It’s the long summer school holidays in Europe, so for Alex it has been a month of chilling out with friends and his host family, partying, hiking, and full of cross cultural exchanges and experiences. He even had the opportunity to do a newspaper and TV interview, which he says was “a little scary”.
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In Alex’s words…
Switzerland – 21/07 to 20/08/2017
I have been on holidays so I haven’t been up to anything super interesting. On Saturday I met up with a friend from New Zealand, who is visiting her old host sister for a month. On Sunday I had one of my friends’ going away party, she is going to Chili for her exchange year. From there, I went to an 18th birthday party.
Monday I went hiking with my Rotary club. It was really bad weather and was raining nearly the whole day. I was soaked, and was able to poor water out of my shoes. I was a bit cold and tired as I only had three hours sleep the night before. In Switzerland many people go hiking for fun, but for me it was something different as I had never hiked for 5 to 6 hours before. Once we finished the hike we went to a Rotary club meeting.
Tuesday I went to the airport and said my goodbyes to the girl who was going to Chili. All her family were sad and crying but I was happy for her because I know how much fun she will have and the memories she will make, just from the experience I have had in the last 6 months. Wednesday was a pretty chilled day in the morning but in the afternoon I had a TV and newspaper interview. I initially thought it was just a newspaper interview but it ended up being a whole news interview with a camera which was a little scary.
Thursday I went to a friend’s house for a while. He bought some fireworks for the Swiss national day. In Switzerland you are legally allowed to buy fireworks twice in a year, once is for the Swiss national day and the other time is for the New Year celebrations. Friday in the afternoon I went to Zurich and met up with a few exchange students and just relaxed for a while.
Saturday I went hiking with my host dad and host brother. We went for a 6 hour hike which was pretty intense but by the time we got to the top we saw some amazing views. Sunday I went for a push bike tour with one of my Rotary club members. We went for 6 hours and 30 minutes around my canton and up through some mountains. By the end of it my muscles were dead, as I hiked the day before and now a massive bike ride. I was definitely feeling it in my legs.
Monday I spent the day with my oldie. I stayed at his house as he was leaving the next day to return to Mexico. We had an amazing 6 months together and he was definitely my best friend here while I have been in Switzerland. We sat up most of the night just talking and reflecting back on some of the memories we had together. Tuesday morning we took off for the airport. When he walked through the gate it was upsetting but I knew it would not be the last time we would see each other.
Tuesday night I got on a train and went to Locarno to meet with my host family. They have a holiday house there so we spent the week there. We watched some fireworks from their balcony that night which was amazing as it was Switzerland’s national day. We spent the next 5 days swimming in the pool and in the lake and enjoying the sun. We returned Sunday night as we had a Rotary meeting on Monday. I watched my previous host sister do a small presentation as she was leaving for Ecuador for exchange as well. Then that afternoon I went bridge jumping which was good fun as usual.
Tuesday I went to IKEA with my host family to buy a few things and then in the afternoon I saw one of my fellow exchange friends, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, and we spent the rest of the day together. I then had a few easy days at home as the weather was not too good, and it would be a bit hard to do anything outside without getting wet. I have already hiked once in the rain and once was definitely enough.
Saturday morning I got up at 2am to take my previous host sister to the Airport as she was off to Ecuador for her exchange year. It was sad to see her leave but I was happy for her because if her exchange is anything like mine has been she will have an amazing time!
Then in the afternoon it was street parade, it’s a big festival in Zurich where the streets of Zurich are turned into a festival. There are multiple stages set up throughout the city and semi-trucks driving around blasting music and people dancing. It is the biggest street parade in the world with hundreds of thousands of locals and foreigners taking to the streets. We got dressed up and joined in, with a group of exchange students ready to enjoy the fun and thrills of the Swiss culture. Sunday I stayed at home and got ready for school as I was going back the next day.
Monday I went back to school and it was good to see my friends again but also sad as many of my friends had left to go on exchange and my best mate was not there as he had returned to Mexico. Tuesday it was school as usual and I had a meeting with two of the new exchange students in my school which was good. Another two new exchange students will arrive in the following week. Friday after school I went with my host sister into Glarus to go to the Chilibi which is like a show. We got together with some friends and spent a few hours together.
Saturday I went into Zurich in the morning for my German course but once I got there I discovered that it was next week and not this week. After I got home I went for a bike ride and discovered a car show. It was a car show about American cars. It was good to see and spend a couple hours looking around. That night I went to the Chilibi again, but this time I met up with more of my friends. It was another good night with everyone spending time together. Sunday I went for a bike ride to a lookout over the town where I am living.
