60 KM

So yesterday...

We had the "1st Communion" thing in the church.. I have never seen the church so packed. Not my church. The church of my host family. Anways, that was cool as all the kids were dressed in white robes and there was hard core music (with one epic organist).

And then we drove home.

It was a beauitful day!

Warm, blue skies, sun shinning, one that made me just want to get out of the house.... for a while.

So I hopped on my bike and just rode and rode and rode.

"Where are you going?" my host dad inquired.
"I don't know... I never know." was my reply.

I had no idea... I just knew I was riding my bicycle.

I started out towards Sarnen and just kept going. Till my eyes caught a hold of one of the Veloland signs, those marroon signs that will get you anywhere by bike (the yellow signs are the wanderwegs, and you can literally get anywhere with them).

Anways, it said, "Luzern" and I though, "I like Luzern" so off I went following it.

I went from sign to sign following the roads and the paths and the trails. I was almost always by a body of water with a scenic mountain backround. Naturally I took pictures... but they are not up yet.

It was brilliant! I reached Alpnach Dorf and there was a match going on at FC Alpnach. I knew some of the guys playing and stayed around just to watch and cool off a bit.

I just kept riding... it felt so good.

And finally I reached Luzern and turned around and came back.

In Luzern, there was a bikeing sign that said, "30 km to Sarnen."

I live beyond Sarnen, in Sachseln, so I doubled that as I rode to Luzern and back, and got 60 km... that is around 38 miles.

Not bad eh?

(considering when I went out, I wasn't intending to do anything)

Frogs Don't Belong in Boxes

Lately I find myself slipping into daydreams about going home.

What it will be like...

I find myself asking the same questions that I asked about Switzerland before I came here.

• Will I fit in?
• Will they accept me?
• Will I find a friend?

Haha.. sounds lame, I admit, but what can you expect? I have left you all for a year and things have happend. I've changed and there are going to be some aspects of me you will just have to adjust to.

I don't feel like being forced and

conformed into the cliques

and cliches of Inglemoor!

It [Âmerican High Schools, such as IHS]are too much like a film, looking back. Too many genres, groups, they promote a school of acceptance but after coming to Switzerland, the school doesn't seem as ideal as it was.

Don't get me wrong. I am proud to be a Viking and am happy to return, but there are some things (that is an exageration, a lot of things) that I will miss. I know Inglemoor is a great school, probably one of the best. However...

Switzerland was one of the first times I got a fresh start in my teen years with a group of people. I already know who I am and want to be, and I got to be that in Switzerland. What can I say, I am a bit socially awkward, but in Switzerland and with the exchangers, that was ok! That was me! And I was special. I was the American. I was the Magic Frog! I totally feel accepted here in Switzerland. I don't feel stupid here. I don't feel like I am being judged.

Sigh. America. America. America. Judgemental. Tiny boxes. Sufficating.

Sorry if you can't follow my train of thought here..... it is still unclear in my brain as well.

The Love Theme to Romeo and Juliet

Tonight I went to the piano recital of a fellow friend of mine.

It is quite interesting to go to those things, some of the people you would have never guessed played the piano were there playing, well, the piano.

One of which was the Elias. He is in my friend Nicole’s class.

Not only did he play beautifully… he almost made me cry. I don’t cry.

It wasn’t really his playing, as nice as it was, but the song he played.

The love theme to Romeo and Juliet, also known as, “A Time for Us.”

If you heard a couple bars, you would know it.

I don’t cry here (except when I have to buy toothbrushes)… but music always hits that one, um, thing in me. String? Note? Chord? It is music. That is what my family does, we make music.

So when he got up to that piano and started to play that song, I thought of my mom. She plays that song (and if she doesn’t, well, then, I was just being sentimental for nothing, although didn’t Sarah, Thomas, and Emily play it in the 9th grade???). And so the entire freakin’ song all I could do is focus on not crying, which was quite difficult.

How could I not miss my mom through that song?

It is one of those songs that can make you cry just the way it moves, even if it has no sentimental connotations for you.

Anyways… that was my evening.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dHyR4ZzA2R0$

Going Home When?

I rode from the snow covered field in the picture up the hill to my house..

and got this view. It had just snowed.. sigh. Life is beautiful eh?

Duration calculation results:

From and including: Freitag, 14. März 2008
To, but not including : Mittwoch, 9. Juli 2008

117 days

Or 3 months, 25 days excluding the end date.

Alternative time units

• 117 days can be converted to one of these units:
• 10.108.800 seconds
• 168.480 minutes
• 2808 hours
• 16 weeks (rounded down)
  

Yep.. I coming home on the 9th of July.

King Philip II of Spain bans foreign Dutch students.

March 4, 08
1570 - King Philip II of Spain bans foreign Dutch students.

What is going on in my life? What??

Eh. Let`s see there.

Theatre has been taking over on overdrive... performances all the time. One thing I think I don't like is that the play we created, well, they had us perform it for the entire (ENTIRE) school.. during school time. And kid's who don't want to see a tradgedy play can be the worst audience.

What are you supposed to do when they are whispering in the front row? Yes. Ignore them. But then you, meaning I, tend to get a bit more self concious.



Coni and I... faces?

Coni, one snazzy amazing Swiss friend, got a GA! And I am stoked. I can finally see Switzerland with someone from the land... and work on my German.

We went to Thalwil and then hopped on a train to Hourgen or something.. and then hopped (boing!) on a boat on the Zürisee (Lake Zurich?). It was just an hour of what to me, is bliss. Just realaxing. Not having to do anything...



Hit isch Coni mit miär ufem Zürisee ga schiff fahrä.



Approaching Rapperswil.. such a sweet town.

And finally we got off in Rapperswil. Rapperswil is a quaint, decent sized town filled with history, culture, and great architechture. Worth exploring for a good one or two hours.. depending on if the shops are open.

We just went there for a short walk before heading home on the Voralpen Express.

Overall, a good day.



Jorge.. being awesome.

Yesterday, went to Jorges.

We decided to go for a bikeride to Giswil.. which ended up being a bike ride around the entire lake we both live on.



Map of Lake Sarnen...


Only a little over and hour.. and we both agreed that we need to do it again.

Just in that small period of time, we biked along the gorgeous blue Sarnersee with the mountais towering in the background. The rode through a semi quaint town. Coasted through a wooded area to be rewarded with a sweeping view of the area... and what I have come to consider a home.

Not many pictures from that trip.. to busy riding.

And overnight.. from blue skies, we no have a ton (TON!) of snow.. well, quite a bit. And it is still coming. Today I am heading to an International Film Festival.. should be grand.



View of some random place on the train ride home from Rapperswil with Coni.


I don't know how to improve this year. I am loving life.

Taking the time to explore.

Seeing what there is to see.

Getting out of the house.. even if it is just to go around the lake.

Yeah.. I am not ready for this year to end yet.