Arrival

Leaving was the by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Leaving my mom and sister at the airport felt like my heart was going to explode. They are my best friends and the only reasons I considered not moving. With time I hope things feel better, but right now I am more sad than I have ever been because I miss them so much. I wish that I could be able to have the best of both worlds, my family and living abroad, but I can't. I know that I would be miserable in St. Joseph, but I'd have my great family, or I can have a life abroad like I've always wanted and be sad without them. It somehow feels like I can't win. But, hopefully we will be able to see Europe together and make great memories travelling here and that is an opportunity that has presented itself because of this move.
I arrived in Zurich on Thursday and it was actually not too bad of a flight. It was quite empty, so I was able to get two seats to sleep and stretch out. I even got 3 or 4 hours of sleep, which is very hard rare for me. It hit me that I was in Zurich and this was real, but not that I was going to live here, just as a vacation. It was beautiful and snowing and I was very excited.
Andri picked me up and took me to his mom's house in Teufen to see Clarence, who doesn't remember me, which makes me sad. We were only there a few hours and then headed out to Montreux. Looking back, probably not the best idea, but at the time a weekend together sounded like the best idea.
Montreux is in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, which means that it is very different from where we are planning to live, Bern. Luckily Andri speaks French, so it wasn't bad, but I was confused and wishing we were in a German-speaking city instead. It is interesting that the French Swiss don't really learn German, but most Swiss Germans learn French. I guess it's because the French are the minority here and don't want to give anything else to the German speakers.
Montreux is beautiful. The Lake of Geneva is huge and wonderful and surrounded by mountains. It was snowing, like I'd always imagined, but there were palms and Mediterranean vegetation as well. We walked around and I soon realized that snow boots would be a necessity. Hopefully I am able to get a pair soon because it just keeps snowing! It feels surreal still to be walking around in Europe, a place that used to be solely a vacation dreamland. Things seem so foreign, but everything is basically the same. Just little things get me, like opening weird containers or extra glasses in restaurants. In general, everything is beautiful to look at and I feel comfortable, although extremely insecure.
Here are some pictures of Montreux and the Lake of Geneva.

Also, Lausanne, which had a spectacular view.

We also took a boat to Evian-Les Bains, which is in France, but the boat ride is only 35 minutes. It wasn't very interesting, but hey, it's France, so I can't complain. We went to Les Thermes Evian, which was a spa and a huge disappointment, but its done now. We had a great lunch and walked around, then headed back because I was still very jetlagged. But here are some pictures from Evian.

We are now back in Teufen and Andri's mom is making dinner and his brother and stepbrother are coming over soon to eat. I am still just trying to get used to not having my family around and it's very hard for me, but I think that once we are in our apartment and school has started I will feel better.