Madleina Huwyler

2006-07 Inbound from Switzerland

Hometown: Zug, Switzerland

Sponsor: Aegeri-Menzingen Rotary Club, District 1980, Switzerland

Host: Orange Park Rotary Club, District 6970, USA

School: Fleming Island High School

Bio

Madleina's Bio

Hi! I'm Madleina, 16 years old and I'm from the country of chocolate, mountains, cheese and knives called Switzerland. Most Americans think that would be Sweden, but it's not! :) Although I'm sure Sweden is wonderful, too. :) I arrived here three weeks ago and I love Florida even though it's very different from my home country. I like the beautiful beaches, the wonderfully nice people and the swimming pool in our garden! I feel so lucky I could come here, thanks veery much!!

I first started thinking of doing an exchange year when my older sister went to West Virginia. She had a great time there and I just wanted to live that experience, too. So I went to Chile for only five months. I loved it so much that I really wanted to come to the United States.

I have a brother Sandro and two sisters Carmela and Silja. We live in Zug, a small town pretty much in the middle of Switzerland. Zug is famous for its old houses and flowers in front of every window. And it's true, we do have a lot of plants everywhere! We live near the school and near the town center, so I can go everywhere by bike. I often see cows and sheep grazing all over the place. :) In my free time, I do karate, play the violin, the piano and in summer also tennis. And of course I love skiing and snowboarding in the Alps! We also have six mice and two guinea pigs which I love very much! Well, I think that's all for now!

A big rotary smile! :)

September 20 Journal & Pictures

Hi! What's uuuup? :)

It has been 2 months now since I got here and I'm having the best time! I never thought I would enjoy this so much, I'm telling you, I'm sooo happy and soooo lucky! :)

I have the best host family, they are awesome! We did a lot of things these past weeks. For example last weekend we went to the beach, visiting my host dad's parents. The ocean was really warm, at least for me ;) and after lying in the sun and “chilling out” we had crab legs and shrimp, which I have never tried before!

A week before that we went to St. Augustine for a whole day. A really nice city! And last Thursday I went to my first wedding ever! I've never been to a wedding in Switzerland. It was sooo nice! :) But the biggest thing of course is football! My host parents already took me to two Jacksonville Jaguar games and to a couple of high school games. I'm starting to understand the rules now! :) When I first saw the Jacksonville football stadium I could not stop staring. It is huuuuuuuge! And all the people sitting in front of their cars and having dinner before the game! :) I couldn't stop laughing. It was just the most exciting thing! I already took a lot of pictures and I'm having a hard time writing everything that happens to me in my diary! :)

Three weeks ago I had my sweet 16. I was a little nervous about that and I thought I would get really homesick. But I had a awesome birthday! My host mother ordered a huuge cake which we shared with a lots of friends. And I was soo surprised about all these gifts I got! I never expected something like that. It was great! :)

Of course I have to mention the Rotary Orientation weekend we had last month. It was great to meet all these other exchange student (Hi guys if you're reading this ;) ) and sharing our first impressions and experiences. I have been in contact with a lot of them since we first met and now I'm really looking forward to our next weekend! :)

In school I'm joining Interact now and I've met more friends there. It's real fun! The best thing is, when I walk through the school and know so many people that I'm constantly greeting friends! It gives me a great feeling! And during lunch we have so much fun every day! ;)

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading my first journal! I'll be writing more, there's always something to tell! Greetings! :)

October 11 Journal & Pictures

Hi!! I'm still doing sooo good here, especially now when the weather is getting cooler! :) Wow, it was reeeeeeeally hot in July... Now people are looking forward to wearing jackets and sweaters, because everyone is tired of that heat! :) That's really funny!

Well, soo many things happened these past weeks! First of all I went parasailing!! That was soo much fun! I was really nervous about the take off, but then I was flying about 300 feet over a lake and I had the best view! A friend also did it and together we were really proud of ourselves! :) That weekend I also wake-boarded for the first time of my life. That was fuuuuuuun!!

Last week was Spirit Week in school. I didn't know they had that. For my friends back in Switzerland, who don't know what that is, you dress up each day differently. It reminded me somehow of a Carnaval. :) On Wednesday there was a Homecoming Parade which was fun to watch. And we got some candy too! :) And on Thursday we went to the school's football game (which we won!). On Friday we had fun at the Homecoming dance! Before the dance we all met to take some pictures together, the girls all dressed up and with their hair done really nicely. Then we all had dinner. I felt a little bit stupid when we entered the door to this restaurant, with our dresses and high shoes... :) The dance was great. We stayed there until it was over! And I met some really nice new people!

Uh, at this point I really have to mention a lovely girl I met at lunch. Kristin! :) She always wanted me to mention her in one of my journals. So here you go Kristin! I really hope you're going to read this! :) See you tomorrow at lunch... ;)

Mmm... what else... I can't really think of anything else right now... I'll be writing more! Guys, I'm so looking forward to our next weekend in Daytona Beach!! That's going to be soo much fun!! I can't wait! :) See you all there!! Byee!		That's me parasailing!!!!	Water-tubing
With some friends at the football game. We had a lot of fun!	I think it's really funny that there is a place here which is actually called Switzerland!!	With my host sister in St. Augustine	I love the car signs here! They're so colorful and nice!

December 8 Journal & Pictures

12-8-06: already December! I can't believe how fast this year is going by! In a few weeks the first half of my exchange year will be over! I've had a great time so far and I'm so excited about all the stuff I get to do next year!! :)

Lots of things happened since my last journal. First of all I had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I really like this American holiday and maybe I'll start to celebrate it in Switzerland, too! :) We spent practically the whole day with the family at the grandparents' house. I was surprised by all the food they had cooked! Everything, from rice to sweet potatoes to fruit salad, pumpkin pie and of course the famous turkey was delicious! I also got to know some more members of the family that day which was really nice. Well, of course I have to tell my family and friends back home about "black Friday"! :) I'm pretty sure they don't know what that is. Basically every American goes Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving. The Malls opened at 5 in the morning and apparently there were already people there that early! Craaaazy! I "slept in" a little bit longer and we left the house at about 7.30. As we got to the Avenues Mall at eight, there was no parking space left! My host mom was driving around, with no particular goal in mind, just looking for a spot to park. Luckily there were people who had already finished their shopping tour (Imagine, at eight in the morning!!) and after chasing some loaded shoppers to their cars and trying to get their parking space before someone else does without success, we finally found a place to park. I thought, yeah, now we get to go shopping! But as I walked into the Mall, all I could see were people and bags around me. I mean it was croooowded! The waiting lines in the stores were awfully long and at the end I didn't buy that much stuff, just because I didn't have the patience to wait for an hour to get one or two items. Well, it was fun anyways! :) The next day I went to the Jacksonville Light parade. It was great but the best thing was that I drove to Jacksonville by boat! We left the house when it started to get dark. Imagine us, sitting in the boat with blankets on our knees and watching the beautiful sunset! It was sooo nice and we had so much fun. The parade was great too, and a little bit later there was a huuge firework on the river. I've never seen something like that! It was biiiig! :) and very beautiful of course! Well, that was my Thanksgiving weekend. I will never forget it!!

Last weekend was awesome, too. Together with about 55 other exchange students living in Florida, Pennsylvania and New York I had a blast in Disney world, Orlando!! I could miss two days of school, which was kind of nice too and spent four days having fun on roller coasters and making new friends. I really got to know people better and enjoyed it a lot. On Thursday we went to the MGM studios, Friday was Magic Kingdom, Saturday Epcot and Sunday Animal Kingdom. We saw a few wonderful fireworks and lightshows. :) The sad part was that the weekend was over waaaay too fast! I'm already really excited about seeing everyone again on New year's Eve!

I can't say it enough: THIS IS AAAWESOME!!! :) I'm so glad I took a chance and came over to the United States. It's just the best thing I've ever done in my life! And I really want to encourage anyone who thinks about doing the same thing to really do so. I'm having so much fun my friends in Switzerland are getting real jealous ;) I think it'll be hard to get used to my old life again... Well, I don't want to think about that yet, I still have so much in mind I want to do while I'm here.

Since I've been living here I've taken a looot of pictures and a few are right here on the website. So take a look if you're interested in what is going on here! ;) See you all soon, whether in Florida or Switzerland or somewhere else! :) Mega liebi gruesslis Madleina			Pretty big guitar!!
That's me in front of Mickey's house	Janka, Audrey, Cee & me in front of Mt. Everest	On the boat driving back from the Light Parade	My whole host family

February 4 Journal & Pictures

As every month, January just passed waaay too fast! It feels like it was yesterday that I was being welcomed to Florida by Megan, my host sister, Lisa, my host mother and everyone else, and now I'm already making plans to leave this wonderful experience behind me and go back to regular life in Switzerland... A few weeks ago I had to book my return flight which was a very sad thing for me to do. Just when you think your exchange year can't get any more exciting something even better happens!!

Since my last journal is from December 8th, I still need to tell you all about my first American Christmas and new years! Well, Christmas was very different from what I was used to but also very fun! I love Christmas a lot and I thought I would really miss my family and friends around that time. But I actually did not! I received a loooot of presents and everyone around me made me feel so comfortable that I forgot about home and enjoyed Christmas very much. New Year's Eve was the best I have ever experienced! After running and waving our flags in the Gator Bowl parade we all went to the Lindell's home and had a great time there. (Thank you so much!) We watched the ball drop in New York on TV and then we all jumped in the pool! :) It was amazing to tell everyone that I had celebrated New Year's in a bikini! :)

Three weeks ago Alex, a very sweet girl and awesome friend, took me to a hockey game in Jacksonville. It was great! :) We even got to take pictures with the mascot of the team! ;) That same weekend I helped out with the outbound interviews. Talking to all the parents and some future exchange students was very interesting. And it makes me even happier to see that one guy is actually going to Switzerland!! how exciting! :)

Last Friday I went to a swing dance night with friends from church. We had a blast! I learned a few new moves and did some amazing stunts! :) I guess when I go back I'll have to teach my friends how to swing dance because it's so much fun! lool

The whole last month I have been trying out for the tennis team and I'm so happy that I made it! Now I'm very excited about playing some matches and probably even some other exchange students from different schools!

As this school year is slowly approaching its end, Graduation and Prom are getting closer and closer. My school signed me up as a senior which means I will actually be wearing cap and gown and have a real American graduation! Just as they show it in movies all the time loool! :) I'm so excited already!

And now I have to go and enjoy my exchange year! ;) Thank you Rotary! Don't forget to look at the pictures! :) See ya!

March 28 Journal and Pictures

Hey everybody! :D It has been a while since my last journal and I'm excited to write about all the new stuff that I did this past month! :D

This past week was Spring Break and my wonderful family took me to Utah! :) It was exciting to get on an airplane again and this time I actually didn't have to fly by myself! We traveled to Salt Lake City and from there took a Shuttle to our hotel in Park City. That same day we rented our ski gear and were ready to enjoy the fresh air in the mountains on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately my host sister Megan broke her thumb right the first time we skied down the slope! She had to go to the doctor but came back with a splint on and we skied all day long! :) I enjoyed it very much. And I felt right at home when it started snowing on Wednesday! Too bad the week went by so fast...

Now we're back in school and the countdown is on. Only 32 more schooldays till Graduation! After that I'm gonna go on a trip to the western part of the United States. We're gonna see the Grand Canyon, different national parks, cities like San Francisco and Las Vegas and lots of other things! I can't wait!! :)

I'm still playing tennis even though our match season is over... But the good thing about that is we don't have to run around in the heat anymore! Because it's really getting hot outside already! Today it got almost 30 degrees celsius! My friends in Switzerland told me that it had snowed again over there this past week! Lol :)

I don't know if I told you this already but I brought my violin from back home and I've been playing in church a few times. There is one band that sometimes sings songs during the service and they had asked me to play with them. We've been performing quite a few times now and actually they asked me to record some of the songs and make a CD! I'm really excited about that, in about 2 weeks we're gonna go to a studio and start recording!

Well, that's about what's going on in my life over here! :) I'm looking forward to all the great things still to come in the last few months of this year and I will of course write some more about the adventures I've been living!! See y'all around! :D

Thanks! Madleina

May 6 Journal and Pictures

05-06-07: (a great date :D)

Today is Sunday and I finally have a chance to write a journal. We've been quite busy lately. I've had something going on every weekend, since my last report. Still in March my whole family and I went to Tallahassee to visit some relatives that I hadn't met yet. It was fun, especially because they live, at least I thought so, in the middle of nowhere and have a barn with goats, horses, chickens, ducks and dogs! :) Then, the week after that was Easter. My mom sent me Swiss chocolate from home that everyone enjoyed. Also the fair came to town and I had a blast riding all the roller coasters with my friend!

I just wanted to mention that my host Rotary club is amazing, and two members especially. Bill and Cathy Nipper. They've taken me not only to a great violin concert, but just a few weeks ago invited me to see the Lion King musical in Jacksonville. It was awesome!!! Thank you soo much Bill and Cathy!

As I wrote before, I'm a senior here, which means I can participate in all the fun stuff. On April 20th the high school seniors from all over the state went to Orlando for grad bash. We arrived at the Universal Studios and immediately felt the great atmosphere in the air. The exciting thing was that the park stayed open until 2AM just for us and we had a blast walking around, going on rides and listening to a concert! :D

Last weekend was our prom. Not-Americans wouldn't believe how big a deal that was! I went to get my nails done and had a hair appointment where the lady used about 30 hair clips and I don't want to know how much hairspray to make my hair look pretty. After posing for some pictures with my friends, we actually took a limo to get to the restaurant and later to the dance. I had never been in a limo! The experience was great and I will never ever forget it!! :) That same weekend was the District Conference where all the exchange students presented their flags. The last time we had seen each other had been in January, so we all had a lot to tell each other and it was awesome to just hang out with everyone!

Yesterday I spent the day with some people from church. We went water-tubing and, for the second time in my life, I tried to wakeboard. I got up, went over the waves and all went awesome, until I thought I could do a little jump now. Well, unfortunately I landed on my face... ;) I still had a blast and hopefully I will be practicing some more before I have to leave!

Slowly I start to realize that my year here is getting closer to end. It was a shock for me to hear that my exchange student friend Roman was the first one to leave in only two weeks! I still have about two months, but I know they will pass by fast. On one hand I'm excited to see everybody at home, but on the other hand, saying goodbye will be very, very hard. It's a not so fun feeling that, I'm sure, every exchange student experiences. But, let's not talk about that yet... ;) I'm excited to see everyone again on our last Rotary weekend. I love you guys!! See ya!

Thank you! Madleina