The Swiss Life

I must admit, I didn’t think it would be quite so long between emails about my Swiss life, but alas, I have always been terrible at this sort of thing. Where to begin? I guess my last email was sent shortly after I arrived here in Geneva, and since then I have certainly settled in, but what sticks out the most to me are the trips away.

I have taken several trips in the past month or so, most notable was last week (now closer to two weeks ago) which the entire program spent in Paris, France and  Brussels, Belgium. We had meetings with organizations in the mornings, but the afternoons were largely free to explore the cities. Brussels, the headquarters of the European Union, was a really amazing city. I had no expectations going to Brussels because I hadn’t heard too much about it as a tourist destination, but I have no idea why because it was stunningly beautiful with several really interesting museums. Belgium is famous for beer, waffles, and chocolate, so needless to say it was a great place to spend my 21st Birthday. We all went out to celebrate at the bar that holds the Guinness World Record for most types of beer offered (2,005!). There would be a photo attached but, funny thing, my iPhone (which I had been using as a camera since it was easier than my actual camera to tote around) was stolen out of my hands when we were walking home one night. It certainly put a damper on the trip, but I guess we all have to learn painful lessons sometimes. Bottom line: go to Brussels, drink beer and eat heavenly waffles, but hold on to your valuables.

After Brussels we headed to Paris, which is a city that needs no introduction. To be honest, though, I was rather underwhelmed. Paris was a bit too large to feel comfortable in, and kind of dirty. Plus, what I had heard about rude Parisians turned out to be largely true. All that being said, I did enjoy seeing the major sights in Paris: Notre Dame, Pere Lachaise cemetery, the Catacombs, Sacre Ceur, the Louvre (for free on Friday evenings if you’re under 26!), Musee d’Orssay, of course the Eiffel Tower, and my personal favorite, stumbling upon the gorgeous church St. Etienne du Mont . I was also sure to eat crepes, of course, but they just couldn’t compete after the Belgian waffles. Luckily I do have a camera here as well, so I was able to take plenty of photos in Paris.

The day before we left for our “study trip”, I took a day trip to Annecy, France with some friends. Annecy is absolutely adorable and known as the Venice of France, with canals running throughout the city (unfortunately I didn’t upload my pictures before I left on my trip, and, alas they too are lost). I have also taken a day trip to Bern, which is the cute little federal capital of Switzerland. My favorite of the day trips, however, was definitely going to Chamonix, France and going up to Mont Blanc with my host parents. Mont Blanc is the tallest mountain in Europe, and, incidentally, I can also see it from my window. After taking a cable car to the top, and snapping too many pictures, I stopped halfway down and met up with my host parents to take a good hike across the side of the mountain until we reached a huge glacier, where we took a train back to the little town where we parked our car. Such a great day!

The trips are certainly the things that stick out as hilights, but a bit about my daily life would probably be appropriate. I generally get up at about 7:30am and take my two trains into Geneva for classes to start at 9:30. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays we have a broad seminar about international relations that usually features guest speakers ranging from professional diplomats at the various international institutions based here to professors and specialists from the nearby universities. The same afternoons, we travel across town to a french school for three hours of French class, and if I come straight home and rush I get in at about 6pm. On Wednesday and Friday mornings we take a class about research methods and Swiss culture, and then have the afternoons off. It’s considerably more time than I have spent in class everyday since High School, but the academics aren’t all that demanding.

I am really growing to love my host family more and more. While we don’t speak very much French at home and that’s a bit of a bummer, there are a lot of things about having a half American family that I really appreciate. We have a subscription to the economist, listen to NPR, and keep peanut butter in the house. Also, with my appreciation for awful teen girl movies, I have the same movie taste as my 12 year old host sister. On my birthday the girls made me a cake, my host mom made Raclette (a Swiss specialty), and the family sang me happy birthday in five different languages. It’s really easy to feel at home here and I love it!

After five weeks of 80 degree weather that had us all complaining because we hadn’t packed according, fall has arrived in full force here in Geneva. On the bright side, however, the dollar is finally doing better than the Swiss Franc! It’s still expensive as heck, but every little bit counts I guess…

Hope all is well on your end! Would love to hear how you are doing and to catch up.

Cheese and Chocolate

Friends, family, and countrymen,

Bonjour from Switzerland! As most of you know, I am spending this semester studying abroad in Geneva with an organization called SIT (School for International Training) that will focus on International Relations and International Affairs. Some of you may think that one of the richest and most developed countries in the world is a rather tame choice of location for me, which you may think is either boring or a huge relief for my safety. Both of those are probably appropriate reactions, but I am looking forward to exploring Europesince I haven’t spent very much time on the continent, improving my French dramatically because it certainly needs work, and most of all taking advantage of the amazing resources that Geneva has on a policy level for both the UN and the international community as whole.

I will be spending my first 9-10 weeks in Geneva taking 9 hours of french a week, a small field study seminar, and a core course just generally covering various topics in international affairs. After these nine weeks, we will no longer be taking classes, but will spend four weeks working on conducting field and library research in Geneva for the huge research report on an international affairs topic of our choice that we will have to write and present during the last two weeks of the program. These last two weeks and presentations will actually take place in Pula, Croatia. Because SIT is not associated with a Swiss University, and is accredited in the US and not Europe, we are here on tourist visas which expire after 90 days and we can’t come back for another 90 days. Hence, relocating to the closest country outside of the EU zone (actually called the Schengen if you are really curious. It is basically the EU member states with a few minor exceptions, such as Switzerland and the UK, though under opposite circumstances). What is certainly a logistic nightmare will actually be great- I have heard wonderful things about Croatia.

Since my travel was somewhat restricted with regards to mainland Europe, I spent a week before my program started in the UK, mostly London. I won’t bother with a narration of my days, but I managed to visit Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament (from the outside), Westminster Abby, Tower of London (and the Crown Jewels), The British Museum (including the Rosetta Stone and Magna Carta), National Gallery, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Notting Hill, and my personal favorite, St. Paul’s Cathedral (complete with panoramic views of London from the top of the dome). Following a few days in London, I spent several days in Colchester, about and hour northeast of London by train, with family friends from Torrance who were doing a house swap. Colchester was the capitol of Roman Britain many years ago and the castle still stands today- with a great little museum that we were able to enjoy! We also took a day trip to Cambridge which was simply breathtaking and lived up to every ounce of hype. For those of you who have spent any time living out of a backpack and hostels or traveling by yourself, or really traveling at all, you can relate to the amazing feeling of spending a few days with friends or family. After enjoying some wonderful hospitality for a few days, I headed back to London to catch my flight to Geneva, though not before I enjoyed my last meal in Britain of fish and chips and a nice lager in a cute little pub.

I arrived in Geneva on Wednesday morning, and stayed with the other students in a hostel less than a block from Lake Geneva while completing orientation (there are 36 of us, in total). While most of our time was filled sitting inside and signing various waivers and agreements and taking placement tests, we also were able to enjoy a tour of the old city, including the birthplace of the philosopher Roussou, and the church of John Calvin, father of Calvinism (a huge part of the history of Geneva, which I wasn’t aware of). Geneva was unusually hot last week, with temperatures in the upper eighties, so following the tour some of my classmates and I decided to go for a swim in Lake Geneva. Since the lake is fed by glacial runoff, it was amazingly refreshing and of course ridiculously picturesque like everything in Switzerland. It was nice to spend a few days getting acquainted with the city, but there are many things that I want to go back and do at some point over the next few months.

Though we will be taking our classes in Geneva, we will actually all be living outside of Nyon, which is a small city about 20km to the north along Lake Geneva. I moved into my homestay yesterday and feel as if I have died and gone to heaven! I am living in Givrins (prounced jee-vrahn) a small village of about 800 people 6km above and to the west of Nyon, in the foothills of the Juba mountain range. Words can’t do justice to how beautiful my surroundings are, so please see the attached photos. My host family is absolutely wonderful! I have three younger sisters, ages 12, 14 and 17 (Courtney, Sabrina, and Leandra, respectively), as well as two fat cats. I have always wanted both sisters and younger siblings, so I am looking forward to the experience. My host mother Susi is from the Swiss German part of the country and works as a nurse. Clark, my host father, grew up in Iowa (no, that is not a typo or a strangeEuropean city…I actually do mean the midwestern state) and is an attorney for Citigroup. Since the first languages of my host parents are English and German but we live in a French speaking part of Switzerland, the entire family is [at least] trilingual. The family switches back and forth between the three languages seamlessly, sometimes covering all three in a single conversation. It’s truly amazing and I am so incredibly jealous. Fortunately this means my family members are all native or fluent English speakers, so there is no language barrier of any sort. They are also mindful that I am trying to work on my French, so they try to teach me whenever possible. Largely because of the lack of a large language or cultural barrier with my family, but also because the family is incredibly welcoming, I am already starting to feel settled into my beautiful home.

Today, I climbed the mountain in my backyard with my host parents and sister, passing through France in the process. At the top I had a view of all of Lake Geneva with Mont Blanc (the tallest mountain in Europe) and the French Alps in the background. Oh, and I ate chocolate on top. Life is hard…

Many apologies for the length of this post, and thanks for reading and taking an interest in what I am up to! More updates to come (I am aiming for at least once a month)!

Peace, love, and Swiss Chocolate!