Well it was a mind boggle for sure to be in the French
speaking part of Switzerland for one week and then just a quick 4-hour drive
later be in the same country but everyone only speaks German! Europe is so
crazy like that. For example this past week I lived in Frauenfeld, Switzerland.
I was 25min from Germany, 1.5 hours from France and a quick 30min drive to
Austria. I cannot believe how different just that one fact about Europe is from
the U.S.
I started
this week fresh and full of my positive energy that got a bit lost in the
jumble last week and I was ready for a good week! Manifesting works wonders! I
had an amazing week!
We traveled about 4 hours on Monday
from Geneva (French side of Switzerland) to Frauenfel (German side of
Switzerland). When we got off the buses it was snowing. Lets just say the
Mexicans who had never seen snow went a little crazy! This whole week was
“split cities”, which means half of the cast is in one city and half is in the
other. They are only 20min away from each other, but you don’t meet together
everyday unless it is a show day. That also meant we had 2 show days and we had
to set-up and strike the set two days in a row in the two separate cities. Fun,
fun, fun!! My new roommates were Katy from Wyoming and Sofia from Mexico. We
were hosted with a great family. Ursula and Philippe with their 4 children,
Fiona (17), Yannick (10), Samira (8) and Lionel (7). They do not start to learn
English until 4th grade here so the two youngest children were tough
to talk to, but we had tons of fun through non-verbal communication and
universal sign language! I definitely learned a bit of German this week even
though our host dad was pretty fluent in English.
Tuesday was a study abroad day for me
and CI for the rest of the cast. Our meeting place in Frauenfeld was at the
Turnfabrik, which is a place where they have gymnastics training! We most
definitely had some fun in the foam pits and trampolines etc. I was darn sore
the next day from all the worms I did and supermans into the foam pit! We all
found our inner child for sure! Our host brother Yannick trains there and he is
a fantastic little flipper!
Both Wednesday and Thursday were show
days and I was so happy because they were the first show days in a long time
that my voice did not feel tired! Yay! I got really good at certain aspects of
setting up and striking and I really enjoy it. I feel so accomplished when I
can help instruct others on what to do when all the lights and sound stuff is
so complicated! I even used a radio one
night to communicate with the people downstairs loading the truck. I don’t even
have an internship and yet I was in a complete leadership position. I just
learn so much everyday! Our host family loved the show and the kids have been
listening to our CD non-stop since they saw it! So adorable!
Then for the first time (and most
likely the last time!), we had a 3-day weekend with our host families. That is
unheard of in UWP but I think it is what we all needed to recover and rest up
for the rest of the tour. It was Easter weekend so everything was closed all
weekend (besides Saturday). We were able to have a little extra time to get to
know our host families and catch up on rest and “me time”!
Friday we slept in, went to Good Friday brunch
and created a ton of origami cranes with the kids. In the evening UWP got VIP passes(free of
charge) to the only club around that was open on Easter weekend. It goes
without saying that it was a BLAST!
Basically we took up the entire dance floor. Not everyone was there, but probably
about 70 of us were dancing the night away and sharing drinks all around! I
felt like a true adult because I could go out and have a drink at a nice bar
before hitting the dance floor in the club.
On Saturday our host family took us to
Konstanz, Germany. Yes I am being serious. We parked our car in Switzerland and
then walked over the border to Germany to watch the new Disney film “Die
Kroods” in German of course. It was rainy and cold and a perfect day for the
movies! It was quite interesting to me how I could understand the whole movie
just based off the non-verbal communication because I did not understand a lick
of the German! We also explored the beautiful buildings of Germany before
heading home for a night of cheesy fondue and wine (lots of wine, bread, cheese
and chocolate here!) We also all got to paint Easter eggs. It brought me right
back homeJ The night ended with
a wrestling match between the three of us and the kids! Kids will be kids no
matter what culture or language they speak! It is a given! Our host dad is very
disappointed in the weather right now because usually this time of year it is
gorgeous and sunny and everything is in full bloom. Usually he is swimming in
his pool on the first of April. Sounds like my kind of birthday… but alas the
pool is still frozen! I will just have to come back and visit!
We awoke on Easter Sunday to the kids
barging in our room with a big Easter basket for the 3 of us! How sweet! Then
we headed to the gymnastics place again for a multi- UWP host family brunch! We
all ended up running around for hours on the equipment and having great fun
with each other and our host siblings. Philippe, our host dad also brought us
up on the top of a hill to try and see the view through the clouds and snow. It
was a gorgeous walk outside but the view was not there due to the weather
circumstances. We all spent the day packing (they leave to Spain for 10 days
tomorrow) and we leave back to the French part of Switzerland as well! We had a
great last dinner and I had a wonderful early birthday surprise! I connected
with Ella (one of my closet friends who I have not seen since June and who is
in Ecuador right now) on email chat and was
able to Skype with her and see her lovely face! Could not have asked for a
better birthday present! Now it is
midnight and just as I thought my host parents had gone to bed they came
running into the room to wish me a happy
birthday right on the dot! So sweet!
Time for our last weekend in beautiful,
expensive Switzerland! My favorite word that my host dad taught me this week is
“sloplicha” which means “goodnight” in Dutch!
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