The Halfway Point

3/24/17

A follow up to my last post:

There’s something about being halfway through a program that forces your mentality to shift. Maybe it’s the sudden realization that this adventure has a scheduled goodbye, and the building pressure to have had some formative experience by the time you reach that parting point. But I’m sitting here listening to a french song my 7-year old Moroccan host brother showed me and am already *reflecting* on what I have done here and the direction I’m headed, even with half a program to go. In the beginning, just after a week and a half in I’d completely let go of counting the days that I’ve been here. Numbers slip away as your start to live normally, as does the sense that this is just a long trip, and this new country environment finally becomes home. But as the thrill fades away it can be hard to get that gut punch that reminds you how INCREDIBLE it is to get to live and school and play in this world. For me, because Switzerland has becomes my day to day, it began to not feel too different from home, making the country less interesting and almost boring in my mind. That’s how I now know I’ve settled, but now I refuse to let that blasé attitude command my experience. I’ve shed my pout. I woke up this morning and did yoga, made my favorite fast breakfast (coconut oil and strawberries on a piece of baguette, no English muffins here) and drank a double espresso coffee. These little rituals make my heart happy, and with that I woke myself to the present moment with smiles and open eyes to this beautiful beautiful place, St-George, Switzerland, that I get to *feel* at home in.

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To supplement this post, here’s a little something I jotted down this week, mid-slump. I supposed I’ve been cultivating a positivity come back for a few days now:

3/22/17

Lemme just blast ya with a little love real quick:

Switzerland, I talked a little smack about you yesterday for your “boring” well-developed state, but let me just reverse that ugly with a little more focus on your positively refined qualities.

I love…

• Your 20 cent franc coins 
• The green and red and white and blue shutters on all of your buildings
• Your baby little flowers that are popping up out of your luscious green grass and even the cement because I guess all of your surfaces are well nourished enough to support life!
• The constant panorama of the mountains
• Easily accessible and vast forests that you can wander through, pleasantly lost for hours
• Your AIR
• Trains that pass right next to the water’s edge giving you good views wherever you go
• Your diversity, in both language and culture
• The value for respect that comes out of your formality

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I’m sorry I labeled you as a little uninteresting because you are so much like my home in Oregon. You are your own, similar in weather but rich in subtleties that come with many unexpected surprises. 

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Back to the present:

P.s. I’ve now listened to this french song (Sur les Murs by Kids United) about 10 times while writing this because I was too invested in getting my brain to the page to change the music.

Thanks for reading! Sending my love.