The adventures continue...today we had our first trip to the UN. We received badges and a tour of the UN library and cafeteria and now have access to the UN whenever we want (pretty cool stuff [I know, I'm a nerd]). Afterwards, we split up into groups of 4 to go research different places around the city like libraries and organizations. My group got assigned the University of Geneva library so we had to go and walk around and get information and so on. It's amazing how similar it looked to a normal college campus.
As for regular classes, for the first two months, every morning we have an SIT class. It is either ISS (Internat'l studies) or FSS (Field studies - like cultural stuff). Then on mon, tues, and thurs afternoons we go to a different school across the city (and by across i mean like 5 minutes) to French class. My teacher is Jean and hes really funny and super enthusiastic which helps because I'm in the beginner class which involves 6 of us making asses out of ourselves as we try and drop our Spanish accents and speak French. So far I have learned the alphabet and numbers and a few words.
Now for something completely different - Until tonight I wasn't so sure about my homestay family. They seemed to be coming and going and not so interested in me. But tonight we had a bit of a dinner party. Adriana (the older daughter), her bf Seb, Vali (the younger daughter), Nicoli (the older brother who lives in Geneva, and their friends who are their neighbors all came here for a dinner party. The neighbors are Swedish and have a 17 yr old guy and 16 yr old girl. The mom works for the ILO (International Labor Org) and they speak super perfect English. Needless to say this was an interesting night. Oh, and it was the daughter's bday.
Conversations ranging from cultural differences to American culture to economics to politics flew across the table. Jokes were told in different languages, and many stories were told in French and then again in English so I could understand. It was nice to finally feel included. Then, after dinner and cake, all of the kids went upstairs and we smoked hookah and bonded over trading music and comparing music. It is amazing how much American culture is present in the form of music and movies and entertainment. So far, it seems the Swiss love any music with a good beat to it. But Adriana likes classic rock too, which is cool.
This weekend I think a few of us on the trip are going to go to Les Diableret, a small town at the foot of some big swiss mountains. There is a ton of stuff to do, from skiing to night sledding (they take you up a mountain and you sled down but its dark and you have a headlight on, and then you go for fondue dinner after!).
Anywho, its almost 12:30 and I need to get up in 7 hours so I can commute to school (it takes about an hour to get into Geneva from my small mountain village) for class at 9:30. Good thing I don't have to be in Geneva until 3:15 on Friday.
Missing everybody back stateside.
Oh and super excited that the Mets got Santana. Totally made my morning website check routine much more exciting this morning.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
January 28, 2008
Bonjour
This past weekend was interesting, on Sat I got to my homestay. My family is very nice. There is a mother, Angela, who is Columbian and used to work for the UN. She is divorced, but her ex-husband is Swiss. She has a four children, two older sons one who lives in Nice, France and one who lives in Geneva. Her daughters are Adriana, 19, and Valentine, 15. Adriana lives mostly with her boyfriend Seb (Sebastian) in a town about 30/45 mins from here. Angela has an Italian boyfriend who she shes often apparently. The family is really nice and we've been talking in English and Spanish, but it seems like they are just going to kind of leave me be and not really do a lot of activities with me. That's a bit disappointing, as I was hoping for a family who would really show me Switzerland and stuff, but I guess its also good because I'll be able to travel and do what I want to do.
Saturday I just chilled and watched a movie and passed out, very tired after waking up around 7 every morning prior. Sunday I slept late and ate breakfast and then organized all my things for class. Then in the afternoon I decided I was going to take the train into Nyon, a small city at the bottom of the mountain. I figured it would be good practice because to get to class in Geneva, I have to take a small commuter train about 25 mins to Nyon, and then another 15 min regular train into Geneva.
Anyways back to the story, so I get to the very small train station and the train pulls up and I go to the doors, expecting them to open, like in NYC...well of course they dont, so I'm standing like yanking on the doors, which won't open. Soon enough, the train begins to pull away with me holding onto the doors like an idiot. Sure enough, as the train pulls away, I see a big lit green button about 6 inches from the door which you need to press to open the door hahahaha. So instead of going back to my house like an idiot I decided to wonder around my village, which is tiny and so beautiful. Eventually I made it to the train and back off, but everyday is definitely a new adventure.
Today was the first day of classes and I commuted into Geneva at about 8am. We have like two main classes ISS (Internat'l Studies) and FSS (Field Studies), which is cultural stuff. I only have these classes one or two days a week. And on mon, tues, and thurs, I also have French class in the afternoons. Today was ISS in the morning for three hours and French in the afternoon. Needless to say, combined with a one hour commute each way, I'm pretty tired right now (it's almost 11pm).
This weekend a couple of people on my trip are trying to plan a trip to Interlaken, a cool backpacker destination about 3 hrs from here in Switzerland this weekend. We want to go nightsledding. This is where you take a gondola up a mountain and then you sled down for about an hour, and once at the bottom they take you to a restaurant for a traditional Swiss fondue dinner and drinks. Should be fun!
It's amazing how much of an adventure each day is. Each day has it's own little challenges, from figuring out how to get on a train to how to get to class to who you are going to hang out with or what time you need to get home. I can't believe I've been here for almost a week, it feels like I have done so much in such a short period of time.
Oh and I had my first Swiss chocolate today, which of course was unbelievable.
That's it for now, peace
Oh and for all the non-facebookers, the link for my pictures from Geneva is here-
http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=7880052905
This past weekend was interesting, on Sat I got to my homestay. My family is very nice. There is a mother, Angela, who is Columbian and used to work for the UN. She is divorced, but her ex-husband is Swiss. She has a four children, two older sons one who lives in Nice, France and one who lives in Geneva. Her daughters are Adriana, 19, and Valentine, 15. Adriana lives mostly with her boyfriend Seb (Sebastian) in a town about 30/45 mins from here. Angela has an Italian boyfriend who she shes often apparently. The family is really nice and we've been talking in English and Spanish, but it seems like they are just going to kind of leave me be and not really do a lot of activities with me. That's a bit disappointing, as I was hoping for a family who would really show me Switzerland and stuff, but I guess its also good because I'll be able to travel and do what I want to do.
Saturday I just chilled and watched a movie and passed out, very tired after waking up around 7 every morning prior. Sunday I slept late and ate breakfast and then organized all my things for class. Then in the afternoon I decided I was going to take the train into Nyon, a small city at the bottom of the mountain. I figured it would be good practice because to get to class in Geneva, I have to take a small commuter train about 25 mins to Nyon, and then another 15 min regular train into Geneva.
Anyways back to the story, so I get to the very small train station and the train pulls up and I go to the doors, expecting them to open, like in NYC...well of course they dont, so I'm standing like yanking on the doors, which won't open. Soon enough, the train begins to pull away with me holding onto the doors like an idiot. Sure enough, as the train pulls away, I see a big lit green button about 6 inches from the door which you need to press to open the door hahahaha. So instead of going back to my house like an idiot I decided to wonder around my village, which is tiny and so beautiful. Eventually I made it to the train and back off, but everyday is definitely a new adventure.
Today was the first day of classes and I commuted into Geneva at about 8am. We have like two main classes ISS (Internat'l Studies) and FSS (Field Studies), which is cultural stuff. I only have these classes one or two days a week. And on mon, tues, and thurs, I also have French class in the afternoons. Today was ISS in the morning for three hours and French in the afternoon. Needless to say, combined with a one hour commute each way, I'm pretty tired right now (it's almost 11pm).
This weekend a couple of people on my trip are trying to plan a trip to Interlaken, a cool backpacker destination about 3 hrs from here in Switzerland this weekend. We want to go nightsledding. This is where you take a gondola up a mountain and then you sled down for about an hour, and once at the bottom they take you to a restaurant for a traditional Swiss fondue dinner and drinks. Should be fun!
It's amazing how much of an adventure each day is. Each day has it's own little challenges, from figuring out how to get on a train to how to get to class to who you are going to hang out with or what time you need to get home. I can't believe I've been here for almost a week, it feels like I have done so much in such a short period of time.
Oh and I had my first Swiss chocolate today, which of course was unbelievable.
That's it for now, peace
Oh and for all the non-facebookers, the link for my pictures from Geneva is here-
http://www.facebook.com/n/
Saturday, January 26, 2008
January 26, 2008
Bonjour!
This morning was an interesting experience. After getting up really early, we left the hostel and headed to Nyon, a town about 15 mins outside of Geneva. Here we met up with our host families, and one by one people started leaving the group. It was super awkward at first and we were all crowded in the corner of a small conference room waiting anxiously. Finally families began to come in and everybody said their uncomfortable hellos. In Switzerland its often customary to kiss somebody three times on the cheek (left, right, left) instead of hugging or shaking hands, so it was funny to watch all of us engage in this cultural oddity, and plenty of the kids messed up.
Anyway, I've finally settled into my Swiss home. I'm living in the town of Arzier, a small old village of about 2000 people nestled in the Swiss mountains. From my window, I can see the massive Lake Geneva and an incredible view of the Swiss Alps (pictures soon to follow). It almost doesn't look real. My room is nice, about the size of my dorm room with a bed, a dresser and a small desk. And yes, I have met the cat, who is actually quite nice and affectionate. I don't remember the name of it but I will update when I do.
As for the family, my mother is Colombian and speaks many languages, but we have been speaking mostly Spanish and English. The older daughter met me at the hotel today, but then had to go to work at McDonalds (which I find pretty funny). She is the equivalent of a high school senior, but lives half the time with her boyfriend who apparently just got an apt somewhere in Switzerland haha. The younger daughter is skiing for the weekend but will be back tomorrow night. There is also and older brother, but he lives and works in Nice, France. The mom is divorced but apparently her husband lives somewhere close.
Seems like I'll have a good amount of independence. The town is about a forty minute commute into Geneva nearly every day, which shouldn't be too bad. The family seems like it is pretty busy so it should be interesting to see how the interaction and day to day life plays out over the next fifteen weeks.
Pictures from the few days of orientation in Geneva are up on facebook and im trying to get the link so i can post it up here.
miss everybody back stateside!
This morning was an interesting experience. After getting up really early, we left the hostel and headed to Nyon, a town about 15 mins outside of Geneva. Here we met up with our host families, and one by one people started leaving the group. It was super awkward at first and we were all crowded in the corner of a small conference room waiting anxiously. Finally families began to come in and everybody said their uncomfortable hellos. In Switzerland its often customary to kiss somebody three times on the cheek (left, right, left) instead of hugging or shaking hands, so it was funny to watch all of us engage in this cultural oddity, and plenty of the kids messed up.
Anyway, I've finally settled into my Swiss home. I'm living in the town of Arzier, a small old village of about 2000 people nestled in the Swiss mountains. From my window, I can see the massive Lake Geneva and an incredible view of the Swiss Alps (pictures soon to follow). It almost doesn't look real. My room is nice, about the size of my dorm room with a bed, a dresser and a small desk. And yes, I have met the cat, who is actually quite nice and affectionate. I don't remember the name of it but I will update when I do.
As for the family, my mother is Colombian and speaks many languages, but we have been speaking mostly Spanish and English. The older daughter met me at the hotel today, but then had to go to work at McDonalds (which I find pretty funny). She is the equivalent of a high school senior, but lives half the time with her boyfriend who apparently just got an apt somewhere in Switzerland haha. The younger daughter is skiing for the weekend but will be back tomorrow night. There is also and older brother, but he lives and works in Nice, France. The mom is divorced but apparently her husband lives somewhere close.
Seems like I'll have a good amount of independence. The town is about a forty minute commute into Geneva nearly every day, which shouldn't be too bad. The family seems like it is pretty busy so it should be interesting to see how the interaction and day to day life plays out over the next fifteen weeks.
Pictures from the few days of orientation in Geneva are up on facebook and im trying to get the link so i can post it up here.
miss everybody back stateside!
Friday, January 25, 2008
January 25, 2008
So its been a couple of days since i got here and Im finally feeling a little bit more comfortable in the city. For the last few days we have been doing orientation stuff like finding our office building and the place where we take french and all that good stuff. the actual program looks pretty intense but really interesting. Once i have more time ill post some more details of the program.
the kids are all pretty cool and outgoing and were all having a good time struggling with french and teh city. last night was pretty strange. we all went out to this italian restaurant for dinner and the program paid so everybody ordered really expensive stuff. the meal took like three hours and then the waiters started fucking with everybody but it was all in good fun. Then we went to a aussie bar and ended up participating in karaoke with random foreignors. Nobody could figure out if the dj was a guy or girl and eventually I volunteered to go find out. So i went over to it and said that it was doing a great job and asked when our song was coming up. SHE responded with "youre really cute and it will be up next". so yea, i was hit on by a transgender shemale karaoke dj in switzerland. pretty much one of the strangest nights of my life.
Im running out of time on my internet card here but Im meeting up with mz homestay family tomorrow and then will have more time to update and talk to people. miss everybody back stateside.
Peace
the kids are all pretty cool and outgoing and were all having a good time struggling with french and teh city. last night was pretty strange. we all went out to this italian restaurant for dinner and the program paid so everybody ordered really expensive stuff. the meal took like three hours and then the waiters started fucking with everybody but it was all in good fun. Then we went to a aussie bar and ended up participating in karaoke with random foreignors. Nobody could figure out if the dj was a guy or girl and eventually I volunteered to go find out. So i went over to it and said that it was doing a great job and asked when our song was coming up. SHE responded with "youre really cute and it will be up next". so yea, i was hit on by a transgender shemale karaoke dj in switzerland. pretty much one of the strangest nights of my life.
Im running out of time on my internet card here but Im meeting up with mz homestay family tomorrow and then will have more time to update and talk to people. miss everybody back stateside.
Peace
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
January 23, 2008
Hey all!! Greetings from my first very very long day in Geneva. After my flight arrived about an hour early at about 7 am, I ventured by myself on a fourty dollar cab ride to the hostel my group was staying at. After gettin a room to put my non-valuables in, I walked around the city at sunrise with all the little school children heading to school. Then I came back and read for a bit, until I finally found some other SIT people to hang out with. Then we all ventured out for a while and walked all over the city again. After getting some lunch in a cute cafe and some real European coffee, we grabbed a quick beer (10 dollars!!!) and came back to the hostel to meet the group.
After meeting the group we had a quick orientation and got a ton of papers and info and then headed out for a bite to eat at this crazy european mall thing with a cool restaurant on top and then proceeded again to walk around with a bunch of kids who hadnt seen the city yet. needless to say I was happy to play tour guide (kinda).
Then we finally came back to the hostel, which is kinda dirty but what can you do? I took a quick shower and now Im checking my email to keep from passing out too early so I can hopefully get on a normal sleep schedule.
The city is absolutely beautiful. I watched the alps by moonlight early this morning, then the sun rise over the lake, then finally it set and cast crazy shadows everywhere. Today has been exhausting and Im going to go pass out soon.
The kids all seem pretty cool and there are five other guys on the trip, one is from South Korea. One of them is also living in the same town as me outside of Geneva, and were meeting up with our families on Sat.
Oh, and it turns out there are TONS of dogs in switzerland. I have pictures to proove it, and it has already become a running joke in the group and people are constantly pointing them out to me.
After meeting the group we had a quick orientation and got a ton of papers and info and then headed out for a bite to eat at this crazy european mall thing with a cool restaurant on top and then proceeded again to walk around with a bunch of kids who hadnt seen the city yet. needless to say I was happy to play tour guide (kinda).
Then we finally came back to the hostel, which is kinda dirty but what can you do? I took a quick shower and now Im checking my email to keep from passing out too early so I can hopefully get on a normal sleep schedule.
The city is absolutely beautiful. I watched the alps by moonlight early this morning, then the sun rise over the lake, then finally it set and cast crazy shadows everywhere. Today has been exhausting and Im going to go pass out soon.
The kids all seem pretty cool and there are five other guys on the trip, one is from South Korea. One of them is also living in the same town as me outside of Geneva, and were meeting up with our families on Sat.
Oh, and it turns out there are TONS of dogs in switzerland. I have pictures to proove it, and it has already become a running joke in the group and people are constantly pointing them out to me.
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