rye-holly-fredrickson-s-may-2018-email

From: Holly Mellor <hollyamellor@gmail.com> Sent: Sunday, 6 May 2018 3:35 AM To: Kim Smith <kimchris@bigpond.net.au> Cc: Andrew Mellor <mellor.aj@gmail.com>; Jodie Mellor <jodiemellor@outlook.com> Subject: Update from Switzerland

Hi Kim,
I‘m having a great time in Switzerland and am currently on my second last day of a two week school holiday.
I was lucky to be invited by my host family to go with them on vacation to Italy for ten days last week. We set off in the morning and took the train to Milan, and then on to Florence where we hired a car to drive to a small coastal town named Castiglioncello in the Tuscany area of Italy.

Here we spent a week relaxing and enjoying the Italian sun, and of course, we went for two hikes in this week as well and visited Pisa and Lucca! For our first hike, we drove from Castiglioncello for approximately two hours to another scenic small town off the west coast of Italy. We then hiked for an hour and a half to the beach where we rewarded our self with a swim, and then hiked back to the car later on in the day. I thought I would share this with you as it was the first time that I had seen the beach for three months- definitely a great reward after the hike! The second hike was much longer, and we hiked alongside an aqueduct just out of the beautiful city Lucca. After the hike, we spent the rest of the day exploring Lucca, and of course, enjoyed a Gelato as we walked around through the busy streets.
Later in the week, we visited Pisa, and my family had asked for me to research Pisa, and it’s monuments and present to them in German about all of the monuments. It was a great day in Pisa, I was excited to see the Leaning Tower and was awestruck by how beautiful it is. We also visited the Baptistery in Pisa which is the largest in Italy and was also really stunning.
Before heading home to Switzerland after our week in Castiglioncello and surrounds, we spent three nights in Florence. In Florence, we visited the Uffizi museum, Duomo and Santa Maria Novella, of course, all while enjoying Italian foods and occasional gelato.

Yesterday, I attended a presentation by one of my hosting club‘s members. He works as the head chef in Winterthur‘s hospital, and he welcomed us into the Kitchen, told us about his processes and cooked amazing meals for us. I was completely surprised by the amazing quality of food that he produces on such a large scale!
Many of the Rotary members were astounded by my progression in German, and how quickly I have picked up both High German and Zurich Swiss German. They commented and asked if I had learnt German at school in Australia, or whether one of my parents knew the Language or had learnt it. I am at a point where I am starting to become confident in the language, and am proud of my progression and excited to improve more!
Tomorrow I will be going to the Glarus Landsgemeinde with other exchange students as a Rotex organised the event. The Glarus Landsgemeinde is a traditional Swiss Political Event, which is held annually in the Kanton Glarus. This event is always outside (even in crazy Swiss weather!) and consists of politicians raising topics and the public raising their hands to vote/display their opinion on the topic. I am excited to take part in this event tomorrow!
On Monday I am moving host families to stay with the Baumgartner family. I will be living with the two parents and the two daughters (17 and 19 years old). It will be great to switch and to learn about new aspects of Swiss culture.

I have attached some pictures from Italy to this email. They are from Pisa (with the Tower and also one with my host sister), at the beach and hiking in and around Lucca. I hope to send some photos of the Landsgemeinde and other things that I have done in the next email.
Wishing you and the club all the best, and thanking you for your support,

 

Holly