It's the plague

Today when I got up I already felt not so 100%. By the time I got home from school I was basically dead. I'm so tired, I'm going to bed at 8pm. I'm pretty sure the entire population of Zurich is sick. Ew. 

But singing was fun and I got a 6 (best/perfect grade) for my English participation in class. 

Happy November!

Yippee! Only 10 days until my birthday :)

Today I slept in a bit, did laundry, finished an English presentation, organized over 1,000 pictures from my phone to my laptop, and did a little bit of history homework. Then I went and hung out with Lara and took pictures at sunset, which turned out really cool. 

Before dinner Lara and I "carved" Rüben (turnips!). Apparently it is a tradition here to carve not pumpkins, but turnips. (Also, it's not to celebrate Halloween, but all saints day, I think. Don't quote me on that. I'm tired, ok?) However, they're not carved like we carve pumpkins. You hollow out the turnip, then carefully peel off the skin in the places where you want the light to shine through a bit more. It's really neat.

I love Wednesdays

And I know why^^^ because I only have a half day of school!

Today we also got to go to school an hour later-which was awesome. Although I did wake up too early on accident. But have no fear. I fell right back asleep. 

After school I had my german class like I do every Wednesday. It was okay. 

Then I came home, did homework, studied, played piano, and now I'm going to bed. :)

Tonight was also "Eltern-Abend", which means parent's night. So my grandma went and listened to my teachers talk about their subjects and what we are learning. Apparently I got a special mention from my English teacher. Lol. 

Long day:)

Today I had school until 5:15. It was super fun because our history teacher is doing a big project week with another class, so we had two hours to eat lunch, which was cool. I also did my English presentation, and it went awesome! I talked for the whole period, and everyone wanted more details about what I think are the weirdest things. A big deal was the fact that I put a picture of me in a tree stand at age 12 with a gun, although I said I never shot anything. The whole class thought that was the bomb diggity. 

An interesting question someone asked me was if it was weird to listen to music and understand the words. Here everyone listens to exactly the same stuff as we do in the U.S. (with a few Swiss or German artists mixed in) and they usually don't understand the words in English songs, so to them it's strange you actually comprehend what the artists are saying. 

Tomorrow after school Lara and I are going to the west part of Switzerland for the weekend! (Lara's godmother lives there and invited us!) I'm really excited! :) 

Woo for almost another week of school being over! Time flies when you're having fun... 

Thanks, Grammy... :)

So today after school I went shopping with Aunt Claudia and Lara for winter boots. I was so confused, because when I put a size 37 (the sizes are different here-I think 37 is about a women's size 6 in the U.S.? I'm not sure) on my right foot it fit perfectly, and when I put a size 38 on my left foot it fit perfectly. But the other way around was too big and too small. I usually wear sneakers, and I like them a little too big so I have lots of toe room-I don't know why-which is why I didn't discover this problem earlier... Solution: Buy a size 39 and put insoles into them. Now they fit! Yay! Apparently my Grandma Susan has this same issue with shoe sizes... It seems I have inherited more than a big head and a stubborn nature from you, Grammy!

Tomorrow I get to do my English presentation, I'm super excited!! I put the finishing touches on my presentation tonight and hopefully it'll be fun and interesting tomorrow! 

Grades

Today we got our test results back for English and math. Our class average for math was 3.4 (on a scale of 1-6, which is how grading is done here), which is pretty bad. No one understood what the math teacher was even talking about during most of the lessons. I had a "bad" grade, but if the grades were based off of class ranking, I would have definitely gotten a way better grade. Basically, 3/4 of the people failed miserably and 1/4 got lucky and passed.

My English test was much better. I got a 5.5. :)

Tomorrow I get to sleep in because our history teacher is doing a "Projekts Woche" (project week) with another grade. And after school Lara and Aunt Claudia and I are going shopping for winter boots. Yippee!

Thursdayyyyy

So I don't have to do my English  presentation yet, I'm doing it next week. That means I have time to add more stuff, so I'm not complaining. 

Also, I got invited to a birthday party! Yay friends! People! Things! Parties!

It's a rare occurrence, but tonight I had no homework. *Insert horrified gasp from my mother here* Yippee!

Sunny Wednesday

Today was fun, because on Wednesdays we have a half day. Also, it was gorgeous outside, which made for a really nice walk home. Now that it's dark out it's raining, but that's totally ok with me.

Tomorrow I get to sleep in and we have another half day because the teachers have to go to some conference thing in the afternoon. So much free time! And I'm not sure if it's tomorrow or next week that I get to do a presentation in English class about the schools and such in America... But that'll be exciting :)

Day 4!

Thursdays consist of a bunch of double periods of classes which makes the day a strange length. Today I had double English (I practiced German), geography, history, biology, double French, and double p.e.

During p.e. I noticed something. We were practicing volleyball, and a lot of the girls didn't know how to play at all. A lot of the students were uncoordinated and not very athletic. At home, if you're not good at a sport, no one likes you in p.e. because everyone has to wait for you. There is so much emphasis put on sports at home, and here it's just not a big deal. I find it refreshing to not have to freak out when you mess up and send the volleyball flying across the gym.

I feel like Switzerland is a happier place than the U.S. and I wonder how one could measure that scientifically to find out. Huh. But what I've noticed is if you pass someone walking, you say hello or good morning etc, whereas back home that's just awkward and weird. Here it's a courteous thing to do, and quite frankly, it makes everyone happier. Strangers aren't as much of a reason to freak out and be awkward so much as a reason to be polite and make room to sit down or something like that. 

I feel like here people also value the effort and/or money the city or someone put into something more and they expend more effort to make sure they don't mess it up. There is graffiti and all that just like anywhere else, but even the graffitiers don't go after the pretty sculptures and so on in public places. Just abandoned buildings and the like. 

Also, the trains, trams, and buses are unbelievably clean. You are allowed to eat and drink on all of them, and yet they are always tidy. Yay for random things I noticed today... 

Day 2!

I have a weekly schedule, so the times I get up are different every day, and yesterday was thankfully a day when I get up later. My sleep schedule is still set on summer. Tomorrow morning is not going to be pleasant.  

We have basically jumped right into school, homework and all. The first English class was today, and that is the only class I have been bored in so far (I'm going to practice German in the future during English class). 

After school I bumped into some of my cousins friends and we went out for ice cream cause it was so nice and sunny. It's amazing how it's possible to recognize people a couple years after you've last seen them...

Also, Taylor Swift announced yesterday that her new album, "1989", is coming out September 27, which is exciting for me because I like her music. 

The School System Is A Joke

So, today I went back to school after a 3-day weekend... *woop woop*
1st period: French. I love the language and the teacher, but one of the kids asked what the word "deafen" meant. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Deafen
2nd period: Choir! Nothing to say. I love to sing.
3rd period: 21st Century Literacies. We had a lady come in to tell us about how difficult sophomore year is going to be. They tell us that every year, that "the next year of school is going to be soooo tough!"
4th period: English. We wrote an essay. It was fun.:)
5th period: Math. I played on my friend's phone the. Entire. Time. I just did the math homework that he assigned in about 15 minutes. Easy.
6th period: Biology. This class is fun. We have a good teacher. And we learned stuff. Woot.
7th period: P.E. Easy, but fun.

#sorrynotsorry
Rant time is over now.
Bye!