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I don't have my computer with me so, I can't show you the billions of pictures I've taken. I mean, the billions of AMAZING pictures I've taken. So, on this foreign computer, I can't really show you much. Here's two. From our hike. In the alps.

September 29

Today we went to do touristy things. Something I'm not fond of but, I'm doing all that I can here so, of course I went. Well, it wasn't nearly as exciting as the Matterhorn in Disneyland but, I wasn't expecting it to be, so all's well. Mmm I did have a delicious cinnamon-banana-chocolate-sugar-coconut crepe. My favorite, you see. The only thing is, they wrap the crepes so they're rectangular, put them on a plate and leave you with a plastic fork and knife. This is so stupid because crepe places hardly ever have chairs and when you get one, you usually are in the midst of walking around. So, I had to stare at this delicious, warm crepe for like ten minutes before I actually got to eat it. Imagine my intense frustration.

Me, currently:

1.I'm currently obsessed with my ipod (thank you mom) and have been listening to it every second I can. Hopefully my computer will be fixed (it's with my host cousin right now. He's a hella sweet guy. He has great piercings and his ears are gaged (sp?) I want to do that but not as intense) so I can get all my music and have the beautiful album cover flow like I desire. That'd be great.

2.I'm currently setting out for two things. One is I want the ultimate swiss army knife and the ultimate watch. The swiss army knife will probably just be completely normal, but it wil be ultimate in my eyes. And the watch....will probably be hella expensive so, I'm saving up for it and buying it as a christmas/birthday gift to myself. I want a beautful pocket watch and although that's as inconvinient as watches can get (there's even some on swiss army knives), but I'm set on it so it's mine.

2.MOMMY: let me tell you my plans of my return. I currrently want to get a bunny. He can be old and fat and black (yay!) and definitely rescued. I want an animal I can take with me everywhere and share adventures with. I don't want him to sit around like they do in pet shops. He can even have my closet (which is a luxury room for him). I'll let him outside on my watch so mean animals don't eat him. And I'll feed him and pay for everything. It'll be easier than having Marney, that's for sure. I hope the puppies don't eat him. That's make me sad and grossed out. Think of the adventures we'll have! Okay, I'm sure you're thinking that this phase will pass (like having a wallabye-though that didn't pass, it was just unrealistic) and maybe it will but that's alright. Actually, I don't think so. But, I know you'll love him dearly because we can carry him everywhere in our bags. Like the pups when they were actually pups. I even have a name picked out for him already. Several if the latter because mysteriously undesirable.

September 28

Last weekend was intense backpacking in the alps. This weekened was intense monster biking down the alps. And holey moley. It was so freaking amazing. I like adventure so, of course I sped down the mountain as fast as I deemed safe, which wasn't alsways safe. There were a lot of twists and turns. Your arms are shaking because of the severely uneven path (rocks) and your hands are freezing so, I wore gloves. Well, at one point I my arms and hands were shaking so much and they wouldn't hold the break well. I thought I was going to die (not actually) but, it was scary. Luckily, my yearn to live came through and here I am. Anyways, I would've done that all day. Ohhh night. At one point there was a tunnel and at another the path was so thin and unstable. Luckily someone was infront of me for that part so I couldn't speed through it. So, thankfully I'll be in this beautiful town for a week because we have two weeks of fall break in October. Next week Catherine is going to Tunisia, so I think I'll just hang out with friends or something. That should be fun, I think.

On wed. our Grandmother came over to make us crepes and applesauce. It was delicious. I thought I should mention that seeing as it was a really important event.

September 23nd

I was a bit more nervous for today than yesterday. Well, I come to class late and surprise surprise. No French. And later, no drawing. Instead we had something (I have no idea what, but the teacher was a bitch. She was acting like I was the first exchange student in the world to come to a country where I don't speak the language well) and Math. Ugg. Today was good, though. For some reason, I feel like a dog (who called me that? Franz-Joseph? I don't remember.) because I developed a sort of fondness and loyalty for the first person who 'took me in.'

I spoke a bit more German than before and learned a lot. Today was also Catherine's birthday so there was a family gathering which was pretty cool. My favorite part was when I actually carried on a conversation with Astrid, my host-mom. Luckily, I got into the 'German flow' today, which was so great. In class, I don't understand any German. Okay, a little bit, but what's even more disconcerting, is the fact that everyone speaks Swiss-German. Even in the class, though they're not really supposed to. Swiss German is a completely different language, though. German-speakers can not understand it at all. It's amazing. I hope I learn it.

It's fairly aggravating because sometimes people talk to me very slowly and loudly like I'm deaf. It's like first of all, I took four weeks of German and second of all, despite what you may think, putting one minute intervals in-between words while practically yelling them does not help. I swear I'll understand it better when you say it five times faster. This just makes me feel retarded and dislike you. And, 'say something' really doesn't work, I've discovered. Or 'tell me what you know.' There's really no way I can tell you my entire German vocabulary over the course of a minute. No way.

Oh and when people left the house, tonight, there was a little porcupine scurrying across the way! Apparently they're wild here. It was amazing and I took some pictures.

September 22nd

Today was a day that lame and cheesy people would put a golden star next to their entry about the day. Although I try not to be lame and cheesy, I know I am sometimes. So, my very first day of school was filled with the usual long pauses and awkwardness. And laughs at my terrible German. But, only once because I didn't talk in German that much . . . When I walked in to the first class of the day (English) there was a sign that said 'Welcome Maxene.' It was so great. And immediately a girl introduced herself to me and asked me to sit next to her. Everyone was so nice.

It's really nerve-racking though, because people can (and have) talk about me in Swiss-German and I won't understand a thing. Unless, of course you say 'carrots' or 'cabinet' or 'butt'.

Today I was locked out of my house. I forgot my key for the first time. So, I sat outside, writing for about forty-five minutes when I decided I had enough and I sent a SMS to my host-mother. The first person to arrive at the house would be an hour later, so I decided to bike around. It was really nice, actually. I went up to the pet store and looked at the little critters. It depressed me to see them all locked up in cages. When I have a bunny, it will have my whole house and yard to explore, I swear. So, all the cute little bunnies and gerbils and birds and such were in little cages. Oh I saw the cutest bunny. His ears were long and hung down and he was fat and black. I loved him immediately. So what do you do when you love a critter? Name it. Yes. Although, that name is pretty much reserved for my future bunny so, it wasn't actually legit. Anyways they were nothing compared to the pathetic turtle I saw. It was the most depressing by far. I was in the store for a good fifteen minutes, looking back and forth across the small room the carried animals. All around in the turtle's cage were wood chips. All except for one area. This area lay in the corner were the turtle persistently walked into. Over, and over, and over. Never going anywhere, just pushing himself into the corner of the cage. Occasionally, he'd take a break, then go at it even harder than before. I knelt down before his cage and knocked on it lightly before whispering to him that there was no use. He actually turned his little critter head to me and 'looked' at me. Then, he turned his body around, making me think I was a critter-psychic and miraculously got through to him, but sure enough, he turned back around and carried where he left off. And, that's where I left him.

September 20th and 21st

We went hiking in the alps. It was incredible and incredibly painful. What was said to be a three hour hike turned into a seven hour hike, and I'd say a good four-five of those hours were uphill. Imagine a winding pathway with an uneven rocks to lead you the way. It was intense and incredibly difficult. There was also a ton of fog. We stayed in this hut with sweet bunk beds. This is the second time I've slept in over-sized bunk beds. It was fun. The next day was great, though. I mostly hiked down by myself which was incredibly. I kept stopping to take pictures or stare at flowers and cool rocks. That day, I got asked a lot if I was okay. I was fine, I assure you. Then, we took this train that at one point, is completely vertical. It was intense. On the way back home, we ate pommefrites and shnitzel (sp?) which was oh my yum. Oh, and ice cream named after Denmark. I don't know why, though.

I took a lot of pictures but, I'm too lazy to put them up. It takes forever. Molly's way better at that then me. Maybe tomorrow? I don't know

September 21st

Today was a day that lame and cheesy people would put a golden star next to their entry about the day. Although I try not to be lame and cheesy, I know I am sometimes. So, my very first day of school was filled with the usual long pauses and awkwardness. And laughs at my terrible German. But, only once because I didn't talk in German that much . . . When I walked in to the first class of the day (English) there was a sign that said 'Welcome Maxene.' It was so great. And immediately a girl introduced herself to me and asked me to sit next to her. Everyone was so nice. 

September 19th

I wonder what the largest number of calories I've devoured in one day. Seriously, just inquiring. I assume it's not so small...

Well, today was not like any other. Again, I had to say goodbye to someone dear to me (though only for a month. But, it's weird when we spend five days a week glued at the waist). But, what was even worse, when we were hugging and saying goodbye at the train station (classic) I tried to think of some words of wisdom I could say to her. The chosen was quite obvious, and I thought, very wise. 'Stay Gold.' I told her. Unfortunately, Molly hadn't read or really heard of 'The Outsiders' so, you can see how that failed . . . miserably. We had a few heartfelt moments today, actually. SO, today we went to Basel with our class. I live really close to Basel, and Gonz-gonz lives in it, so we thought it was dumb to go to Olten when we could save sleep and tiredness and just go to Basel. Well . . . poor communication. I finally decided that the fault is Molly's because she's lacking a cell phone. Yea. So, we get there and wait for people. Only three come out. Apparently, the dumb teacher (Sara) said that they had to pay twelve francs instead of using their free ticket, because that one came a bit later (like ten or so minutes). So, they didn't wait. It took us a while but, we finally got to the museum (where we spent a good 5 minutes in). I frantically searched for Molls, asking someone with a familiar face whenever I got the chance. And then, I saw her face. 'MOLLY!' I yelled with my arms flailing about. 'MAX!' She cried. We ran into each other's arms (we relish the fact that neither of us are particularly fond of 'goodbye' hugs) so happy we could cry. We said of how much we missed each other, and how scared and lost we were with out each other. It was terrible. I miss Molly. Luckily we'll see each other soon, so it lacked  the tears as some possessed in the past. 

This weekend is hiking in the Alps! So excited. A lot of pictures will be taken. 

FOOD: I eat a lot here. And it's difficult for my body to process all of it, I think, because it's so intense. Bread, cheese and chocolate. Really, that's all I eat. Well, you could definitely take out cheese and it would be so accurate. This morning: Nutella with bread (no, not bread with Nutella. Hey. Nutella would be a cool girl's name) and frosty sugar flakes. During our day in Basel, we devoured (Molly and I. Two other pieces were unwillingly and grudgingly given away) our usual trip-bar of honey chocolate. Nom nom nom. Lunch was a sandwich with meat (meat could replace cheese, if you wish). For a snack I had chocolate-bread and for dinner I had a billion sorts of cheese with bread, and garlic bread and salad on the side. After, I snuck a piece of chocolate to fill the gap between dessert. For desert it was this really good chocolate mousse? And then another piece of chocolate. But don't worry, I won't get morbidly obese .

My Days

Our class. We laugh a lot.

I'm so excited and surprised by all the chocolate. Just...wow...chocolate. Oh man. 

We got to ride scooters in an awesome museum in Luzern. Pretty efficient way to get around.

On my way to Olten. I see this times a million
Luzern. Erkka (Finnland) and Molly (Nebraska)

Molly's Pencil. 

September 18

Sometimes class is so boring I want to shoot myself. This is only with our second teacher, though. And though today was our last, this was no exception. Our regular teacher is so adorable. Seriously. He plays classical music and sometimes sings along with it. He also encouraged us to teach him Simon Says and 'The Hokey Pokey' (which, I have to say, failed). So, today, all I did was think about my worries and daydream about the problems amplifying themselves. It was horrifying. Luckily, Molly unintentionally cheered me up, which brings me to a point we sorta realized today. How are we going to manage without each other? We both sorta 'get' everything we mean right away and laugh at terrible puns and funny American stuff that no one else gets (which makes it even more hilarious). This will be the third time this month I have to start over and make new friends, only this time it's real. Haha. All the others were fake. Okay, not really but it was different. we had something especially in-common with each other. Now, it's just me and the swiss people. Whatever. I'll manage. 

Molly has a funny pencil. She found it at her grandparents house. In bold it says 'Extasy' then on the second line 'Exotic Lingerie and Adult Novelties' and third 'Home Parties.' Just incase anyone finds this more enthralling and desirable than funny, here's the number (though please don't bother to tell me) '816-312-2796.' The top of this red pencil has white hair and a face with a cute little yellow bow-tie. 

Ugg. I can't figure out pictures. Everything is in German. 

I have to say, Switzerland is the most beautiful country I've been to. So many hills. All the towns are in at the foot of the hills, so the hills completely surround them. They're covered with forest-green trees so that every patch of land in that area lies completely concealed. And they're such a beautiful green. It's nice to actually be able to see them. They're not hidden by houses or anything. Just the way they are and I like that. The only thing I'm intensely worried about is the weather. It's 8 degrees (Celsius, of course. Don't be stupid) and it gets so much colder. I can't handle that. I think it's already to cold. So, I think I'm going to die. Sorry. But, the cold is very strange. It's sorta... 'frosty'? Like, even if it's not too cold, you can still see your breath. It's hard to explain, but it's just different. Maybe it's because the air kinda stays in one place. It's not at all near an ocean (weird for me) and hills surround it so wind is scarce.