Answers to Questions

It has been a long time since I have updated you guys with news. I have a lot to tell you, especially on the ministry side of things. Hopefully I will put that on here very soon! As for now I recieved an email with some VERY good questions thatI just know all of you are dieing to know as well!!!! Here they are...it is rather long once again, but I hope you enjoy! Love you all and miss you too!


Sports: The biggest sport here is football...but not "American football" We would call it soccer. But they don't do sports like us American’s do. Like at school it isn't that big of a deal. If the team decides they have too much homework they will cancel a game. Nothing like what it was like for me. I cancelled my homework!!!!

The School System: Well this is how it goes. First there is primary school; that is like the younger grades and middle school in America. Then there is secondary which is like middle school and our freshman year of high school for us. Then there is higher secondary. That is like the second part of high school plus one grade because they go to 13th grade. Then they go to what they call "university" where we would say that we are going to college. It is also different her because they decide what they are going to do at a young age. It depends heavily on your grades as well. So for example, if in 5th grad you are not making the grades then you will chose to do an "apprenticeship" after high school. You are not considered smart enough to go to college. It is really rather sad to me.

Worship/Church: The church I go to is much like an American Church. There is a mix between some hymns and chores songs. We rent the church from a French speaking church and we have our service at 5pm on Sunday nights. Every other week we have a morning service in another town as well as our service at 5pm. The preaching is very good. He is youngish pastor. He has two daughters both in the youth. He is from Northern Ireland, so his accent is so cute! It is always biblically sound when he preaches. They have small groups that meet throughout the week. I go to the young adult one.

Holidays: I am not quite sure. No 4th of July …No Thanksgiving (but many people celebrate it because there are a lot of families here whose have one parent from America. Christmas yes….but nothing really big I don’t think.

The Homes: It is very normal for families to own an apartment. Not like the whole building, but just their apartment. For a three bedroom apartment, a living room, a kitchen it is $2000 Franks a month!!!!!!!!!! That is a lot of money. I don’t know how to do the math but $.81 is equal to 1 Frank. So it is a lot of money. That is why very few people own homes here, because it is so expensive. I have not been in a house yet, but I have gone by them. It looks like they are out of a story book. No brick or siding…it is like texturized clay. It has a name I just can’t think of it. Every house has windows that open because there is no air conditioner. There is usually a pot of flowers hanging over the side and colored window shutters. As far as their yards, the apartments don’t have yards unless you live on the bottom floor. Then you would have a really small backyard. But they don’t call them backyards, they call them gardens. And some families do have swimming pools.

Family Life: Well, the defiantly spend a lot more time together in the home. They eat meals together and watch TV together (at least my host family). But at the same time there are families that have either one or both parents traveling for work…to other countries…not just in Switzerland. So many families have an Au Pair/Nanny. My host family does not watch TV very much since homework is so important here. They have many channels that are in many different languages…French, German, Spanish, and English…LOTS! As far as games…I am not too sure! We haven’t played any yet. I know they like chess some.

Parking space: There is not a problem with parking people just walk. It is probably expensive to own a car here too. Plus everything is central for them. Like it isn’t like the Wal-Mart is on one side of town while the mall is on the other. (they don’t have Wal-Mart) The train station is generally by the town square. And then everything you need is just right there…groceries, clothes, restaurants. So it is pointless to drive. It would be nice to have a bike when you are running late! So it is more or less just the custom.

Visiting Family: If you lived in Switzerland and I were to come visit you I am not sure what families would do. My host family is going to Zurich (about 3 hours away) and they are driving. But you can take the train as well. The public transportation system is really good here. It would probably depend on the price of gas compared to the train ticket. The gas is around 1.62 Franks per liter. So if you are good at math you can convert that into dollars and gallons!

Food: Very healthy. But in the sense of portions. Like, they don’t have a plate full like we do. They take one serving of everything and they are done. Same with the restaurant servings. EXCEPT pizza! You order your own pizza and eat it by yourself. But it isn’t the pizza like you are thinking. It is like a mega tortilla. That thin…so you can eat a whole one and not feel stuffed. Now that it is the winter season they serve these two plates. One is called Fondue and the other is called Raclette. Fondue is where you dip bread into cheese (or something into chocolate!!!!) Raclette is a little harder to explain. I actually had it for the first time the other night. You slice a block of cheese up and heat it on the warmer with any veggies and meat you want. When it melts you scrape it onto potatoes. It is very good! They do have a McDonalds. But if you order something like a burger it takes you five min to get it…not fast like in the US. They have a lot of pubs (bars) and café’s to eat at as well as little bakeries. But it is very expensive to eat out here. You don’t really unless you plan on spending at least 20 franks a head…at least! And water cost to order as well.