It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go;
Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow." -Michael Bublé


There are several reasons why this is true. First of all, it's starting to feel like Christmas, because, although Thanksgiving isn't really a thing here, my Christmas Spirit doesn't really kick in until after that 4th Thursday in November. Dorina and I were talking about what brings us into the Christmas spirit, and for me, it really does have to be after Thanksgiving. (Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with you early birds).

Christmas markets (Christkindlmärkte, as I came to know them in Vienna, or Weihnachtsmärktli, as they are called around these parts) have popped up everywhere! Last weekend, I went to Luzern on Saturday with Dorina, her boyfriend, and his parents. There was a gospel choir concert that we wanted to see in the evening, but before that, we explored the Weihnachtsmärktli. Dorina and I fell in love with some knitted hats (and I had forgotten my hat at home, so my cold head made the idea of buying one even more appealing), so we bought matching ones but in different colors. Boy, was it a pain to find one that went nicely with the sort-of-green of my jacket and the various colored scarves that I have. We also enjoyed a nice cup of Glühwein (mulled wine), which makes standing outside for an hour (or however long you're staying) quite bearable.

Dorina and I in our matching hats :-)

 Dorina and I also went out to dinner together in Winterthur (a rare thing, since EVERYTHING is so expensive here), and afterwards, we wandered through Winti's markets as well.

Weihnachtsmärktli in Winterthur!

It also has been snowing. A LOT. And I'm from Michigan, which means I'm used to a lot of snow. Luckily, it doesn't stick around for very long here, but it doesn't really have time to melt when it just keeps snowing. (Thank you, Winterthur, for making me feel at home, but I wasn't really a big fan of snow to begin with...)

and snowing, and snowing, and snowing...

I haven't been outside in a couple of days (I was sick--I'm not just being lazy or snow-scared) but Dorina measured it yesterday and said it was 20cm (almost 8in). And I'm pretty sure it's snowed since then.

Taken from my window. If you think I'm going outside just for a picture...think again.

For now, the snow is okay (as long as the buses are still running). The cities are decorated with lights, which just make the heart a little warmer.

The final, and possibly best, reason why it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, is a very special advent calendar that Dorina and I have been given. Ingrid, the mother of Dorina's boyfriend, bought Dorina and I small presents, all wrapped with a number on them. For 18 days, we have something small to open and celebrate the Advent season with.

A "Merry Christmas" Santa Wreath and some star/snowflake decorations

Strings of Christmas-colored stars and reindeer

Since I obviously couldn't bring all my Christmas stuff with me, it's nice to have these little things to decorate our rooms with and feel a little bit more at home and in the Christmas Spirit. (I just hope I'll have the room to bring it!)

Thirteen days until I leave for Baunatal, Deutschland with Dorina and her boyfriend, Raffael to celebrate Christmas! :-) In the meantime, you'll catch me drinking Nutella Hot Chocolate and listening to my favorite Christmas albums: Michael Bublé and Sounds of the Season '98 (yes, 1998--Thanks Mom and Dad!).

Stay warm! (unless you're Sara or Anna...I know, I know, there's no snow in L.A. or Honduras :-P)

Weitering my Bildung

A quick Thanksgiving Update before moving on to the rest of my post: I was able to Skype with my sister in the evening (I was getting ready to go to dinner and she had just woken up...I swear I'll never ever get used to this time difference!) 

I was invited Thanksgiving morning to a Thanksgiving dinner by one of the daughters and son-in-law of my host parents. The hosts of the dinner had lived in the US for 6 years, and two of their children were born in the US. The kids said they wanted a real Thanksgiving dinner, so the family planned it and invited all of their friends. All of the traditional foods were there--Turkey, salad, bread, mashed potatoes, beans, corn, and sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. For desert there was pumpkin pie and some chocolate cake. I LOVED that they had all the traditional stuff! Everyone was so surprised about the sweet potatoes & marshmallows and thought it was both weird sounding and weird that it was not a part of the desserts! I think everyone liked it though--I know I did :-)

This weekend we had a Weiterbildung (Professional Development) Symposium in Biel.

We drove by car to the Symposium, which took a little bit less than two hours. For me, as an American, this was nothing. Driving home from Grand Rapids took longer than that! But for the Swiss, that is a long car ride. By the time we got to Biel, my fellow car travelers were saying how glad they were to get out of the car and that they needed to go for a walk or something because that was such a long ride. I was trying not to laugh. It feels like Switzerland is so much bigger than it is because of how Swiss people refer to how far away things are. Switzerland is approximately six times smaller than Michigan, but it feels as if I'm living in a state as big as California ;-)

Biel is in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, so (lucky for me!) everyone spoke in Hochdeutsch instead of Swiss German. Although I am understanding Swiss German more and more, it's definitely not enough to listen to lectures for two straight days. There were also French translators for the French speakers.

The main lecturer of the Symposium was a British man named Trevor Cooling. In his lecture, I found out that he's worked a lot with one of my professors from Calvin and my contact through which I got this job, David Smith. Professor Smith has done a LOT of work in the Christian Education field, and I have always found him fascinating and impressive, but never did I think he was so famous. People who found out that I studied at Calvin and under Professor Smith were so impressed and jealous, and thought I was so impressive. It was quite strange! His presentation on Christian teaching was really interesting (www.whatiflearning.co.uk if you're interested). Friday night, after his presentation, we went back to our lodge (hostel-esque) and had a couple of drinks in the lounge/restaurant area before heading to bed. It was really nice to spend time with the teachers that evening, out of school and mostly not talking about school. That was part of my motivation for wanting to go to the Symposium (since I'm not hired as a teacher, I was not required to go)--getting to know my fellow teachers better. The other part, of course, was wanting to learn more, since I will (hopefully) soon have a real class of my own.

On Saturday, we had another lecture from Trevor Cooling and then three workshops, where we could pick three from several options. I found the three I went to (one from Trevor Cooling, one about creativity in the classroom, and one from my school principal talking about what he learned about Christian schooling in the US) to be very interesting and I learned some new things that I can hopefully use in my classes in the future.

The only downside to having a Professional Development seminar on the weekend, is that there's not much time to relax before the next school week starts...oh well!

Thankful Turkeys

Thursday is Thanksgiving, only it doesn't feel like it because I don't have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off of work. In fact, I actually have a professional development symposium in Biel on Friday and Saturday, so that means kind-of work on Saturday too. In a holiday week, this almost feels unfair, except that there is no Thanksgiving in Switzerland. Some farmers celebrate a sort of Thanksgiving at harvest time, but it is nothing like American Thanksgiving. No giant family feasts or oversized turkeys or parades with larger-than-life floats and balloons, and most certainly not Black Friday. (It's a miracle if a store is open later than 8pm here, so opening doors anywhere between 12 and 5am would be unheard of.)

Normally, Thanksgiving isn't really my thing. Don't get me wrong, I have LOTS to be grateful for in my life. But I don't usually get excited for Thanksgiving. Partly because I'm a vegetarian, so I'm not exactly pumped for a giant bird in the middle of the table. It's not that I'm not an animal-rights vegetarian, but I don't like the smell or the look of it. Blech. I'm also not a huge fan of stuffing or cranberry sauce. (Sidenote: One Thanksgiving, my sister and I spent it alone together and ate Macaroni and Cheese as our Thanksgiving dinner. Probably one of my favorite Thanksgivings to date ;-D)

I do, however, find myself missing home and Thanksgiving when there's no chance for me to participate in it. And since I teach English Conversation, I get the chance to teach whatever I want, which includes teaching about American Holidays. And being able to talk about my culture's traditions and holidays makes me feel a little bit better :-)

So, in my English Conversation class today, we made Thankful Turkeys. I had a lot more planned, but due to some other circumstances, I only had two students today and shifted my plans a little bit (ahh, I love the flexibility of teaching!). I explained a little bit about about why we celebrate Thanksgiving and what the word means, and we talked about some typical foods that we eat--with Turkey being the biggest part. Then we made our Thankful Turkeys. Here was my example Thankful Turkey:

Here is what I said I am thankful for: 1. My year in Switzerland  2. Skype and Email  3. New friends (and old friends!) and 4. My family (I put Mom, Dad, Sara, and Edward to make it more detailed, but really, I'm thankful for all my extended family too!!)

My students thought it was funny that I put "My year in Switzerland" because they always live in Switzerland, so that's not so interesting. They also thought it was funny that I put "Skype and Email" (and weird that I didn't put Facebook--how uncool of me) until I explained that modern technology helps make the physical distance feel less far and a little more bearable.

Then my two students made their own thankful turkeys. One had trouble thinking of things, even when I offered to help translate into English (oops, too much pressure) and the other basically copied mine with a few minor changes ;-) They still got the point though, and they turned out adorably.

Today, I am thankful for a small class with just enough laughs to make my day brighter and opportunities for the quieter students to talk freely.
Today, I am thankful for doctors with steady hands and best friends who are healing well.
Today, I am thankful for everyone reading my blog, because that means you care, and that makes me feel loved.
Today, I am thankful for Switzerland and the amazing opportunities and experiences I am lucky enough to have.
Today I am thankful.

I guess I don't have to be in the US or surrounded by family to celebrate Thanksgiving :-)

Watching the Election from a distance

Being in Switzerland during this time means I’m missing the election at home. While part of me is kind of sad that I don’t get to vote in person at the polls (I have yet to do that for a Presidential election, although this is only my 2^nd Presidential Election where I can vote), but mostly I’m really okay with being on the outside of it. I don’t miss the TV adverts or the constant debates among friends, coworkers, and even random strangers. I don’t miss the bumper stickers or yard signs either. I’ve already voted, but despite that, I’ve watched all three presidential debates on YouTube after they took place. (I tried to watch the vice-presidential debate, but it didn’t catch my interest as fast, so I abandoned it and haven’t yet tried re-watching it.) 
 

I’m glad I’ve already voted, because watching the debates, quite honestly, can make it more difficult to choose. Voting for a president is not easy, because you will never agree 100% with whom you decide to vote for. You just have to find the one whom you agree with more. Some people choose to always vote Democrat, and some people choose to always vote Republican. I guess by voting history and most of the hot-button issues, I would be a Democrat, although I am nowhere near signing up to be a Registered Democrat. Yes, I voted for Obama in 2008, and yes, I’ve voted for him again. I’m happy with my vote, and I researched before voting and sending in my ballot. I agree more with Obama, although I am unsure about some things he says. When listening to Romney speak at the debate, there are some things I find myself agreeing with or wondering if he would actually do well, but I still would rather see Obama remain President. And no, I’m not interested in arguing about who might be better, and I won’t judge you if you vote(d) for Romney. To each his own. Plus, those of you that really know me know that I am a very non-argumentative person. Almost everybody here that I’ve talked with about the election has said that if they could, they would also vote for Obama. I must say, it’s pretty nice to not have to argue about my voting preference here. Most everyone has just happily smiled when I said I voted for Obama twice.

I’ve also been teaching about the election in a few of the English classes I help out in. In one class, I showed a video of the national anthem and made them stand, facing the flag with their hand over their heart. I showed a video of Whitney Houston singing the national anthem with full gusto and heart. I showed a video of the Presidential motorcade driving through New York. I showed a video of an Obama TV advert and a Romney TV advert. (These videos all took place over three different lessons.) The students thought it was weird, strange, funny, and interesting. And it is! We are one of the most (if not the most) patriotic countries in the world. Some might say we go a bit overboard. Our election process is unique—simple sounding, yet quite complicated. The arguing/debating, fame, and the quest for a down-to-earth appearance as President are odd. What I’ve grown up with as normal, is quite far from normal over here.

I’m bummed I don’t get to watch the Election results live on TV like I did in my dorm room in 2008 (it’ll be the middle of the night for me), but I am excited and anxious to wake up on Wednesday morning to the results of Tuesday night.

Good luck, America!

Luzern

Well, the first week of back-to-school post-holidays break (everyone calls it "holiday" here instead of "break/vacation" because they learn British English...so now I've been saying it too) is over and the second week has begun. I've been meaning to write another blog entry for over a week, but last week was so busy and somewhat stressful that I just didn't get around to it.

In the 2nd week of the break, I had to work at the school. Dorina and I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned...and then cleaned some more. I work in the Trollstrasse building (Secondary school building) so that was where I cleaned, and for most of the days, Dorina worked with me. We cleaned everything in every single classroom--floors, tables, chalkboards, windows, etc. It was pretty exhausting, especially knowing that the students would be shortly returning and everything would be dirtied up again soon. Although, after a week, it mostly still looks pretty good...mostly ;-)

Since we worked so hard and fast, we finished all the cleaning on Thursday and then got Friday free! That was a pretty nice feeling. Dorina and I decided to go to Luzern on Saturday for the day. We took a train from Winterthur to Zürich, and then Zürich to Luzern. Luzern is in the middle-ish of Switzerland.

The pink-outlined thing is Switzerland. The purple "A" is where Luzern is (Lucerne in English).

The weather was beautiful and absolutely perfect! We didn't have much planned for the day, just walking around and exploring. I ended up finding some winter boots that I love and were on sale (bonus, especially since everything is SO expensive here!!) and there was a flea market where Dorina and I bought a few things. With the flea market, Dorina and I got to experience haggling over prices in Swiss German--and some were more difficult to understand dialects of Swiss German. We also saw some of the famous sights that Luzern is known for. We did manage to take a LOT of pictures, especially given the beautiful weather. Here are a few:

I love this with the Swiss flag in it :-)

The famous Kapellbrücke

A stunning view from the Kapellbrücke

Löwendenkmal - a memorial for some fallen soldiers from a war from a long time ago.

I LOVE how the mountains are the silhouetted backdrop for this city. Breathtaking!

Dorina and I, by the lake around sunset :-)

No matter what, I always feel like the pictures don't do it justice. Maybe I need a fancy-schmancy camera. Or maybe you should just come visit and see it for yourself.

I'm really really glad we took this day trip on this particular Saturday, because just one week later and everything is covered in snow. This past Saturday morning it started snowing, just flurries and not sticking, but snowing nonetheless. It continued all day and started to stick, and didn't stop until Sunday afternoon/evening. There is a lot of snow outside now and really, it's beautiful, but it still seems a little early--it's not even November yet!

Oh, and in Europe, we finish Daylight Savings Time a week before all of you living in the Western Hemisphere, so for this week, we're one hour closer to each other ;-)

Herbstferien

Here in Switzerland (or at least in the Canton of Zürich, since I know the school system differs by Canton and I don't know how much it differs), they have year-round schooling. This does not mean we go to school on Saturdays (I know there are some schools that have that, but it's not the norm). It does not mean the school year is longer than in the US. It's still about the same, it's just that the breaks are more spread out. About every two months, there is a two week break. The only exception is between the end of the school year, which is in the middle of July, to the start of the new school year, which is in the middle of August. So, the summer break is about a month long.

Since school started in August, it is now the Fall Break (Herbstferien). We have two weeks off, although I'll be doing things around the school in the second week. My host family has gone to Ibiza, Spain for most of the first week, and Dorina has gone back to Germany for the first week. This means I get the house to myself for a couple of days--and those of you that know me, know that I love this :-)

On Friday, I was discussing with a few students what they were planning on doing during the break. One asked me if I was going back home for my break. I said no, and laughed a little, as this sounds ridiculous in my mind. He asked why, and I told him that it costs too much money. He then asked if I would be going back home for Christmas, to which I again replied no. He looked at me incredulously and said "You still wouldn't have enough money?!" This I found funny, because I don't have enough money to come home--I still consider myself a "poor college kid," but also because I don't want to. Don't get me wrong, I know I'll be sad and missing my family the most during the holidays, but my point in being here is to be here for one year! I was also recently asked if I would go on the USA-exchange trip that the 9th class does every year. This would have been from the end of April to the end of May. Some people may jump at the chance to go back home for a whole month, but my heart was not so excited. It didn't work out anyway with university classes, but I also just felt silly thinking about going home for a month before my Year in Switzerland was over. My intention with this adventure is to be here for one year, and okay, so it's only 11 and a half months at the most, but that's close enough in my book, and I'm glad I get to stay for the full time. My visa stuff is all worked out and I'm allowed to stay for a year--and that's just what I'm going to do :-)