1st April - My Birthday

1st April. Meine Gerburstag--which means my birthday in Deustch. As usual, I had to wake up early at 7am to catch the train at 8.16am. This time, I was carrying more stuff than usual. Mami baked me a chocolate cake,with real chocolate inside the cake, for me to bring it to Deustchkurs to share with my friends.

I got to the language house & I was greeted with hugs & birthday wishes from my friends. Nothing beats a good birthday than being remembered by them. Cat, gave me a pair of earrings, which I loved & Courtney too bought me a big pastry dessert. It was the thought that counts, right? I was really glad . =)

As yesterday was the last day of Deutschkurs ( for most of us), everyone was like really relaxed & got to class later than usual. In class, all of my classmates sang 'Happy Birthday' to me in both English & Deustch! It was a good change from the usual !Hehe... Not to say that English is boring lah, but it was funny! =P This time, we didn't do any grammar work (which is really hard) & insteadwe learnt how to play 'Jessen', a Swiss card game which is almost the same as UNO.

At 12, we had a pause & we had cake,the one I brought along to share with my friends in class. Everyone said it was really tasty & I of course agreed. The chocolate cake Mami baked WAS indeed 'sehr gut' --really good. Hmm. After enjoying the cake, all 3 classes went to the Swiss National Museum nearby our language school.

It's called Landesmuseum, Zurich. It looks as if it used to be a fortress/castle, but in truth, it was meant to be built like that to preserve the European/Swiss achitecture. The museum was 100 years old & it looked grand. Before entering it, we had a photo session & then sat in the sun eating our home-brought lunch. Finishing our lunch, we entered the huge museum.

The topic of this time's exhibition was about European history & culture. Mostly about Christianity & the Catholic religion. There were tons of really, really old stuff like wooden chests which were like few centuries old! There were also tons of statues of Jesus, Mary, & other Saints too. It was really interesting to read stuff about European culture. There were also stuff like old time guns, costumes, hand-painted stoves, steet armours, etc.

The whole musuem was SO HUGE! We can literally get lost in it. One of my friends even joked that what if we were to get locked up in the museum in a terrrible, stormy night with no one around, it would be like being in a haunted castle coz there were lots of statues & paintings, some really haunting paintings, if you know what I mean. The only letdown of this trip to the museum was that we had to rush through everything. We didn't have sufficient time to read & see all the other stuff in the other building! There simply wasn't enough time. To finish seeing & reading all the stuff in there, I think that we really need the whole day to finish them all.

At 2.30pm, we walked back to the language school & then packed up to prepare to leave. Soon, everyone was hugging each other & saying our 'last goodbyes'. Yeah, as if Switzerland is SOOO big. Our teacher,Karin gave us chocolates& gave me extra as I was the 'sao sing lui'. I felt kinda 'pai seh' coz I didn't give here anything. Ooppss.

Usually, our class ends at 3.40pm, but today, it ended at 2.50pm. As it was the last day, a couple of us went to have a drink in the train station. I had green tea which cost me more than RM12! Just for that ONE stupid satchet from I think Sri Lanka or some other place! Actually stuff here isn't that expensive, if it's dollar to dollar. But it's not if we convert it to Malaysian Ringgit.

We hung around the cafe till about 4.30 & then it was really time to say our goodbyes. Again, we hugged each other & then it was officially 'san band'. As I had to meet Mami at 5.30, I walked around the shopping streets of Zurich--again. As it was my birthday, I do deserve some presents afterall, don't I ? =P I went shopping for clothes (duh,what else?) at the clothing shops.For me,I would rather spend my $$ on clothes, accessories, shoes instead of food coz sometimes, these shops really do have really,really cool bargains. Woohoo. Shopping time is GREAT! Hahahaha=)

At 5.30, I met Mami at the meeting point in the train station. The first stop was Swisscom coz my friend in class told me that as it was my 18th birthday, I would have extra 18 francs call value as a bonus! How cool is that?! Unfortunately however, my Swiss number was registered under Mami's name, so, I didn't have that extra 18 francs bonus, & this kind of special bonus are only for people under age of 25.

Mami & I walked around the old part of Zurich & it was a good walk as the weather was wonderful. Not too hot & not too cold. We walked till about 7pm & then we took the tram to Engimatt Hotel, where it belongs to Papi's brother.

Papi, Anja, Laura, Benny, Nadya( Benny's gf) soon reached here in Zurich. Papi's brother also came too. It was a scrumptious dinner & I was really full. All of us were. Soon it was present time! My favourite part of the day too! =P

I got a picture book & map of Switzerland from both my sisters. Papi & Mami gave me a bagpack & diary, 2 things which are important for me to start school with. As for Benny, he told me that he & Nadja would give me my present the next day. Well, it's the thought that counts, right? As I always say, nothing beats a great birthday celebration than being remembered by family & friends, isn't?

I love all the presents that I received for my birthday & I just love my birthday! It was really an unforgetable & memorable day. My 18th birthday in Switzerland. Unforgetable. =) Oopss, gotta go now coz I gotta meet my friends in Zurich soon. It's our night's out before we start getting buzy with school & stuff. Till then, tschuss! =)