't just an american thing, and we played it in gym. We also play the card game "Scum" when we are bored, which is a very common activity on the speech bus back home. the rules of both, are just un petite peu different here though.

Well that's about it from my end, if you have any questions, feel free to post!

First Two Weeks of School- Been a Blast

I'm very sorry to the herds of fans I know are out there just clicking the refresh button, waiting for another post, but I never seem to make time to post these days. As the title suggests, I've been having fun in school making new friends and going to parties. You might notice I left out "thoroughly enjoying all of my classes" but don't jump to conclusions. It's not that I haven't been having fun, it's just I don't seem to understand a lot of what some of my profs say. I can understand the profs that teach languages because they focus thoroughly on pronunciation, but some of the other profs just speak really fast and slumpalltheirwordstogetherintoasentencelikethis! I've grown accustomed to this kind of behavior with kids, but it still throws me for a loop with the professors.

I like (personality wise) all of my professors, except for one who seems to have it out for me. His name is M. Morin (not to be confused with Mr. Moron) and he seems to dislike foreign exchange students. My first day I asked him "Is there anything that I will need for this class?" like I did with all my professors. He just smiled and said "just paper for taking notes" (this conversation was in Français, but you get the point). The next class rolls around and he starts the class by saying "alright, everybody take out you World Atlas, maps of Switzerland, compasses, rulers, calculators, and triangle instruments (the instrument you write with, not the instrument you play if your too stupid to play anything else). I was flabbergasted. "Crap!" I thought "Where did that come from?" he smirks a little bit as he approaches and demands "where are your materials Daniel?" I started a feeble attempt to explain my situation, which he crudely interrupted with a small rant about how "it just goes to show how Americans are unprepared ..." I couldn't understand what was gong on. I decided just to suck in the humiliation and move on, but he went a step further with talking to my homeroom teacher, telling her that I was insubordinate and refused to bring my materials to class.

The next day when my homeroom teacher demanded why I was acting up, I figured it best to just explain my situation, beg for forgiveness, and hopefully move on without further incidents. While I was doing my best to explain my complex situation entirely in french, a smile slowly grew in the corner of her mouth, which had bloomed into a full grin by the time I had finished. She basically replied with "it figures, he has had problems with exchange students before", and then she proceeded to tell me, that it was okay, I just need to be prepared for the next class, and that unpreparedness wasn't tolerated at this school. I just smiled and said "oui, oui, je compris" politely until the lecture was over.

As much of a nightmare as that sounds like, the rest of my professors are really nice, and understand the fact that I don't fluently speak the language yet. My profs of Maths et Histoire are really cool too, but they talk funny and its really difficult to understand them when they lecture. I really wish it wasn't so difficult, because I would really like to know what they are saying (primarily the history teacher on that one). I also enjoy my art and gym classes (the only classes I've really excelled at so far), because my profs speak relatively clearly, and are fun to be around. It also doesn't hurt when they explain something again when I don't understand. I really like my prof of English, (the fact that she speaks English is certainly a factor) but she is a good, fun loving person as well. She has a strong accent of Gruyere mixed with British, Australian, and a little bit of German, which ends up sounding like she is from the Netherlands(don't ask me why). Also My Homeroom teacher (also my prof d'Allemand (mein Deutchlehrer (my German teacher))) is a nice lady, who has a really good sense of humor and is willing to help me when I need it.

All in all, I am having a blast and I look forward to my next day of school! I know a lot what I write is really hard to understand, but that's because it's pretty much just my mind poured out on the internet, and I don't do much editing (other than a little spell check). I sincerely hope that it is still fun to read, make sure you invite your friends and get them to join! I'm losing the "# of Followers" race really horribly.

Signing off, but definitely not for the last time, this is Dan the Man Levitan saying, wow that was a really lame nickname.

Family Reunion

Before I tell you about my first week of school, I need to tell you about my family reunion.

THE TRIP--

The trip there was long and embarrassing but I made it. The the night before I left I had a chat with Christian (my cousin) and he said, if you want we can pick you up in a town right after you get off the train, and it will be easier, because you wont have to use the bus system to find your way here. In my infinite wisdom that I've aquired over the past month of navigating the public transportation system, I intelligently remarked that I was now a master of public transport, and I could find my way all by myself. He thought it was a bad idea, but eventually gave in and gave me good directions, and a phone number at which I could call him at if i got lost.

Now in my own defense, the first couple legs of the trip (the majority) went fine until I was waiting to get on the last train, and I forgot what my stop was. Silly me for listening to all my dads stories about Herisau, Appenzell, Wald Shonengrund, and many more little towns that dad always related to WHERE CHRIS LIVED. Now that my train was coming, I litterally couldn't remember which one my family actually lived in and I didnt have enough time to figure it out, and I couldn't ask someone, because no one spoke English or French. I decided my best bet was to call my cousin and simply ask for the name. So I pulled out my cellular device, and scrolled through my contacts until I got to C and there was "Christine Sugnux", "Combox" and "Corentin" but no Chris, I was flabbergasted. Perhaps when I was typing it in, instead of pressing "save" I pressed "cancel", or maybe when I was changing through the three phones I've managed to break since I got here, it was lost. Either way it was no longer here, and I needed it.

I decided my best bet was the copy of the phone number on my email account. Well that's a relatively easy fix, all I've gotta do is log on the the free WiFi in the train station with my iPod, scroll through the emails, and... Wait a second, I forgot. I am in Europe where WiFi is scarce, and when you can find it its very expensive. my only other option is to call my host brother, who is still asleep at home, and tell him how to log onto my g mail account, find the phone number and read it out to me... entirely in french. It was a good exercise and I am better for it, but it took roughly thirty minuets to negotiate, and when I got done, my battery was dying and my train was strolling down the tracks. I had just enough time to call My cousin twice, and he didnt answer either time. I found out later that that was a freak accident, and he was just in the bathroom for the two minuets that I called. On the train I called again and my battery died.

Here I was hurling towards the next stop, not knowing which one to exit on, and if I screw up, I have to wait an hour for the next one. Eventually the hard to understand voice on the PA system said "nachtser halt-- Herisau" which was close enough to English, that I understood it. I remembered that the old Holderegger shop was in Herisau, and I decided that it was my best bet. After getting off of the train I quickly realized that this wasn't Kansas anymore, and the only language spoken was Swiss German. After a bit of sulking, and trying to figure out a complex bus map (entirely in German) I decided to ask around for WiFi, so i could could contact My cousin over Skype. After what seemed like a million people who didn't speak either of my two languages, I found a girl, in a cafe/bakery who took a little English in high school. She told me I could get free WiFi if I just made a short kilometer hike up to the post office, which was closed when i got there. My phone was dead, it seemed there was no WiFi in Herisau, I was hot sweaty and tired. that little voice in my head was saying "go home, this isn't worth the trouble, hike back to the train station. you can have the satisfaction of trying, but this excursion is over."

But, being of competative nature, I decided to exhaust all options of getting to this reunion before giving up. I made a quick inventory of my pockets, and found a two frank coin, convinently the largest coin that will fit in public telephones, but unconviniently the last of my physical money. (in my defense, I didn't just head off with a two frank coin, I bought a sandwich on the train, and some toblerone, and a map of Switzerland in the Herisau train station (because it was in french and I thought I could use it to find my way)) Anyway, I made another "Hail-Mary" call to My cousin, which he missed because he was out of the room. "no biggy" I thought to myself "I'm sure this two frank coin is worth more than one missed call" as I look down at the telephone (the only thing in Herisau that spoke fluent English) snidely remarked "call lost, no refunds, have a nice day"

I felt like the poster boy for Murphies Law. I was totally exausted, smelly, thouroughly discouraged and about 5 minuets from turning around and heading back to Bulle when I saw the Holderegger shop (no longer the Holderegger Shop, but the building is still there) and i decided it was a Kodak moment. after feeling alittle better that i found something of our family's, i decided to continue a little further where i saw a restuaraunt. I thought to my self, "Ok get a cold coca cola (TGFP(Thank Goodness For Plastic)) and then you can head down and catch the next train back".

As I was walking up the steps, my stomach rolled over, I thought I was gonna puke, but at the same time, I was happier than I'd been all day, when I saw the words FREE WiFi HERE conviniently printed in English, on the steps to the restaurant. I rushed inside and asked how to connect. The lady inside understood and gave me the card (in German) of how to connect to the WiFi. After figuring out a seemingly complex card of how to log on to the internet, I was able to log on onto Skype and call my cousin, which lasted ten seconds before the internet cut out. "NO" i thought to myself "I AM TOO CLOSE TO LET THIS GO" I re-entered the login and password and he was able to say "where are you" before it cut out this time. I toggle typed on my iPod as fast as I could and decided that I would say "Herisau post office" when we connected this time and he could drive and get me. when we connected the third time i almost screamed "HERISAU POST OFFICE" as fast as I could and he said "OK, wait there" and it cut out. as I looked around people were staring at me for screaming, but I was too excited to care. I packed up my things and headed out to the post office, where another cousin was arriving to pick me up.

After this, my trip went relatively without incident and I had a blast. I was able to talk to family members i had never met, and catch up with the ones I had. I also got to spend time with Allisa (I know that's spelled wrong, post the correct spelling if you know it), who is strangely similar to my niece Allysa in the United States, which is increasingly bizarre because they have similar names and were born around the same time. We took a nice leisurely walk, and ate some dinner at Wald Shonengrund. It was well worth my time and I am so glad that I didn't give up.

school starts next Monday, but this weekend is the family reunion.

the title gives a pretty good description of my latest status up date but i will fill you in on all that has happened lately.

last Friday i went shooting with the Sugnaux's and discovered that "shooting" in the states, and "Tirer" (pronounced Tee-Ray) in Suisse is very different. In the US, at least for me, it is a fun filled activity, where people laugh and have fun while destroying something, (nothing important) and occasionally obtain bragging rights by proving to one another who can shoot farther and more accurately. In switzerland it is entirely different, in the sense that it is all about the competition, in every way. the local communities have shooting ranges set up where they can come together and have competions, but it is very serious. they have targets set up with eloctonic buttons on it. when you shoot the target, it tells you how many points you got and in what direction you were off. they also make you wear these really strange jackets that reduce the recoil of the gun. Everyone shoots with the standard military rifle because they are very common being that every male 18-40 is in the military and has one issued to them. also, after you are too old to be in the military, the government lets you keep your old rifle (without the auto sear). Anyways i am going to go shooting again today, but hopefully it will be a bit more fun.

Last weekend we also climbed another two glaciers on our way to a cabin on mount rosa, and trekked the same two coming back down, but that doesn't really count. that makes a grand total of four glaciers and two mountains that ive climbed in a month, if anyone is keeping track. It was a really beutiful trek and i will try to get some pictures up on FB if i get time.

the family reunion is this weekend, and i am really excited to get to meet some holdereggers for the first time, and see the ones that i already know. i will tell you how it went in my next blog post.

I got my permit L (basically like a temporary citizenship) and my ticket card (which i like to refer to as a BAMFIYFICRAPVIWTFF Card, or the BAMFtastical, In Your Face, I Can Ride Any Public Vehicle I Want To, For Free Card). Its kinda a long acronym, but it explains it purpose pretty well.

to sum it all up, im still having an blast, and i havent relly had a whole lotta problems so far, except not writing on my blog very much (sorry). i will catch you later, Dan