So, the holidays have almost come to an end :( I've had a lovely week off though, a lot of sitting around and not doing a lot, exactly like holidays should be :)

On Thursday I went skiing again, and it was absolutely brilliant! I loved it, I was no longer terrified and therefore managed to properly enjoy myself. I felt so much more at ease and used to the skis, and I only fell over once :) Still wasn't exactly zooming down the mountain but I was slightly faster than last time so I feel I'm making progress! I've been looking at skis to buy but think maybe it's a little early for that...

So aside from skiing I seem to have spent most of my week in Fribourg with the other assistants there. On Tuesday we celebrated carnaval which was an experience! And a lot of fun. Basically everyone dresses up and there are processions during the day, and huge parties in the evening. We went down to the big square in the old town and it was rammed with people in all kinds of weird and wonderful costumes (my personal favourite was two guys wearing a mattress...) and marching bands playing carnaval music, and confetti absolutely everywhere. It was a great atmosphere.

I am feeling much more Swiss now that I own a ski jacket and have been skiing. So, Saturday was my debut on the pistes and it was so much fun! Absolutely terrifying at the same time but still. It took me so long to get down the first time, I spent a lot of time on my bum and trying to get upright again, but then I changed my tactics and went for slow and steady wins the race. I know that's not exactly what skiing is about but at least I fell less that way! I just loved the whole atmosphere there and it was beautifully sunny day so the scenery was absolutely stunning. My plans for this week include more skiing so hopefully I'll soon be getting the hang of it.

Almost on holiday, woo! I've finally finished Intensive English Week at school, am very relieved and completely exhausted, it's certainly been intensive! Basically the students who didn't go on the school trip to England have to do an English week at school instead, to prepare for their upcoming exams. I've had so much to prepare for each class and the lessons have been pretty tiring as the students mostly really don't want to be there so it's been very hard work trying to motivate them. I had to confiscate things at various points so felt quite authoritative! Although when I wanted to take one boy's iPhone I just had to say 'Can I have that please' cos I didn't actually know what it was! In my defence it was in some sort of case so it could have been something else...maybe... oh dear, I'm clearly getting old.

Time for cake I think...

Okay so it's been waaaaaaaaaaaay too long since I last posted, apologies.

Well Christmas holidays etc seem too far in the past to really mention, so I'll keep it recent... Been extremely busy the last few weeks, not really sure how, but I just seem to attract stuff to do! Not that I'm complaining, cos I'd rather that than be bored.

Lessons have been going well, I've got a new timetable now so some classes I don't see anymore and I have new ones instead. I was quite sad to see some of the old ones go but it's nice to have a change and get the opportunity to work with different groups. Yesterday I had a class that were actually disappointed when the bell rang for the end of the lesson, so that was encouraging! I only have 2 more weeks of school and then it's holidays again, woo!

So as well as teaching I've been doing a bit of sightseeing, travelling etc, although it's so cold that I just wanna stay indoors and sit by the radiator drinking hot chocolate really. And there's no chance of snow days here :( They're far too organised and well equipped. Last weekend I went for a walk around (and on!) a frozen lake, it was so so pretty, lots of snow and fir trees etc. Sadly my camera batteries died though so I don't have any photos :( But I shall return one day and capture the beauty.

Not sure I've got a lot else to write, even though I'm very busy none of it seems to be exciting enough to mention!

They say that as you get older you turn into your parents... it's true. This week I have mostly been making mince pies - to sell! And by making I mean completely making, ie the mincemeat too, it's been fun! Messy, but fun. The oven is finally mincemeat-free, it took a loooooong time and a lot of scrubbing to clean but I got there in the end. So yeah, I'm feeling pretty Christmassy now! Currently listening to Christmas songs and about to head off to finish buying presents.

Had a good morning at school which makes a change for a Friday! The students all worked really well and one of them said 'Thank you very much' at the end and that it had been a really good activity, so that was nice! Looking forward to Christmas lessons next week, trying to work out if it's feasible to make enough Christmas biscuits for all my students...probably a bit ambitious to attempt but I might do it anyway! I have new biscuit cutters that I need to try out anyway.

Last weekend I went to Strasbourg to the Christmas market and it was lovely! It's a very pretty city, lots of old buildings and little streets etc. And the market was very festive as indeed Christmas markets are.

Right, time to make more Christmas cards... it's a creative week this week!

And now the snow is settling, yay!!

It's snowing, woohoo! It's not settling but hey, it's still snow :) and this morning the hills were white over, it was very pretty.
Today has been a good Monday, two of my lessons were cancelled so I finished at 9.25am! Had a lovely weekend too, lots of fun things. On Saturday I played in a squash tournament which was a lot of fun, even though I lost every match!! Oh well, it's the taking part that counts... In the evening we all went to this log cabin in the middle of nowhere for a fondue (naturally) and that was really cool. There was a big open fire and afterwards we had cake and played card games so it was generally a good evening.
Yesterday I went to the Christmas market in Basel so am feeling rather festive now :) I ate lots of yummy food and had some gluhwein and got my souvenir mug so all in all it was a good trip.