tout est magnifique

In case I haven't mentioned it recently, I LOVE MY LIFE. So so much.

Last week I took some time to travel around Switzerland to see some of the touristy spots. Some days I was by myself, while other days I was with Andrew or Whitney.

At the Rhine Falls in northern Switzerland with Andrew

The Matterhorn in Southern Switzerland

Andrew and I spent over 8 hours on trains so we could cross the Swiss border and enter into Liechtenstein. It's the 6th smallest country in the world, but probably the most boring. We stayed long enough for Andrew to eat a Kebab and then booked it out of there to return to Switzerland.

I got the marvelous chance to spend yesterday out on the water of Lake Biel which is on the west coast. The weather was perfectly warm and I finally got to be out on a searay again, which is the boat my family has in Ohio. It was very relaxing to be out on the water again and a perfect way to end the week!

Last week there was some sort of milk festival happening in Fribourg. So they brought in cows (both real and fake) and handed out balloons and fresh milk!

Giant easter egg in the park near our train station.

I am in love with our backyard.

In the beginning of the week we celebrated Grace's 19th birthday by throwing her a surprise party!! This is me, Whitney, Grace and Andrew at her house. They were some of the first exchange students I met in Switzerland, and we've stayed really close this year.

I joined a choir at the beginning of the year and we had a small concert last week!

One thing I've learned while traveling and meeting people these past few weeks is that everybody in Europe is so much more cultured than people in America. They can always speak at least two languages fluently, and then usually another one well enough to manage in a different country. I met a lady who was born and raised in the US but then married anAustrian and later they moved to Switzerland. She speaks both french and high german fluently, and understands almost all of swiss german. For those of you who don't know, swiss german is the dominating language in switzerland, but it's probably one of the hardest languages to learn. It's not written or taught in school, you just have to learn it through daily conversations. I love how everybody I meet here has some sort of traveling history about them, so many people were born somewhere else and then came to Switzerland to settle down. I would love to be able to do that. All I want to do with my life is speak french and ride trains everyday. I think I've fallen in love with this beautiful country.

As of today I have been living my life in Switzerland for exactly 33 weeks. . Which leaves me exactly 3 months left. I use to be so excited to go home. When I went to the airport in January with all the Aussie's who were going home, I was jealous of them. Jealous that they had already completed their entire year and got to go home, when I hadn't even made it to my half way point.

Well, the halfway mark has come and gone and every day I dread the future a little bit more. Because the problem is, each day in Switzerland is getting a little bit better. New adventures are arising, the weather is getting warmer and easter break is in the near future. Each day I get a little bit happier, but each day I get closer to July 8th. I made a countdown on my calendar in the beginning of January, but even then, I couldn't write anything for the 8th. It just has a very small zero in the corner, reminding me that time will eventually run out. I don't even know what I would write in that little box... Home? That doesn't seem right to me. When I return to Ohio I will be moving into a house that I've never slept in. I have to set up my room, unpack boxes and adjust myself into a house I've never lived in before. I won't know where the plates are, where we keep the spare key, or how to load the dishwasher. And of course, I went through all of that last year while moving to Switzerland, so it's not like I can't do it again. But the thing is, this is my home now. Can you honestly leave home and go home at the same time?

wanderlust

The spring of my Junior year the questions started: "Where are you going to college? What are you going to study?" and my answer was always "I have no idea."

That's when I started looking into studying abroad. I figured there's no time like the present, especially when I had nothing else planned for the future. I didn't want to take the normal path that everyone else in my class was doing, I wanted to do something different, I wanted adventures. I remember one night I was attempting to get some sleep before school the next morning, but I was too excited just thinking about the potential for my future. Living somewhere exotic and taking adventures everyday. For endless nights I would sneak out of bed and research on the internet for hours. Reading blogs of people who studied abroad and looking up costs and benefits of a year abroad. I wanted to make sure that I knew everything possible, that way when I finally approached my parents I would be confident and know exactly what to tell them. I had the idea of europe in my head for about a month before I told a single person. It seemed like such a far out idea that would never happen, so I kept it quiet until I was completely sure it was what I wanted. I don't actually remember telling my parents that this is what I wanted, but apparently whatever I said was convincing, because a year later I was on a plane bound for Switzerland!

Well, now it's time for round 2. I officially have the travel bug inside of me, and the thought of being bound to tiny little Athens, Ohio for 4 years makes me feel claustrophobic. The world is massive and I've only managed to see a tiny corner of it. The reason I was so happy during the month of March was because I was actually doing something. I saw so many new things and met amazing people while doing it. I had new horizons and languages everyday and was walking around with 4 currencies in my wallet. It reminded me that there is still so much to see. I know that college is important, but who says I have to stay in Ohio the whole time? Maybe I'll give myself a break from learning new languages, which puts Australia as my number one. and whatya know, Ohio University works with a program that sends people to Sydney! So parents, if you're reading this, be prepared because I'm doing my research!