Yesterday was the perfect day for a wedding, the sky was blue, sunshine, and the most perfect water on Lake Urnesee possible. Elizabeth, my oldest host sister- who I met Friday for the first time- married Thomas, her boyfriend of 8 years.
The past week has been absolutely crazy, my two other host sisters; Manuela and Marion and their father have practiced their piece for the wedding, the music to be played in church, they were constantly arguing in dialect Swiss German, which unfortunately is still a complete mystery to me ( the only Swiss German word I know is 'choki' meaning chocolate, but it is the only important word) the only parts of the arguing I understood were the tone and expressions, and even that was hilarious. On Friday, the day before the wedding, the three of them (Manuela, Marion, and Martha- their mother) were up until 3 am finishing a power point of photo and a photo album for the couple. I decided at around midnight it would be a very good decision for me to go to bed, and leave all the wedding drama.
Thankfully, we were able to sleep in, or at least I was because the wedding was not until 2 oclock in the afternoon, but we left the house at 12:30 first to pick up Marion and her boyfriend and drive to Brunnen, about 20 minutes away. Once there, I met almost everyone who was a guest at the wedding. It was the same introduction over and over again, 'Hi, Kelsey, exchange student living with Martha' of course I introduced my self in German (whoop whoop!). We waited outside a hotel along the water for a few minutes before boarding a boat that would take us to Bauen, and to the church. On the boat, you had some absolutely beautiful views of the lake, clear and green it was absolutely perfect. Orange Juice, Sparkling water, and White Wine were served on the boat as it took us to the church.
The temperature was perfect for a wedding, warm but not humid and hot. Once we arrived in Bauen, we walked a little to the church, a small almost chapel, old beautiful church. Inside were massive old paintings and marble decorations. I sat with Thomas, Marion's boyfriend, he doesn't speak any English, but we were both in a similar situation, hardly anyone knew who we were. Because it was a church wedding, it was quite long, and of course being in Switzerland all in German, but not the German I have learned-Swiss German, and a different dialect than I have heard. Of course I was absolutely lost, and completely exhausted after listening to the priest. I attempted to follow the ceremony, but I had no idea what was happening. When they recite-ted vows, I didn't have any clue how they got to that section so fast. Even though I didn't understand a word, it was a beautiful wedding. I really enjoyed the fact we had real bread, not the wafers I am used to at church, but real bread. It was absolutely delicious.
After the ceremony we headed back outside to the boat dock to await the boat which would take us on a hour long trip back to Brunnen, for the reception. There were lots of appetizers and of course more drinks. After congratulating the couple, its three kisses on the cheek in Switzerland to greet someone, we ate a little food and moved out of the sun to the back of the boat to enjoy the shade and beauty of the mountains and water. I really enjoyed the appetizer hour on the boat, it was very relaxing and extremely beautiful. After the wonderful boat ride around the lake, we had more drinks on the patio while the reception room was being prepared. My feet were killing me, and because Manuela and I have the same size shoes she let me wear her brown heels, which were way more comfortable than my flats, for the rest of the night.
We then headed into dinner, I was seated with people who spoke English - finally!!- we had a first course of salad, which was really strange and served with smoked Salmon. I spent a lot of the night talking to Markus, who speaks perfect English and was telling me of his world travels, he has been to 54 countries! In between all the courses, were presentations from a variety of people, school friends of Thomas who wore these really strange Orange hats and got really drunk, parents etc. After salad, was a Lemon Soup, which was absolutely delicious. Then beef, with potatoes, and veggies. For dessert, we had a huge buffet, with every thing you could imagine; fruit, cake, tarts, tiramisu, chocolate mousse, creme brulee, panna cotta, the list goes on. The dinner was extremely long, we didn't have dessert until half past 11!
There was dancing, bride and groom shared a lovely first dance, and then more people joined in. It was a really beautiful wedding, and compared to weddings I have attended at home, it was very similar. The only difference was that everything was in German. People were very nice to me, and for the basic questions I was able to answer in German, but once you get to 'Why are you in Switzerland' I cannot explain it well German.
The wedding began to die down around 1 am, but it was 'too loud' in the reception room, so everyone that was left went to the bar for more drinks. I left with Marion and Thomas- her boyfriend- at 3:30 am, and was completely exhausted when I was finally able to sleep. I slept in today, and later we are going to bike ride to school so that I can find my way tomorrow, for my first day of school!!
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