random

Heey. Sorry, I've really been slacking..
Like I said, the weather's been killing me! I've been ill for about a week, so it's not been very interesting. I've been spending my evenings in front of the telly with some tea, watching One Direction on Alan Carr The Chatty Man and the X Factor.. at least I've become more British;). I really wanted to avoid watching the X Factor but now I actually really like it.. it's SO MUCH better than DSDS... I really enjoy watching it :D. There are a lot of very interesting British programmes. They're very different than the ones at home and sometimes a bit strange, but I like them a lot. There are lots of amazing comedians here as well. Oh, and they record Deal or No Deal in Bristol.. I'd love to go once.. they sometimes have celebrities on, like McFly :D.
Oh, by the way, the British butter I was telling you about earlier is called Clover.
I also tried Flakes, LOVE THEM :P well, you know.. it's chocolate-y :D. They're very crumbly..

Oh, and I also had my first proper fish and chips with vinegar:

and my second one:D

I think the bus drivers here are also quite chuffed that I finally got a bus pass. The first day after I got it, the bus driver cheered when I showed it to him :P I go on the same bus every morning, so we've seen each other quite often..

In my opinion the people here generally are all really nice although the Bristol accent is known to be impolite.. it's really lovely to be called 'sweetheart' or 'my love' all the time.. lifts my mood:). 

The teachers in school are very different than what I'm used to from Switzerland. They seem like they genuinely care about the future of their students... I know, cheesy. Every second Friday we have an assembly the whole morning and talk about university. How to afford it and how to stand out from the rest.. It's really motivating in a way.

I've already received a lot of grades.. from all the homework we had to hand in, tests and essays we have to write almost after every class. I mostly receive between 70-80%, which is A or B.. not too bad, I guess. I had two A* in Maths but also only 40% in a Psychology homework (the one I had, when I didn't know we had to hand it in and left most of it blank :P oh well). I really like the school and the different classes but I think in some of my classes the teachers focus too much on the marks. While we work on a topic in Psychology for example, they always tell us what we have to know for an A-C mark, and what information is enough for a D-E. That gets kind of annoying because they act like we're only there to get good marks, not to learn anything.. the topics would be very interesting and helpful for life otherwise. Different models of short-term and long-term memory and attachment theories..

I started walking my host family's dog this week. There's a place about ten minutes from my house: cock ridge :P don't know why it's called like that.. most people hear call it the cock..

Today I went to the cinema with a  friend from school at the Longwell Green Vue cinema... We went to see Ice Age 4 at half past ten in the morning.. she had to work in the afternoon (a lot of people from school have got a part time job). It's such an amazing cinema !! And there are lots of restaurants and fast food places and fitness centers and a lasertag (like in How I Met Your Mother :P Barney) I haven't been yet.. but I definitely will!

really strange machines... you can print out the tickets yourself... and they talk to you, which is nice;)

inside the cinema:D 

There was a Ben&Jerry's bar, two sweets shops and a gaming area!

I talked to a girl from school about Harry Potter for a while and we're absolutely going to London to the Harry Potter museum!!:D I'm really excited about that:)) I'm going to tell you more about it once I've been there, but I already know it's amazing and it closes in March of 2013, so go as soon as possible! We also want to do one of those tours through London and its outskirts, where they drive you to all of the filming locations :P. It's only about 45 mins from here to London, which is amazing:). I want to travel to Whales in the very near future too..

Have a nice Sunday:)

Alex xxx

Catching up:)

Heej, I'm back!
So, I've been here for two and a half weeks now.
I recently tried mini pork pies with Branston pickle (veery British) and I actually really like it. Branston pickle is vegetarian relish...

tastes better than it looks like

And I also (finally!) tried Marmite! It's not bad, but you really just have to take VERY little. I put it on my sandwich one day but luckily my host mother saw me do it and stopped me. She told me you usually take two toast slices and put some butter on both of them and then, only on one of the slices, you put on some Marmite.. just for a bit of flavour. It's some kind of by-product when you brew beer. For me it tastes a bit like Bouillon...

School's OK as well. I dropped World Development on Monday, now I'm left with four subjects: Maths, French, English Literature, Psychology. Which is fine. Maths and French are still very, very easy here. My French teacher has a horrible accent though (not saying mine is better, but it is:P...). Psychology and English Literature are both quite complex. I don't think I'm struggling because of the language, they'd be equally as hard in German. But their both very interesting, so I'll have to manage. One of my problems was, that I didn't know, that they grade the homework here! So I'm going to be frustrated the next few days.. Oh well.

There's a lot of tutoring/mentoring going on at Hanham. You get put in a group and have a special teacher you can talk to if you've got any kind of problems. That's mentoring. You go in with a partner you can choose. I went with Scott from my Maths class ... I think it's a nice thing to do, but you can't really take it seriously... it's more like: You alright? Good. Here, sign that. 

I can't explain what tutoring is, because I haven't gone yet :P. Would of had it today during lunch but I thought because I already had mentoring on Monday, I wouldn't have to attend... But they're two completely different things.. apparently.

I have my cell phone all figured out now. I first bought a pay as you go SIM card.. but that would be way too expensive in the long run. Now I have a SIM only contract for 12 pounds a month (with VirginMobile) and I get unlimited web, unlimited texts and 150 mins of phoning. Because I'm only 16 I had to ask my host mum to use her bank account.. but it worked out fine. I think it was also a problem because you needed a bank account in the UK...
I also got my bus pass today, finally!! It was flippin' expensive, but it's worth it. I need it every day for school and I can go into town with it. It cost me 430 quid for a student pass.. which I can use for a whole year.

When I went into town (that's what everybody here calls it...Bristol) to get my bus pass, I stayed longer and walked around for a bit. I got to a place called Cabot Circus , which is fab!!! All the shops and quite different fashion over here is overwhelming though..

Last weekend I first went to St. George, which is right next to Hanham, to pick up a friend from school and then we went to Kingswood together. It's a really nice place to shop. There are so many different charity shops there, all with really nice clothing, shoes, jewelry and also furniture... and a lot more.

On Monday I had my first training. I'm not sure what it was... a mixture of kickboxing and sparring I suppose. I really enjoyed it!!

I hope everything is well at home (the weather here is killing me!) and I'll write you soon
Alex xx

new family - new school

Heii
Haven't written to you in a while. On Wednesday, I moved in with my 'real' host family. My host parents are really lovely and have got two boys, 15 and 21, and a daughter, which doesn't live here anymore. I live in Warmley now. I also started school on Thursday. As of now, I've only had two hours of World Development on Thursday and three hours of Maths and two hours of Psychology on Friday. World Development has been really interesting so far but IF I'm going to drop one subject, it probably would be this one. Maths has been really easy so far and Psychology has been more difficult than I expected. There are quite a few words I have problems with - but it's fascinating.
I usually have school from twenty to nine in the morning to quarter past three in the afternoon daily. But on one day I have a free afternoon. Maybe I'm going to drop one subject, because they're all on A Level now, which can get quite hard. I thought I had to wear a uniform - like most of the students at the school - but I don't. I got put into Sixth Form, which is quite similiar to the tenth school year in Switzerland. Students do it, if they've finished High School but don't want to or can't go to college or start an apprenticeship. At least that's how I understand it.
I also notice that I've got difficulties with the comma rules in school. The English teachers I've had in Switzerland so far all said, that the comma rules are too difficult and that we wouldn't get graded on them. But now I have no idea how to put the commas in my school work!!
I've also noticed that I don't have to worry about grammar, because no one else does either:P.

I'll have to go to bed now, got school tomorrow.
Have a nice week
Alex xx

Bristol

Hey guys
I promise this post will be a lot shorter than the one from yesterday. Oh, yesterday I forgot to tell you something: When I missed the first bus (because I didn't wave) I went to LIDL to waste some time. I didn't even know LIDL exists in the UK. That's what I found:):

la vache qui rit!!!!

(sounds catchier than 'Laughing Cow Cheese' in my opinion...)

 picture just for evidence

Today:
For breakfast I finally tried British crumpets (there are different types of crumpets apparently) and I really liked them with that butter..:). At eleven o'clock I took the bus to Bristol (the right one) with another STS student. He's from Norway. We got ourselves application forms for the bus. They offer Student Photocards and other tickets at http://www.firstgroup.com .
Afterwards we also got some SIM cards that have better deals for use within the UK. I haven't taken any pictures of Bristol today, because we only were in the city centre around the bus station. There are A LOT of cool shops and malls. I'm sure I'll go see the Avon some other time and will take some picures.
I just heard the other student in the house scream, because she found a huge spider in her room. Wendy told us there are always lots of spiders around this time of the year - when it turns to autumn.

Write to you soon xx

Hanham High School and bus problems

Montag 3. September 2012

Hej
I'm going to switch to English now because... I feel like it.
So, today I went to see my new school for the first time: Hanham High School. Wendy drove me in the morning. I have a really good first impression.

(I didn't have my camera with me, I have to buy a new charger first, I'm sorry about the quality)

I didn't have any classes yet, it'll start on Thursday. I went to choose my subjects and some lovely ladies were helping me. They told me I should pick four and gave me a big plan with all their subjects. I couldn't decide so I chose five:

Maths

French

Psychology

English Literature

World Development

They told me I could still get rid of one, if it gets too intense. 

I also wanted to take Travel&Tourism but they told me it isn't the right thing for an exchange student. I thought about taking engineering, but it is a two-year programme, which isn't ideal for me. 

Hanham High has some kind of partnership with other high schools in the area, that's why I'll have my French class in another school. Hanham has a lot of Art classes and the other schools have different main subjects. 

After we were done I just walked around in Hanham for a bit to get to know it a bit better. It's really beautiful:

And then I saw this:

I tried to get closer to the brick thing-y next to the flag pole and failed many times. But then I found it:) It was so beautiful up there. If you ever visit Bath or Bristol or any other part of South West England, just go to Hanham (I think I was still in Hanham) and walk down 'Summerhill Terrace':

and you'll get to this:)

and then to this:

Afterwards I wanted to take the bus back home to Willsbridge. Buses here are quite different than the ones in Wettingen. There's only one bus an hour from Hanham that stops in Willsbridge, but you have to wave at the bus stop, otherwise it will just drive past you... yep, it did happen to me. And there also isn't an electronic sign within the bus (like the ones in Wettingen, before you get to the bus stop 'Langenstein', it says 'Langenstein' and you know where you're at). Here, you somehow just have to know where you're at... Well, I didn't.. I didn't get out when I should of and ended up in Bath, the end station. To sum up my whole afternoon: I had some more problems with all the buses, but there were three really lovely blokes trying to help me and later also a bus driver  (I got onto his bus, which wasn't the right one). He drove me back to Bath and helped me, together with his boss, find the bus. I wasn't too anxious that I was lost in a city I didn't really know actually, because the bus driver was really nice. We had a few problems communicating, because he was from Poland. But he's really into Switzerland because of the banks. Apparently everyone is rich over there...;)

Okay, I'm going to sleep now, I've been running around all day.

xx

Ahcho und watching the telly

HOI WIEDER
Aso.. ich mach det wietr, woni geschtr ufghört han:
Ich han need würkli mitihberächnet gha, dass i au no durt Security muess, drum bini dänn churzfrischtig no in Stress cho. Und ich han au no müesse zu Gate 6, wo glaubs öppe 8 Abflüg um di gliech Ziit gha hät. D Security i Amsterdam hät mi ziemli sträng dunkt. Ich bi gscannt worde, abr need so, wie z Züri zum Biespiel, sondern sones komischs 3D-Ding, wot muesch dristah und dänn schwirrt sonen Sensor a dir verbi, und dänn bini no abtaschtet worde. Woni min Laptop und alles dänn wiedr ha welle ihpacke, hät de Eint au no es Problem gha mit mim Etui und häts namal zwoimal dur de Scanner gschickt... Und dänn hani dörfe in Flügr. I de gliiche Reihe wie ich isch no es zwoits Meitli vo STS gsi, en Holländeri, ich ha sie erchännt ah ihrem STS-Tischi und STS-Täschi, wommer muess ahha. Ich ha das Zügs abr need debi gha, drum hät sie mich need erchännt. Ich ha sie abr need chöne druf ahspräche, will en Frau zwüsche eus es Buech gläse hät.

Es Foti usm Flugzüg. D Frau näb mir hät gseit, es seg 'Bath', und sie muesses wüsse, sie isch britisch (hät Harry Potter gläse und Tee trunke).

Am Flughafe bin ich zäme mit zwei anderi Meitli, ennere Holländeri und ennere Dütschi, und eme Bueb us Holland dä vo de Wendy, eusere STS-Betreueri, abgholt worde. Die beide Meitli sind dänn bi de Familie abglade worde (sie wohned zäme) und ich wohn jetzt bis am Mittwuch bi de Wendy, will dänn mini Familie heichunt. De Holländr wohnt en Strass obe vo da.

Woni da ahcho bi, hani de Danny, de Maa vo de Wendy, känneglert, und mer händ all zäme Fernseh gluegt - The X Factor, Red or Black, The Jonathan Ross Show. Es wohnt no en Italienneri im glieche Huus, wo da für drü Mönet studiert, Mit ihre hani Znacht gässe. Spötr hani dänn no en Tschech käneglert, wo au da wont. D Tochtr vo de Wendy und em Danny isch au churz verbicho und hät ihri Tochtr mitbracht, 'Faith':). Han dänn de ganz Abig Fernseh gluegt und sie hät a mine Chleidr umegspielt. Sie isch uuuh herzig, würd eu gern es Foti vo ihre zeige, muess abr dä zersch no um Erlaubnis fröge. Abr das hani hüt morge vo ihre uf mim Handy gfunde:

Unde rächts isch sie:))

Sonntag 2. September

Hüt isch en rächt ruhige Tag gsi, zum Zmorge hani sonen änglische Butter probiert, wo uh fein isch (ziemli salzig) und de Tschech isch hüt abgreist. Han wiedr mit de Faith zäme Fernseh gluegt... zersch irgend sonen Sändig und dänn 'Beauty and the Beast'. Spötr bini mit de Italienneri chli go laufe und sie hät mer zeigt wo all Busstatione sind. Jetzt hämmr grad Znacht gässe und gönd jetz go luege wie Brennnessle uf Änglisch heissed und was de Underschied isch zwüsche Jam und Marmelade (Hüt bim Zmorge hät de Danny gseit, Marmelade gitz nur mit Orangegschmack und Jam isch alles andere). 

Morn gangi s erschtmal d Schuel go ahluege und all Fächr bestimme, abr richtig fangts ersch Mitti Wuche ah. Villich gangi nachher dänn no uf Bristol (gaht vo da her ca. 35min mitem Bus).

Händs guet

xx Alex

Amsterdam Schiphol

HOI ZÄME
So, min erschte Blog Post:
Ich bin hüt am Morge am 11:55 z Klote abflöge und jetz vor churzem da z Amsterdam glandet. Ich bi vorher nonie z Amsterdam gsi,  es gseht uh schön us vo obe und isch au viel bessers Wättr als i de Schwiz. S hät need würkli viel geh im Flüger, drum hani mer da Öppis holländischs zum Ässe welle chaufe, abr es git schints vorallem Chäs, Wurscht und Süesses, drum hocki jetz imene organische Internetcafi vor de Kontrolle. S Ässe chani need würkli empfehle, abr s Internet isch gratis:).
Min nächschte Flügr nach Bristol gaht am 16:20, aso gangi jetz liebr mal dur d Security und zum Gate, eu en schöne Tag.
Xx Alex