A Winter Wonderland Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone, no matter where in the world you are!!! One thing I learned this year is it doesnt really matter where you are for the holidays, but more about being with people you love, enjoying  their company, and connecting with those far away. And spending my holidays here in Switzerland made me realize how great a life I have. It was truly a a Wonderful experience that i know i'll never forget. *As this post is so long, I'll put all the pictures along in a seperate post =) *

We had school all the way up until the 23rd of december, but as currenly only have CA on wednesday every other week I had the 22nd free, and on thursdays I only have German class, but our teacher had us throw a christmas party of sorts. On the 22nd, i met up with my Liason Caroline for our last hang out before Christmas. We did some last minute Christmas shopping, got some coffee, and just had a great afternoon. I then went home to bake Christmas sugar cookies as for German class, everyone brought in a traditional meal from their land for the Christmas season. It was the last day of German class for the exchange students going back in January, so it was a great way to spend the time! Of all the sugary sweets, one of my favorites was actually a Christmas meal from Chili that one of my friends brough it. Its cold spaghetti with avacato and tunafish mixed together. Sounds strange but it was amazing! 


Christmas eve, or "Heiligabend", was an overall relaxed day. (at least the morning and afternoon). There had been no snow for the past week and everyone though we would have a green christmas, but when we woke up that morning the ground was covered with snow! (which didnt stop falling until about 7 that night!) It was such an amazing thing to see! I finished christmas present wrapping, got ready, and then headed down to Herberts house to get ready for the combined Christmas with the two familys (normally they have christmas with one on the 24th and one on the 25th, but this year they decided to combind them). In Switzerland, it is costum to celebrate Christmas on the 24th evening. Or 25th evening. Rahel and I got to work on decorating the tree, and getting the room all set up. By the end it was beautiful, with the real candels (an amazing thing about Christmas trees here!) chocolate, and ornaments. I then went to skype my family back home for about an hour or so, where I got to see my Grandparents for the first time since I left. It was great to have my family back home talking with my family here too (including the cat!), as i often forget they dont really know each other. By the time I finished the Grandparents had arrived, and shortly after Carla and everyone else came down. We started with appatizers, and whine, before moving on to a delicious salad. We then went into the room where the tree was after my host mom announced that "The Christkind has come!". There we lit the Candles and Sparklers that now decorated the tree, and although I was sure it was going to start a tree fire, it was amazingly beautiful!! After opening about half the presents we headed back into the dining room for the main course, which was meat fondue. If you picture the normal fondue of bread and cheese and replace this with meat and water you get the idea. At first i had no idea how the meat was suppose to cook in the short time we placed it in the water....but somehow it turned the nice dark brown of cooked meat, and tasted amazing. We had over nine different homemade sauses for the different kinds of meat, and i was completely full very quickly! We then procedded to finish opening the rest of the gifts, which for me was alot as i had gifts both form my family here, and from back in the states! It meant so much to get gifts from people back home, as well as those here as i know i'll keep them forever! Some of the gifts from my host family included the German version of Cinderella, a swiss desserts cook book, a frame full of photos from my year here so far, and more. We then had dessert which was ofcourse amazing and then stayed until midnight talking before heading home.


On the morning of the 25th I packed my bags and headed off with my host family for the weekend to Engelberg! It is the last town you can get to in the alps, and is literally surrounded on all sides by the mountains. It is sooo beautiful!! The trip took about 2 hours, and after checking into our hotel we headed up to the family's house higher up the mountain. (Used to be owned by the whole family and shared for vacations, but now is owned by my host moms brother). There we met up with the rest of the family and hung out for a while before heading back down with Rahel, Carla, and three of their cousins (Severin who is Rahels age, Valentin who is Lukas age, and Sebastian who is 23) to walk around the town, get a hot chocolate, and then get ready for the Christmas party that night. The town is definetaly a ski resort town, and our hotel was very different from the giant chain hotels in america, and even more amazing! Old fasioned styled with a tiny elevator that fits only about 2 people with their luggage, the whole place had more the feel of a cabin in the mountains then a hotel. The christmas party was with the whole family, (probably about 25 people) and involved dinner, and present exchange (secret santa style). I had one of my hostcousins who i had met maybe two times before, but honestly had no idea what to get! I ended up giving a box of the traditional Vermont things, including maple candy, champlain chocolate (which felt funny giving to someone in switzerland) and maple syrup. Luckily he seemed to like the gift and I was relieved! One of the aunts had me, and I ended up getting a small swiss army knife, very traditional armband warmer things made out of silk that are surprisingly very warm, and a traditional bandana. I thought it was such a perfect gift, and was so thankful! Plus I love being able to say I have a swiss army knife now! We headed back to the hotel at about midnight, but as everyone else was sleeping at the house or a hotel just down the street, Rahel, Carla, Lukas, and their three cousins and I walked/sledded back down. It was so beautiful with the town lit up below.

The next day we woke up about 10 and headed back up to the house for breakfast. Looking out the window that morning i almost screamed! It was bright blue sky, and you could see the mountains for the first time since we arrived! I couldnt believe I was really here! Severin and Sebastian had woke up early to go skiing, along with many other people from the house who had gone sledding or so, so it was pretty quiet when we arrived. After breakfast (about noon) we decided to go on a walk/hike, which ended up being the most beautiful hike I've ever been on! We walked on the street up the mountain, before heading off on a path that eventually led into the woods. Every dirrection you looked was snow covered white that was glinting in the bright sun. There were trails covering the mountains from skiers and snowboarders, and random bildings set into the snow for the cows come summertime. It was truely a winter wonderland! By the end of the 2 hour walk though I was nicely frozen, and was glad to spend the rest of the afternoon just chillin in the house playing games, talking, and relaxing. About half of the family left on this day, so dinner was smaller, but still lots of fun. At our kids table (made up of 14, 15 and 16 year olds) we continued a game we had played the night before with the whole family (where you write a name and stick it on someones forhead, and then they have to ask yes, or no questions to figure out who they are). It helped me to realize how much german I actually know, as I tried to figure out who Iwas (mickey mouse), and had lots of fun. Rahel, Sebastian, Severin and I then returned to the hotel about 10:30 by sled (the others had gone home during the day).

The 27th, our last day in Engelberg, Rahel, Severin, and I woke up early to go sledding!! We had breakfast at the hotel with Sebastian, before packing up our things from the room, leaving them in the lounge (only in switzerland would they be perfectly safe there) and heading out to the Gondala lift with our sleds in tow. It was my first time in a skiing resort with lifts and such (a little sad being from Vermont and all) so it was a good thing I was not alone. We headed up, and then took a chair lift even farther up from there! By the time we were at the top we had a 2.5 kilometer sledding trail through the alps ahead of us. It was so beautiful and completely amazing! Something I will never forget! The sun was shining so bright that I actually got a tan, and sometimes had to close my eyes! After three times down we decided to take a break and got a hot chocolate and Gipfeli at the restaurant at the top of the mountain! We then sledded down again before heading home. An amazing thing about Switzerland is to do this we simply took the sleds! After going down as far as we could on the sledding path, we went onto steeper parts of the mountain (where skiers had already made great paths) in which I ended up going faster then the sled and landing in front of it! After a little bit we hit the normal street, which was covered with snow. we then were able to ride this the rest of the way (about 20 minutes) down to the house. It was so much fun, and amazing being able to just sled home from the mountain! After a short rest and snack, we gathered up everything, took a quick stop to look at the Monistary (Older then the USA!) and cheese store, and made our way home. For dinner that night we had fondue, which was so good, and such a perfect end to my swiss Christmas weekend!

Its crazy to think it is already the start of a new year. When I think back to all the amazing things I have done this year, and the people I have done them with I can honestly say that 2010 has been one of, if not the best year of my life! It went by so fast as for me it felt more like two seperate half years (my time in America, and my time in Switzerland) but both were so full of friends, family, laughs, fun, adventures, new experiences, and overall happiness that together made my year amazing. I can't belive it was a year ago that i was working on my application to start this crazy adventure, and in the blink of an eye I have already been here for 4 1/2 months! Thank you to everyone who has been there with me the past year through applications, fundraising, and the rollarcoaster of living in a new country. Both near and far, I have been so lucky with the people who make up my life. Thank you so much! Thinking of you all! So where ever you are in the world, heres too an amazing year! May it be eve better then the last, and be full of new adventures, new friends, and moments you will never forget. Happy New Year!
~Sarah