Stories

Well... I honestly don't even know where to begin because so much has happened the past two days.

My brain is also on vacation because I over-worked it, so bear with me.

Friday night I finally decided to go and meet these other nannies. Everything went ok.

When they were deciding what movie to watch I just spoke up and convinced everyone to watch one that I could, so that was no big deal.

One of the girls did bring vodka and wine, of course. But when they were asking who wanted to drink, I was just straight up about it and said I don't drink.

Then they kinda all just decided not too, which was good.

Since I was new they were all asking me questions and when I told them I was from Utah one of the girls was all,

"Oh, so then you must be a Mormon?"

You would not believe how many times I've been asked that since I've been here.

Anyways, the rest of the girls were all confused. Apparently they had no idea what a Mormon was.

So then they all were curious, what is a Mormon? What makes me different from everyone else? What do I believe?

If you know me, you will know how much I LOVE being put on the spot like that.

Obviously there is no simple answer to everything they asked me.

But basically I said that everything we believe in revolves around Jesus Christ, and that His gospel has been restored upon the Earth.

They asked me questions for about a half hour. The usuals, like why I don't drink alcohol or coffee, smoke, have tattoos or piercings, the law of chastity... etc.

I answered everything a simply as I could, and they basically were just like, "oh that's cool, good for you."

But don't worry, that's not the good part of the story

.

I left with one of the girls around midnight to catch a train home because the others were having a sleepover.

She is 21, from Canada, and is just one of the nicest girls ever.

But, as we talked I found out that she has had a really hard life.

She was curious about what I had said, and asked me more about it.

I basically just bore my testimony to her, and told her that if she wants to know more I'd be happy to tell her or introduce her to my "friends" aka the missionaries.

She said she would think about it, and gave me her her number.

And I guess we are going to do something next weekend.

Today, I had a similar experience.

I met this columbian kid in my German class. We will call him Columbia.

Nice kid, but don't worry folks he's like 28... so it's kinda weird for me.

Anywho, Columbia was the one who invited me to go clubbing and to this "festival" in Zurich.

Come to find out when I googled it, "Langstrasse" is actually the "red light district" of Zurich.

And if you don't know what a red light district is... google it, and you will understand my serious hesitation.

I took Kris and Joey's advice and decided nothing good could come from going.

He was... persistent... to say the least, though.

Instead, I talked him into going to the world championship of cliff diving in Sisikon.

It turned out to be super AWESOME.

The lake it took place at was gorgeous, the diving was kick butt, and they had burgers there the size of my face.

On the train back he randomly says,"So I heard you are probably crazy."

I was worried someone had ratted me out. But I asked what he meant anyways.

He said, "I don't know, you are Mormon or something."

Oh, that crazy side of me.

I told him yeah I was, but why he thought that made me "crazy."

He said it's just what one of his friends had told him.

He asked the standard questions, and I gave the standard answers.

But unfortunately, unlike the girls, it wasn't enough for him.

He wanted how I could be so sure about something I couldn't PROVE.

About why I was so content to just live a "boring life."

(Um, hello. I just moved across the world, didn't I? Pretty sure that is classified as NOT-lame.)

I had to try really hard not to argue with him, because I knew it wouldn't do any good.

I once again just bore my testimony, and left it at that.

And strangely enough, he was curious.

He said he wanted to "learn more about me, and what I believe."

I basically said, ok sweet. We will hang out again and I'll tell you more, or have my "friends" answer your questions.

And he agreed.

All of a sudden I'm feeling like I'm on a mission here.

It's so completely strange to me, not having everyone believe what I do, and know what I know.

And it's even harder for me to understand why they can't just automatically accept it.

I know it's true, so why don't they?

It's all so simple to me, but I guess it's a hard concept if you haven't grown up with it.

So this week, my gratitude for the gospel has jumped leaps and bounds.

How lucky am I to have grown up knowing what I do?

I feel so incredibly blessed right now. And I'm also really starting to see the big picture of missionary work.

I understood for a second what the missionaries feel ever day.

This crazy intense desire to give them what I have, the thing that would bring them true happiness.

It's like I wanted to take my brain and heart out and let them borrow it for a second so they could feel what I feel and know what I know.

Like I said, bare with me, I'm super tired ok?

But anyways, my appreciation and admiration of what the missionaries do everyday has just exploded.

I'm completely emotionally wasted. How can they do this everyday????

Anyways, that's what I did this weekend.

P.S. This is one of my Schweiz outfits. Yes, I did take a picture of my reflection in door while walking down the street. What's your point?

Miss you all! Peace out.

Basel

Guys, I did it. I got me some Schweiz-approved apparel. It took me four hours to pick out only a few things, but I did it.

I'll admit, that most the four hours I spent being easily distracted by all the sweet kodak moments I was witnessing.

Cause there were a lot.

Anywho, here is a little taste of the city...

Mishaps

Strike 1:

Last night on my way home from Zurich I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to two ladies leaning over me, whispering in German. I was so discombobulated that it took me a second to remember I had my headphones in. I yanked them out and all of a sudden their "whispering" turned into yelling. At me. I was like ahhhhh what? What?! Ich spreche kein deutsch! Then the both stopped freaking out and looked relieved. One of them said,"We think you dead! You no wake!" I guess they had both taken notice that I hadn't woken up, and were worried I was going to miss my stop. Then when they were tapping me and talking to me, I didn't budge. I guess they didn't realize I had my headphones in and couldn't hear anything. So their only conclusion was that I must be dead. Awesome.

Strike 2:

We received an official notice on our door yesterday morning that the water in our town was "contaminated" and not to drink any out of the faucets or fountains until given the ok. Apparently, someone spaced mentioning this little detail with me before I left to Zurich. So on the way to the train stop I stopped and filled my water bottle from the fountain. I drank the whole thing. I have no symptoms to report yet, but if I get giardia or some foreign disease because I drank water from a reservoir that a cow died in... you'll know why.

Strike 3:

After I came home I got all my laundry out of the wash. My whites were blue, and my yellows were green. I washed everything together on cold thinking it'd be ok. Obviously not. If someone would like to explain to me where I went wrong, I'd appreciate it.

Game Over.

Bubble

I'm not in Utah anymore.

I finally stepped out of my cozy little bubble and realized that.

On Saturday I went shopping at a big mall in Germany, determined to find some clothes that don't make me stick out so much as a foreigner.

And I failed. Epically.

I have NEVER failed at shopping, so it was a dramatic blow to my pride.

I was completely clueless on what to buy, how to match things... it was awful.

However, I did find this little gem of an outfit...

I know, I know. I should have bought it, maybe next time.

Not.

I left after 3 hours completely empty handed, and dismayed.

Yesterday I took advantage of the extra half hour before my class started in Zurich to wander around a shopping district.

Still, no luck.

However there was this indian dude who followed me around talking in German for the entire half hour. I must have said "ich spreche kein deutsch" fifty times. I finally lost him by hopping the train but woah... I was freaking out there for a little bit.

My German class is only getting harder. It's frusterating, overwhelming, and I feel like I'm back in 1st grade again.

It's no bueno. Or should I say, es ist nicht gut.

So besides that, and Nina being sick, and the weather being crap... it's alright here.

I'm just glad I don't have to go back to school.

P.S This is for you Lyss, cows with bells outside my window. You're welcome :)

Tired

30 hours of wiping boogers, changing diapers, and cleaning up messes.

12 hours of sitting in a class understanding NOTHING.
10 hours of mind wandering on the train.
5 hours of walking (that is a TON for me fyi).
That's what I did this week.
I am too young for this.
BUT, I still love it here :)
More pictures from my town...

And Zurich :)
P.S Happy Birthday to my Daddy who is .... today!! I love you!

Zürich

So I started my German class Monday.

Oh. My.

First of all, it's taught in German.

Second of all, I'm the only American. Of course.

Third of all, we all speak different languages.

How is this suppose to work?

Whats weird though, Is I already KINDA understand what I'm learning.

Instead of understanding 0%, I understand 1%... so we are heading in the right direction.

Right?

I'm determined to learn though, and I think that's making a difference.

Also, after being lost for an hour the other day and unable to ask where a bathroom is, my desire significantly increased.

Later I decided to look up the word "toilet," in case of another emergency. Come to find out the German word for toilet is "toilette."

So basically the four people I asked were just being dumb.

*growl*

My class takes place in Zürich at 17:30.

It's about 3 hours long.

Which means I have to leave my house at 15:00.

And don't get home till after 21:00.

HOWEVER, the city is gorgeous.

And SUPPOSEDLY, really safe.

I haven't gotten the guts or time to actually explore it yet, but one of these days...

Bahnhofplatz

Liestal Train Station

Diet Coke + Swiss Chocolate = The Bomb

Lessons

Since I've been here I feel like I've been learning and seeing things faster then I can process them. So many things are different and new to me. Some of the things I found interesting:

1. THEY HAVE DIET COKE!!! YAY! It's hard to find, but does exist here.

2. The most popular clothes are..... Hollister and Abercrombie. And other American brands. I know, lame huh? But it's true. Because A: they are hard to find and B: when you do find them you end up paying 90 swiss francs for just a basic t-shirt. People will travel all the way to America just to buy those clothes.

3. EVERYTHING is expensive. The swiss will charge you for everything. At lunch yesterday in Basel I ordered water thinking it'd be free. Try 6 francs. And when I changed in my American dollars and realized the exchange rate was 1.0025, I freaked. Half gallon of milk: 5.50. Pack of gum: 3.89. Number 1 combo at McDonalds: 9.10. Stamp to Argentina: 2.50. Living in Switzerland: Priceless.

4. The mormon teenagers here live by a whole different "standards system." If you get wasted Saturday night, then show up the next morning at church it's no big deal.

5. My English is awful. If I try and talk like I normally do to these people, they just stare blankly at me. I have to consciously try and talk in slow, complete sentences. Sad? Very.

6. When walking around in a big city DO NOT make eye contact with guys. If you do, they will "return the interest" with butt smack. How do I know this? It's not important.

7. They eat... different things. Would you all like to know what I had for lunch? Ostrich. That's right. We are talking about the 6 ft tall walking BIRD. It's weird. It tastes like a really tender juicy steak.

8. Europeans have a VERY distinct B.O. smell.

9. Going to bed past 10pm is really late for me. I know, what is this world coming to?

10. They like to listen to American music. And not even the new stuff.. like the old hits from every decade.

11. Apple is King. Seriously, there are no such things as "cell phones," its just iphones.

12. And last but not least, do NOT hop the fences into cow pastures. They ARE electric and they WILL electrocute you. Ouchy.

I spent three hours towing a 1 year old baby around in Basel yesterday. It wasn't fun for either of us needless to say. It's a gorgeous city though. Very "cultural" and "artistic." I'm excited to be able to really explore it... but next time without Nina haha.

Also, here are some pictures from my village...