It's easy once you know how it's done

It's been 4 weeks since I've seen all of my friends and family back in Bay Village, which is the longest I've ever been away from home. I thought that each day would get a little bit harder as I count the days I've been away from them, but surprisingly each day is a little bit easier than the last. Of course I still miss everybody terribly, but each day I'm settling in a little bit more in Switzerland and adjusting to my new life. The one thing I really miss though is driving. Whenever I'm stressed, or sad or anxious, or basically just any heightened emotion, I like to drive around. There's nothing more relaxing than blasting my music and driving down lake road or 480. But sadly I'm not allowed to drive this year :( So instead of killing time in my car, I spent my afternoon baking Nutella Chocolate Chip cookies, which was a very good second option :) It was so relaxing to bake again, because it was one of my favorite pass times in America, but I haven't had the chance until today. I love cranking up the oldies music and eating so much dough that I feel sick, it's just strangely comforting to me.
I spent the weekend at an AFS camp in Veysonnaz, Switzerland which is about 2 1/2 hours away. It was probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen, there were mountains everywhere! Not a lot happened that weekend, but it was a lot of fun to be with other AFSers from all over the country.

The mountains!

All AFSers from the French part of Switzerland

I'm in my last week of french classes, which I'm a little bit upset about. My french has not caught on as quickly as I would have liked, and I still feel very very lost in conversation. On Monday I start regular school, and I am so nervous for it! I'm scared enough about being a new student, because anyone who knows me knows that I'm horribly awkward when meeting people, so doing it in french will be even worse. I know there will be a few familiar faces, and probably a lot of people who speak english, but I don't want to rely on others to survive. It's really hard that I can't be independent yet, because the language just slaps me in the face everytime... but hopefully soon enough I'll be ok!
à bientôt!