days > 250 -- traveling

piece of advice for future exchange students #29:

explore.

explore even if you don't really know what you're looking for.

it'll be worth it, i promise.

aaand once again updates come super late on this blog. BUT that's a good thing! it means that i am enjoying my life here and am too busy to blog. as my return date gets closer, my exchange gets more packed and blogging drops to the bottom of my list of priorities... :P

things i've done in the 10ish days before i was supposed to post this update:

• went to ticino with my new host family!!! it was beautiful.
• also, it snowed. in april. fail. :/
• but on the bright side we went to a market in italy and that was fun. also we celebrated easter and biked from bellinzona to locarno and spent a lot of time just chilling on the mountain. 
• speaking of which: i have discovered that i really, really love biking in Europe. it's different from biking in the USA, and somehow lovelier, and i would honestly bike a lot more places if i didn't also love the public transportation system in Switzerland haha. sometimes i wonder why cars even exist... and then i remember how big the United States actually are, and my question is answered...
• went to schaffhausen! which, by the way, is highly recommended. i've never been to niagara, but schaffhausen is pretty impressive as the swiss version.
• went cantonhopping. i visited five in one day... no small feat. o.O
• visited Konstanz (still have no idea what day that was) with Ryan. that was interesting. Also we bought flags. Except one was square and one was rectangular, which we didn't realize until we both got home... :P
• saw the burning of the böög in zürich. it was basically like a very small very rainy very sad fasnacht. the highlight was the exploding snowman. how sad. BASEL FOR THE WIN, people. ;)
• i am realizing that there is no place i would rather exchange than in switzerland. sure, the rest of europe is cheaper, and south america would be exciting, and asia would be wonderfully exotic. but i love switzerland, i love its size and its traditions and its culture and its mix of languages, and i wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

love,

han

days > 240 -- growing

piece of advice for future exchange students #28:

invest in things that matter.

i've realized that when i leave, i probably won't remember parties. or clothing. i will not remember the various touristy souvenirs that i've bought or the sandwiches that we ate on the train.
i will remember people. i will remember families and friends and long conversations in hotel rooms during the rotary trips. i will remember crazy group selfies and running to catch our trains and getting lost in a city with friends.

and so i've decided to put my time into those things.

what i did in the 10ish days before I was SUPPOSED to post this:

• Italy adventuring!!! it lasted for 6 days. and they were way too short.
• we spent a boatload of time on the train. good thing we're in Switzerland and are used to hours of train time in Europe. also it's a good thing that train travel is my favorite way to travel. 
• by the way-- I have no idea what the USA does or how we survive without trains. what are we supposed to do? drive? 
• Venice: rode vaporettos along the Grand Canal, rode an elevator up the clock tower and saw Venice from above, ate the best gelato ever, got ridiculously lost every time we tried to go anywhere, bought masks, had pizza, took pictures, bonded over shopping and mangling of the german language.
• Rome: got lost again, wandered through streets and ate panini sandwiches, tried not to get mobbed by other tourists, successfully found but did not successfully visit the catacombs, saw the vatican, was overwhelmed by the beauty of the Petersdom and the Sistine Chapel, celebrated Sarah's birthday, ate burgers, got closer to both old and new friends, learned the basic minimum amount of Italian required to get by, avoided a protest, simply enjoyed what used to be the cultural center of the world.
• came to a new appreciation of Swiss trains, safety, food in general but specifically bread, and cleanliness. Italy is a lovely place to see. Switzerland is a lovely place to live. :)
• tada, highlights. there is so much that i could write about, but i'll keep most of my stories to myself for now. this is an update, which means it should be relatively short :P

ciao for now,

hannah

vienna: in which hannah rode the scariest carnival ride of her life

(so, I'm finally getting around to writing about austria... about a month afterwards... but let's ignore that small fact, shall we?)

The very first day we arrived in Vienna, we went to the Prater. This is an amusement park, famous for its 212 foot Riesenrad (Ferris Wheel). But I'm not going to talk about that wheel right now... because I rode something a little more terrifying.

---

Its name was EXTASY and it was one of those bright rides with loud music, the kind that you can't help but look at as you pass by. (see the blurry picture to the side.)

As we walked closer, I realized that the seats were spinning. In fact, they were spinning very fast.
They were also sideways.

Well, I tried to see what the other riders looked like (I tend to judge rides based on the expressions of the people in them) but there appeared to be only 4 other kids on the entire ride and they were spinning so fast it was hard to tell what they looked like. They were holding very tightly to their seats, and just as I turned away to talk to my host mom, they started screaming.

In retrospect, it would have been good if I had turned around to see that part of the ride. I did not.

And so when my host parents asked me if I would go, I remembered the exchange student creed "say yes" and did so. I told myself I could handle this easily... tilting wasn't so bad. This was an adventure!
Walking towards the entrance, my host mom pointed out a sign that read "ACHTUNG -- NICHT FÜR SCHWACHE NERVEN" [Attention -- Not For Weak Nerves]. I laughed and took it as a joke.
(Note to self -- Germans don't joke.)

My little sister Delia and I walked through the entrance and into the ride. One of those metal locks -- the kind that goes over your whole body and that they put on loop the loop roller coasters -- came down. Now I was locked in. And it was too late to leave.

The seats began to spin -- and boy, were they fast! They whirled around each other and tilted until we were sideways. And I mean really, lying down sideways-spinning, the kind that makes your stomach forget its rightful place in your body and makes your heart threaten to come out your mouth. It was terrifying and fun and exciting, and all the time we whirled at 90 miles an hour with music blaring like sirens.
Finally the ride slowed down and we were right side up again and my host sister looked at each other and laughed and prepared to get out.

We were interrupted by a happy voice in German cheerily announcing something into the ride. Rather unfortunately, the shock and spinning had driven all German vocabulary from my brain, so I had no idea what was going on.

And then the whole world turned upside down.

It was rather unexpected, but after rudely turning on its head, it proceeded to spin. And spin. And spin. I didn't think it was possible, but we were spinning even faster than before--and all of a sudden someone started pumping blue smoke into the ride--

the rest was a blur of me screaming and Delia screaming and smoke and flashing lights and whirling minds and loud music and I'm pretty sure this machine was a torture device in its former life...

and it was terrifying.

But it was AWESOME.

---

and then of course I went on a scarier ride about 3 weeks later...
...but that's a story for another time. ;)

a day in the basler herbstmesse

note: this is the third of a series of posts I'm writing about Switzerland and the places I've been. Solely for the purpose of having fun (and to exercise my travel writing skills) I'm going to write about it in second person. Which means you, the reader, are semi-virtually coming with me. bring good shoes.

No one in Basel has really been able to describe Herbstmesse to you... apparently it's not exactly like anything that we have in America, besides which it only exists in Basel so there is nothing to compare it to in

the other Swiss cities. What you have managed to glean from the various stories is threefold:

1) Herbstmesse is a mixture of carnival, market, tourist attraction, historical celebration, and fair.
2) Herbstmesse is exclusive. Kääskiechli, Rosenküchlein, Messmogge, the Riesenrad... apparently all of them can be found at the Herbstmesse, and only at the Herbstmesse.
3) Herbstmesse is something to which you absolutely, positively, without a doubt, must go.
And so, on Saturday morning, you dutifully lace up your sneakers, grab your camera, and step out the door. You are on an exploration.

Riding a tram into the heart of Basel, you have plenty of time to look around and observe the differences. At first glance, there aren't that many-- it's a normal Saturday afternoon with people and cars and trams ferrying everyone back and forth through the city-- but then you look harder. And you notice the amount of people.

Saturdays are always fairly busy, because most stores in Switzerland are closed on Sundays and that only really leaves Saturday to get weekend-type-things done. But today is CRAZY. There are people everywhere, in the train station and in the grocery store and in the middle of the street (which makes the trams considerably slower, as they have to slow down for every Swiss person who decides to walk over the tram tracks).

As you near your first stop (Barfüsserplatz, for those of you who know Basel), the reason for all the people becomes clearer. There are amusement park rides and cotton candy stands and everything that would normally be at a carnival, except Swiss-ified. This is wonderful when it comes to the food (little cheese pies fresh out of the oven? Yes please!) but not so wonderful when it comes to the prices (10 francs for a stick of chocolate-dipped strawberries? Um, maybe not).

There are multiple different places throughout Basel where Herbstmesse is celebrated. Barfüsserplatz sits in the middle of the city, hawking desserts and balloons and rides. Petersplatz has a market with a hundred or so stalls selling everything from jewelry to food to ornaments to candles. Claraplatz holds the classic amusement park rides, including one for 12 francs that swings you at a dizzying speed over the city. Munsterplatz has the gigantic Riesenrad (Ferris wheel) and can be seen from almost anywhere in Basel. Messeplatz is full of new rides and an assortment of foods. All of them are definitely worth the visit.

Officially, Herbstmesse doesn't start until 12 noon, when a tiny church in the middle of the city rings its bells. True to this tradition, none of the rides are running yet. There are ridiculously long lines of children in front of the biggest rides, because another tradition is that the first ride on each "Bahn" is free. They're waiting anxiously for a signal from the ride operator.

You, though, are looking for something else. And so you climb up the stairs that overlook the square and stand.
Waiting.

And then it comes. The bells... quiet at first, but then louder, more insistent, clearer.
Everyone goes silent for a moment.
Just like that, Herbstmesse has begun!

The rides hiss and clank to a start and the Ferris wheel starts to move and the other clocks in the city chime together and the children shriek in excitement.

And you wait,
listening to the bells,
listening to the rides,
listening to the people.

days > 70 -- appreciating

advice for future exchange students #13:

when you're on exchange, you have the chance 

to do things you've only dreamed about.

do them!!

(Note: guess what, I actually procrastinated enough to catch up with my 80-day report... sorry, these past weeks have been crazily busy, plus I didn't have much internet access in Austria. Anyway. That means that these updates are coming one after the other, and that my blog posts won't necessarily be in chronological order. Whoops.)

In the past month, I have been enjoying life to the fullest. Switzerland is amazing, Austria was amazing, and I've gotten to do things I never, ever thought I'd have the chance to do.

Exchange is awesome like that. 

things that happened in the last 10ish days (before the 17th):

• Austria. Vienna. Need I say more? (Actually, I will say more, just because I can.)
• Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook know that my host family and I went to a musical in Vienna... it was called Elisabeth, and it was absolutely beautiful.
• I thought I had grown out of princesses and kings and crowns and beautiful castles, but apparently I haven't. The real thing is even better than the fairy tales. (In other words, my host family took me to Schönbrunn and the Hofburg palace. I think I want to be a princess when I grow up. :P)
• Traveled to the Prater [big amusement park in Vienna], took a ride on the Riesenrad [really big ferris wheel in Vienna], and went on the scariest carnival ride of my life [story to come soon].
• Ate my first official Wienerschnitzel! It's a flat breaded piece of calf-meat that takes up the whole plate and is eaten with lemon and salad. Sort of like a giant flat chicken nugget, actually. But that's okay, I like chicken nuggets.
• Saw the white horses of Lipizza.
• Developed a possible obsession with Empress Sissi. (If you don't know who that is, look it up.) History is way more interesting when you've actually seen the places, walked on the same ground, touched the walls of castles... all that to say that if you think you don't like history, go to Vienna and change your mind. :)
• Went back to school. Mehhhh. (but actually not really, I'm sort of glad that I can see my friends again.)
• Oh yes. I bought a CD from Elisabeth and I'm currently in the process of learning all the songs. You have no idea how good this is for my German. Anyone else feel like taking me to a German musical? it's educational!!

(to be continued, because I'm putting up the next post in an hour or so)

hannah

days > 50 -- exploring

advice for future exchange students #11:

enjoy the fact that you're in another country. 

and go discover new things!

the rest of the world is not that hard to access.

the GA (General Abonnement, which means that you basically get all transportation free) is the best thing anyone could ever ask for. It is more precious than gold. :P

Lately I've gotten the chance to just explore, on my own or with friends, and I am loving it. Switzerland is very safe, very scenic, and very easy to explore by train and bus... which means that basically it's heaven for exchange students. I love that I can just get up and be on the other side of the country in 3 hours.

things that have happened in the past 10 (ish) days:

• Appenzell: a place where all the houses look like gingerbread houses because they are ridiculously adorable. Also where people make cheese. I counted 5 times as many cows as people on the tram ride there.
• St. Gallen: a place where the buildings are really tall and the churches are beautiful. I discovered the most lovely church in St Gallen... actually, scratch that, all the churches are lovely here. But especially in St. Gallen.
• Zurich: a place where everyone is rich.
• Also, we went to the Basel flea market! the flea markets in Portland are really small and not that great, but the Basel flea market was fun to explore :) I bought a pair of leather shoes that look new for 10 francs, and normally the same shoes run 200 francs or more... 
• I went to the cinema (again) and watched a movie in German with my host mom and one of her friends. It was fun, and this time I actually understood most of what was happening. It's funny, to think of how much better my language skills are now than they were before.
• School's out, schöni ferie zäme :)