You`re a Falling Star

Once again, I have free time... well, no family is around.

The neighbors are over for a nice glass of wine and nuts. They are very nice and I enjoyed a short conversation with them. But then I, um, left. Cause it`s just adults. Anita und Philipp are in their rooms.

Today was a special day.

We went to this gorge where the fictional Sherlock holmes was supposedly shot. I couldn`t read the plaques to understand... but I watched a travel video about it back at home. I think it was in Lucenes or something.

Anyways, I got up at 8:00 to be ready by 10:45.

Breakfast was gut, as usual.

I cried a lot when I learned that Kathy Albright has passed away. And my host mother didn`t know what was wrong. And I kept trying to tell her but I couldn`t talk. So she gave me a nice big hug for a minute or more while I cried. And finally I could tell her. I am sad because I never got to say good bye. I even sent her a letter... and it will never make it to her. And I grieve for the Albright family. But for Mrs. Albright? I am so glad for her... I mean, she`s up in heaven right now. Imagine that? It`s crazy to think about it and I bet she`s have a blast... but I still miss her. But I guess she can come see me in Switzerland now. And she doesn`t feel sick any more. So I talked to her. I don`t know if it will make it to her, but maybe God can say hi to her for me. I mean, he can do all things. And I bet she`d love the scenery here. But still... I cry, I cry now as I type this. I cried this morning. George is one excellent companian when I`m sad.

Sigh.

I can`t imagine going through that. God bless them. Last night, I was praying so much for her. God kept putting her on my heart, and especially the family. And so I prayed. And now I cry again.

Anyways...

We picked up Jessica first at the trainstation.

Meet Jessica:

Jessica is here on her exchange from South Africa and her first host family was the Hinters, my current host family.

It was insightful to hear about her exchange. Since she`s from the southern hemisphere, she comes here from January to January, while us up north come August to August.

Then we picked up Corey... Coriè? I don`t know how to spell her name. But I do know that she is my host mother`s goddaughter.

Meet Corey:

Next we picked up Jorge in Giswil.

You know Jorge:

Then it was off through the pass to the gorge.

It was a schnazzy drive, seven of us in one car.

We arrived.

We payed.

We hiked... it was a crazy cool hike.

Kinda like the pathway of doom.. no wonder Sherlock died.

It was a wooden walk way around a rocky cliff sort of thing, on the wall. And underneath us was a rushing river thingy. And sometimes we went through caves and got dripped on a lot.

Jorge brought Mivella.

Mivella.

Mivella is the Migros version of Rivella. And he had a pretty large bottle of it. I told him to carry it with pride... cause it was pretty large for one person. Luckily he shared :P I love love love Mivella. Jessica said that most American tourists hate it, but the exchangers don`t mind it. And, well, I can`t describe the taste at all. Sorry.

Here are some pics with the Mivella... it makes a good foto prop.

Can you spot the super white American?


Mivella... definitly worth showing off.


Mivella Love.. Mivellove


It never gets old.


Mivella makes a good friend.


It listens whenever you talk to it.


I have no idea what is happening here.


Mivella, the center of attention


About to get a drink.


Ahh, it ist so gut!

Yep.

And we walked, and finally we reached a picnic area by the water. It was quite nice. We had brot und kessen (sp?) und fleich. It was really good. And of course, we had Rivella und Mivella und Chocolate.

Lots of talking the entire way.

And afterwards, we got ice cream!

SUPER

Ahh, anyways, I read Pingu books at home, because I can sort of understand the German. And then I found out they had Pingu ice cream.

I got it.

You take off the hat to eat the ice cream out of where the brain should be... it is sooo good. Like it`s kiddy glace.. but it`s amazing and creamy and thick and, wow, I can`t even begin to describe the taste and texture as I put each tiny bite into my mouth. It just melts on the tongue. It`s sooo smooth.

Pingu!

Then there was a fantastic playground right by where we got the ice cream.

At first, I was the first to play on it, the rest stayed at the table. And Philip was playing too. But soon, everyone came and joined me. What can I say, playgrounds attract people of all ages.

And then we had a group shot...

And we headed home.

Yep.

And I hung out a bit.

I swept the garage.

And then the two folks came over for wine.

And in the middle of this blog, I went out and joined them and I practiced my German... I am actually pleased with myself... kind of rare. I was able to keep and make a conversation with the. And the lady didn`t know a lot of English so it worked out fine. I`ve learned enough that they said that they could understand me. We also had tuna on fine crackers.

Then I mentioned the meteor shower tonight... and so we watched it. And the couple went home. And we pulled out lawn chairs.

Sigh.

Life out of a book I tell you.

The sky here is so clear... it`s amazing. And so I was on a lawnchair with Anita and we saw so many falling stars. And two were very clear and long and bright and distinct. It was a magical moment. I was out there and we were all laughing like a family and I`m next to my sister under a blanket. And we just watched the stars and laughed.

Yes, I miss my family at home a lot... but God has blessed me and knew which family I would do well with.. even if my little brother does chase me around with big wooden sticks.

David Beckham - Making It Real

Mmkay. So it`s my third blog.. but whatever. The family is watcihng TV and it grossed me out too much. It`s where they go to hotels and look at the germs in the bed and vacuum and show everything.. gah, I couldn`t stand it :P

Anyways, I woke up this morning a bit later than normal... 9:00. And breakfast was all set for me.

I always clean my room each day in the morning, evening, and afternoon... I have nothing better to do.

On my calendar today it was covered in questions from someone... so I wrote a letter to them. Yep. Love the Sushi stationary?

It was a sunny day.. but also very rainy.

Next... well, I made book marks tags. I newspapers and food ads. The second one featured one of my favourite stores, Denners. And on it I put my new favourite drink, Rivella. Rivellla is impossible to describe because we have notihng like it in Ameria. No taste like it. But it`s pretty much pop.

And the first one was just a mix of all sorts of pixtures. I`ve started a collage of funny soccer faces... cause I have a soccer magazine now.

Click on a pic to see it bigger...

And I read a bit as well of my new Disney magazine. My family has a pile of old magazines they are throwing out and I rescued a few.

Then I bicycled around Sachseln a bit because it was a beautiful day.

And I went to the store, Denners, again and the Mezgerei.

Here, they have a different garbage system. They had it like ours but changed it last year because they figured, why shouldn`t people with more garbage pay more and vise versa. Anyways, now they have a bag system. You can buy a blue bag at the store, just one fee for a bag, and then you fill it up and put it in a special bin on every street (no garbage cans). You buy the bag at shops. Or you can get black bags and not pay... but you go to a special garbage center where they weigh it and you pay based on the weight of the bag. Clever eh?

Dinnner and Lunch was sausages... yum.

And for dessert we had a yogurt, granola, fresh berry thingy... I liked it.

OOH! Their mustard, it comes in some sort of a tube... like a giant toothpaste tube. I love it!

And I hung out a bit.. check out the other blogs.

And in the middle of this blog, I keep going to be with the family. Anita, Philipp, Brigitte, and I were all singing together some sort of camp song. Sigh. So nice. And then we were all shouting the alphabet together.... three languages at once. Loud, soft, quick, slow.

Thank you God for putting me in this family, you knew what I needed. More on that in another blog.

Oh yes, and here is my blazer:

Tchuss und thanks for the support,

Maggie

Still Blogging

I am now going to reflect on something they told us yesterday.

So I know the whole, "don`t talkt to people back home too much or you won`t be living the moment"

But then they addressed blogging back home. They said that this is our exchange and that we don`t have to share every moment with people back home. That we should save stuff.

And I whole heartedly agree.... I should save stuff... but this is my journal.

I have a journal here, but I just can`t get into it. And it takes so long to write everything down. So I realize that I`m telling you guy everything, but this is for me too... and that is why it is so long.

They also said that we would be missing out on life if we were always recording it. I disagree. When I blog is times when my whole family is watching TV or my sister is napping or something like that. I watch when I do and try to be careful. Usuallly I blog in the evenings.

Also, before I blog, I ask my mother if there is anything I can do to help. Any chores or jobs.

I guess this blog could just be a way of getting rid of some guilt that the Rotary put upon me :P

So despite what they told me... I will still continue to blog.

This is a record for me of my exchange, and who knows, maybe I`ll print it out somday.

My Hardcore Host Brother

My host brother is Philipp. And I can write about him here, and I don`t care if he finds it. All I haveis complements.. and that which is negative I keep to myself. Anyways, he does`t speak English. But the rule for myself is always assume that the person is going to read.. and understand, what you write about them.

Anyways, Philipp is hardcore.. definitly.

For the past two days he has dressed up as a ninja and always has ninja stars in a pouch around his waist and a belt on his leg with plastic knives in it.

I`ll be reading or just sitting and all of a suddent he`ll pull a knife up to my neck.. kind of freaky.

And just a few minutes ago, he was chasing me with a metal pole.

Gah - will I survive this year?

Yes.

And today, I walk in the room and he`s wearing some crazy cool mask and just surfing the web like that.

He came into my room, and I played for him Skillet... he loves it!

He was rocking out and dancing and lipsynching into a pole... hehe. You ought to have been there.

Then I hid under a tisch.. I have to feign dead quite often.

And I told him, "Meine musik ist Christlich."

And he didn`t belive me at first.

"Vas?!!? Ist... Christlich?"

And I was like, yes, it`s Christian...

Here in Switzerland, for Christian music, they mainly only have hymns. So when I told them we had drums and guitars and keyboard for church, they were surprised. No clapping at their churches. Yeah.. I`m definitly going to expose them to Christian music while I`m here.

78 Students

Today was a quite nice day for me.

Mwahah.. I sound like a German now... er, anyways.

Today was the Welcome Meeting for all of us inbounds in Switzerland... something that couldn`t be done in the USA... it would be hard to get all the students together from all 50 states in one hotel just for a couple hours with such ease.

This morning, I actually had a wake up time... I had to be out of the house by 8:00. And when the Swiss say 8:00... they mean 7:55.

On Sundays, we get a special bread (topf?)... and you can only buy it on Saturdays to eat on Sunday. Only on Sunday. Get it?

It is soooo gut!

Anyways, after breakfast, Ruedi drove me and Anita to Griswil (or something like that). Anita was dropped off at the train station and then we went into the village to pick up Jorge. On the ride, we had some pretty interesting music. Lots of polka, accordians, and even Frenchy Brown. Yes... they have accordian music on the radio. There are only three radio stations.

We had to go to Oltern which is around a 55 minute drive... it`s between Zurich und Luzerne.

We got there around 15 minutes early... but it was fine. I found some people I had seen in the airport. They also had lanyards and nametags made out for us. Pretty soon, we were all trading pins... that`s what we do, trade pins. I`ll show you my blazer later. We also trade business cards. Mom, can you go to Kenmore and get me more pins? I`m almost out.

There are 78 or so of us... 48 of which are girls. And we are from all over including the USA, Canada, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Sweden, Germany, and some other places I forget. The person from Germany goes to the French speaking part of Switzerland since German would be simple. There are also many exchangers from Australia and South Africa, but they come in January and leave in January, so we got to meet some... and they are epic (humorous).

We had lots of lectures.

We drank mineral water.

We ate lunch outside.

We did some workshops.

We went home with my headmaster, Jorge`s host father. Patrick. He biked all the way there! That`s, well, just think about how far we get by going 86 mph in around 55 minutse.. and he biked it. His wife met us there.

We drove home and then Patrick, Jorge, and the mother (I`m horrible at names) came up to our garden and we drank water, Rivella, and ate chocolate and talked.

Apparently I am well prepared in German from the book and learn schnell (fast)... I`m not to sure, but if they say so, why not?

After that, my brother is my hero. He has ninja stars made of tape and a little sheath on his pants and everything. And he`s made a tape helmet. And bow and arrow. And everything.. very creative.

And then we had dinner.. AHH, I love Swiss meals! We started wtih honey dew melon and then played around a bit. Then we had mashed potatoes.. .and I loved them. I think there was clove or something in them. And there was a special gravey with spices. I dunno. But it was reallllly good. And we had some sort of sausage that was amazing with green beans.

We played some more.

Then Philipp went outside and I looked out and the neighbor kids told me to come down, so I did. And we scootered a lot. It`s great hanging out with them because I can learn German fro them and they don`t mind if I mess up and just laugh along with me. And I really enjoy it. And then it rained. So the smell was amazing. It was fresh Swiss air + rain smell + smoke from bbq... and I just felt like I was in a book it was so amazing. I can make German sentences now and am doing ok, I guess. Language school should help a lot.

After that, me and Anita went biking around, and it was a bit dark, but oh well. We went to the new school and it is fine. It even has beach volleyball complete with a court outside with golden sand.... it`s really neat. And then we went to the soccer fields (they have 3 or something like that..) and then down to the water and back home.

On the bikes are these lights that are run by the bike tires spinning. There`s like a gear that spins as it is in contact with the wheel and it powers the lights.. hehe, I love it and I think I got a bit too excited when I saw it :P

Well, off to bed for me. I`ve got clean hair and nothing really planned for tomarrow.

Tchuss,

Maggie

Soccer and Churchbells

My host mother and father are at a party... my brother is watching TV... so I have time for one more blog...

This is my journal, so I realize that you all probably don`t read it all... but I do a lot of this in place of writing by hand. Eh? Ja.

So we did end up taking our bicycles to Sarnen. It was an amazingly lovely trip. There were cobblestone roads, gravel, and pathed. And bicycle paths. And a snazzy park. The park was pretty flooded and we had to go through huge puddles a couple times. I think I want to go biking on Monday again.

When we got home, I had ice cream and my host dad was mowing the lawn. Anita washed her bike and Phillip was playing with the kids out front.

So I headed out to the front street and played with the two neighbor children for a good hour on scooters. Wow. It feels so good. I mean, I feel like I`m living a life out of a book. Cliche. We were scootering and playing tag and singing and speaking nonsense. And I feel easier speaking German with them... so I do. I just go for it and don`t even care if I speak it write. They sometimes help me. I feel bad though. They`re names are French and I can`t really pronounce them. But they know my name by now :P

"Maggie!" "Het!"

Het is what you shout out when you tag someone.

I wish I could convey how much fun I had then. We were just running around. And than we sat down on the cement... and made farting noises.. ahha, yeah. Oh so mature. But they think it`s hilarious.

But here, there`s a lot of family time. Me and Phillip played with a balloon for a good while outside in the yard. Then it popped on a cactus and we started to pretend to cry and burry it and comfort each other. Sigh. Good times. Thank goodness acting doesn`t always require words.

Then we made pizza since the parents are out. It was really good and after it me and Anita talked for almost an hour out in the yard.

Earlier today, we both we outside in lounge chairs reading. Her with some hard Swiss book and I was reading about Pingu the Penguin. And my host mother was like, "Ahh, how nice. Both my daughters reading together." And that made me smile. We do a lot of stuff outside.

Anyways, after chatting and pizza, we all played soccer in the backyard. I think that`s just snazzy. We`re all different ages, yet here they do that, play together. Hang out together. Do stuff together. I hear it`s not like this during the school year, but still. And our neighbors, this afternoon they all sat as a family together for two hours or so playing games and stuff. And we play games too. Me and Phillip like to play Uno and usually our mom or dad joins us.

The weather is so nice now... sometimes it`s hot, but usually just comfortable. And just staring out the window gives me hours of enjoyment... although I prefer to sit in the grass.

Here is a vid of the bells, you can hear them from my house:

Question and Answer Time

People have asked me various questions... so why not answer them here for all to read? And some people said stuff I wanted to make comments too, so I`ll do that here too.

What else is good in switzerland? army knives, cheese, uh...watches? - Gabe



Yeah! There are lots of cheese... so much of it. Everywhere. And there are watches everywhere... and everyone is always wearing one.. except me. I feel out of the loop. And they sell the knives at plenty of places.. but most are awful tourist spots :P But oh well, I love them anyways.



Is there really an entire aisle of chocolate? - Ian



Yep! Lots of chocolate... and it`s in more than one place in the shop. Some up front, some in an aisle. And at some stores they have an entire corner of the store devoted to chocolate with a couple small half aisles and a wall covered in it.

And some of the chocolate is funny. Like my host mother is always offering me chocolate and I have a bowl of it in my room and two shelfs of it in the kitchen. And one type is called "Kitten Tongue".. and it`s shaped like a tongue. Kind weird if you ask me... but at least it tastes good.



So, when you come back, are you going to be shaking everyone's hands all the time? - Ian


Err... most likely... and the triple kiss thing is pretty intense. You say "hi", shake their hand, and do the whole kiss on the cheek thing three times.. it`s pretty crazy cool... but honestly, I find it awkward.

Oohh ohh i also thought the cart thing was pretty cool even tho if u dont have money u cant get a cart - Elisa

The money is nothing... well, only 1 CHF. So it might be like putting in a quarter... anyone can have a quarter. And in my family, we have a couple francs in the car at all times.

Why are all of your “y’s” replaced with “z’s” and “z’s” replaced with “y’s”? - Lexi

The Euro computer is differnt... and the Y`s are where the Z`s normally are here. And the apsotrophe and colon and everything is different... sometimes it`s easier just to type like I do in America.

Did you know any German before you left? - Lexi

Ein bissen. I knew a bit from a book they sent me. Apparently, I`m doing pretty well and I`m able to sort of communicate. Luckily, my family knows English and helps me out.

When do you start school? - Lexi

I start school on the 20th... but that`s just in our canton, Obwalden. The rest of Switzerland starts school this upcoming Monday. And when I start school, it will first be a special language school that I`ll have to take the bus to each day.

What is your family like? - Lexi

My family ist super! Well, it`s hard to put them into words... my host brother at least. They`re schnazzy people and I`m happy to spend the next four months with them.

Tell Me Why? - the Backstreet Boys...

Yes. We listen to the radio all the time.

Right now there is a huge full orchestral arrangement playing of the Back Street Boys... if only you could hear it. I started laughing when it started playing. The trumpets have the melody.

Anyways, right now it is 12:10 and I just go back from Denners. Denners is like a Right Aid with food and such... but it`s smaller.

Anyways, I had my first Swiss shower last night.. and am sad to report that I`m not sure if I can get my straightener to work. Sigh. Yes, I`m supposed to adjust to their culture and change... but is that little detail really essential to my immersion?

Anyways, we air out the house sometimes, just open up windows and let the fresh air flow in. And I absolutely love the Swiss air, it`s sooo refreshing.

Anyways, this morning I went to post my two letters. For outgoing post, there is one mailbox for each road, and it is yellow. So Anita and I walked down there. And then Ruedi (meine Fatter) and I went to the Backeri to get some more fresh bread and croucants. I forget how to spell that. Crousants? But anyways, we get them fresh almost every day which is amazing.. freshly baked! And the butter is still epic-ly creamy.

OH MY GOODNESS!

*runs off and starts dancing*

Michael Buble!!!! He just started playing on the Swiss Radio... that just about made my day. So I just had the pleasure of telling my brother,

"Ich leibe songe!!!!!"
So happy now... oh so happy.

Okay, so anyways. After we went to the Backeri I watched "Hotel Zach und Cody" with my brother... aka, the Suite Life of Zach and Cody. Mwahah.. it was in German and made me laugh quite a bit. The voices and mouthes didn`t line up.. but at least I knew what was going on. Don`t know if any of you have seen that show before. It`s for short folks... so I guess I`m liable to watch it. And then on the radio, Elvis was playing. And this song my mom plays on the piano, the Music Box Dancer.. and that made me miss her but also smile because it was a beautiful arrangement.

Then we ate.

Then I hung out in my room and pretty much did nothing... yeah, I do a lot of that. My brother plays Age of Empires alll the time each morning.

Then, my host mother and I went out to Denners, which I mentioned above. I needed floss and conditioner... so expesive. 5 or so CHF for one thing of floss. And the conditioner was 6 CHF. My hostmother was nice enough to buy them for me.. I don`t have my allowance yet.$

Then, we went to my grosmaters (sp?) house... my host father`s mother. She lives above the family business, Maler Hinter. It`s pretty big. The mother und father are on holiday and so my host mother had to take care of her plants and so forth.

I think we`re going to bicycle to Sarnen later today, not really sure... but life is very relaxed.

Tomarrow I go to Oltern or something like that. All the exchange students in Switzerland are meeting.. something that could never be done with such ease in the US. I`m really excited to talk to everyone and see how they`re doing. I think Jorge is coming with us in our car. Who knows. But it should be grand.

Once again, thank you SO much for the comments, ahhh, you guys actually care about me! Hehe. And Mom, I love the comments and updates and so far, I don`t feel homesick at all and love to hear what you`re doing. I do read everything you send me.... I just don`t always respond. Don`t take it personally please everyone... realize that I really appreciate it, but my time here is limited and I try to just update everyone through a blog. Within a couple hours of my blog, I had 65 views... danke!

George likes it here...

My host mom.

Anita.

Phillip... he`s obsessed with füssball... he always wears his gear... sometimes even cleats.

Anita.

One of the school buildings... it`s sort of spread out into three or four buildings around the town.

My bedroom is pretty schazzy.

There was a snazzy girl named Kayle who sat in front of me on the 9 hour flight.. sigh, Dutch babies are so cute!

Me... in my new backyard.

Playing füssball in the backyard.

Living room.

The plane in Amsterdam.

Some of the exchangers... all of to different parts of Swityerland.

The view from the dining room.

Ninja Cows

Well, I`m done with another day… well, almost done, in Switzerland. It`s 6:30 PM here, but 9:30 AM for you guys.

This morning when I woke up, people were already eating breakfast… bread, butter, und jam.

Bridget (my host mother) and I went shopping first at some store… Mithinger or something. It`s right next to the store Coop.

To get a shopping cart, you must put 1 CHF (Swiss Frank) into a slot which releases the cart… when you return the cart, you get your money back.

Swiss stores look pretty much the same… but have many different features.

First off, we get a lot of our food from counters like a deli. And we get lots of different types of cheeses… so I love it. In America, we tended to just get Cheddar or Parmesian cheese, but here we might have four different types at a meal. The Swiss recycle everything… so before we went into the store, we put our milk bottles into a huge container to join hundreds of other bottles and soda bottles go in another and egg cartons in another. My English is becoming simpler and simpler as I work on my German.

At the store, they had a huge mannequin all decked out in Lederhosen… it made me smile.

They only have some 6 types of cereal and it isn’t really eaten much.

But chocolate… every store has a least one, sometimes more, aisle of chocolate.

They also have a brand called “Asian Snack” and today we bought Margarita Pizza.

My host brother loves pizza.

Another thing different is that you bring your own bags to the store and pack up the food into them yourself. Meine muter had 5 bags and we put so much food in them. I think it`s pretty snazzy… eh? Yep!

Then we headed home where I prepared to go to my first Rotary Meeting at a local hotel so close that I just walked there in 5 minutes.

Along the way I could see the lake and the hills and it was very very beautiful.

In Switzerland, you shake hands… all the time. When you meet. When you say good bye. I swear I shook some 30 hands today.

At the meeting was the other exchanger of the club, Jorge. Jorge a pretty snazzy guy und er komme aus Ecuador.

At the meeting, they offered me wine… which I said „nein danke“ to… here, it’s normal to have alcohol often. But later, at least they had good coffee which I accepted.

The meal was very good… so many things to eat and when I got full and couldn`t finish it, a man asked me if I didn`t like it.. but I did! I loved it!

So many flavours, I wonder if I`ll get sick. My family has so much chocolate… my real mother would absolutely love it here.

After the meeting, Jorge went with me and Bridget around. It was interesting talking to him, yep. We went to the train station first to get our passes. These passes enable us to travel around anywhere in Switzerland (by bus, train, or boat) for a year. I hear it`s very expensive, but I may need it to get to school when I change host families. They needed a foto so we went to the local fotobooth where we both got our pictures taken for 8 CHF.

Then it was off to the Immigration office… well, the main government building of Sarnen. It`s pretty large and very white.. everywhere, with a nice stone path that contrasts with the complete whiteness. Then we had to fill out a form which took a while. They took two of the pictures we had taken at the fotobooth.

Jorge came home with us where we drank (coffe, water, and Nesquick) and talked about, um, stuff.

Then it was off to the bank… that took forever… 1 hour to be precise. I think it was an hour. Yeah. But…

I now have a Swiss Bank Account!

Just as you all told me to get, now I have one. Its got my emergency and spending money and soon I`ll get a card in the post for my account. I also changed all my dollars to CHF. The money is pretty :P

In the middle of the bank was a barefoot mannequin wearing a sailors suit… I`m not sure why.

Next was the post office where I picked up some stamps. I have two letters to mail off tomarrow…

Btw, on my letters (which I know you`ll all send), don`t forget to write:
Margaret Hubert by Family Hinter

I guess the “Family Hinter” part is important… I dunno.

But I`m ready to write back, Sushi stationary at hand.

Anyways, next it was time to drive Jorge home. We got to see our future host family homes. I`m in love with my third home… it looks like something out of a magazine it`s so modern… and I guess I`ll have three younger siblings, the oldest is in 4th grade.

Jorge`s home is really sweet. It`s old, from the 1600`s I think, and has chickens and I got to hold a little kitten for some 5 minutes while we talked… I loved that cat :P

Jorge lives with the principal who is very very different from what I would have expected. He is young, slender, and has a pierced ear.. very different from grey haired Miss Sherwood. His wife is also very kind.

There are cows everywhere… and each time, I “shout” out, “COWS!”

And mom, thank you so much for the update and comment.. I love you!

And I guess the address was messed up there, so I`ll write it again:

Margaret Hubert by family Hinter
Birkenweg 21
6072 Sachseln
Switzerland

Oh, and George is loving it here and get`s a lot of company from my host family.

AHH! My host brother just started playing the drums.. oh my goodness it is soooo loud. Haha, but it`s fine. But I thought something had exploded at first. I see, he is singing too as well. And playing.. and playing... and playing... loudly. He`s pretty good actually... I have his old room and it is covered in pictures of drummers... great thing to wake up to in the morning.

Tschus!

Maggie

Whoot for Life!!

I have now been in Switzerland for more than 24 hours and I`m loving it.

The most important aspect and way to analyze a city is by their food… and it`s pretty different but still quite good.

With every meal I have Nestle Nesquick in my milk.. not that I need any thing in the milk… it`s so rich and really good.

This morning I woke up early and so I had lots of time to just hang out… I do a lot of that, hanging out. And I take a nap each day while I recover from jet lag. I don`t even mean to sleep… it just happens. And eventually I wake up. Yesterday I went to sleep and when I woke up, I thought it was the next day… but really it was still the 8th. I guess we`re usually a day ahead of all of you loverly Americans.

For breakfast, we all eat together. To prepare for it, my hostmother and I went to the local backeri (bakery) and metzgeri (butchers) and picked up some fresh bread and meat… brilliant if you ask me. I really enjoy the fresh bread. It`s a bit hard to eat at the edges… but still better than American bread… except for my grossmuter (grandmother)… she makes amazing bread.

Since I`ve been here it has been very very rainy. In fact, Switzerland is getting flooded. Our little Lake Sarnen`s water is rising and rising and some people`s homes are getting flooded and it`s all over the news. It`s prettz bad in Bern and other places as well. I`ll post pictures as soon as I can.

But while you wait for the pictures, I`ll try and paint a picture in your mind. In front of me is a window. And out the window, I can see amazing rolling hills all covered in lush green grass… nothing is dead, all is alive. And the hills are spotted with little houses.. think of Leavenworth… but this is the real deal! And there are plentz of trees spotting the hill and some are bunched together. I can see the occasional train go by.

Our house is very modern. My host vater is a painter and so everything looks sharp. There are natural light wood floors most places and lots of windows. In the living room there is a sleek set of leather couches and a slim reclining chair. I guess the house is 8 years old… but I never would have guess that. The lights are off most of the time because we have so many windows.

It’s very peaceful.

Today we went to Lucerne; it’s a pretty short drive there. Meine Hostmuter kauften clothes… rot und scheis (Black?). It was all cobblestone and looked like a picture book… except for lots of people smoke.

And… this is totally the mullet capital of the world… I`ve never seen so many mullets!! I saw 5 group of guys together… all with mullets, well, I guess cultures are different and there are still plenty of people without them. But these are the full blown real deal mullets. Tasha, I think of you every time I see one and I``ve started to count. I`m up to 15 now.

I have few books and not much to do so far… I can`t say I`m bored yet… but I journal a lot and read the books I have. I`m not on the computer much on purpose. I can spend hours just looking out the windows… they tell me that the view is a lot better when the weather clears up.

For lunch, everyone eats together… even my host father comes home for lunch. Lunch is the big meal of the day and dinner is small, such as meats, cheeses, and fresh bread. For lunch today we had some pasta with a brown creamy sauce and chicken… along with canned beans (not frozen) and round little carrot balls. There is plenty of chocolate to eat and I like to eat yoghurt for a snack.

My German is coming along… I’m starting to form sentences and try my best to incorporate the German I know into my new Swiss lifestyle.

Feel free to write to me (physical letter) and chances are you’ll get a snazzy Swiss letter in return… or at least a postcard.

My address is:
Margaret HubertBirkenweg 216072 Sachseln
Switzerland

And don’t forget that postage is a lot more to send a letter here.

I find a lot of comfort and spend time reading the word. I think that coming here is good… I`m realizing how much I`ve been missing out by not reading it as often. God has given me verses… I just open up and see what he has to say to me.

I`ll keep you guys posted,

Feel free to comment,

Talk to you later,

Maggie

Here I Am

Well, there is so much I guess I coul write about... but I`m not used to this computer.

The flight over here was long but loverlz.. zep. I mean, loverly, yep.

With only a bit of time, I`ll juâr tell you that my family is absolutely wonderful and I`m looking forward to getting to know them.

The wether is just like Seattle... right now there is a thunderstorm... it is so loud and I can see the flashes of lightening out over the lake.

Yes, I cann see beautiful hills and the lake from mz bed room... our house is amazing and very modern. Yep.

Me and Philip already watched Narutu or some other TV show.

And I`m starting to learn German right away.

I took a nap on accident... I was so tired.

I laid down and woke up and didnät know what time it was.

And I thought it was tomarrow... but now I know I onlz slept a couple hours.

Please excuse me if I donät reply to your messages and so forth... I`m enjozing life.

And thanks to all of zou who prayed for me.

Tschus,

Maggie

Lastish Post... Eh?

So, how does it feel?

I doubt most of you that I "know know" willl ever feel this way.

When you go to college, you come home for Christmas.

So why dont' I share with you a little bit of my head.

Well - I can't say any feelings I have are that bad, honestly.

I'm soooo excited! I can barely contain myself! And I've chosen to let those emotions carry me through the day and kind of not think about the 11 months part... hehe.

---

Today my friends Jenny and Sarah helped me out once more get ready.

There was much packing, repacking, and stickering.

My last moments were epic.

With Jenny, we mainly spoke of farting super heroes, froze high school musical frames to get funny faces, dancing crazily to "Love Today" by Mika, putting on temporary tatoos of rings of beach balls, going through my medicine cabinet, speaking of warts, spitting on the side walks.

And our famous good bye that isn't so famous.

And for Sarah, we stuck lots of stickers.... lots of them, opened pin packages, pinned pins to ribbon, markered business cards, packed, repacked, made labels, were awesome, went to her house, tried to take pictures with her Polaroid camera... realized it was out of film, hugged her entire family, ate my last chocolate chip cooking that I'll eat in the USA, and said good bye.

But both times I said good bye... I was happy. Smiling. Laughing.

Why? - How is this so? I'm supposed to be a wreck, crying and all.

I think that it is because I was having such a great time and focusing on the now. It's just like this year.. I can't think ahead, I just need to get through each day and each moment.

And so, yeah it's pretty crazy.

---

And this morning, Miss Leah was amaazingly epic.

[she's ninja crazy good at German]

And she helped me write my "speech" if they ask me to give one.. well, not quite a speech. More so a introduction talk if I go to a Rotary meeting.

And she taught me snazzy stuff on dat, akk, and, um, that one other case... nom?

Yep!

---

And I saw Emily and her mom today which was reallly really good. They're some of the snazziest folks I know.. really sweet. Yep!

They came by to say good bye and later we ran into them again.

Emily had a dog she was dog sitting and I think I enjoyed that dog a little bit too much.

---

But these emotions are so weird. I mean, it's so crazy looking at my house and my stuff and saying, "see you in a year!" And I just can't get over the emotions. Any emotions of saddness and regret have not entered my brain. I think I'll break down when I get on that silly little aeroplane.. but I'll hold it together. I just have to. I feel like I have to be brave.. and it's not to hard. I just think forward and I'm so excited and in awe that I really don't have anything to be worried about.

---

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."

-Andre Gide-

"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother"

(Prov. 18:24)

---

So, all you readers - you're going on this adventure with me. So make sure you buckle up your seat belt... cause it's gonna be a crazy ride. And we'll see how many of you will stick with me through it all.. but luckily, I've got Jesus by my side this entire time... but hey, a little support (and luckily I've got plenty of it) never hurt anybody. Thanks all who helped me prepare for this upcoming year.

---

We have a take off in...

Five
Four
Three
Two
One
LASAGNE!

Romen Party - Chya!

-I Love Top Ramen-

[and I normally only eat it with Jenny]

After church today, me and the above folks realized that something monumental needed to happen today.

Various ideas ran through our heads... but one was clear.

I am Maggie.
I love Romen.
Period.

So... a dream come true! We had the most amazing meal.. ever!

RAMEN FEED!

We went over to Safeway and picked up 12 packages of that wonderful stuff.

[halfoftheromenstashthatmademeabsolutelyhappy]

We cooked up a ginormous vat... I like to add sesame oil and some spicy stuff to mine (cause Jenny taught me how to eat Romen real good... she's the chef master)

Of course... we also needed something more than Romen... I mean, it's amazing and great and wonderful... but you need substance.

So we also bought other stuff.. in all, we got:

• Two boxes of Frozen Waffles
• Three tubes of Cookie Dough
• Six packages of Top Ramen
• Three cups of B&J Ice Cream
  

Saying Goodbye

[some amazing amazing amazing people]

I'm going to be honest with you... let you in on a little secret.

Saying good bye isn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be.

There... I said it. I admit it. I thought I would be an absolute wreck today.

Today was my last Sunday at church... and that's pretty much where my closest friends are.

And I've said good bye to so many people, but when you're surrounded by friends and people you love and so happy, it seems like there's no time to be sad.

I did not shed a tear today.

Sad, I know.

But I know what I have to do... and I know that a year, well, it's not the end of the world.

Once I get on that plane, I guess I'll get that *oh interjection what have I done?* moment.. but for now, I'm just excited and sooo ready to go!

"Without the 'me'... it's just be aweso-!"

[a t t e m p t o n e]

[a t t e m p t t w o]

Packing - the Adventure Continues

I'm still packing away.

I think yesterday, I would've said that I hated it... but you know, it's a lot more fun when you have friends doing it with you.

Last night, Sarah came over and we worked on it.

I really will miss that girl.

She helped me get my grounds, see where I was at.... and take me out to see Harry Potter!

Then we came home, watched Johnny English with Rowan Atkins, and went to bed.

[btw - Rowan Atkins is an aboslute genius...]


-Next Day-

Where would I be without that girl?

Jenny.

She came over at 9:55 AM and we packed until, eh, 4:00.

Wonderful times.

She's one of the most excellent packers and helped me narrow down my clothes selection, pack so much stuff more tightly than I thought possible, and reason between neccsessities and that which can be left behind.

Hehe.. it was even enjoyable.

In the middle we headed to the mall to buy gloves and a few other items.. including one epic sweater.

Yep. Then we split a Cold Stone cup of Sweet Milk with Heath crushed in.

And came home and packed some more.

In packing, it was pretty crazy. First, the "gift and non-clothing" suitcase, it was over the weight limit per suitcase for 50 lbs when we weighed it in at 71 lbs. The clothes case we then packed and got it to 30 or so lbs.

Whatever shall we do?

So we did a whole lot of shifting from suitcase to suitcase... it was crazy. And boy those things are heavy! Gah!

But it was fun.. lots of music.

[Queen and country safe and sound with villians six feet underground]

And she made me toast and tea and gave me a bananannananana.

[So chrasimatic, with an a automatic]

Really? Only two full days left? I'm am so excited.. haha, you have no idea. It's like.. um... a room of orange balloons!

Things To Do

To Do List

[this list self distructs in 5 days - so you better do it fast]

---

• Fill in address book with important contacts
• Send out newsletter alerting people of blog updates
• Reply to bajillions of MySpace messages and Emails
• Reciept and Scraps Journal
• Blog
• Prepare external hard drive
• Get debit card
• Make card of contact info to carry in wallet
• Pack
• Make list of stuff to buy
• Pack stuff bought
• Clean shoes
• Do wash
• Wash self
• Get together with Caitie & Jenny
• Get together with Monica & Rachel
• Babysit Jack and Wyant
• Photograph Nick
• Host family gathering
• Write thank you letters
• Mail off turkey's and Ashley's "item"
• Burn off Seattlite CD's plus more for me
• Clean room
• Clean back room
• Prepare Carry On
• Iron shirt and underwear
• Get picture CD to mom

God... I can't do this on my own. I'm running low on energy and feel like I just can't keep going. I'm ready to stop now. Ready to press that pause button on life. With you, I know I can do this. Because you have told me that if I rely on you for my strength, so much more is possible. I pray that you will be with me threw this entire year and as I pack. I pray for patience, wisdom, understanding, discernment, and strength. I pray for a good nights rest, that tomarrow I'll be healthier and my throat won't hurt as bad and that the amoxicillin won't make me nausaus. Thank you so much for this upcoming year. I'm looking forward to it so much... and I know you'll be right beside me every step of the way. You'll get on that plane with me so really I have nothing to worry about. I'm to be anxious about nothing... and just pray to you when I have worries... but I still do, which I guess is silly. You know what's happening in the end and everything is just a step closer to your final plan, so I just need to live my life for you. I pray that I do that, live for you God. I want to be your servant. Give me a servants heart.. I want to serve. Why God? Why am I so selfish? Why am I so eager to please myself and think of myself. To think that I'm always right. It's so wrong. I hate that part of me. But it's you who can change me. So be with me now,

Your daughter,

Margaret

Packing Cleaning Deuteronomy

Packing
is
one
of
the
hardest
things
ever.

Hehehe.. my room is an absolute mess.

Everything is everywhere.

Huge bags of trash, recycle, give away, store.

Boxes.

A suit case.

A pile of gifts.

Journals.

Cards.

German language tools.

My bed is covered with a mountain of clothes that would even put the Matterhorn to shame.

Deuteronomy 23:12-14

For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.

I guess that means I better put away my underwear and other unmentionables... I definitly want God to be with me through this :P (mwahah, gotta love SOAR).