unterwegs

Grüezi!

I've been in the land of neutrality and the Matterhorn and chocolate-that-is-better-than-yours for about a week and a half now. My German is getting progressively better by the day, and the best and most adorable word I have learned thus far is unterwegs, which means traveling, or as explained by my host mom, on the road. It reminds me of all the lovely abbreviated English words my friends and I like to use (totes, maybs, strugs) that drive my dear sister up the wall (sorry, Grace.) Because Seraina goes to a different school than I do, this summer break is the only one the two of us have that lines up. We've been taking full advantage of the shared vacation by going on day trips all over the place. Rotary has kindly provided me with a GA (General Abonnement,) which has been wonderful. The GA is essentially my pass to use nearly every form of transportation to get just about everywhere in Switzerland, free of charge. So far we've been to Lucerne, Locarno, Bellinzona, the Rigi, the Schwyzer alps, Brunnen...it's a gorgeous country.

Luzern :

die Kappellbrücke

officially Swiss

Locarno :

inside of Madonna del Sasso

pizzeria on the lake

Rigi: 

Anita, Seraina and I took a train up to the top of the Rigi, a cable car down, and a ship to Brunnen, where we got gelato and took a train back to Arth-Goldau.

on a clear day, you can see Germany!

this ship is 100 years old this year

Schwyzer Alpen :

Look at this lake! Look at it!

Bellinzona:

Seraina and I went to Bellinzona for the sole purpose of castle exploration. This is Castelli di Montebello.

It has a drawbridge. It really does.

view of Castelgrande

castle vineyard

This week I met with both my Youth Exchange Officer and my counselor, and I officially start school on the 19th! I won't know what classes I'm taking until the day of, or even which grade I'll be in. High school students here pick a general direction in terms of subjects they are interested in: languages, math/science (nope), arts, etc. Most of your subjects have to do with the direction you choose, and are with the same group of students. There may be one or two other electives outside of your main focus as well. Regardless, everything (besides any foreign languages) will be taught in German, which will be extremely beneficial, albeit difficult at first - I'm really excited to start.

Tschüss for now!