Pinia and Curdin are siblings from Ebnat-Kappel, Switzerland. Pinia has been with us for nine weeks, while Curdin joined her a little under a month ago. We will miss them, as this week is their last here at ELC. You can often find Pinia searching for her elusive brother, while Curdin challenges his friends to a game of ping pong or a scrimmage in soccer. You will definitely find both exploring Santa Barbara with friends and relaxing at the beach. The staff here at ELC will miss this dynamic duo! Read on to learn more about the Lieberherrs!
Curdin – Yes, all have my siblings have had the chance to come to the United States, so I finally got a turn.
Pinia- No, I have been to San Francisco. I went 3 years ago to another language school.
C- I did not really have culture shock, but the people are definitely different. The habits here are different, like eating meals together. We have less conversation at dinnertime and it is considered rude to eat before everyone else.
P- I had no culture shock, especially because I have travelled here before. I am open-minded and am never really surprised about new things. Something that did surprise me was that the people were so nice, even if they may only be pretending. I would say that the culture shock came more from the other students rather than the Americans.
C- I miss the drinking water. It felt a lot more refreshing than the water here for some reason. I also miss the weather, which is more predictable than it is in Santa Barbara.
P- Switzerland is actually kind of similar to Santa Barbara which was surprising to me. Although, I like having seasons, which it feels like Santa Barbara does not have because it is always pretty sunny. I do not miss too much outside of that.
C- I like meeting new friends, going to the cinemas, trying out surfing here in Santa Barbara, and playing sports like baseball and soccer. I have had some of the most fun playing against my friends at ping pong here at ELC.
P- I enjoy hanging out with people, playing softball, surfing and going to the beach with friends, and going to the cinemas!
C- I enjoy playing soccer, and joining in on the practices for our ELC soccer team! I also enjoy playing other sports, watching movies, and meeting friends.
P- I love learning new instruments! Right now I am learning how to play ukulele. I know others as well, like violin. I have enjoyed riding my bike around Santa Barbara and going to the beach. I also really like cooking (except for meat) and raising our chickens that we have back home in Switzerland. Right now we have about 6, but the number is always changing.
C- It is so helpful to lose your fear. Don’t be afraid to practice and use English.
P- Try not to talk too much with people who speak the same language as you! Challenge yourself to speak in English rather than Swiss-German with the other Swiss students. Explore outside of your comfort zone. The most helpful tip I have for learning English is to live with a host family!
C- My favorite place in Santa Barbara is the Bavarian’s pizza place where we would watch baseball. We were watching the playoffs with Michael Steady, which was a lot of fun! It was fun to hang out with my friends, Adrian and Alain, and to learn more about baseball.
P- My absolute favorite place in Santa Barbara is the courthouse tower. I was there my first day, and it was so nice to see my new hometown from above. Every time we didn’t know what to do, we would go up there and look out at the city. I also really like Sandbar because it was a fun place to go with friends!
C- My favorite moment was the soccer activity because it was different way to meet people. I’m not competitive, I just want to have fun, but it was very fun to see that other side of my classmates. It was so fun to play together!
P- My favorite moment in class was the courthouse field trip with Michael. I also enjoyed when we had game days on Thursdays. Outside of class, I loved going surfing. We had a large group go, and it was so fun to be out in the water with everyone! It was a beautiful day, even if the waves were small.
C- I go back to school and will finish high school this year. My long term plan is to go to the army. Then I want to study economics because I am interested in it and would like to work in management at a company eventually!
P- I have to go back to Switzerland and intern at a boarding school for kids, ages 9-15. I will be living with them as a nanny/caretaker for 6 months. Then I will attend university to become a middle school teacher!
