Heiweh!!! (Jawohl, uf schwyzerduetsch ohne uepuenktli)

Firstly let me appologize to all the anglophoners, but this is for Switzerland....

Jupie, scho glii isch wienachte u hie louft natuerlech gad chli viu wie aua bi euch o... U obwohl aui hennae beschaeftigt sy hani gliich 2 mega liebi E-mails becho, eis vom Stridli mitmene gritibaenz woni zersch no sauber ha muesse mache :-D U eis vom David mitmene Samichlous wo yodlet...u ebae dr David het gfunge er het mi Blog uf Schwiizerduetsch lieber, auso hani daenkt i mache mau ae uusnahm :-D

Zersch afe mau di wichtige news...Dr Luki het ned so uevberzuegt toent, aber ehrlech, i ha 15 kg abgno u bi vore groessi 18/20 ufene groesse 12/14...ned schlaecht fuere afang, aber iz hani afe mau wienachte u drum dafi aus aesse wiu a wienachte hets nume haub sovil kalorie und usserdem isches chaut, da verbroennt mes ja schnau wieder...( hihi, das si so entschuldigunge wo d Stacey (ufem naegschte Foto, si geit zu weight watchers) u ig hei)

I bi are London Night bi ues im Kor xi...
Me het sech muesse verchleide u ig ha mega froid gha am plane aber dr abe sauber isch chli id Hose...das isch sochli dr afang xi vo mmire sozialisierig hie in aengland....

Naer bini ar wienachtsfiir vor Bude xi...ufem Foto mit mire Chefin...Mir gfaut buetz eigentlech no guet u i chume bis uf 1 person mit aune hennae guet z schlag...I schaffe ned fuerd Heilsarmee, wie anschiinend es paar verstande hei, I schaffe fuerd British Heart Foundation...I schaffe imne Lade wo 90% Secondhand gueter u 10% Ikoufti Gueter verchouft... I mache sochli aues, vom Stoubsuge ueberds ussortiere vo de Sache wod Luet inebringe, chiste schleppe, prise feschtlege, telefon, kasse, Chundedienst (Meistens muesme oeppis neume ga abhole oder oepper het ae bsunderige wunsch oder so), freiwilligi mitarbeiter alere, buroarbeite etc...leider isch mis ghaut chli megamies u drum suechi ae noie job....I chamer im momaent ke mieti hie leischte (wobi das ned viu heisst, hie choi sech di meiste d mieti ned wuekech leiste, isch chli gstoert wasi hie fuer priise hei)...aber das het o sis guete wiu....

...ig jz ebae no bir Nina wohne. Die womi mau si cho

bsueche heise kenneglert, si isch mega lieb u lat mi hie la wone (D bilder vom pinkige Zimmer si igendwo imne fruechere Iitrag)

Am letschtae Friti bini amne wienachtsball xi mit dr Stacey (blond) u 2 Modis vo Hadleigh (aes Corps hie ir nechi), dr Katie (Schwarzes Chleid) u dr Heather (bruun-wisses chleid). I bi die im schwarze jaegli :-D. Dr Ball isch vomne Jugendchor us xi, woni 1mau im Monet gange....es isch reacht sehr ned aehnlech wie Shelomith, eigentlech so ds genaue gaegeteil, aber glich o interessant. Me geit eifach weme luscht het u d leiterin kennt nedmau d leut bi name aber es si geng soviu da machts ke unterschied...mir si meh lut aus guet aber drfuer mit viu froid am singe :-D

Ja, das si hie gad mau di noischte news uf schwizerduetsch, merci a aui wo a mi daenke, i plane fescht im maerz mau z cho...Hanech lieb u es taet mi froie mau chli oepis vo euch z ghoere...aus liebe, anne pfanne

just to empty my brain...

Over the last few weeks there was loads going on for everybody..still I feel as if nothing exciting happened...thats why I didnt blog and I do feel bad about it...so I decided to write all the small and unimportant things down, just to get them off my chest.

1. We had our "why Christmas"dinner, which should be a kind of starting point for the Alpha Course in our Corps. Stacey and me were talking about all the important things like Nicky Gumbels smile and fashion and weightloss (More Stacey, as I cant say much to that topic).

2. I tried to follow some of Staceys fashion tips (The ones she gave me during the alpha dinner). Unfortunately I dont look like Stacey and me in leggins, even with skirt, is not something that should be let loose on humanity.

3. Today I got on the bus home and this guy started yelling: And what if I dont wanna be a f-ing christian...I thought: Oh no, do I look so out of date that people can see on my clothes that im a christian? But apparently it was the woman next to him who tried to convince him that he wont have a happy Christmas unless he has Christ in his heart...I found his reaction quite sad (This guy has never done anything for me, why should I believe in him???) and tried to pray (silently) for him and felt very looser-ish for not supporting the woman.

4. Today it was so cold that I put on a hat and i must have looked very very bad because Paul got on the same bus and he acted as if he didnt know me (or maybe he was just being paul who doesnt care about anything that early in the morning)

5. How on earth do they expect me to play carols on saturday im gonna be frozen!!!

6. a week now till Christmas

7. I went to a Birthday party and they had a real stripper... I still cant understant why someone would pay 80 Pound to have a tiny little man shoving his bare backside in theyr face...Im trying to come to terms with living in a lost world.

8. End of my brain :-D

100% Swiss

I found this on facebook

You know you're Swiss IF...

1. you complain if your bus/train/tram is more than 5 minutes late. Make that 1 minute

2. you've ever been confused with a Swede

3. you laugh when Americans believe that Swiss Miss is a Swiss product, but then have no clue that Nestlé and Rolex ARE

4. you get frustrated if you go grocery shopping abroad and there aren't at least 10 different kinds of chocolate and 15 kinds of cheese available

5. you have learned three to four languages and think this is completely normal

6. you have ever been asked - upon stating your nationality - whether you live in the mountains and whether you can yodel (mhm...I think I can answer that one with YES)

7. you can pronounce "Chuchichäschtli" and you know what it means

8. you have ever been asked who the president of Switzerland is and then failed miserably trying to explain why you've lost track (Aha..here we go, im am completely NOT a stupid swiss person, you lots juat didnt believe my explanation)

9. you know what "Röschti" are and you have crossed the "Röschtigrabe" at some point

10. you went to a state-funded ski camp every year with your classmates in high school (The coolest ever, english kids are soooo deprived)

11. to you, skis are like the extensions of your feet, because you've skied since you could walk

12. you are amused when people ask you what language is spoken in your home country and/or you have to explain that "Swiss" is not a language, that there are four national languages and none of them is called "Swiss"!

13. you owned a Swatch growing up... or still do

14. you've ever seen "Sandmännchen" dubbed into Romansch (Romansch is a language that doesnt really exist anymore...how cool is it to have a language that doesnt exist anymore???)

15. as a female, you give all your friends three kisses on the cheeks as a greeting (yes, we are a kiss loving nation...and we give real hugs, not polite ones)

16. you love Migros and you swear that some of their products are better than anything you've ever seen elsewhere

17. you've ever been asked by your non-Swiss friends to intervene in a fight and used "hey, I'm Swiss" as an excuse not to

18. your country has six different public television channels in three different languages - and you don't think this is unusual

19. you get amused when you see Swiss German people being subtitled on German television

20. you firmly believe it is more important to do things accurately than to do them quickly

21. you were legally allowed to drink beer and wine at the age of sixteen

22. you walked to kindergarten without supervision, wearing a large orange triangle around your neck

23. you think it's normal that everyone has a bunker underneath their house, or is registered for one of the public bunkers under the school building, for emergency situations... by the way, here's a fun thing to do: invite over some of your foreign friends (Americans make very good candidates) and take a picture of the look on their face when they SEE the bunker. Priceless!

24. when being asked to explain how certain things work in your country, you have to use the phrase "it differs for each canton, so..."

25. you are asked to vote on a "Referendum" or "Initiative" at least 3 or 4 times a year

26. you are used to drinking from any public fountain in the street unless there is a warning sign that says "no drinking water" (I tried that once in Brazil...urg!)

27. you grew up believing all cows must wear bells

28. you think that driving somewhere for four hours is a hell of a long time

29. you get slightly irritated or at least confused if your foreign visitors ask to see a chocolate factory

30. you know what Betty Bossi books and products are and have bought one

31. you know someone that collects the tin foil lids from coffee cream tubs

32. you don't see where the problem is when every male citizen who has been to the army has an assault rifle under his bed

33. you have to pay twice the price for museum entries because you're not a citizen of the EU, although you live in Europe!

34. you are in a non-European country and can hear people talking Swiss German and just go up and strike up a conversation with a complete stranger

35. no matter how much of a "bad-ass" you think you are, you will still pick up your candy wrapper off the floor if an old lady asks you too

36. you think everything is cheap abroad compared to Swiss prices!

Christmas Craze

Just like Stacey, i love Christmas, mainly the gift buying part ( Im still not sure about how to write verbs that end on y if i put them into -ing form... any english teachers or students or similar to help me out?). Because 1) im alowed to shop without anyone telling me I cant afford it because its Christmas and 2) I can go in all the shops and take ages staring at everything and then leave without buying (buyng, buing) anything. GOOD, INNIT!

Usually I have everything ready by the end of november the latest. But as it happens there was so much going on this year that I had to go back to the shops today. I was honestly looking foreward to it and now I honestly regret it! There were just sooooooooo many people! Way to many! No wonder all you english guys have this endless discussions about all the immigrants (mainly those from Switzerland)..there just isnt enough Highstreet to satisfy all the Christmas-shoppers. And its not only the fact that the shoppers are shopping mad that makes them look slightly crazy, its the fact that, knowing Highstreets is going to be packed, they still drag everyone along...dogs, kids and grandparents. Now the dragged-alongs you can usualy identify by theyr faces (grandparents) or by the cryng (cring? crying????) (kids). For exaple: If you are in the underwear department in M+S and you see a very very annoyed old man standing next to the red lace bras, then you may safely conclue that he is a dragged-along. If you see to little girls in B+Q holding hands while obviously standing in everybodys way in front of a shelve with candles you may be assured that they are dragged-alongs as well. Now this kind of dragged alongs arent too bad, the real bad ones are the ones that stand a) on top of the stairs or b) halfway in (or out) the shop, exactly in the doorway. And trust me, there were many bad dragg-alongs in town today.

After I found everyones presents except one, I came to the conclusion that I was real well stupid! Now there was this person whom I didnt know what to give to and i spend ages thinking about it. I knew there was somebody else not knowing what to give to this person. When I finally had an idea for a perfect present, what was the first thing I did? Run to the shop and get it as quick as I could, so noone could be getting it before me? No! Me idiot called this other idea-less person and told her: I know you dont have time, why dont you get this as a present. Now we all know that, considering its Christmas shopping time, this is just a stupid thing to do! Never consider your friends around christmas...it took me ages and ages (2 hours! for 1 little gift!) just to find something else for this person...BAD, INNIT! ( This is obviously to be read as a joke, i was glad i could help, anytime)

Now the serious part. When I finaly completely exhausted and overloaded reached the bus stop, this old grumpy asian lady came up to me (not just me, all the people at the bus stop) and started handing out little booklets about "Find your real happyness". She would ask everyone (with a very grave voice and quite a grumpy face considering she found real happyness): 'ave u find 'appinessssss? Is Giiisuus gives u 'appiness!! Real 'appiness...not just shoping 'appiness! Obviously she wasnt too convincing and noone took her booklets...it just made me think about what people might think when we as salvation army go caroling and how careful we have to be with how we act and what we say (and mainly our facial expressions).

me boss?

Today I had my worst workinglife experience ever. I had to give someone tha sack. That was scary. Thats basically it - except that I did quite well, I let her scream and swear at me and was still very polite and understanding and supportive (supporting her out of the shopdoors that is). The good thing was that my John (one of the volunteers who for a reason or other loves me dearly) said: if she touches you I shall beat her up, nobody touches my boss. That was cute. But i remained in my state of cool professionalism and said that no-one should beat anyone up in my shop, that wouldnt be in the interest of the charity (it doesnt say that in my assistants guidelines, but I made it sound as if, kind of: we as a registered charity do not agree with any kind of violence, not even in defence of an assistant manager in training.) All in all Ive decided that being boss is not my forte. Maybe I should become a famous painter. Do famous painters have a book thats called: famouse painters guidelines?

Happy 1 year in england

Its after midnight and therefore I've been in this country for exactly a year today. If everything had gone according to my plans I would now probably be saying goodbye to the lovely kids I used to look after (well, probably not exactly right in this moment because its 1 am, not the best time to say goodbye) (the word lovely is to be taken according to the situation, a wishful, emotionloaded looking back kind of thing)

But, heyho, it didnt go according to my plans.

In this last year I've learned loads and loads (and I came here thinking I knew it all!). Somethings I'd rather not have experienced, like the out of sight, out of mind behaviour certain "very close friends" have been showing...or knowing how it feels when you wanna say something and just nobody understands it and it comes out all wrong...and so on.

There were other quite practical things Ive learned, like playing the cornet or the tiny bit of basic drums Wayne was kind enough to teach me or how to tag clothes or what to look for in food if you dont wanna get any heavier and how to blog and download music and how to phone home without spending all my money and which english shampoo is the best for my hair and how to use the tube and how to order at subways and how to pronounce ironing (and how to iron schooluniforms). And all the bad words including instructions which ones are OK to use always, sometimes and never...still some learning to do there!

Troughout all this id say ive changed quite a lot. Ive become a soldier, joined the songsters and the yp band, lost 2.5 st, changed my haircolour from boringbrown to purple-ish to red-ish to darkbrown, changed job and home...quite a lot for one little Anna in one little year :-)

Anyway, the "essence" of this whole post was to say "Thank you" to some great people who didnt drop me in this year. Some people from Switzerland who kept praying and writing and texting from "europe", and mainly those who even came here to see me. You mean quite a lot to me and, although I do miss the mountains and lakes and the cheese and chocolate and being understood by everybody, what i really miss is you guys.

And thank you to some great english people who I would really love if it wasnt for the fact that they drive one the wrong side of the street (as opposed to the RIGHT side). Thank you for supporting me and having me here and trying to include me and driving me around (still, its the wrong side) and explaining, translating and listening.


This was the first picture taken of me in england...

So here we go, starting a second year in southend....

Nightlife in England

Katies telling off has been quite intimidating, thats why Im writing twice in one day! (Or maybe its just that I had too many pictures for 1 single blog???)

Now when my brother was here, I wanted to give him a really great time and I wanted to show him the famous english nightlife...thats how it turned out:

To this last picture I have to say, I didnt actually win, but I wasnt as bad as you would probably believe...OK, I did loose all the games we played...but...I did manage to throw some pins over. Ha, bet you looke quite surprised!

After all that fun we had in the Kursaal we did something even more fun the next day: we went to Tescos after 10 pm...what a feeling! We lived so on the edge that night...because before Tescos we went to the Halfwayhouse for a dietcoke (after finding out they didnt have hot chocolate).

Just in case you didnt know, the Halfwayhouse is pretty much our main Nightlife place in town...heres the proove:

Thats 2 weeks ago, in the Halfwayhouse, after deciding that we were going to give Jazzy an exciting evening out...

Well, thats enough hard blogging work for one day...I shall go to bed now! Sleep thight!