Vienna Trip

Dear readers,    
           May turned out to be a very busy time for me this year. First, I had the amazing opportunity to go to Vienna with my host club for four days. Afterwards, I presented my big end-of-the-year presentation in front of my whole host club. Most recently though, I was in Milan on an art trip with my school. I am still blown away by how much I saw and did in one month.
      My trip to Vienna started with me waking up at four to get meet the other members of the group in town so that we could catch a bus to the airport, where we took a one-hour flight to Vienna. After a uneventful trip, we landed and after gathering our luggage, went to meet our tour guide for the whole trip. She showed us to where the buses were all parked and after everyone had piled on, we departed for our hotel, located in the center of the city, near city hall. Once we arrived, the whole group took suitcases into the hotel, where we deposited them quickly. Everyone was hungry and eager to walk to the wine cellar where we would be eating lunch. A quick pace soon had us arriving for our much-anticipated meal. All of the Rotarians enjoyed the fine Austrian cuisine of pork, potatoes, wine, and a coffee cake.
      Afterwards, we had a tour of the city, visiting fancy coffehouses, stores, and a cathedral. We even saw one coffeehouse with real cats roaming freely inside and another where you could see the food being made behind a glass. If there is one thing I realized about Austrians during that trip, it is how seriously they take their coffee. Next, we all headed back to the hotel to dress up for dinner. Dinner very similar to lunch and therefore not much to talk about. However, we then went to a classical music concert that I found enthralling, despite the fact that I am usually not fond of classical. It was a wonderful day and my first impression of Vienna was a very positive one. I was very tired when we got to the hotel and even though some of the Rotarians invited me to go out with them for a drink (for me non-alcoholic) I unfortunately had to decline.
      The next day I got up at the first light of dawn (eight o'clock) to start my day. We left the hotel promtly at eight thirty and met up with our tour guide so that she could take us to an amusement park where we could take a ride on the famous ferris wheel of Vienna. From the top of the ferris wheel, we had an amazing view over the whole city. Once everyone had taken their turn going up, we regrouped by the bus and traveled back to the city to continue our sight-seeing, including the world-renowned Spanish riding school, which has one of the fanciest riding halls in the world. Naturally, after so much walking around, everyone was tired and ready for something refreshing to eat. We ate lunch at a cool outdoor restraunt and afterwards, everyone was excited to head to the Schloss Schönbrunnen, which literally translates as Palace of the Beautiful Fountain. It used to be the seat of the Hapsburg dynasty until World War I. The opulence displayed there was absolutely stunning. Every room had gold-gild crown molding, huge paintings, plush carpets, and luxurious furniture. It was hard for me to imagine that anyone would actually living in a place like that. It truly a home for royalty. After I was finished seeing the palace, I joined some of the men from my club for a snack and I ended up getting one of the most delicious banana splits that I have ever had.
         I then went with some of the ladies to go check out the gardens that were behind the palace. They were absolutely massive and at the end of the garden was the fountain that Schloss Schönnbrunnen was named after. I loved everything that I saw around me and almost wished I could live there but, as amazing as it all was, it was also a little overpowering. We all returned to the hotel afterwards for a well-deserved rest and to get ready for dinner and the musical afterwards. Dinner was delicious but nothing special. For me, the highlight of the evening was most definitely the musical that we went to see. The story was that of the Kaiserin Elizabeth and the tragedy of her life, her transition from being minor nobility to the Kaiserin of the Hapsburg dynasty and all the trials that came with. The acting was wonderful and I found the music absolutely phenomenal. I enjoyed it so much that I even purchased the movie so that I could go home and watch the play whenever I wanted. We all went   back to the hotel around eleven-thirty and I took a shower, then climbed into bed.
        On Saturday, our last full day in Austria, we took a trip outside of Vienna to see some of the country surrounding the capital. The first place we visited were the underground grottos that were about twenty minutes outside of the city. The grottos were located in old mining shafts that were closed after one of the miners struck through the wall that had been a barrier to the waters on the other side. The mining shafts were later pumped by the Nazis so that they could be used as factories to build airplanes after the war was over they were temporarily forgotten only to be discovered later and pumped out again to become the tourist attraction that they are today. They were even used in one of the scenes from The Three Musketeers. The next stop we made was in a small village where the hunting lodge of the Hapsburgs was located. It was a very nice building but the story attached to it was somewhat sad since it was where the crown prince Rudolph shot his mistress and himself. We then went to have lunch and to visit a monastery.
        Afterwards, we headed to the town of Baden, which are called to playgrounds of the rich because of the fact that many wealthy people that lived in Vienna, also had vacation homes in Baden. As much as we wanted to walk around and check out the town, we were soon forced into a small coffee shop because of the inclement weather. I wasn't too disappointed though since I got to savor a delicious cake and hot chocolate while making small talk with some of the rotarians. We all took a trip to a wine cellar for a little bit of wine tasting as well and I learned the proper way to drink wine. Soon, it was time to head to the resturant for dinner. The resturant was a cute little building and dinner was accompanied by typical Austrian folk music played on an accordian. Throughout dinner we repeatedly got up to dance and sing. After dinner, most people went back to the hotel to sleep, but some of us wanted to go salsa dancing and went search for a club that we could get into. Unfortunately, because I was under eighteen, I was not allowed to go into any of the clubs that we visited. As a result, we ended up just getting drinks together before heading back to the hotel. They did manage to sneak me down to the dance floor for a couple of minutes before one of the waitresses had us kicked out because I looked too young. Despite being disappointed abut not being able to dance, I still really enjoyed my evening.
         The next morning, I just wandered around Vienna waiting till it was time for us to leave for the airport. We left around eleven and got the the airport about thirty minutes later. We all got through security and then headed to get something to eat. We left Vienna around two and I finally got home around five that evening. I had such a great trip and loved the opportunity to get to know the rotarians outside of the club setting and also being able to establish a more personal relationship with so many amazing people. That is a lot for one post but I can't wait to fill everyone in on my two memorable trips to both Milan and Paris.

                                                                                                          Your intrepid traveler,
                                                                                                                             Grace

Travel Memories

Hi everyone,

       Last week, I had the opportunity to go to Italy with other exchange students on a rotary trip. We were there for six days, from Monday until Saturday. We were only able to visit two cities but since they were Rome and Venice, I can't really complain. Actually overall, I have so much to be thankful and can't really find anything to be discontent about. I just wish that I had more time to enjoy all the amazing things happening in my life.

      On Monday, I woke up really early so that I could get to the meeting point in Zug on time. After I got there, I waited with the other exchange students until the train arrived. What followed was a seven hour train ride to Rome that most people spent sleeping or trying to sleep. When we finally arrived in Rome, everyone headed to the hotel to drop off our stuff before we headed back into the main part of the city to visit the Colosseum. I can't even begin to describe how unreal it was to stand before the Colosseum, structure that I had seen in so many photos but never actually thought I would see in real life. I am still try to wrap my mind around the fact that I have actually been there. I felt like that throughout my whole trip.

       Tuesday was also really great because we visited the Vatican. Although I was unable to meet the Pope (an emergency came up and he told me he couldn't make it) I did get to see the St. Peters Basilica, the Cistine Chapel, and St Peter's Square. I was blown away by the beauty of the St. Peter's Basilica, by the paintings of the Cistine Chapel, and by the grandeur of St. Peter's Square. I am still processing all of the things I saw. However, the best thing I saw and by far my favorite was the Pietà. There is just something about that sculpture that touched me and it is easy to see how it became one of Michelangelo's most famous pieces. I was stunned by the beauty and detail that he achieved when sculpting one of the saddest and most touching scenes from the bible. To be honest I could have sat there in front of Mary and Jesus for the rest of the day but unfortunately I had only a couple of stolen moments to view the statue before we had to move on with the tour. The other highlight of my day was being able to talk to one of the Swiss guards that was posted outside the Vatican. They are like the sentries posted outside the Queen's palace except better because they were Swiss.

         Wednesday we toured most of the other famous parts of the city. Early in the morning we got a guided tour to see things like the Spanish steps which I know are famous for some reason but I am not quite sure why since I had a really hard time hearing the guide. Nevertheless, the steps were rather wonderful, especially since they gave my poor, tired feet a rest. The next thing we saw was the Trev fountain, which I found almost as beautiful as the Pietà. We even got to stop and throw our three coins into the fountain after which everyone made three wishes. There was something cool about the fact that I was doing something that millions of other had done, that we were all connected through our wishes. A bonus to the whole coin thing is that all the coins get collect and donated to charity so it also felt like I was making a small difference.

     The only thing I didn't like about the fountain was the fact that there were so many people, an unfortunately common thing in Rome. That is why I loved being allowed to explore the city at night with my friends, all the things I didn't like about Rome during the day mostly disappeared when the sun went down. Anyways, I also got to see the Pantheon, which I found to be a really good example of the history of Rome. It originally was a temple dedicated to Roman gods, was structured in a slightly Greek manner, is now a Catholic church and has a obelisk outside with Egyptian hieroglyphics on it. I mean talk about a mix of cultures, it was fascinating!



    Thursday we didn't have an opportunity to tour in Rome anymore because we had to catch a train to Venice. I have to admit that although I loved Rome, I was happy to head to Venice. The trip was relaxing and I spent most of the time just talking with friends, catching up with what had been happening in their lives. My first glimpse of Venice was a little disappointing because there was absolutely no water that I could see. I was relieved to find out that we would go to the island part of Venice after we had dropped off our stuff at the hotel. I can't even describe how much I loved Venice. It is one of the most interesting cities I have ever been in and that is including Rome. However, because we got into Venice late in the day, we didn't get to much time by ourselves to explore so I just spent an hour or so wandering around looking at all the many sights before we headed to eat and after eating, we went back to the hotel.

     Friday morning we got a tour through a lot of the main sights in Venice, such as St. Mark's square, St. Mark's Basilica, the Venetian duke's palace, and the clock tower. I really liked our guide too because she was so engaging and friendly. She was also really funny and knowledgeable. After our tour was finished though, we got a whole six hours free to just explore all of the canals, nooks, and crannies that Venice was comprised of. I had such a blast searching high and low for gifts for my host family and seeing all that this unique city had to offer. One of my favorite things about Venice were all of the different masks that are a trademark of the people. There were hundreds of different types and colors, all of them so beautiful. They could be found on almost every street and I think almost all of the girl exchange students bought one and also some of the guys. One of the most striking things about Venice was how different it was from a normal city. Because it was built on a bunch of islands, the town is divided by water and as a result, the people that live there use boats where people would normally use cars. The police, ambulance, buses, taxis, and normal vehicles were all boats. I don't think I saw a single car the whole time I was in Venice.

    

   

       I loved Venice so much and was really sad when we had to head back home on Saturday but I consoled myself with the knowledge that I would come back. Because I know for a fact that someday I will go back, but this time I will be sure to have more than two days to explore the city because I can tell you, it had not been enough for me. I was still happy to go home at the end of the week. I only have one more week till I switch host families and want to spend as much time with them as I can before I move. Five months went by faster than I had ever expected them to. Before I know it, I will be back in Alaska starting school again. If there is one thing that this exchange has really taught me, it is how to live in the present and enjoy, because once it is over you can never get it back. So, instead of worrying about what degree I want and where I will go to school in the future, I will take this time to live out my present. After all, what better time is there than the present.

                                                                                                              Your traveler,

                                                                                                                         Grace

p.s. I have changed the settings on my blog so that people are now able to post comments. I am sorry I wasn't aware of it not working before. I can't wait to hear back from people! =)

My Favorite Book

Hello to all my devoted readers,

     If my exchange year were an action adventure, I have left all of you at the cliff hanging scene, and now that I have let all of you stew over what happens next, the next chapter in this exciting story. So last time I blogged, I was about to stay with my third host family for a week and I will be the first to admit that I was incredibly nervous and worried. I have come to love my current host family so much, they have become an addition to the people I call family and I already know that switching at the end of April will be so incredibly hard. That being said though, my next host family will also be an amazing family to stay with and I am sure that my time with them will also be so much fun.

     My week started on Sunday when my host parents Karin and Ralph picked me up on the way home from skiing. We drove to Hergiswil, where I would be living for the last three months of my exchange. After arriving home, my host dad showed me the route I would take to get to the train station. It is so entertaining that between my three host families, I have taken three different modes of transportation to get to school. With my first host family, I rode my bike to school, with my second I took the bus, and with my third I will experience the wonderful train system every day. 

   On Sunday night, I had a typical Swiss meal of bread, cheese, and meat. As small of a detail as that may seem to most of you, just that little meal dissipated so much of my anxiety. It was so comforting to know that amidst all the changes that would come with switching host families yet again, there were still some things that I could count on to be the same. I am happy to know that I will still have at least some consistency in my home life.

   I have been so blessed with the host families I have been a part of this year because they are all absolutely fabulous! The Siggs are also really great and I am lucky to have two brothers that I can interact with. The older of the two is Pascal and while he isn't home that often, he is still really fun to be around. My younger host brother is Louis and I have to admit that he is a blast. My second night at their house, I was sitting at the dinner table telling them about my homework and suddenly Louis tells me that I have to help him with his German homework.Of course I was thinking to myself that it would probably just be a waste of time and I would be bored but it actually was a lot of fun. He would write down the answers and since I was in possession of the answer book, I would tell him if it was right or wrong. After we had finished our homework he introduced me to the show Gossip Girl and we watched until he had to go to bed. Over the week, that became our pattern. We would all go to school or work during the day, come home and eat dinner, and then Louis and I would do our homework together and then we would watch a show. I found myself settling in quite well and by the end of the week I was still somewhat miserable but at the same time a lot better.

    Over the weekend, I went with my host family to Engelberg to go skiing but on Saturday I went with some other exchange students. It was really interesting because only eight exchange students went and out of that eight, six of them were from South America. Needless to say, I was provided with hours of entertainment watching them all attempt to ski on the rough terrain. Although everyone fell a couple times, I was blown away by how good they were since all of them had started learning here in Switzerland and snow was so new to them. I enjoyed myself so much and was disappointed when everyone had to leave. On Sunday though, I went skiing with my host family and we ended up having absolutely gorgeous weather and perfect slopes. I love Stoos, but after a winter of skiing almost every weekend had become used to the slopes so it was so cool to be able to ski on some new turf. Plus, there were so many black slopes to ski on. I had the opportunity to experience so many new slopes and skied almost all of Titlis. I was absolutely exhausted after six hours of skiing. Between Saturday and Sunday, I skid for almost fourteen hours total.I also went with my host parents into the glacier caves that can be visited at the top of the Titlis. The ice was so beautiful to touch and see. You would think coming from Alaska, I would have been pretty disinterested by the ice but I actually found it pretty fascinating. Afterwards, I went with my host family to pack up our stuff at their apartment and headed back towards Hergiswil.

      I sat down with my host family to eat for the last time of the week, just before they took me home. The next time I sit down to eat with them I will have switched host families and will be nine months into my exchange. I think I am panicking just a little bit thinking about it. I wish that I could just track Time down, knock it out, tie it up and throw it in the closet so that my exchange would never, ever end. Sadly, Time is very hard to pin down, so I will just have to deal with it. Nevertheless, just because I have almost finished this chapter of my life, the book isn't over yet and I still have many more adventures ahead of me.

                                                                                       Your contemplative writer,

                                                                                                                     Grace

      

Weekend Memories

Dear family and friends,
     Throughout the years, many exchange students have come up with an assortment of little sayings meant to capture what the exchange year actually means to the exchangie. One of my favorites says that our exchange is not a year in our life but a life in a year. It is something that so many exchange students across the globe can relate to. Last weekend, rotex Switzerland arranged a winter weekend for all of the exchange students in east Switzerland. This gave me an opportunity to actually meet some of the new exchange students that had just arrived from far-flung places such as Australia, South Africa, or Argentina. To be able to interact with them was really interesting because it reminded me so much of my first few months and I actually found myself feeling just slightly protective of them, which is ridiculous because some of them are older than me and others speak better German than I do.
      This interaction drove home for me how far I have come from my first few months both in language and in integration. In fact, a couple days ago, on two separate occasions, someone came up to me to ask for my directions and I was not only able to understand them but also tell them where to go. I love english but sometimes chafe at having to use my own language. When I write, often times I make silly mistakes such as writing my nouns with capital letters and certain sounds I write the german way instead of the way I would in english. Yesterday, I was talking to my friend and instead of saying I was hunger, I said that I had hunger. Just a bunch of little things that demonstrate how much I have changed.
     The weekend itself was a blast. The first day we all met up in Luzern and from there travelled south to Engelberg, about an hour away. Before we dropped our stuff off at the youth hostel, we went to a near-by skating rink to go ice-skating. Even though I was happy to finally go skating, I was still really nervous because I hadn't been ice skating since I was thirteen or fourteen. As a result, when I first got on the ice, I had a difficult time maintaining my balance and I fell once. After twenty minutes or so though, I was skating just as easily as if I hadn't ever stopped skating. Now that is what I call muscle memory. I ended up really enjoying myself and was disappointed when we left.
     After skating, we all headed to the hostel to settle in, choosing both rooms and beds. Once everyone was finished we all congregated upstairs to find out what was happening next. The option was given of either going into town to check out the sites or staying at the hostel and playing outside in the fresh snow. Naturally, I decided to stay. After changing into snow clothes, we went outside and attempted to build snowmen, but the snow was too light and not wet enough to roll. Instead, one of the rotex guys started a huge snowball fight, which was one of the best snowball fights I have ever participated in. While the snow was too light on top, underneath it was wet enough to pack into suitable projectiles. When making snowballs wasn't fun enough anymore, we switched to full-out snow-wrestling. I can't count how many times I was tackled and had snow shoved into my face (it is a favorite swiss tactic). Nonetheless, I gave just as good as I got and by the end of it we were all absolutely soaked. I found snow in places I didn't even know I could and that is saying a lot coming from an Alaskan girl with two older brothers. After going inside, I went downstairs to brush (literally) the chunks of snow out of my hair and by the time I was done it looked like I had just stepped out of the shower.
      Once I was warm and relatively dry, I went upstairs to eat and hang out with the other exchange students. One of the rotex guys brought his speakers and both the latinos and the english speakers took turns playing their individual music. Around 9 o'clock, us english speakers had taken complete control of the music and proceeded to have a huge sing-along, just generally having a blast, while the latinos retreated downstairs. Thirty minutes later they came back and once more took possession of the speakers, after which we all had a party rotary style, with music, dancing, and even strobe lights. Around 11 o'clock a lot of people retired to their individual rooms to either talk or sleep. A group of us watched Django on one of the girls' laptop and when that was over we stayed up and talked until about three in the morning. What we talked about, I don't even remember anymore, what was special was the feeling of friendship and closeness that made that moment so great. Some more people went to bed around four while some of us watched Easy A, which is one of my favorite movies.We talked until to the sky lightened outside the window and we heard the rest of the house stir around us.   At this point we all decided to head to our individual rooms to get ready for the day ahead of us.
      We had a traditional swiss breakfast around 8 o'clock that consisted of bread, cheese, jam, and Nutella that left everyone very satisfied and content. Afterwards we all made sandwiches and then broke up into teams to tackle the cleaning of the house. Once everything was back in order and everyone had gathered their stuff together the rotex led us through town to the place where we would go sledding. I was initially reluctant to go sledding but once I was out on the sled, I had an absolute blast. The very last run, the four people I was sledding with all decide to do a race and I joined in just for fun without really expecting to win. However it was actually this attitude that helped me win, because while everyone else was busy trying to sabotage each other, I had smooth sledding the whole way down and as a result, reached the finish line a full minute ahead of the others. After about three hours of sledding, we went back to the hostel to pick up our stuff and head to the train station. I got off of the train way earlier than anyone else and hated having to say good-bye to all of my friends, both new and old. Nevertheless, I had a blast over the weekend and look forward to the next time I get to see everyone. Next week though, I have a completely different experience to look forward to. I will be staying with my third host family for a week while my current host parents are gone. I am sure that it will be just as amazing of an experience and can't wait!

                                                                                                                  Lots of love,
                                                                                                                          Grace

My, My, Time Flies!

Hi everyone,         

      As I was relaxing on the couch this evening, after a long day at school, it suddenly struck me that I have been here for over six months. Where has the time gone?!?! It is unreal to me how incredibly fast my time here in Switzerland is going, it is like so much sand just slipping through my fingers as I try desperately to make it stop. Some nights I don't want to go to sleep because I know it means the loss of another precious day. As the end of January approaches more and more exchanges students are arriving from far-flung places such as Argentina and Australia, the new inbounds. As I read posts on facebook from all these new students I often find myself shaking my head in disbelief, I am an Oldie now and I can't help but feel like I am still a Newbie.

        I am really glad that I am with the Schmidlis throughout the winter here in Switzerland because, among many other reasons, almost every weekend we stay at their small condo in the Alps. And you now what that means.....I go skiing all the time. Even, though that means I have to get up early (for me) even on the weekends, I really couldn't complain. See, the thing is that I love downhill skiing, with all my heart. If I had a choice, I would even ski during weekdays also. I have to say that my skiing has improved so much from last January, at the Rotary winter orientation. The second day of winter orientation was one of the worst and best days of my life. That was the day I broke three teeth and then found out that I was the lucky girl going to Switzerland. Some of you already know the story of how my teeth got broken but I am going to tell it again because I find it pretty funny now.

        So on this very eventful day, I had been expecting to stay behind while a lot of other people went skiing because I hadn't intended to go since I didn't have any skis. However, when my YEO offered to obtain some for me, naturally I jumped on the opportunity to join the others. So there I was, my second time on skis (the first time being five years before) at a ski resort that I had never been to before. Of course I wanted to go to the bunny hill to adjust myself to being on skis again before tackling a bigger hill. However, I had no idea where to go so I just follow another group of exchange students who then proceeded to get on a gondola. As it rose higher and higher, I knew that  had made a terrible mistake and had chosen the wrong group to follow. These were the exchange students from places like Norway, Denmark, Germany, apparently all excellent skiers. As I stood there at the top of the slope, I found that I was so panicked I actually couldn't move. My friend from Denmark skied up to me and I explained that I had made a mistake, that I wasn't a good skier and was on the wrong slope. She told me to calm down and said that she would help me ski down. I did really good at first, making nice wide curves and maintaining my balance, just doing really well. But then things took a turn for the worse, literally. In front of me the slope curved and there was a small place where there was a short, but steep, slope and at the end a dip. Well I curved at just the wrong time and went straight down. Wow, but it was a blast! The wind was whistling in my ears and I saw the world laid out before me and I swear, I was flying. And then gravity decided to step in and ruin the fun while the ground rushed to meet me like a long lost friend.

         After that everything kind of blurred and sped up and next thing I know, I am on the ground with one ski high up on the slope and the other one farther down while I was sprawled in the middle. Slowly I sat up, checking myself for any broken bones. As I was congratulating myself for having managed to avoid broken bones once again, my friend skied up to me to ask if I was ok. When I smiled to assure her that I was fine she gasped and then started laughing. As I ran my tongue over my teeth I realized why my mouth felt gritty, I had broken three teeth. I was so incredibly embarrassed the rest of the day and absolutely terrified about how people would react when they saw what had happened. However, everyone was very kind and understanding, and I got a good story out of the whole experience, as well as a reputation that has also followed me to Switzerland.

        While I am becoming incredibly good at skiing as time goes by, I still manage to get myself into accidents. In fact, yesterday I went skiing on a new slope with my host parents. I did relatively well until the very end of the slope. Right before the slope ended there were a series of tiny hills, the first I saw and so was able to prepare myself for the jump, which I landed. However, directly after that was another hill that I didn't see in time, and as I went flying I had a flash-back to last January. I was unable to regain my balance before I hit the ground and as a result I fell. I was ok but because of the angle that my skis hit the ground, one of them broke.

        I felt so terrible for having broken the ski, but everyone was just glad I was ok and immediately after that started teasing me. Among the many other nicknames I have acquired since being here, I now add Grace, the ski killer, to the list. I was happy to go in with my host father and get longer skis like we had been talking about, since my original pair had been for beginners. Although I absolutely love my new skis and the fact that they represent my improvement in skiing, I wish that the other ones hadn't been broken before I got them. I went back with my host family to the slope that I skied on yesterday and made it through to the end with out falling at all. You know what they say about practice making perfect!

      

        Today was a beautiful day for skiing and spending time with my wonderful host family. We spent almost three hours skiing and I really enjoyed myself. However, in light of my accident yesterday and my new skis, I forced myself (my host father also) to slow down, to enjoy the experience of skiing instead of racing towards an imaginary finish line. While it was slightly frustrating (my host father deliberately going slow on many occasions just to annoy me) I found that I really liked being able to take my time and practice all the skills I need to become a truly competent skier. I look forward to the two weeks of skiing that I will be doing on my break in February.

                                                                                                 Your Swiss Skier,

                                                                                                                  Grace

Weihnachten Treat

Dear readers  
    Christmas is a time for being with family. A time of celebrating each other and the many blessings we have.  This is the first christmas I have ever spent away from my family and I find myself missing them more than usual. I had a wonderful surprise on Friday when my host mom told me that two packages had come for me in the mail and were waiting for me in the office. Now, I wasn't exactly surprised that I had gotten that first package because I knew that my Rotary club in Alaska had sent one to me. However, the second package was totally unexpected. It was from my grandpa and grandma and as soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what it was. Every year for as long as I can remember, my grandparents send a container of my grandpa's famous rocky road candy to my family for Christmas and it is always one of the best things about the christmas season. I was heartbroken to know that I wouldn't be able to experience the joy of eating rocky road candy this year. So when I saw that container sitting there in front of me, I felt the love and consideration that my grandparents sent with it.
    I enjoyed the second package equally as much. Between all of my families and my Rotary club, I now have enough chocolate to last me the whole winter. It is like people are trying to make up for my chocolate-deprived youth...I love it. Other than chocolate though, I received many Alaskana-themed gifts that I had been desperately needing for my families. I was so relieved to actually have enough gifts for all of the important people in my life. One of the greatest things about the package was finding my christmas stocking that my mom had sent with everything else. Inside were a couple of miscellaneous gifts but also a small bundle of letters and cards that my family had sent. It was a beautiful gesture of love from my family and I enjoyed it very much. My sister Araciela sent me a picture that she had colored and my brother sent a letter that he had folded into an airplane, one of our favorite pastimes together. My sister Aiyana sent a note asking me when I was coming home and what really blew me away was a headband that my sister Antonia had made for me. She knitted the whole thing by herself and while she said it was easy, I know it must have taken at least four days for her to make. All in all, it was a wonderful christmas gift from my friends and family back in Alaska. I now look forward to enjoying the rest of my break with my host family in Stoos, skiing every day and playing in a Swiss winter wonderland.

Sincerely,
Grace

Samichlaus Skirmish

Dear citizens,    
     This past week was a relatively normal week for me up until Thursday. I started out my morning by missing my bus and being late for school. I got to there ten minutes after it had started and opened the door to my classroom, expecting everyone to be quietly seated while the teacher was giving the lesson. Instead, I walked in on utter chaos. Some people were running around carrying balled up, wet paper towels, while other people were shifting the tables around to form a defensive barrier. One girl was armed with a can of Axe while another was arranging all of the chairs around the door. I stood in this chaos for a couple seconds, utterly confused. Then my friend ran up to me and handed me some wet paper towels.

"Hurry, we need help getting prepared." she said

"What are we getting prepared for?" I asked

"Santa's coming." she said mysteriously

       This of course left me more confused than before, but nonetheless I set about helping as much as I could. Soon, everything was ready and we all sat down behind our table barriers and anxiously waited. Then, all of a sudden I heard it, the sound of Call Me Maybe drifting up the hall outside our door. The sound of it struck fear into our hearts as it came closer and closer. All of a sudden the door burst open and Santa came in, followed by two clowns and two Schmützli (people in black, hooded robes). Despite this fearsome sight we valiantly stood our ground and started lobbing wet missiles at our terrifying foe. We were doing well until one of the clowns pulled out a bag of flour and rushed at us while flinging the nasty stuff everywhere. I am ashamed to say that for a couple moments we broke rank and all retreated to the far corner of the room.
          However, we were saved when one brave soul rushed forward and grabbed two sufficiently sopping paper towels and managed to drive the clown back. But before we could force them into full retreat, they captured one of our soldiers and even as he fought and kicked, dragged him out of the room with them. While some people organized a rescue mission, the rest of us regrouped and started looking after the wounded and setting to rights our ruined camp. Many days later, or only a couple of minutes, a person staggered through the door. I hardly recognized him as the same soldier who had been dragged at of the room. His hair was unkempt and his shirt was ragged and dirty. We weren't even sure at first if he was one of ours or if he was an enemy, until he held up his hand in a gesture of peace and showed that he had no weapons. Some how this brave soldier had managed to escape and elude the enemy until he made it down the hallway and to the safety of the classroom. It was a hard fight and we had many casualties but at least we rest safe knowing that we beat Santa and that he won't be back until next year.
                                                                                                        Your staunch warrior,
                                                                                                                             Grace