up in the clouds, we'll be higher than ever

heyooooo, lady gaga was fantastic! I don't know why our tickets were considered bad, because I was on the floor about 50 foot away from gaga herself! does it get much better than that? The other people were stuck in their seats or loge boxes, but I got to rock it out in a massive mosh pit, which made me ecstatic :) She is amazing live, and her costumes and dances were so impressive! I swear, that night is going down in history because I was just so frickin happy!! (So happy that I was willing to shell out 45 francs for a shirt...)

Grace and I ready to go!

Fame, doin' in for the fame, cause we wanna live the life of the rich and famous


On another note... today I went to the bank to convert my leftover british pounds back into swiss francs and this is what happened:

Me-Bonjour! Je veux convertir cet argent pour les francs suisses
Bank Lady- Ok, no problem. That will come out to 45 francs
Me- D'accord, merci
Bank Lady- How would you like the money?
Me- Avec 20's, s'il vous plait.
Bank Lady- Alright here you go! Have a nice day!
Me- Merci, bonne journée

WHY DID SHE SPEAK TO ME IN ENGLISH!??!???? This has happened to me on numerous accounts. I don't say a word of english, yet they continue to blabber away. Apparently my french just sucks... score!

and one last thing, today I was on the bus and this man was having a very loud conversation with himself in a mixture of german and french and then he saluted me and said "high hitler!" What the heck do you say to that?

I miss seeing this everyday :(










But then again, mountains might be better :)

3 Months

Wowza, tomorrow is my 3 month mark in Switzerland, which is so bizarre! It's already flying by so fast, christmas is becoming a predominant subject in conversation, and we've already picked names for secret santa! Sadly the name I got is a cousin who I haven't even met yet... so that will make buying a present a little challenging.
I honestly don't have much to report, nothing too interesting has been going on, just school. On friday my bus broke down on the way to school, so I was about 5 minutes late to economics which ticked off my teacher because he's a stickler for rules. So I did my best to explain what happened, but he was still mad and told me that I would have to do a report. Every morning 1 or 2 students have to read an article about economics to the class, which is easy for them, but sadly my pronunciation sucks so it makes it a bit challenging. Well anyways, when he told me that I would have to do a report I didn't exactly understand what he said but didn't feel like asking so i was just like "oui, ok pas un problèm" which meant that I agreed to do the article. So monday morning I get to class and he asks for my article and I just give him a blank stare... so then he explains what I have to do, but since I didn't do the first one, I had to do 2! So I got to class this morning and had to read my article to the class, which was extremely humiliating and just so horrible. I know it made no sense at all, because I was butchering the words horribly. I honestly don't think anybody understood a word I said... and the teacher just gave me the saddest most pathetic look once I finished and then said something about how I'll be better by the end of the year. but he was nice and didn't make me read the second one out loud. But fortunately my class was nice and didn't laugh in my face, even though I'm sure they wanted to. so yeah, that's my story of the week!
Yesterday I got a massive package from my marvelous cousin Chrissy, which was unexpected but greatly appreciated! Maxime destroyed the Reese's, so those are all gone... hahah but I still have my peanut butter, twizzlers, gum, easy mac and chocolate chips! I even made some snowcaps (a cookie my mom bakes) last night, because I wanted to put the chocolate chips to good use! I think I might have mentioned this already, but chocolate chips here are extremely hard to find, and they taste like crap which is shocking because switzerland is basically the chocolate capital of the world. and they're not even chips, they're cubes. it's stupid. So using real chocolate chips was fantastic! She also sent over a bunch of tabloids, which made me so happy! I'm so out of touch with the celebrity world! well actually, I'm so out of touch with just the world entirely... but at least now I know what's happening in hollywood! So basically the point of that little rant is that if you want to win over my heart, send me a care package!
Tomorrow is finally friday, which means I finish school at 12:15. I'm celebrating my friend's birthday tomorrow night in Fribourg but other than that I don't have much planned for the weekend. I'm just anxiously waiting for monday, which means GAGA!!!
oh, and side note, this week's glee episode made me so frickin happy! I have creepily been stalking Darren Criss for about a year and a half ever since he premiered in A Very Potter Musical on youtube. and now my little boy is all grown up and starring on tv! So proud :)
and one last thing... ONLY 1 MORE WEEK UNTIL THE EPIC FINALE!!!!

:D

Wanna know something super duper cool and exciting? My host dad just bought tickets for me and Grace to go to Lady Gaga on November 15th!! I've been freaking out for about an hour straight!! As the wise John Grady once said "I found Lady Gaga to be extremely interactive with your soul." Sounds like a good time, right? So yeah, I've got me some Gaga on the 15th, and then to top it all off my most favorite cousin Ellen is journeying over from the land of the frenchies on the 18th to watch the epic first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with me! Gaga+Ellen+HP= THE BEST WEEK EVERRRR!!!

tu vis seulement une fois

Bonjour!
I've been on a 2 week break from school (not exactly sure why...) but it's been really nice because I've caught up on some much needed sleep and have gotten the opportunity to sleep in until 1 in the afternoon :)
Besides London I didn't really do anything too exciting during my time off, which was kind of nice, because I'm always a fan of some quality lounging time. I've gone out with my host brothers a few times and just spent some time with their friends, which is always pretty amusing. I've spent a lot of time at Grace's house because her host mom is always so welcoming and always excited to see me. Grace and I had an american evening where we made some Kraft Mac and Cheese, which tasted so good! She also has a hot tub, so we've spent a lot of time there too :) I've also gotten to know a few kids who are studying in Switzerland with Rotary, so I've hung out with them a lot too, which has been pretty fun. Yesterday I went out with my friend Andrew and we just wandered the streets of Fribourg for 3 hours doing absolutely nothing, yet still managed to have a fantastic time :) Last night I went to Zurich to see my friend Aurelia, which was fantastic! We watched Hocus Pocus, which was our tradition in Bay Village, so we felt it was necessary to repeat since we're finally in the same country again! Tomorrow I'm going to Luzern with some other exchange students, and we're going to attempt to celebrate halloween... because sadly it's not too widely recognized here :( and that will pretty much wrap up my weekend and it's back to school on tuesday.
I've been in Switzerland for 10 weeks now, and I can't decide if that's short or long. I was talking to Grace about this, and she made a fabulous point. We've been in Switzerland for 10 weeks and have already accomplished so much. We have a (mild) understanding of the language, we have a family, a home, friends and a normal life in Switzerland. When I really think about it, majority of the people here don't really know me.. they've only been in my life for a little over 2 months. But now I can't even picture my life without them. I'm so use to walking downstairs and seeing Sylvie cooking in the kitchen, and Guillaume lounging in front of the TV and the familiar sound as Maxime comes home on his scooter. These people are my life now, and I will be eternally thankful for how willing they have brought me into their family. And this is only after 2 months! I can't even imagine the relationship we will have by the end of my year here. I have everything I could have wished for here and it's still just the beginning! With each passing day I know it's just going to get so much better. I'll meet new people and explore new places and each day I'll understand and speak a little more french, and I'm so excited to watch my life improve and change to become something so much better!
Bonne Nuit et bisous à tous!

London Baby!

Kendall and I by the Millennium Bridge

Leaving Buckingham Palace (sadly I didn't get to meet the Queen)

The London Eye all lit up!

The highlight of my week!

Home sweet home <3

I'm so glad that I got the opportunity to go to London, and it was really comforting to be with someone who has actually known me for more than 2 months. Kendall is so easy to get along with, and she's the only person I allow to call me Michellular... We had a lot of fun just exploring Europe and hanging out with her roommate Catherine, who is her really good friend from America. and it was also really cool because they are living with all the other students from their program, so it was just nice to be around other students. although it wasn't so nice when someone was smoking at 1:30 in the morning causing the fire alarm to go off. but other than that little glitch, London was amazing! It's good to be back home though, although I must say I managed to forget a lot of french during those 5 days... so I should probably get back to some studying!

Jolly Germans and Brilliant Britians!

Friday night I ventured into the German speaking part of Switzerland with 3 fellow Americans, Grace, Andrew and Whitney where we went to Oktoberfest! I have no idea where we were, but we were surrounded by fields, cows and a cheese factory (known as a cheesery to some...) At first I was a little skeptical about the whole thing, but it was actually extremely fun! I had a personal quest to drink one of those massive beers, but sadly they were all in this fancy VIP section that despite multiple attempts, we couldn't get in! So we ended up asking some random guy with the wristband the get some for us, which made me pretty content! We spent all night dancing and talking to random Swiss guys and then left around 3 in the morning. But seeing as how we were in the middle of nowhere it took eternity to get back to Whitney's house where we were all sleeping. We walked past the field of cows (why were the cows awake at 3am? They should be sleeping!) and waited at the shady cheesery until the creepiest van ever came to pick us up. We jammed 10 people inside this piece of crap and drove about 45 minutes through mountains and forests. I was a tad bit scared for my life... and one of the guys riding with us was tripping on something because he kept talking about seeing rainbows. So yeah, that was a little interesting. But we eventually made it back to Whitney's house and finally went to bed around 5! So overall it was a pretty successful evening!
Right now I am on a 2 week break from school, so Sunday morning I took off to visit my almost cousin Kendall who is studying there for the semester! I had to take the train Sunday morning to the airport and then flew about an hour to get to London and then took the tube into town. Let me just say, I fricking LOVE London! I think it's partially because I can actually understand what's happening around me... Even though I'm in this massive city where I could get lost in a second, I feel strangely comfortable just because I can read the signs and understand what people are saying. I never actually realized how stressed out french has been making me. But now that I think about it, I have to mentally prepare myself to go order food or talk to the people at the post office or ask for directions. I take a minute to look up the words I will need and do my best to memorize and pronounce them correctly, and it just overwhelms my brain sometimes. But here, it's so simple! I just simply walk up to the window and order my food or buy some postcards, and I can understand what the person says to me! In Switzerland I mostly just smile and nod and hope that is sufficient enough, so it's extremely comforting to once know exactly whats going on.
Besides the whole English aspect there are a million other reasons why I love London.
- The accents! So freaking awesome! All the little British students in their super cool uniforms just romp around speaking with an accent, and I want to steal one so bad! I think I'm going to move here just so my kids will have an accent
- They drive on the opposite side of the road, which is extremely cool, but also extremely dangerous for me. In Switzerland all the cars just stop for people. I no longer look both ways before stepping into the street because I know that anything coming towards me is going to stop. But no such thing here! It's the complete opposite... if you step into the street when a car is coming, you're skrewed. So I'm still in this mindset that I can just step off the curb with no problem, which I quickly learned is a no go. But sadly the few times I actually remember to look before crossing, I look to the left instead of the right. So either way, I don't see any oncoming cars because I'm looking the wrong way. I think it would take me a while to train myself to look to the right. Let's just hope I make it home alive.
- In general I think I just like being in a city. I love the hundreds of cars and buses whizzing past. and the Tube!! I loveee the tube! There is an entire world of travel buried beneath the streets of London, and it is fantastic!
- The British use such better adjectives to explain things. Everything is Brilliant or Marvelous or Fantastic!
- Primark. It's Forever 21 on steroids. Everything is really affordable and so cute! Kendall and I ventured in for only about 30 minutes today and I still managed to buy a lot of things, including cotton tights for only 2 pounds, which made me really happy because I've been looking for some for a long time! The only thing that sucks is that it is soooo crowded! It's all these crazed women scrounging for the best clothes and not really caring if they're in your way or not. It reminded me of the Friends episode where Rachel, Phoebe and Monica go to the bargain wedding dress shop.
- We've managed to get in a lot of sight seeing while being here as well. Sunday we went to the Camden Markets, which is without fail my favorite part so far. If you ever come to London, go to the Markets! We've also been to Piccadilly Circus, Millennium Bridge (HP sight), Platform 9 3/4 (!!!!), The London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, The Tate where we saw artwork by Warhol, Monet and Picasso, Buckingham Palace, the Victoria and Albert Museum, a nice ride on a double decker bus, and probably a lot more but I can't remember it all. So overall, I would say this has been a pretty successful trip, and it's not even over yet! I'll be home on Thursday, so I'll try to put up pictures soon!