Visitors

My parents are on their way. They are boarding a plane as I type this to fly and visit me. I'm incredibly excited. I haven't seen my parents in 6 months. It seems like forever. I have missed them so much that now that I'm going to see them its a little surreal.

While they are here, we're going to have lots of fun. The biggest (mis)adventure we'll be having will be in Bordeaux, France for 3 days and it'll be a great experience to try and practice my french while with them. Speaking of my french, I went to my village's Swiss day celebration on Sunday night, and it was fantastic to watch Fireworks, since I missed them on the 4th of July. It was a lot of fun, and I ended up speaking with a woman in French, who ended up not only being the mother of our villages' Mayor, but in fact the former mayor herself. Talk about intimidating! But it wasn't all bad. As soon as she found out I was American, and that I spoke French she immediately complemented me, for making the effort to begin with. This doesn't make me feel better as an American, but it does make me feel good about my time here in Switzerland. So many people I've met, au pairs and the like who are here don't speak French. And that worries me. I try very hard not to be the quintessential "American" - I like to surprise people that I'm American (although my accent usually gives it away). But I don't act like your average American abroad. And I'm thankful for that. I feel like I can be accepted here because I make an effort to be an active member of Swiss society. My French might not be superb but I try, and I know that the locals appreciate that effort.

Along with my parent's visit, August will have another fun event involved. The evening after my parents leave for the USA, I'll be catching a night-train to Amsterdam. I'm excited. Those of you who know me will probably assume that my time in A-dam will be spent inside coffee shops, but I'm actually looking forward to another solo adventure. I enjoy traveling alone, there is so much to see and when you don't have to worry about what others want to do you can do what you want at your own pace. It'll be fantastic to experience a new city, take photos and if I'm lucky see a show. I want to experience as much as I can before my time in Switzerland is up, so doing things now, while I have the money, while my plans for 2011 are still in the works makes sense to me.

Life gives us opportunities, we just have to take them. And I'll tell you something, I'm going for it.

I don't know if I'll have a chance to write while mom and dad are in town, but if not, know that there will be lots of updates after I return from Amsterdam. And photos too!

My best to all my readers, and I hope that you might be inspired to take a chance with the opportunities your life has given you.

Love,

Mattie