It's All About the Company

“Keep away from small people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

—	Mark Twain

I think this quote accurately sums up the people I've met on this trip. Switzerland was wonderful, but it was truly the people that made it such an incredible experience. I am so lucky to have had such wonderful, talented, and driven colleagues (haha). The best of luck to you (not that you need it) and I hope our paths cross again very soon.

Ah blah blah Leaving Sucks

Have some pretty pictures instead.

Yvoir, France

Gruyere, Swizerland

 Gruyere, Switzerland

Gruyere, Switzerland

Gruyere, Switzerland

More of the same

Spark Notes is your Friend

The Nyon Chateau, aka what I see everyday walking home from the train station.

I'm sitting here in my room realizing it's my last night in Mme's house. Dislike. My bags are packed to the brim at EXACTLY 23 kgs, and I have a small pile of things I'll be leaving behind in order to keep it that way. I realized that I didn't write about every single place I visited, because, well I'm lazy and you don't want to read that much. So in lieu of individual posts, here's a comprehensive list of places I've been with a brief description in no particular order. Organized, condensed, and a complete bastardization of all the amazing times.

1. Geneva, Switzerland - no duh. Stick to the old city and avoid the red light district near the train station (aka where we went to class).
2. Nyon, Switzerland - no duh part II. The beach is the best part. Beautiful in warmer weather or encased in ice. The chateau is also a perfect place to hang out. 
3. St. Cergue/La Dôle, Switzerland - a perfect place for a day of skiing. A scenic train ride up and fun, easy slopes. 
4. Zurich, Switzerland - beautiful old city of the Swiss German part of Switzerland and FIFA headquarters, so perfect for everyone. Go when it's warm.
5. Brussels, Belgium - underrated, perfect for the weekend, lovely old town and Belgium is really an interesting place.
6. Paris, France - who doesn't love Paris? Or at least the idea of Paris. One of my favorite places in the world. 
7. Bern, Switzerland - more of the Swiss German, but they have bears (thus the name Bern) as their mascot so that's pretty cool. 
8. Mt Blanc/Chamonix, France - good lord. The best skiing you will ever find, but be ready for it. Cute downtown with a thing for hockey. If you're used to hockey in the states, it's mediocre, but still a good show.
9. London, UK - HUGE city. Or at least it seemed like it was. Spend time in the parks during the spring. 
10. Nice, France - so incredibly wonderful. Beautiful city, delicious food, water of the brightest blue, and perfect for exploring.
11. Monte Carlo/Monaco - you will see the most ridiculous cars. If I ever, somehow, make even a little bit of money I want to live there. Even if it's a small, run down shack on the side of the mountain.
12. Yvoire, France - cute little medieval town. Easy and scenic boat ride from Nyon.
13. Annecy, France -perfect medieval town (see the theme?) cute shopping, beautiful waterfront.
14. Gruyere, Switzerland - as in the cheese. Swiss countryside at its finest. Castles, cows, and breathtaking mountain views galore.
15. Lausanne, Switzerland - great night life. 

Not a lot of big trips, but that adds up to about one each weekend. Not bad for a semester's work.

Bad Sarah.

UGH. I actually forgot about this blog. As in completely forgot that it existed. And there's been so much going on! So now I have to do all sorts of updating. I have no one to blame but myself. Do you guys forgive me?

You can't resist the eyes.

Awww, thanks! You guys are the best, I knew you'd understand. 

We'll start where we left off. After Brussels our group trip continued on to Paris, France which is probably one of my favorite cities ever. I went to the Musée d'Orsay, which was amazing. It's one of my favorite art museums. It's right on the Seine River in the old train station so it has beautiful, wide open spaces inside and two big clocks and wonderful architecture. 

Art is everywhere, man.

The sculptures were incredible. The details were impeccable and the marble looked like it was soft as butter. As for the huge impressionist/post-impressionist collection, I can't even begin to describe how extensive and beautiful the paintings were. I feel uncultured when I say this, but normally paintings don't impress me nearly as much as more tangible forms or art like sculptures, carvings, jewelry, ext. But these paintings were wonderful. There were a few times where I caught myself with my mouth open, head cocked, leaning in toward the painting (suuuuper cute, Sarah).

We went to the Louvre as well, because on Fridays it's free for students after 8 PM, so that was a nice break on the wallet. I wish I could give you a better description of what we saw, but mostly we just wandered around trying to soak in the thousands of years of genius. And we had to sit down a few times in various exhibits because we were just that tired from walking around Paris all day.

As for the academic portion of our trip (Oh yeah, we're supposed to be studying while abroad) we went to the OECD and UNESCO. The OECD was surprisingly interesting considering it's less than perfect global reputation. "Rich man's club" or not, it's still an organization with some of the world's leading economists. At UNESCO we had a presentation on how the education portion of the Millennium Goals, and based on how lofty those goals were they're actually doing pretty well.

After these visits on Friday, our group trip was technically over. However most of us stayed in Paris for the weekend because hey, we were already there. Now of course the hotel where we were staying with the group was a liiiittle bit too expensive for your average student so a group of us packed up our things and trekked north to a little hostel in the Montmatre district near the Sacre Coeur. It's also near the Moulin Rouge, which was disappointingly anticlimactic.

I guess you have to go at night or something.

Two of my all time favorite parts of the trip was 1) the amount of time we spent at Shakespeare and Company. It's an old English book store near Notre Dame famous for the library of old books on top and the famous writers it attracted in the 1920s bohemian Paris (think Woody Allen's recent film, Midnight in Paris). 

 It had a little nook with a type writer for aspiring writers to use. A moot point thanks to computers, but a poetic thought none the less.

2) The organ and Gregorian chant concert that was held in Notre Dame one night. That organ is incredible and the way sounds reverberated off the walls and ceilings... goodness.

And just think how old this incredible architecture is.

Gah, I feel like I'm leaving so much out but this post is already ridiculously long and scattered. Cliff notes version: we also went to Versailles, ate more crêpes than any human being should, had a lunch of a baguette and strawberries in the park, visited Champs Elysee and the Arc de Triomphe at night, visited the lock bridge, and realized how awesome the Paris metro was for getting you to all of these places. All in all, Paris was fantastic and I'm pretty sure I want to live there someday. How I'm going to make that happen, I have no idea. But it's on the bucket list.

Flaming Fondue

WARNING: This post contains a lot of French. So get Google Translate ready if you need it.

If there is one thing I have learned from this trip, it is to explain yourself CLEARLY when speaking in another language. Don't just assume they can fill in the blanks. Even if you have to say something like, "the liquid that is burning" because you don't know the word for "lighter fuel", spell it out. "Mais, pourquoi?" you ask. Because otherwise, you end up with flaming fondue.

Tonight was my first experience with fondue. I swear, the Swiss have the best ideas. I don't know who came up with the idea to put melted cheese in a pot and dip bread in it, but the Swiss perfected it. Delicious. Very filling though. And it is essential to drink a warm beverage after eating it, or so I am told. Otherwise you'll end up with a block of cheese in your stomach. Healthy.

But tonight's fondue experience was a bit more exciting than normal, as far as I can tell. Mme has her own little fondue pot, which is as adorable as it is stereotypical. And delicious. It's like a small lantern from the olden days with a place for the fuel on the bottom, a wick in the center, and a wire rack for the pot of melted cheese to sit above it all.

C'est comme ça.

Unfortunately, she was having trouble getting the flame to light because she had put in the wrong fuel previously. So, we spent a good while messing around with the matches to see if we could get the thing to work with the new fuel in it. Mme said the wick was too dry, as she had put in a gel when she needed a liquid. The wick would hold a small flame, but much too small too keep a pot of cheese in liquid form.

"Ugh! C'est pas possible!" Mme mutters as we stare at the tiny contraption now surrounded with used matches.
"Peut-être vous pouvez mettre un peu sur... uh, sur ...," I stutter and point to the top of the wick.
"Ah, une bonne idée!" Mme generously replies.
I smile at the thought of my genius saving our fondue dinner and then watch in horror as Mme pours some of the fuel directly onto the already lit wick.

It's amazing. Those little words, "Mais, arrêtez la flamme premier." I assumed they were unnecessary.

Never assume, kids. You know what they say.

So, long story short, the fondue pot and the table around it shot up in flames and Mme and I were running around trying to beat it down with towels. Finally, we opened the door and Mme chucked the flaming pot out into the garden. Woman's got an arm on her. It looked a bit like some beautiful shooting star, arcing gracefully across the night sky... until you remembered it was our dinner soaked in lighter fluid. 

Moral of the story, explain yourself clearly. In all aspects of life. Otherwise, you'll be stuck listening to jokes about how you give terrible advice for an entire dinner.

Brussels is a lot better than the vegetable.

I need to travel more. I swear.

Brussels was fantastic. We did all the stereotypical things: eating muscles, eating waffles the size of your face covered in chocolate and whipped cream, eating some of the richest chocolate I've ever encountered, and shopping for larger clothes to accommodate my growing waist size. (Mk, I miiiight have made that last part up.)

Noms.

One thing we did was visit the Atomium structure. Three guesses what it looks like. It was built for the 1958 Universal Exposition that was held in Brussels.

Science!

It had different expositions in the little balls about the Universal Exposition and the construction of the Atomium structure. I mean, it's no Eiffel Tower, but it was still pretty neat. And it gave a great view of the city.

We also went to the European Economic and Social Committee where we watched a less than stimulating propaganda movie about the unity and strength of the EU. (They should have a message before the movie that says, "Please keep all of your smartass comments about the current crises until the end of the movie.) The talks given by some people who work in the different offices were very good, however. They covered a lot of topics, from the energy usage in the EU to the Neighborhood Policy. Considering the EU is something that none of my classes have addressed, I was glad to hear first hand about some of the more specific aspects of the EU.

Another part of Brussels that was absolutely beautiful was the central square area place. I'm sure there's a proper name for it, but to be honest I don't remember it and I'm a bit too lazy to look it up. But it was surrounded by beautiful old buildings. Within these old buildings were beer museums, chocolate museums, chocolate shops, and bars. Brussels clearly has it's priorities straight.

There's also a three story palace of nightlife called Délirium Café. Don't be fooled by the "café" portion of the name. I've, um... heard it's super cool. And if I had participated in such shenanigans instead of going to bed early so I could be well rested (Hi, Mom) then I would probably tell you that it's a lot of fun, even on weeknights, and super packed. People speak English well and they have over 2,000 different kinds of beers. Highly recommended.

Things I don't want to forget

Sitting on the roof of a Swiss house watching the sun set with four fantastic people.

#thisiswhatdreeeeeeeeamsaremadeof

I have to take a minute and think about where in the world I am currently located.

I'm back from my week in Brussels and Paris and it was FANTASTIC. Which means I have a lot to tell you. Which means I'm going to do this in multiple posts throughout the next week or so because there's no way to fit everything in one post and still have it be entertaining. Maybe I'll get fancy and make it like a 4 part series, haha. Anyway, I need to unpack and read some very dry, I mean INTRIGUING articles on the European Union. Stay tuned for future updates. Peace out cub scouts.

I’m in Brussels. You’ve probably never heard of it.

Ok, that’s a lie. I feel like most people have heard of Brussels, Belgium. It just fit so perfectly based on the conversation our group had earlier. First thing you need to know is that Brussels is a beautiful city. The architecture is magnificent and I wish I knew more about it so that I could fully appreciate it. The old buildings line cobblestone streets that are full of people and cars. Even with all this life, it’s still very clean. It’s a wonderful city with chocolate and beer museums. So basically, everything you could ever want. But you don’t see it on many people’s lists when they talk about going to Europe. So this is my little plug for Brussels: put it on your list. It’s beautiful and interesting and old and full of wonders. (I should be getting paid for this. Eh maybe not. My marketing skills need a little work.)

We got into Brussels on Sunday afternoon and were set loose on the city after checking into the hotel. (Yup, hotel. Not hostel. It’s amazing what a difference that little ‘s’ makes.) For dinner a group of us went to a cute (rather touristy) restaurant near the city centre and ate a ridiculous amount of famous Brussels’ muscles.

 

I finished it all. Mad skillz bro.

It was delicious. And of course we had to get some waffles after. For 3E50 you can get a delicious waffle loaded with whipped cream, strawberries, and chocolate sauce. I would say it’s overrated, but that would just be a downright lie. Possibly the most delicious and decadent thing I’ve eaten in the past year. And the little shop was right next to the statue of the town hero.

I think I might see a reason for your tourism issues, Brussels.

But actually. It's just a tiny statue of a little boy peeing. There’s a story about how there was a terrible fire that was about to burn down the city and a little boy came around and peed it out. I’m not sure if he drank a ton of water that day or people just didn’t know what to do with the tiny fire. I guess it’s a bit like Chicago’s story about O'Leary's cow knocking over the lamp, only with more nudity and less tragedy. Which I guess is true about most European stories.

Now the point of all this, is that for the next week I will be in Brussels and gay Paris on a school trip. (Best field trip ever! Amiright, or amiright.) This also means that I will have very little access to internet. In fact, the only reason you’re reading this right now (you lucky ducks) is that some café had free wifi. So I’ll do my best to update y’all (that’s right, I wrote it down and I refuse to delete it now) but it might just come as a giant post once I get home. So place your bets, don’t hold your breath and I’m off to do a wee bit of exploring.

The mind of a child.

Sometimes, I am not the most mature of people.

I promise I'm not a model, I just take really good pictures.

I can hear you now. "Sarah, what?! You are the epitome of maturity and proper behavior and this is always reflected in your actions!" Nay, dear friend. Don't try and tell me otherwise. I know when to admit to my faults. 

 

This unfortunate trait of mine was blatantly demonstrated as of late. Here in Switzerland, we are required to write 3 papers, all of which require interviews with experts on the topics. In fact, our final research paper requires 30 hours of professional, face-to-face interviews. Another fun little fact about myself is I really hate social situations. My friends can attest to my fear of new people and ability to take normal situations and make them supremely awkward (I've decided to go ahead and label this trait of mine "charming".) So, obviously, I wasn't too happy about this certain requirement. 

In fact, the other lovely people on this trip had to listen to me complain for a bit.

"I mean, is it REALLY necessary? They clearly don't understand that we do our research on databases." 

"None of these experts are going to want to talk to some random college student about her little research project. They're too busy saving the world!" 

"But I don't waaaaannnnaaaaa."

There's that wonderful can-do attitude! Well, the deadline for our first paper is approaching quickly, and I needed an interview. So today I took a deep breath, suppressed my instincts telling me to run to the safety of familiar faces, and sat down with a journalist who has spent time in Libya and Syria.

You guys, something amazing happened.

It was perfectly fine. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say it was wonderful. The guy had an incredible grasp of the situation abroad and was able to help me compare them (aka my paper) and provided plenty of insight. As much as I hate to admit it, I learned more from that single half hour than I have from any of the research I had previously done.

The humble pie tastes the same here in Switzerland, in case you were wondering.

Even Michigan didn't prepare me for this.

I went to Zurich this weekend and it was heaps of fun. During my trip I realized that I had never explored a city on my own before. There was always a professional travel guide, tour or some sort of program holding your hand. No such thing this past weekend. At first I felt lost and confused, then I decided I was just like my pioneer ancestors boldly discovering new and exciting things! Except I had electricity. And running water. And heat.

HEAT. Praise be to God, science, and that first caveman that decided to rub two sticks together. (Human Ev buddies, bonus question: which branch on the evolution tree would that be?) Because it was cold. Colder than that look old people give you when you burst into gales of laughter at your friend who farted in the middle of the sermon at church.

Oh my.

Still a fantastic place. We stayed in a wonderfully, stereotypically bizarre hostel. You went up 5 flights of stairs to get to the reception, past the kitchen for the restaurant downstairs, and it had the very basic necessities. I knew living in traditional dorms was preparing me for something later in life. (Lee-Beau!) Two other girls and I were put in a mixed room, so that was a new experience. Our roommates were a Korean man and his wife(?) and a Polish guy who was earning his PhD in glaciology. He happened to be in Zurich for an environmental conference. We were in the middle of the city, which looks like it was magically preserved from a distant time. The buildings are old and beautiful, the street cobblestone, and old fountains and statues are peppered throughout the city. We visited all the old churches, an extensive Swiss history museum, and FIFA headquarters as well as just wandering the city enjoying the atmosphere. Despite the biting cold, it was very beautiful and the group I went with was a fun bunch.

Yes, that's me. Mme let me borrow her warmer coat.

The only downside is that the only German I speak is "Deutschmark", which is completely bunk now, so I was useless. While most people did speak some French, all of the signs were in German as were the conversations going on around me. I underestimated how difficult it is to navigate a city when you can't read anything or even guess what that word represents. No one else in our group spoke German either, so it was quite an adventure.

We have a lot of papers and projects coming up, so I'll be staying home this weekend so that I can get them done in time. It's also a wonderful excuse to hide from the cold and drink tea all day. If anything interesting happens though, I'll keep you updated. Ciao! (I can say that here and it's totally acceptable. I love it.)

The Politics of Skiing

B-E-A-UTIFUL

I don't know who invented skiing. I'm sure they were barking mad though. Who else would think to strap two thin, wooden planks to your feet and head down a mountain? Regardless, I'm very glad that they were willing to undertake such a bizarre process so that I could follow in their tracks (ba dum tisss).

Nine other students and myself went skiing this past weekend at a local mountain. It was fantastic. Not only was it wonderfully affordable (65F for train ride, bus ride, ski lifts, AND equipment. Booya) it was easy to get to with plenty of trails. By the end of the day I had done all the routes that I could with my current skill set, so it was a perfect one day trip. I also realized that black diamonds were pretty much just anything that wasn't specifically a trail on the map. Not sure I'm ready for that.

While I was very sore, I'm proud of how well I did! It's been a year and a half (I think) since I've skied. I was able to go to the top of the mountain (the highest point in the Jura Mountain Range, for you trivia people) and make it down with no problems. Plus, I only fell twice. Once while trying to go off a little jump, because I'm silly and stupid. The other time was just very typical for me. It was nearing the end of the day and I was too tired/lazy to pick up my ski enough and it got caught on some powder. I proceeded to do a bastardized version of one of those impressive gymnastic flips. And of COURSE this happened right under the chair lift, so when I landed (none too gracefully) I heard someone above me go, "Ooooh. Ouch."

Peanut gallery comments are not appreciated.

But hey, if the worst thing I hurt was my pride, I'd say the day was a success. I also got a chance to practice my French and listen to the people next to me on the ski lift. I didn't learn anything of importance, only that Jean is having a 50th birthday party soon. Congrats Jean.

The really interesting part happened that night. For dinner, Mme had some friends over and I had one of the most intense introductions to Swiss "down time" than I could have ever imagined. Dinner was lovely and full of wonderful pleasantries that they teach you in beginning French classes. Perfect. Then, the plates are cleared away (I'm assuming for their own safety) and the coffee and ammo is brought out.

We discussed Swiss politics, French politics, American politics, Algerian politics, the Euro crisis, immigration, Le Pen, Sarkozy, secularization of the state, and I heard some of their personal accounts of WWII. They were debating and explaining and challenging each other about the minute details of these subjects. One of the women sitting next to me kindly explained things for me in simpler terms when I got the deer in the head lights look. Which was often. I heard more interesting ideas and opinions in that one hour than I have from any official political debate. And at 9:00 they all said, "Oh! Look at the hour!" got up, gave out hugs and bises all around, and promised to do this again soon. These people had been blatantly calling each other out on differing policies not 5 minutes earlier and now they were laughing and smiling with not a care about the differences. No big deal. (But really, shouldn't it be that easy?)

Now, I may have a bit of a bias, but I like how politics is seen as less of a taboo subject and more of a necessary, everyday aspect of life here in Switzerland. It's definitely taken me off guard and I'm still not quite used to it. I cannot tell you the number of times (Ok fine, it's around 5 times) I have been asked by complete strangers upon discovering that I'm American, "Do you like Bush? What do you think of his doctrine?" I fear Sarah Palin wouldn't last very long here.

Title: Official UN Library Card Holder. Of course that's a proper title. I have the lanyard to prove it.

Today was our first official day that required dressing business casual. From here on out, it will be required to dress nicely for at least 3 days out of the week for our guest speakers. And I looked sharp today, if I do say so myself. Dark purple shirt tucked into a black pencil skirt finished with my favorite black heels. They're so classic and elegant and can be worn with anything. That's why I brought them.

"Perfect!" I thought. "I can wear them as nice shoes AND wear them when we go out. I'm such a smart packer."

WRONG. Yes, you can wear them as nice shoes but not when you're walking all over Geneva and potentially Mordor. Thank God I brought my toms along just in case. I had to wait until the end of the day to take them off though, because we got a tour of the UN Library and our very own library cards that provide access to the entire thing. Let me tell you, it was worth all of the pain. That place in incredible! There are over a million books (not including the archives) with essentially 20 stories worth of stacks and the best part is they're all on various subjects regarding international relations. Swoon. I've never felt more like Princess Bell in my entire life.

Psh, guuurl please. I'll be they're not even alphabetized correctly.

Also, this weekend a group of us are planning on going skiing. :) What fun! The mountain is a smaller one in the area, so that makes it cheaper. Which is good because everything here is really expensive. It's also on the French/Swiss border so while you're skiing you never really know if you're in Switzerland or France. I'm hoping to show off my awesome skills and that they'll make up for my lack of appropriate skiing gear. I have no snow pants, so long underwear and jeans it is. Plus, the only coat I brought is a wool pea coat. So that could be a little restricting. Then again I could just open it and let it fly behind me as a whoosh down the hill yelling, "I AM THE BATMAN!" Yeah. That sounds reasonable.

Or I could ask one of the families if they have a proper coat for me to borrow. Look at the problem solving skills I'm learning!

Soooooo remember how I said, "Yeah, French totally gets easier as the days go on ohmygosh really though it's fine and I'm great and yaaaay!"

I jinxed myself. Superbly.

This blog is also an excuse to show off how internet savvy I am.

 

 Either my French teacher here is trying to give us a mental whiplash by talking way faster than necessary or I just haven't been around Pooja and DJ enough recently. 

The first day of class was good. Though it is a very different schedule and it's going to take some adjusting. It's a 3 hour lecture and a 3 hour French class. And we take the high speed commuter train at 9 and 5. We're almost like real people.

Regardless, I was exhausted when I got home. I fell asleep at my desk after dinner and poor Mme thought I had locked myself in my room because I was homesick. She's a sweetie. 

Ok, time for bed.

Home Sweet Home

You guys. I love Nyon. I just do. And my home stay family. It's great. Seriously.

(I'm sorry, I love this gif. I lulz every time. I can't help it.)

But really, I have a fantastic set up here. And to think, I was worried it was going to be awful. I am living with a woman we'll call Madame to keep things simple (Mme for short). Or we could just call her Sarah because there's a very good chance I'll end up something like her. And I think I would be ok with that.

She is a grandmother who clearly prefers the company of animals to people. She's very proper and a bit gruff when first encountered, but is quite a softie and wonderful person. She lives in this adorable house with a huge yard. She's had it forever and doesn't want to move because the yard is perfect for her 5 rescue dogs. And 2 rescue cats. And 5 birds. And the multiple students she hosts throughout the year. She has the biggest heart; all of her animals have this tragic story about either abuse or neglect and now they live with Mme who will cook them a mixture of rice and meat and veggies for meals because she doesn't think that the dry food is nutritious enough. Needless to say, they worship her.

Her dogs are great. They're super friendly and already like me. Although Mme was explaining that since they're from all over they understand commands in a multitude of language. One of her dogs could understand German, French, English, and Spanish commands. Great. Even the dogs speak more languages than I do.

Vanille really likes to sleep like this. Don't ask me why.

Mme is Scottish by birth, so she speaks English (thank God) and absolutely flawless French. As in, the home stay coordinator didn't even know it wasn't her first language because she has no accent. Plus she used to be a school teacher. So, not only is she patient with my mediocre French, she often says complicated things in French and then repeats them in English. It's great.

Mme took me on a walking tour of Nyon today. It was rather hilly and she was powering right through as I was gasping along behind her taking pictures as an excuse to stop. Sheesh. But it was beautiful out today and I fell in love with Nyon. It's right on the lake and you can walk to just about anywhere. You can see the famous Geneva fountain from the shoreline, and on clear days Mont Blanc. The downtown is quaint with the old, European apartments smushed together on tiny winding roads. The shops are small and specialized, a bit expensive but that's to be expected. (Here's to the Swiss franc declining!) She took me to this petit tea room where we had un café, un eclair, et une baguette (Très français! Which, incidentally, is on the other side of the Lake).

I'm finding that speaking is easier the second day. Some things are becoming more natural, which is nice. As with most new experiences, there's a learning curve. Hopefully this means I'll basically be fluent by the time May rolls around. (Psh, yeah. Sure.) The nine hours of French class every week will probably help as well. When I return I'll probably speak English with a French accent and mix up idioms because I'll be so good. Yeah, that sounds reasonable.

Anywho, I'm having a lot of fun so far. While I'm sure there will be culture shock at some point, so far so good. We have our first day of classes tomorrow, which means our first commute to Geneva all by ourselves! You will find this requires me to be out of the house by 8:30 for the commute. Hmmm. Not my usual schedule. Can't complain though, we're doing some very interesting things here. Ok, time to do my reading. I am here for studying after all.

Genève (if you're local)

Hooray for Switzerland! We spent the first few days in Geneva and it was wonderful. Rainy, but wonderful. We staying in a hostel, which was actually pretty nice. It was like being in Lee all over again. Ah freshman dorms.

The first day was a bit of a blur thanks to jet lag. We had orientation in the mornings, tours and exploring in the afternoon, and then passing out at 9 PM and waking up at 3 AM. Still, it was very fun. Although when I took the oral portion of the French placement exam I couldn't remember how to conjugate verbs in the past tense (even though I review verb tenses earlier)... awkward. So I just tried to use sentences that only used imparfait. Wooooow. SOMEONE'S a little rusty.

We went out for our last night in Geneva because we were relatively well adjusted to the time difference at that point and, well, it was our last night in Geneva. All 28 of us crammed ourselves into a very crowded and very entertaining bar. I would love to say we were super suave and blended right into the scene, but that would a downright and really terrible lie. We stuck out like American students who were studying abroad. Whether it was due to local's low expectations, people being super friendly, or my general inexperience with bars the other people were happy to talk to us and answer our questions about Switzerland. And they put up with my butchered French, which was very nice of them.

Well, this has been a rather dry and rambling post. My excuse is I'm tired. We moved in with our home stay families today (more on that later) and the traveling as well as the new setting has all been very exciting. Do you realize how much concentration is required to have the simplest conversations?  Very little. You don't even think about it. Do you realize how much concentration is required to have the simplest conversation in French with people who are fluent (and speak very quickly, I might add)? Because I had no idea. Good grief, every little thing has to be painstakingly processed in order to understand. Gives me a good idea of how well I know certain aspects of French, which is not very well. It's exhausting. Mentally. Makes my brain hurt.

Better Late Than Never

Let’s hope that my trip here is not indicative of the rest of my experience.

I’m surprised that I wasn’t taken out by security based on the number of times I went careening through different airports looking like there was a lion after me. I run like a mad woman through DFW to figure out my terminal (because guess who forgot to check!). We’re delayed for 5 hours in Houston because the plane was leaking fuel. (Whew, I was afraid it was going to be something dangerous…) So we all get sent out on a different flight and later connecting flights. I have to gather my bag at London and recheck it so it follows me to Geneva and make it back through security in 40 minutes. Thanks to the saint of an attendant who got me to the front of the customs line and my bag coming out first on the carousel I was able to run up to the gate right as they announced “Flight to Geneva now boarding all passengers.” Once in Geneva, it was already dark and getting to the hostel required me to take a train and a bus, neither of which I was able to find without asking someone. (Fun fact: Swiss French has a bit of a German accent to it, I think, that is very difficult to understand.) Then, I tried to enter an apartment complex on the same street as the hostel and spent 15 minutes arguing with the admin on the intercom in French.

“Are you sure there is no SIT program here?”

“What is the family name?”

“No, SIT, students, studying abroad, are they here?”

“Family name please!”

“GAHHHHH!!!”

Then I realize it’s down the street about 50 feet.

I hope you find this amusing (I know you do, I see that smile) because I wanted to punch someone and then fall on the ground and sob.

But I’m fine now, thanks for asking, and can fully appreciate the ridiculous nature of each situation. Also, flying in over the Alps as the sun was setting was pretty awesome too.

The picture doesn't even do it justice.

I was snapping picture left and right. I could feel my neighbor, a stiff middle aged Englishman, judge me with every click. But I could see right through his apathetic façade; he was just as impressed at how wonderful it looked. He kept sneaking glances and would look away quickly if I saw him as if to say, “Ho hum. Seen it before.” I was tempted to just plant my face in front of the window as punishment for his judgmental nature, but my benevolent nature stopped me (it’s a blessing and a curse). Also, it was just so beautiful and breathtaking. Made all the crap before worth it.

Honestly, I’m just glad that I made it here. The other girls in my hostel room are really nice and I didn’t seem to miss much. As sit here in my bunk and munch on the banana nut muffin I pilfered from an extra breakfast box on the plane, I realize things could have been a lot worse. 

Also, this took me forever because this website is now in German. So... that's cool. Because I can't even being to guess what Jetzt speichern or einstellungen mean. 

Bandwagon Narcissim and Insomnia

Well, well, well. It's 1 A.M. here in Texas and I just can't sleep. Because

I'M GOING TO SWITZERLAND.

Which explains why you're reading this. Because otherwise, I'm sure you don't care about my sleep schedule. (Unless you're my mother. Hi Mom!) But I can't sleep. And it would seem that traveling abroad warrants enough socially acceptable narcissism to start a blog. Plus, you all read about my otherwise boring days which are made suddenly glamorous and oh so exotic and comment about how jealous you are. I like the sound of it so far.

But actually, I just want to have a place to write down exciting things that happen and keep people updated so I don't come back and you all go, "I'm sorry, who are you again?"

That could be terribly awkward.

So, bookmark it if you wish, I'll try to update at least once a week and include only the interesting parts. Hopefully this blog suffers a better fate than the stacks of cute journals and diaries from earlier years. The first pages were laden with all the detail and passion a ten year old could muster, only to be forgotten and left to gather dust because there were ponies to ride, forts to build, and games of tag to play. Let's hope I've matured and I'm not distracted from writing due to those activities still. (It's still a bit of a challenge, though.)

Well, I'm receiving some texts suggesting (as only fathers can) that I go to bed. Probably a good idea. So, I guess I'll leave you with this fun little quote from one of my favorite Swiss people to get myself in the mood for adventure and new ideas. The next time I update I'll be in Switzerland. :) Au revoir!

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” - Albert Einstein