And this post marks the third month of my stay here in Switzerland.

That means I'm successfully surviving!


9 more months to go!

I'm kinda busy to update details, but here are some photos. Anyways, a photo is worth a thousand word. You have now 6 thousand words to see.

Julia was taking this photo

The graduating class

Again, Julia was taking this photo.

The family

Double rainbow which reminds me SO MUCH of Melbourne

Hi.

Actually I've had 2 days of school holiday.

What's the holiday about, I don't know. What's the holiday called, I don't know either. However, I'm grateful that there's a holiday at all. I know I don't have to do much work in school, or work as hard as the Swiss students, but the thought of not going to school is actually really relieving.

Not to say that I'm having a bad time in school. Instead, this week was the best week in school so far. Besides the fact that my teacher stole the credits to my photo, things in school are great.

On Monday, I got to go home right after lunch, because we were supposed to have Schwerpunkt Musik (don't ask me what it means. I just know it's music) but they were having an exam, a "big exam". So Isaac, Gabriel and I got to go home early, at 1.30pm.

There was a history test on Tuesday, the first period of school. I was excused from the test, and I forgot what I did. I think I was reading Die Tribute von Panem (The Hunger Games in German) in the Glasraum while the other exchange students were in the PC room. The rest of the day was usual, except that I almost went for lunch 1 period before it is actually lunch time. I went to my locker, changed my shoes and tossed my backpack into the locker, and was ready to walk out of the school, until I look around the hall and saw nobody. Usually during lunch time, the hall would be packed (well, I can't actually use the word "packed" because there're so "many" students in my school, but the heck with it) with students. Then I remembered, I have one more period of Philosophy before lunch. I ran, yes, ran, to my locker and changed back to my house shoes and grabbed my backpack and ran, yes, I ran again to the Philosophy classroom. Everyone was already inside and it was the awkward moment when you're late and everyone turns to you when you open the door. In fact, I wasn't really late, I was just the last person to arrive. The moment I took my seat, the bell rang. *whew*. I tried to look as casual as possible so I could spare the embarrassment if people asked me where was I.

And I joined for PE class despite my cacat ankle. They were doing Salsa, and I told myself, no way am I gonna miss that. I already missed In-Line Skating for PE last week, I'm definitely not gonna miss Salsa Dancing. The PE class was the 2nd and 3rd year combined, so I don't really know half the people in the sports hall. I partnered with Natalie from 3Kb, the only 2-girls-couple in the class. I don't mind, cause then I can be more open with my dance steps. It is fun, no doubt. At first it was a bit of a challenge to sway my hips, but then I could feel my hips getting "lighter" cause the more I danced, the easier it is for me to sway my hips. Hips don't lie. After the first hour of salsa, the second hour of sports was Volleyball. I got assigned to group with two 2nd year students, who were really friendly. I don't know what brought this on, but I was doing the Happy Llama Sad Llama thing to Anja and Megi. Soon I heard Petra doing it, and I continued the next sentence she was about to say. That shocked EVERYBODY. They immediately turn their heads towards me, so fast that I thought they might break their own neck, and was asking excitedly "KENNST DU DAS AUCH??" and "WIE SO???" or "WO HAST DU DAS GELERNT??". It was hilarious! I waited in the school after PE class for the train. Anja was with me, and we were singing the theme song from Two and a Half Men. We were both going, men men men men men men men men men..

Wednesday was another crazy day. Morning was usual, except that the Schwerpunkt Musik was still having their exams, so I got 2 hours of free time first thing in the morning. I went to the PC room and went on tumblr (I regret nothing) and Facebook. Marcus, Megi and Julia joined later to do some research for their Art class. Although they were just sitting next to me, and I was being lame and bored, I Facebook-messaged them. After lunch was Biology, and the Biology class last week was really weird. Apparently we're doing some "secret project" which I don't really understand. This week's Biology class was the continued lesson of last week's "secret project". And for some reason, it was another teacher teaching this "secret project". And for some other reason, he gave everyone in class a chocolate snack. The 2nd hour of Biology was insane. The teachers had some sort of meeting and we were left alone in class. I thought the people here would be like quietly reading their books and all, but no. The boys started with throwing the snack wrap at each other, then Petra was teaching Alicia and Carla about the Happy Llama thing, Anja and Megi was singing Disney songs in German and Isaac was singing along but in English version. They were singing "On My Way" from Brother Bears and "Bear Necessities" from The Jungle Book. I gotta say, German version was a bit weird.

And finally, I caught an old glimpse of myself back in high school. I'm finally me again. Again, I hope by saying this won't jinx anything. Please don't. I hope things stay this way during the rest of my stay. Apparently I need some warm up in the morning before I could open up to the people there. The boys from 3Kb also started talking to me, although we've talked a little in my first week of school. Later on they seemed like really cold towards me, but that day we could finally talk. And that time, I really feel like I'm part of it already.

Thursday I didn't do much. Stayed on the lappie in the day and when the weather was getting better, I sat outside and continued my Die Tribute von Panem. It was only me and my HM that day because Julia and Joel had Tennis Camp and my HF went hunting near Basel. We had dinner outside, a dinner which I ate a few plates too much.

Friday I went to Zurich with the Malaysians, except for Pei San. We planned to go for a picnic, but then the plan didn't go on well. Unexpectedly, Michael joined us, along with his friend Carly, another Australian but under Rotary exchange program. We got on a tram, which Carly told us to don't bother buying tickets. I went on without hesitation, either, because the last time I was in Zurich, and the whole time taking the tram there, nobody checked tickets. Odds are, no one will check the tickets, even if they do, it'll be at the entrance of the tram. Apparently, the odds weren't in my favour that day (sorry, I've been reading Hunger Games over and over again cause that's the only book I have. "May the odds be ever in your favour"). Just at the 2nd stop of the tram, 2 guys came in and asked for tickets. I immediately made my way out of the tram, but the guy stopped me. And this is the time to take the drama lessons I took a few years ago out. I took out my train ticket, and spoke in English. The guy was telling me that the ticket is only for the train, and not for trams. I asked the guy what should I do, and he told me I need to pay a fine of 100fr. ONE HUNDRED FRANCS. It was then I started shaking. I guess the guy could tell, too, cause instantly I could feel that he felt pity towards me. I kept telling him that I didn't know that, but I didn't ask him to not fine me. I just asked "Do I have to pay you the 100fr now?" and he looked at me, looked around and looked back at me. He asked if I have a change for 20fr, which I don't, and he took out his wallet and we exchanged money, and he took me to the ticket machine. He pressed a few buttons and asked me to put the money in. The ticket for every tram in the city costs 8.20fr. When the ticket was printed out, he handed it to me and said "You need this ticket to get on the tram. Next time buy this ticket when you're here in Zurich again." I couldn't express the gratitude I felt towards him. I got off the chain. Jun Khee, on the other hand, who doesn't have a ticket as well, didn't have enough time to get off the tram. But when the people checked his ticket, they didn't check properly and thought that his train ticket was the tram ticket, and let him off that easily. He had luck, but then he was fined just last week along with KC for not having a ticket from his house to Bern.


We went to get bubble tea. Yes, Bubble Tea. In Switzerland. Here's a photo of it.

This little cup of "Colonial" Bubble Tea cost me 4.50fr

I know it's expensive, but my mouth was dying for the pearls. I must at least try once, and I figured that this ought to be the "once". After the first sip, I made myself a mental note to never buy this anymore.

We went to Coop and got some cheap food and went to sit by the lake, imitating duck/geese calls and talking about the randomest things. Later we went on a hunt for bags which I needed to buy. We had dinner in the same Chinese take away shop that we went last time, and we took the train to Stadehofen in search of a pub/bar. Thank goodness for Gleis 7 train card, I don't need to buy any train tickets because it was already after 7pm. We walked and walked and walked, but all we could see were high class pubs, which by one look we would know that we can't afford anything inside. With Michael's help, we went back to Zurich city, which was unexpectedly super near. We found a small but decent and proper pub (with no smell of cigrattes!) in some small alley and we ordered 2 beers to share. IT WAS DELICIOUS! IT WAS THE BEST BEER I'VE EVER TASTED IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND! NO KIDDING! IT BEAT PAULANER AND LEFFE AND ALL OTHER BEERS. The waiter there must've seen my facial expression after my first sip, cause he came over and told us about another beer but of the same brand, which tastes better. We ordered one and shared among the 4 of us. THE BEER WAS ASDFGHJKL:KJHGFDSASDFG.

I experimented with bokeh again. And I could say that this time was a bit more of success.

See the heart shaped lights? Thanks to my DIY bokeh. Not perfect, but an improvement

Oh and we were in an Asian shop earlier. We found so many amazing things.

Pandan Kuih!!!!

The cashier was a lady who speaks Cantonese, and the guy in front of us while queuing up was also a Malaysian!! He asked us where were we from, and we answered Malaysia, and he said "I am from Malaysia, too." and ran off as fast as he could, much to our confusion. KC kept saying he was scared that we wanted to borrow money from him because we're all Malaysians.



Alright tomorrow is Joel's graduation and needa get up early. It's already midnight here. Till next time.

So..

My teacher took the photo I shot in the Irish Concert, sent it to the newspapers, and it was published today with an article.

Guess what it says at the end?

"Text and photo by *my teacher's name*"


*Vulgar words censored*

Photos updates

Ein Irischer Abend - The Choir and Herr Engel

At the florist, buying flowers to decorate the house and for Joel's Graduation (Firmung)

A normal day in school during break

Trying out heart-shaped bokeh

(One of) the doctor's office

Lifesaving package

What I see when I look out the window

Peace sign made by Jun Khee, Pei San, Kook and Maruly. Photographed by yours truly

The mark of Spring.

Malaysians doing Malaysian pose in Bern, Switzerland

Meditation. With epic face.

Okay I've been really lazy recently.

I'm so ashamed of myself. I'm like staying in my room right after school finished and just sit around doing nothing, or using the lappie. And although I was using the lappie, I was so lazy to update this blog.

Well, now I'm in school. Bare with me. Apparently the keyboard is different that the ones I use back in Malaysia, where the Z and Y are in different positions, as well as some of the punctuation marks. If I have any typos, please do not judge me.

Okay last week went off quite well, except that I sprained my ankle, of course. I sprained it while walking down from the tower near Pei San's house. We were talking and laughing, suddenly a *Crack* sound and the next thing I know, I was shouting "痛痛痛痛痛". Pei San's dad had to drive me to the bus stop because 1, we were late and 2, I can't walk. I can get on and off trains, but when I reached Hasle, I had to call my HM to pick me up with car. On Monday, my host-mom (let's use HM, shall we?) drove me to school because I couldn't really walk fast on it. 1 period through Geografy and she came again to bring me to the doctor's. I have a picture of the doctor's office in my phone, but I can't upload it now. Maybe I will back home, if I remember. Back to topic. The moment I went in, it looks sooooo modern than the clinics we have back in Malaysia. It's not a hospital, just like a small town doctor's office, but they're equipped with X-rays and all, and the office is clean and cozy. They sent me into a room and wait for the doctor. We've waited for almost 20 minutes, then the doctor came in. Oh and by the way, we already made an appointment before we went, and yeah, the doctor is 20 minutes late for our appointment. He came in, moved my ankle around, and asked the nurse to take an X-ray photo of my ankle, just to see if anything is broken. And so I lied down and they took 2 photos of my ankle, from top and from side. After the photo was printed out, had to wait, AGAIN, for about 15 minutes or so, and the doctor comes in with the kind of bandage with velcro that I could easily buy in Guardian back home. He opened the package, examined the picture on the package, and he was figuring out how to wrap my ankle with my HM, referring to the package. He was like, wrap, 'oh wrong.', unwrap, wrap, 'oh not like this', unwrap etc. After a few tries, he finally wrapped my ankle. I was prescribed with a medicine paste for my ankle, and some pills, which I keep forgetting to eat now.

Honestly, this doctor's visit took me almost an hour, and I don't see any other patients. And at times like this, I trully appreciate Malaysia. Our family doctor, Dr Teh and the Chinese Wong sifu, whom I usually go to when things like this happen to me. Yeah, sometimes it takes a long time, but it was because there were other patients before me. This? I can't even.

So for the next 3 days, my HM drove me to school, but I manage to walk home slowly everyday. I can walk, but not fast enough to not be late for school in the morning.

And thank god for the package to arrive from Malaysia just in time. I bet the chinese medicine would work better than the western medicine.

I guess the week just went by like that. Oh, and I got to be excused from sports for 1 whole month. Sometimes it's awesome, but sometimes I just have the urge to jump and run, even when I'm at home.

Thursday was dad's birthday. See, dad? I didn't forget :)

On Friday, I had my first Maths test. It's differenciation, but I couldn't understand what the question was talking about. I managed to do some, but not all. We, the exchange students, were allowed to go out, eventhough we're not finished, after the first hour. And so I did. I couldn't do the questions, so I'd rather go out and do some other things. On Physics, there was a surprise test. Apparently the students in the school says that whenever he wears a tie, there will be a test. He wore a tie that day, but there wasn't anz test on the schedule. So it was a surprise test, which caught me by surprise. The test was handwritten by the teacher, and I spent half my time trying to figure out his handwriting, and the other half time trying to figure out what the word means. Nicee.

Saturday, I stayed home the whole day. Internet, TV, and a bit of piano, and of course, eat. Dinner was pizza, homemade (kinda). It's normal to buy the readily made dough in supermarkets, and just 'decorate' the pizza with the toppings of your choice or whatever you can find in your fridge.

Sunday was mother's day. It is so weird that I'm not home for my dad's birthday and mother's day. We went for a film in the cinema, The Lucky One, but in German. I don't really fully understand what they were talking, but I kinda understand the storyline. And I have to say, Zac Efron looks soooo much better than in High School Musical. I got to save money for train ride, because my HF drove the whole family there.

I guess that's it, though. TTFN, Tata for now!

Well this was what happened over the weekend :) Lazy to update, maybe will, but later, so here's a short video I made :)

I sprained my ankle. Here, in Switzerland.

Let's see how normal my right foot is.

And now...


Take a look at my left foot..













Ready??

Another week has gone by. I'm up to my 4th week in the Kanti. I must say, things have gotten better, but I hope by saying this I won't jinx it or anything. I'm paranoid and superstitious.

Have I mentioned how screwed up was the trip to St. Gallen? Pei San, Jun Khee, Maruly, Yuka, Saho, Kook, "WiFi" and I reached the trainstation in St. Gallen at 11am sharp. Waited for 1 hour, ONE hour for the so-called oldies to arrive. At 11.50am or so, I stole the WiFi in Starbucks and checked the facebook group to see if we got the informations correct. Turns out Will backed out last minute cause his wallet was stolen the day before, but he posted that AFTER 11am. None of the oldies showed up. None. No notice or not even a freaking apology. Later that day I asked where were they, and no replies. Wow. That's how responsible they are. And to think they had more experience than us and so. Pfft. We ended up walking around the quiet streets of St. Gallen because it was a Sunday and all the shops were closed. Did you know I had to wake up at 6am, take a 4 hour train ride to St. Gallen, spend 57fr, take another 4 hours of train ride home?? And the people who FFK-ed has GA, which means they don't need to pay for any train ticket at all. That's how inconsiderate they get. Maximum level.

Tuesday was a holiday in Schüpfheim, some church day, so no school. But I stayed home the whole day to copy German notes borrowed from Isaac.

Wednesday... I had my first test in Schüpfheim.

Biology. Greaaat.

Although for the exchange students, we can refer to our textbooks, but I spent most of the time figuring out what did the question ask about. It was tiring, yes. I don't know if I can pass it or not, but the teacher just asked me to try, and so I did.

Thursday I had my second test.

This time it was English. I can understand the question, but I don't know how to do it. It was all about Pride and Prejudice. The first part was like "What is the profession of Jane Austen's father?" or "What is the name of Jane Austen's sister?". Seriously, I have absolutely NO IDEA. KEINE AHNUNG. I also had my first piano lessons. Apparently the school is offering me half a year of piano lessons for free, and on Thursday I embarrassed myself. How many years have I been learning piano? And I couldn't even play a simple C Major scale, both hands. Teacher Lily must be so proud.

Friday night was a concert, Ein Irisher Abend (An Irish Evening) in the Kanti. The choir was amazing. Nothing compared to Saxon or even Cempaka. The balance of the sopranos, altos, tenors and bass, and the arrangement of music, even though it was simple, it was still very good. After the concert, Megi, Raphael, Patrik and I went to the Le Bistro, the one we went on my birthday, for some drinks and later after that we walked to some unknown place in the woods, where everyone was there. They built a fire and bursting music with iPhones. When we arrived, we had to leave already cause of the train. I followed Marcos, Isaac and Gabriel to Luzern and it was 10.30pm. I just bought Gleis 7, a train card that allows you to get on any train or any bus for free after 7pm. Surprisingly, we met Isaac's host brother in Wolhusen in the train, and they were going to Luzern, too. We reached there and walked around, went to the toilet in McDonalds and met some other AFSers. I met Vera, from Indonesia and we spoke in Malay. Oh My God. I forgot how to speak Malay. I get confused with German and I think my German is now better than my Malay. I took the last train home while the boys stayed there till the next day, I think.

Well, I finally took a picture of the school, cause I have a panorama app on my phone.

Feast your eyes.

That's all of my school. Don't mind the chairs, their for the concert. But seriously, that's all it is.

The Science Lab at break time in between hours

Hasle Train Station

And this is how the train I take everyday to school looks like.

The Panorama shots are a bit fail. Please bare with me.