This is where I'm suppossed to be.

Salut!

Life is going good (except for my HORRIBLE day at school today, where 2 teachers not only yelled at me, I also fell of the trampolines in gym class and my back is now in pain) BUT that is all overshadowed when I think of the great weekend I had!

Alors. What did I do?!?!?!?!?!!?

Let's see. It all started Friday, when after hanging out in Lausanne with Zion, I went home and watched movies with the little sis for 6 hours straight until 11pm while eating American popcorn and chocolate!

Saturday, I had to get up early and head to Lausanne for a Rotary event (FINALLY! One in the French part where I can understand and the others can't!!!). We were of course, in our sexy blazers. It was a thing for 1 of the 3 districts, so not everyone was there, and it wasn't for us kids, it was for the adults, we were just there to do a little flag parade. So after having some croissants, we all got lined up and WAITED FOREVER! Seriously, they were telling us to go go, get in line, be ready, and then we waited for what was probably 30 to 45 minutes! Ridiculous.

After the 3 minutes we spent in the conference, we made an exit and then waited for another 1 1/2 hours until lunch was served, which turned out to be a rather amazingly good and fancy meal! So I guess it was worth the wait. . . :)

But at lunch, I didn't sit with Becky and Zion and the frenchies, instead I sat with 2 of the germans, and we immediatly became best friends. They are the swiss german version of Becky, Zion, and I. So great.

So after lunch (and sneaking to the desert table many times) we decided to ditch all the other exchangies heading to Geneva (one of my least favorite places in Switzerland) and invited our new friends to come to Chateau D'Oex with us to a balloon festival!

So they agreed and we spent 2 hours on trains getting there and getting to know them! I officialy love them. Haha. It is amazing how easy it is to become best friends when you are an exchange student!

And here, my friends, are the photos depicting what we did. . . . .. . . .

On the train coming in, we could see all the balloons in the sky! So cool! (P.S. desregard my outfit. I know I look like a fat marshmellow type creature as I had my coat on OVER my giant coat (showing how large my blazer is) )

Here we are! The fab 5! Kathleen (from Washington state), Zion, Jenna (from Vancover, Canada), me and Becky!

Jenna and I! It was the perfect time of day to take beautiful pictures with the beautiful scenery!

Chalets, Alps, balloons, does it get better?!

Walking to the festival! Yes, that is me with a Swiss flag taped to my back. I am SO cool. :) Don't we all look like great ambassadors in our blazers?!
Me, Kathleen (so funny) and Jenna :) (Notice our pins! They are filling up! )

Becky, me, and Zion. So Swiss.

Self timer! We had some troubles figuring out just the moment when it was going to go off.
:)

Kathleen wants to be a helicopter pilot, and there were these helicopters, you see, and we wanted a picture with one, you see, and so Kathleen worked up the courage and went to talk to her hero (because he is a pilot) and talked him into letting us get a picture.

Kathleen's hero, Becky, Zion and I by the helicopter! I was a little excited.

You see, after taking these photos, we all decided, out of nowhere, to actually pay and go for a RIDE IN THE HELICOPTER! Totally crazy! And it cracks me up because 2 weekends ago, Becky was asking me if I would ever go in a helicopter with her, because she wanted to, and I was like "I have no intrest in doing something like that". 2 weeks and 50 francs later, there I was.
Jenna. (she looks silly!) We were all screaming like little girls because we couldn't believe we were in a helicopter!

Kathleen and I got to ride in the front! It was SO COOL! I figure it was a once in a lifetime thing to take a helicopter ride in the Alps, so I might as well get over my fear and DO IT! (Although, Kathleen and I were holding hands the entire time our of fear! Haha)
View from the sky!

I thought we were going to crash into this balloon, because our pilot went RIGHT BY IT! Wow. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

After triumph! It was all of our first times in a helicopter! And one we will never forget with the ones we will never forget!

This was earlier that day (at this point, I would never of believed you if you had told me I would be going in a helicopter in a few hours!) with the Swiss flag! YEAH! Waiting for 45 minutes. yeah.

I. Am. Swiss.

Je. Suis. Suisse.

Ich. Bin. Schweizer.

Gina (a fellow Frenchie who I don't get to see enough of!) and me!
Are you getting the message that we had lots of time, hence lots of photos?!

Kathleen, me, Shebly ( a fellow Frenchies also!) and Zion!

Now, these are the Luzern photos (from 2 weekends ago) that I promised I would obtain and put up! Volia!

Sign that inticates we were at Luzern. Just in case you didn't believe me. :)

LOOK AT HOW WARM IT IS! I AM WEARING A LIGHT COAT AND SUNGLASSES! IN JANUARY! IN SWITZERLAND! Crazy Swizerland.

Me in front of Lake Luzern! I love Luzern! It is SO CUTE ( I know I say this all the time, but I can't help it, they all are!) yet so small for a city in la suisse! Love it!

In front of the bridge that goes across the lake.

The Tower. Where they put all the exchange students how break the D's. Notice I am outside the towerm not inside all you Rotarians? ;)

P.S. In case you are unware of the D's, they are a set of universal rules all Rotary exchange students must obey.

D1. No drinking.

D2. No dating.

D3. No drugs.

D4. No driving. (this is a little hard to break in Swizerland, not that I was trying to though :)

D5. No downloading.

D6. No decorating. (as in tatoos, piercings. . . )

Becky, creeping in on my photo. :)

You know you are in Swizerland if. . . . . every 5 meters, there is a fountain.
Sometime, a long time ago, someone built a wall in Luzern to keep someone else out. I am not sure who, what, when, and all the jazz, all I know is, I got through the wall without arrows being thrown at me, which I feel, means I am a conquerer! Yes. So, naturally, I took a victory picture. :)

Tree Lover! Not really though, I just saw opportunity for a snazzy picture. Haha.
This picture is for everyone back home, who hasn't had me give them the "I am Laura and I will be in charge starting now so listen up kids" look.

Becky, who knows this look well, told me she needed a photo of me doing it, since I never show my true side in photos. Haha. :)

Lake Luzern with the Alps in the background!

Have a great week everyone! (And try not to make it like my day at school!)

A bit of information. Pour vous.

If the sound on my video is not working (which I have been informed it wasn't! AH!!!!!) You can just click on my youtube link here. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITb573y07OM&feature=feedu

And there will be the sound! YOU MUST WATCH IT WITH THE SOUND IF YOU ALREADY WATCHED IT WITHOUT! Why? Because I am singing and talking and really, who wants to miss out on me talking and singing?! Haha. That is all for now!

Right now, Zion and Becky are actually over at my house and we just got back FROM A HELICOPTER RIDE IN THE ALPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, you read right. I will show you all the pics and videos soon! But for now, ta-ta!

Laura

The days of winter. . .

HELLO! Now that I have my computer back, not only am I updating my blog, I am back in the buisness of making movies! YAY! This one is a video of my trip to St. Moritz a few days after Chrsitmas. For those of you that need a refresher, Zion, Becky and I had planned to take the Glacier Express to St. Moritz, spend the night there and go sledding the next day in Heidi land and then come back home. Well, our plans were thrown off a little when a bus never came, which resulted in the missing of trains and all that, so Zion and I ended up not taking the Glacier Express, but we all 3 ended up meeting in St. Moritz that night! Anyway, here is the video of our adventure! ENJOY!!!!!

P.S. You know I am a good dancer and singer. You just know it. :)

Not to fear.

I. Am. Back.

Yes my fellow friends, I have returned to the world of regular blogging! YAY! Why? Because I recieved a SPECTACULAR package today from my fantastic mother (Love you mom!) which incuded my NEW CHARGER AND CONVERTOR! Hence, here I am, with a fully charged computer, BLOGGING! Okay, here we go!

The day before I headed to Belguim, Becky and I went to Martiny to visit the St. Bernard dog museum. A.K.A. the dog of Switzerland! When Becky and I got off the train, we realized that it was a bit longer walk without directions than we thought, and after taking charge, I am pleased to say we found a sign pointing in the right direction. So excited in fact, that I needed a photo. :)
Since after visiting Martiny, I was going to go straight to the airport, I had to bring my things with me. But, being the smart grasshopper that I am, I somehow convinced Becky to pull it along. Hehe.

After seeing the dogs and trying to get a picture of them but them barking and getting mad at us (and I wasn't gonna mess with a ginormo dog) we started to look at the actual museum, and I found "him".

While in the museum, we found this Rotary emblem. It's like they are always watching. Like big brother. A little worriesome. Just a little. . . . .

Then I found these ramdom masks and decided to show my funny side :)

After getting back from Belguim, I started school (unfortunetly) again. After suffering for a week, the weekend FINALLY came! Becky came over for a sleepover and the next day we went to Luzern. Now, due to my camera dying, I only have 2 pictures from this little trip. Becky has the rest, which I will post soon! Anyway, this is Lake Luzern! Luzern was actually a lot smaller then I pictured it, but so cute! As is every other town in this beautiful country, but still, it was one of the cuter ones!
This is a HORRIBLE angle of me, but whatever, I will get over it. Becky and I in Luzern! It was SO HOT (as in I only needed a light jacket!)!!!! And the sun was shining, and ah! Such a perfect day! I cannot wait for spring time in la suisse to come!

So, I then proceeded to go to another week of school. Great.

I did survive however! Thursday night, I went with Alix, my sister who is 16, to the stables where she rides horses and got to brush and saddle and all that jazz! I haven't done any of that since horse camp! haha, so dorky!

Friday night, I went to my dad's house (remember, my host parents are divorced) and spent the night there with Alix and Ilan. Nora was snowboarding with a friend. And then Saturday, I headed out around noon to meet up with Zion in Lausanne to do some shopping! After, we headed to take a panoramic train to this hot air balloon festival, but since the weather had dramatically changed since last weekend, and there was enough wind to think you were in a tornado and it was freezing, there were no balloons. :(

Then, Zion came back to my house and slept over and Sunday, we headed to Monreux, which is about a 5 minute train ride from Vevey, and 3 from my school, and walked around since it was so sunny, yet COLD. We did manage to achvieve one of our goals this year. Buy a Swiss hat.

Now, we have yet to jazz it up, but once we have, be prepared to be amazed!!!!!!!!! We were walking through the streets with these hats, and people were looking at us like we were crazy. Eh. Doesn't faze me anymore. Haha.

Well. Here I am. Eating some beef jerky and sour patch kids with my little sister and brother, listening to Nora complain about her English homework (which is learning vocab over exploring! Exciting!) and loving my Swiss life.

Ciao for now!

Laura

The mountains. This is how high we were. Above the clouds. Yeah. No biggie.

No. No. No. And no.

Why, do you ask, is the title so negative??? Because I have come to the realisation, just today, that this is my 5 month anniversary in Switzerland. This means that my time is almost halfway over. I also realised just today that in one month, Feb. 15th at the latest to be exact, I will have to book my return flight home. Which gave me a mini panic attack today, and is again as I write this. At first, I couldn't wait to get back home. Switzerland was nice for a month, when I didn't have school, and I was just traveling around and all. And then the 2nd month came and I was homesick. Sucked. Then the next few months passed, and I grew to love Switzerland, the mountains, the cold, the trains, my friends, the bread and chocolate, Migros, pretty much everything this beautiful place had to offer. And right now, all the ''oldies'' (the exchange students from Australia, Argentina, South Africa who came last January) are leaving, which means that I am now an oldie and am next to go. GHAKDUDFAöIFSADöäüDFSDéDHFISDFàHJDSILGS !!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean, don't get me wrong, I want to come home and see mom and dad, and Becca, and the cats (since I have discovered I am a crazy cat person, Ab, you were right) and all my friends and Gardner, and Wal-Mart and eat a steak, but at the same time, I don't want to come home. I want to be able to live both of these lives at the same time. I know that that is impossible, but still. A girl can wish, right? And the thing is, leaving Kansas, I knew I was coming back in a year. And if all else failed, I could always come home early. But when I leave here, I won't know when I will be back. Which makes it even more depressing to think about leaving. Ugh. Why! I read this letter type thing that Vera had hanging on her wall when I visited her. I read it and thought that it was really great, it talked about learning how to balance the 2 lives you have. And that is what I will have to learn. I will have to learn to balance my Swiss life, and my American life. How to balance my Swiss families and my American family. These past 5 months have been the hardest, yet most memorable and amazing months of my life, and I can only imagine what the next few have to offer! Which will probably make leaving even harder. Great. Ugh. The life of an exchange student.

Well, besides freaking out, what have I been up to you ask? Well. I started school again this week. And I must say, the the reason for my inconsistent blogging, is that I am having a few problems with technology, and my computer is not charging, but not to worry, dad is sending a new one! But last week, with my new amazing family, I went back to Belguim! We flew this time, and just stayed in Brussels, which was cool because we got to see the whole city! I went with my family and also my uncle, aunt, and 2 cousins, as you will see in the video :) Well, I must go. I have a math test to study for and booking a plane ticket home to worry about. I am going to be so homesick for Switzerland next year. OKAY.THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS! I still have 6 or so more months! I will be okay. Yeah. 6 months. Then I can freak out. As for you, my fellow camarades, enjoy the video! Over and out. Laura.