Hello Friends and Enimies...

Well, as I am more or less sick (by my American standards, not those of my classmates), I actually have a few hours to update about Christmas and New Years and randomness.

Hmm, Christmas was insanely quiet for my standards. Really, horror movie quiet, or butter commercial homely, whichever comparison you prefer. I went skiing in the morning, before the 3 inches of snow melted. Then Carla and I decorated the christmas tree. Then we waited for dinner. Before important dinners (or dinners where you have guests), there is always an apero, which means you drink a glass of wine or ice tea or whatever, and eat small things like thinly sliced salmon or breadsticks, or chips, or whatever. So there was also an apero (with slamon and toast out of a real TOASTER!!! I didn't know we had a toaster, so this was a fairly exciting development for me...). Then Carla bugged Juana Lydia and Kurt so much that we opened our presents before dinner. I got a watch from my host family, a handmade Patrick toy from Carla (I have taken to watching Spongebob here, for some reason, it is not as insanely stupid as it is in English, and Invader Zim is just a little too high over my level of understanding, mostly because of the complete randomness and constant mention of ham.), and from my family at home I got clothes, an earring and necklace set from my aunt, the traditional Xmas PJs from my mom and dad, and 3 games for my nintendo DS (which I had already opened before Christmas...Oops.) The best present by far was Juana Lydia's red New Years underwear. Apparently, in Italy, it brings good luck to wear new red underwear on New Years Eve. When Juana Lydia heard this a few weeks back, she said jokingly that that should be her Xmas present. We laughed, a lot.

So then we ate dinner, which consisted of some sort of rice with carrots and meat. It's from Nicaragua (my host mom is from there). I learned there is absolutely no real traditional christmas supper food, mabe Carp, but only because of all the foreigners in Switzerland. Then we went to bed.

I spent the next few days skiing- there really isn't much more to do at my family's vacation house. I perfected my technique of not falling down (because I can't stand up with skis on. So my strategy was not to fall in the first place.) My host sister Paula's boyfriend came to stay with us a few days. And it turns out that our skitrip was cancelled due to lack of snow. Oh well, there was still snow by the vacation house, so I just stayed there.

On new year's eve, we had guests, the leader of Sofinisbas, which is the organization with which my host dad went to Nicaragua with (in order to build houses, I think), and his wife, who is Canadian, and therefore speaks really odd german. But anyway, it was nice having a vegetarian in the house, because I didn't have to eat so insanely much meat as before (I still lean towards vegetarianism...). So on New Years, we had Rocklette, which is a swiss speciality involving, guess what, CHEESE. (They had asked me what the biggest surprise in comming here was, and I said that the Swiss really do eat that much cheese. There was much laughter, because it's true, and I don't like cheese, I suppose...) There is a little oven on the table, and you take out your tray, out a slice of cheese on it, and put it back in the oven. then you wait for it to melt. In the meantime, you can take a potato, and cut it up, along with small pickled onions and pickles. When the cheese is done, you put it all over everything and eat it. I prefer it to fondue by quite a considerable margin.

Then after a few more days of skiing and doing basically nothing, I came home to a pile of mail. My counsoler gave me Chuchichäschtli, the Swiss German- German - English Dictionary and a scarf. (For those of you who don't know, the real test of your swiss german knowledge is being able to say "Chuchichäschtli" without people laughing at you. I can almost do it. Almost. The last time I said it was in front of my German teacher, who silently started cracking up.) As well as a small package from LeighAnne, with a cd full of pictures and recordings (which are all on my MP3 player) which was and continues to be insanely cool. And hillarious. "And what else are we doing? Oh Jingle Bells! I fucking hate jingle bells!"

In short, the whole holiday experience was exactly the opposite of what I do at home.

For the next 3 weeks I go to school normally, then the week after that, I have Theater Week. Believe it or not, I have a part in the play. "Endgame" by Sâmuel Beckett. I am Hamm 2. To make the Beckett play actually intresting (because trust me, his plays aren't. It's what doesn't happen that is important, not what does), we split the two main characters into 6 pairs, which means that I only have 1/6 of the lines I would have if I were the only person playing Hamm. And anyway it is cool. I hope someone records it actually. In short, it's the end of the world. Hamm can't walk, and Clov waits on him and keeps saying he's going to leave Hamm. Which he does, presumably at the end. After tons of intresting exchanges like

"Clov!"

"Yeah."

"What time is it?"

"The same as normal"

"Have you checked?"

"Yes."

"and?"

"Nothing."

"It must have rained."

" It won't rain."

Facinating.

Anyway, after theater week, I have two weeks more of vacation. Then a few more weeks, then easter vacation. Then slightly more school, then summer vacation. Then I come home. That is crazy.

I hope you all are having fun. Greetings to teh extended family, because I don't know how many of them read this, and to Peter (in case LeighAnne is reading)

Ciao miteinand.