Not doing much today so I figured I'd update.
This week was ok. Tuesday I worked on our take home final that was due on Weds.
Weds I went in and did a bit of research on my ISP at the UN Library and then headed into the office for a bit and handed in my test. Weds night was actually a lot of fun. Nico and Chiara invited me to go to the neighbors house who is one of their good friends (Jeremy) to party with them. I showed up and there were about 6 people there, and about 4 bottles of hard liquor to each person, which is impressive cause they are incredibly expensive here. But it was funny cause they were all like Malibu and fruity vodkas and stuff. Nico told me to invite my friends, so Rikki and Dave came. We taught them how to play King's Cup and they loved it! They also got really drunk really quickly which was funny cause they all started speaking english so much more. At about midnight, we went over to daves to smoke a little hookah. Finally, at about 2:30 i headed home.
Thursday I stayed around the house all day and did a bunch of research. I think my ISP topic shifted a bit further, and now I'm going to focus on microfinance and the role that it plays in empowering women, with a case study of Bangladesh. Rikki and Dave came over for a bit to hang out and that was about it. Oh, and Daniella and I played some backgammon and she obviously kicked my ass...she's way too good.
Friday I went in late to the UN library, then met Kat, Steph, and her friend for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants. After, I headed to the office to do a bit more work, and then got my hair cut. Turns out that may not have been a great idea, seeing as i no longer have very much hair :-O Good thing I got a month to grow it back before I see you all. Fri night I just hung around the house, played some Trivial Pursuit Genius Edition with the family, which would have been hard enough as it was, but obviously it was in French as well.
Yesterday was a lot of fun. Dave, Rikki, and I headed into Nyon around noon. Dave and I met up with Chris and played some basketball for a while, and then headed over to Jeongki's for a bbq party. Turns out about more than half the group came, and we grilled and chilled outside cause it was beautiful out and drank a bit. After, we played some more bball and soccer, and then around 6pm we headed home. I was pretty wiped so I just hung around again last night but it was nice to just relax.
This week should be more of the same - more research and interviews (hopefully) for my ISP as I try and really gain some ground on the topic.
Also, I'm home 5 weeks from today?!? Craziness. It's weird because sometimes time feels as though its flying by, especially when I think about all I have done in the time I've been here. On the other hand, it also feels like I've been here forever...strange.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
March 25, 2008
I made it back late last night from out Easter Break trip to Genoa (or Genova if you're Italian), Italy.
We left early Fri morning, around 7 am, from Geneva, and after almost missing our train from Nyon to Geneva and sprinting through the train station, we settled in for the long first train to Milano, Italy. It was nearly blizzarding as we left Switzerland. The first train was about 4 hours and finally we made it to Milano after the incredible tardiness of the train once the Italian authorities took over at the boarder.
From Milano, we took another train that seemed to never end to Genova. Me, Steph, and Kat were on an early train and Chris, Kellen, and Greta were on the later train. So the 3 of us got to the hotel after an insane bus ride, checked in, and headed out to explore. The city was really cool. An interesting mix of old Italian buildings, new high rises, a huge port, and industry. We got a snack and a glass of wine down by the port and chilled until the other 3 got in around 5 pm or so.
Fri night we headed out for some dinner, got a bit drunk, and enjoyed the night out at some bars in a large outdoor area with a few hundred people.
Sat we woke up around 10 am and decided that we all wanted to go to Cinque Terre. This was about a 1.5 - 2 hour ride from Genova but it was def worth it. There are five towns 9 km apart and you can hike from one town to the next.
We started at Monterosso and hiked up into the mountains for the longest of the five hikes (I think). Unfortunately, because we started too late, we ended up only hiking Monterosso and Vernazza, but it was still amazing. You hike up into the mountains, through vineyards and crazy scenery and for about two hours walk along cliffs and the sea. Finally, you round a cliff and there, nestled in a tiny bay, is the small town of Vernazza. It had a ton of great restaurants so we stopped to get some food and then spent another hour or two exploring and enjoying the perfect weather, before catching a train back to Genova.
Sat night put a bit of a damper on things. After a good dinner, we headed out to the outdoor bar area where we were all enjoying ourselves when Greta realized her purse had been stolen. Luckily her passport wasn't in it, but her train tickets and money and stuff was, so it really kinda killed the night. We headed home all a bit down.
We woke up on Sunday (Easter) and decided to go to the famous aquarium in Genova (apparently the second biggest in the world). However, we didn't anticipate that everybody in the entire city would be there because everything else would be closed. So we had to wait on a long line and it was cold and rainy and windy and everybody was a bit grumpy. Once we finally got inside we all were much happier and we browsed the aquatic life along with 1000000000 little screaming Italian kids.
When we got out, we walked around the harbor and the docks for a while taking everything in. Then Greta, Chris, Kellen, and Kat went to go get new train tickets for Greta and Chris and Steph and I went off to explore on our own. We found some cool buildings and a sweet farmer's market with amazing cheese, meats, and wines. We all met back up before dinner.
For dinner we found an amazing pizza place and had a nice long dinner, where eventually the waitstaff forgot about us because the sat us downstairs, away from the main floor of the restaurant (oops haha). We headed back to the hotel and somehow managed to find Casino Royale, the movie, on in English which was perfect.
Sunday, we woke up late, checked out, and explored a bit more until we had to catch our trains home. Finally we got back into Geneva around 9 pm, and I got home to Arzier around 10. Apparently it didn't stop snowing the entire weekend and as of last night, was still snowing! I would say there was about 2 feet down, and would def be considered a blizzard in the US.
Today, seeing as I just woke up, I think I'll stay around the house. I have a take-home exam to do and then class is officially over and our ISP period starts!
Here are pics from this weekend - Part I - Part II
We left early Fri morning, around 7 am, from Geneva, and after almost missing our train from Nyon to Geneva and sprinting through the train station, we settled in for the long first train to Milano, Italy. It was nearly blizzarding as we left Switzerland. The first train was about 4 hours and finally we made it to Milano after the incredible tardiness of the train once the Italian authorities took over at the boarder.
From Milano, we took another train that seemed to never end to Genova. Me, Steph, and Kat were on an early train and Chris, Kellen, and Greta were on the later train. So the 3 of us got to the hotel after an insane bus ride, checked in, and headed out to explore. The city was really cool. An interesting mix of old Italian buildings, new high rises, a huge port, and industry. We got a snack and a glass of wine down by the port and chilled until the other 3 got in around 5 pm or so.
Fri night we headed out for some dinner, got a bit drunk, and enjoyed the night out at some bars in a large outdoor area with a few hundred people.
Sat we woke up around 10 am and decided that we all wanted to go to Cinque Terre. This was about a 1.5 - 2 hour ride from Genova but it was def worth it. There are five towns 9 km apart and you can hike from one town to the next.
We started at Monterosso and hiked up into the mountains for the longest of the five hikes (I think). Unfortunately, because we started too late, we ended up only hiking Monterosso and Vernazza, but it was still amazing. You hike up into the mountains, through vineyards and crazy scenery and for about two hours walk along cliffs and the sea. Finally, you round a cliff and there, nestled in a tiny bay, is the small town of Vernazza. It had a ton of great restaurants so we stopped to get some food and then spent another hour or two exploring and enjoying the perfect weather, before catching a train back to Genova.
Sat night put a bit of a damper on things. After a good dinner, we headed out to the outdoor bar area where we were all enjoying ourselves when Greta realized her purse had been stolen. Luckily her passport wasn't in it, but her train tickets and money and stuff was, so it really kinda killed the night. We headed home all a bit down.
We woke up on Sunday (Easter) and decided to go to the famous aquarium in Genova (apparently the second biggest in the world). However, we didn't anticipate that everybody in the entire city would be there because everything else would be closed. So we had to wait on a long line and it was cold and rainy and windy and everybody was a bit grumpy. Once we finally got inside we all were much happier and we browsed the aquatic life along with 1000000000 little screaming Italian kids.
When we got out, we walked around the harbor and the docks for a while taking everything in. Then Greta, Chris, Kellen, and Kat went to go get new train tickets for Greta and Chris and Steph and I went off to explore on our own. We found some cool buildings and a sweet farmer's market with amazing cheese, meats, and wines. We all met back up before dinner.
For dinner we found an amazing pizza place and had a nice long dinner, where eventually the waitstaff forgot about us because the sat us downstairs, away from the main floor of the restaurant (oops haha). We headed back to the hotel and somehow managed to find Casino Royale, the movie, on in English which was perfect.
Sunday, we woke up late, checked out, and explored a bit more until we had to catch our trains home. Finally we got back into Geneva around 9 pm, and I got home to Arzier around 10. Apparently it didn't stop snowing the entire weekend and as of last night, was still snowing! I would say there was about 2 feet down, and would def be considered a blizzard in the US.
Today, seeing as I just woke up, I think I'll stay around the house. I have a take-home exam to do and then class is officially over and our ISP period starts!
Here are pics from this weekend - Part I - Part II
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Ma Famille!
Here are a few pictures of my host family (mostly from today's trip)
Nice and early in the morning in the car...
(From L to R: Chiara, Antoine, Daniella, Tiff - Nic's Girlfriend, and Nic)
Outside of the water park
(From L to R: Chiara, Georges, Tiff, Nic, Daniella, Antoine)
Me and the fam
Vasco!!!!! (my host dog!)
Nice and early in the morning in the car...(From L to R: Chiara, Antoine, Daniella, Tiff - Nic's Girlfriend, and Nic)
Outside of the water park(From L to R: Chiara, Georges, Tiff, Nic, Daniella, Antoine)
Me and the fam
Vasco!!!!! (my host dog!)
March 16, 2008
Ah so the rest of this week was tre bon.
Weds was open for research so I did some work around the house in the morning, and then headed in to meet Alex, Greta, Steph, and Kat for lunch. Chris was supposed to show but messed up his bus schedule and ended up not coming.
After lunch, Tina and I headed over to the Salvation Army in Geneva to do some research for our FSS papers on Homelessness in Switzerland. It was pretty interesting and we learned there is a ton of resources available for people but it seems that generally they do not take advantage of. Also, it seems as though many of the homeless/beggars are immigrants and therefore, Switzerland is now the most xenophobic place ive ever seen.
Thursday we had a stupid cultural reflection on our trip to Paris/Brussels in class in the morning and then instead of having French class, we went with our teachers to the ICRC (Red Cross) museum. It was actually really cool and really nicely done.
Friday we had a short meeting at the South Centre in the morning, a NGO that deals with promoting South-South trade. The weather was perfect-finally-and after we all grabbed some sandwiches and headed to a small park in Geneva. A bunch of us hung out and played some frisbee and even managed to hit a local Genevian in the face with the frisbee (way to go Chris) and get yelled at haha. But seriously, who walks in the middle of a frisbee game and doesn't even look?!?
Friday night David and I headed into Nyon around 9 and met up with Alex, Chris, Steph, and Greta. We drank for a while on a pier and then went to the Fisherman's Pub, our fav pub, and proceeded to throughourly enjoy the night. Dave and I caught the last train out of Nyon at 12:17 and rode in a semi-mosh pit of drunk local kids (most of whom were under the age of 17, making me feel like an old man). As we got off the train in Arzier, I hear my name, and my h-mom is in her car apparently picking up Chiara and her bf who were also somewhere on the train. Needless to say, not exactly who I wanted to interact with at 1 am but it was nice to get a ride haha.
Sat morning I woke up with a bit of a headache, shook it off, and went with Dave and Rikki down to Sus-Chatel to Jake's house (its about a ten min ride down my mountain on the train, about three or four towns over). We studied for our French final for a while and then met up with Jeong-Ki to go for a hike. We hiked up a few trails for about two hours and then decided to catch the train back home. I chilled for a while, and then ate some dinner, and then Dave and I headed down into Nyon to celebrate St. Patty's day.
The Fisherman's Pub was having a big celebration because its an Irish/English pub, and so a whole bunch of the group showed up (like 15 or so), and it turned out to be a really good night. There was a really funny duo of Irish/French guys singing, and obviously lots of singing and drinking. We all got cool hats that look like big Guinness beers attached to a clover. We caught the last train out of Nyon and sadly had to leave the group.
(Me and our very drunk friend, Ash, a British guy who's workin in Nyon and playing rugby on the side, thus the cast)
This morning, I woke up nice and early around 9, and we had a big nice breakfast. We had pancakes (which really resembled crepes more especially since we ate them with our hands), bacon, fruit, sausage, and eggs. At about 11, my family and I headed out to AquaPark, an indoor water park on the other side of the lake, about an hour away.
We got there around 12:30 and for about the next four hours we had a lot of fun. There were about 7 water slides, none especially big or insane, but still fun. There were also wave pools and a cool spa section with Saunas and stuff. It was just really nice to hang out with the family and have fun and feel really included and comfortable. We all had a really good time, even Georges and Daniella were sliding away! We left, had a small late picnic, and then headed back home. The whole car slept on the way home, and we got home to cold cold rain. We ran inside, grabbed a nice cup of tea, and then spent most of the rest of the early evening playing with Vasco! It was glorious to say the least.
Here's the water park haha!
We had an awesome dinner of steak avec cafe au paris (a kinda hamburger thing with amazing sauce on top), and some potatoes and some really good true Bordeaux wine. It was a really good end to a really good day.
This week is a short one, but we have a few assignments due in the next few days. On Weds I also have a meeting set up with the head of the Special Finance Programme at the ILO to discuss my thesis and some questions I have. And then, on Friday, Greta, Steph, Kat, Chris, Kellen, and I are headed to Genoa, Italy for the long Easter weekend. Should be very fun.
That's all for now, I can't believe its half way through March already.
Weds was open for research so I did some work around the house in the morning, and then headed in to meet Alex, Greta, Steph, and Kat for lunch. Chris was supposed to show but messed up his bus schedule and ended up not coming.
After lunch, Tina and I headed over to the Salvation Army in Geneva to do some research for our FSS papers on Homelessness in Switzerland. It was pretty interesting and we learned there is a ton of resources available for people but it seems that generally they do not take advantage of. Also, it seems as though many of the homeless/beggars are immigrants and therefore, Switzerland is now the most xenophobic place ive ever seen.
Thursday we had a stupid cultural reflection on our trip to Paris/Brussels in class in the morning and then instead of having French class, we went with our teachers to the ICRC (Red Cross) museum. It was actually really cool and really nicely done.
Friday we had a short meeting at the South Centre in the morning, a NGO that deals with promoting South-South trade. The weather was perfect-finally-and after we all grabbed some sandwiches and headed to a small park in Geneva. A bunch of us hung out and played some frisbee and even managed to hit a local Genevian in the face with the frisbee (way to go Chris) and get yelled at haha. But seriously, who walks in the middle of a frisbee game and doesn't even look?!?
Friday night David and I headed into Nyon around 9 and met up with Alex, Chris, Steph, and Greta. We drank for a while on a pier and then went to the Fisherman's Pub, our fav pub, and proceeded to throughourly enjoy the night. Dave and I caught the last train out of Nyon at 12:17 and rode in a semi-mosh pit of drunk local kids (most of whom were under the age of 17, making me feel like an old man). As we got off the train in Arzier, I hear my name, and my h-mom is in her car apparently picking up Chiara and her bf who were also somewhere on the train. Needless to say, not exactly who I wanted to interact with at 1 am but it was nice to get a ride haha.
Sat morning I woke up with a bit of a headache, shook it off, and went with Dave and Rikki down to Sus-Chatel to Jake's house (its about a ten min ride down my mountain on the train, about three or four towns over). We studied for our French final for a while and then met up with Jeong-Ki to go for a hike. We hiked up a few trails for about two hours and then decided to catch the train back home. I chilled for a while, and then ate some dinner, and then Dave and I headed down into Nyon to celebrate St. Patty's day.
The Fisherman's Pub was having a big celebration because its an Irish/English pub, and so a whole bunch of the group showed up (like 15 or so), and it turned out to be a really good night. There was a really funny duo of Irish/French guys singing, and obviously lots of singing and drinking. We all got cool hats that look like big Guinness beers attached to a clover. We caught the last train out of Nyon and sadly had to leave the group.
(Me and our very drunk friend, Ash, a British guy who's workin in Nyon and playing rugby on the side, thus the cast)
This morning, I woke up nice and early around 9, and we had a big nice breakfast. We had pancakes (which really resembled crepes more especially since we ate them with our hands), bacon, fruit, sausage, and eggs. At about 11, my family and I headed out to AquaPark, an indoor water park on the other side of the lake, about an hour away.
We got there around 12:30 and for about the next four hours we had a lot of fun. There were about 7 water slides, none especially big or insane, but still fun. There were also wave pools and a cool spa section with Saunas and stuff. It was just really nice to hang out with the family and have fun and feel really included and comfortable. We all had a really good time, even Georges and Daniella were sliding away! We left, had a small late picnic, and then headed back home. The whole car slept on the way home, and we got home to cold cold rain. We ran inside, grabbed a nice cup of tea, and then spent most of the rest of the early evening playing with Vasco! It was glorious to say the least.
Here's the water park haha!
We had an awesome dinner of steak avec cafe au paris (a kinda hamburger thing with amazing sauce on top), and some potatoes and some really good true Bordeaux wine. It was a really good end to a really good day.
This week is a short one, but we have a few assignments due in the next few days. On Weds I also have a meeting set up with the head of the Special Finance Programme at the ILO to discuss my thesis and some questions I have. And then, on Friday, Greta, Steph, Kat, Chris, Kellen, and I are headed to Genoa, Italy for the long Easter weekend. Should be very fun.
That's all for now, I can't believe its half way through March already.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
March 11, 2008
Blah, what a rainy/snowy week its been so far, and there's only more rain in the forecast. I'm ready for spring. now.
The past two days have been really long. We have been meeting at the UN, so that means we have to meet earlier than usual to get through security and get cleared for the meetings. On Monday we met with UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development) and UNDP (UN Development Programme). They were both pretty interesting breifings, and hopefully the guys who presented can help me with my thesis later on.
Today we went back to the UN and had briefings from the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Org) which was pretty interesting. The woman who spoke to us gave a really interesting presentation on what constitutes intell prop and diff international laws about it and what the org does. After, a member of the WTO came to talk to us and was really boring. She was from the press corps in the WTO and so all of her answers were long winded and avoided our questions.
Tomorrow we have a day for "study and research". I think I'm going to try and get some work done on my second cultural paper that is due next week. I'm researching the issue (or non-issue) of homeless people in Geneva, since they seem to be non-existent. Hopefully I'll be able to talk to some people at some shelters in Geneva or at the social service office to get some more details. Its weird to actually have a bit of work to do. We have this paper due next Thurs, our final proposal for our thesis due next Tues, and then our French final next week as well. I think i may actually be a bit stressed (haha).
Then next weekend me, Steph, Chris, Kellen, Kat, and Greta are going to Genoa, Italy for a long weekend we have off for Easter. After that, we have a take-home final in our ISS class, and then we are done with official class on march 27th (I think). Then, from march 27th til the end of the program, we have to research and write our thesis. Should be interesting!
I'm wiped, time to go chill and catch up on some much needed sleep (I'm also a bit sick, boo for colds!)
The past two days have been really long. We have been meeting at the UN, so that means we have to meet earlier than usual to get through security and get cleared for the meetings. On Monday we met with UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development) and UNDP (UN Development Programme). They were both pretty interesting breifings, and hopefully the guys who presented can help me with my thesis later on.
Today we went back to the UN and had briefings from the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Org) which was pretty interesting. The woman who spoke to us gave a really interesting presentation on what constitutes intell prop and diff international laws about it and what the org does. After, a member of the WTO came to talk to us and was really boring. She was from the press corps in the WTO and so all of her answers were long winded and avoided our questions.
Tomorrow we have a day for "study and research". I think I'm going to try and get some work done on my second cultural paper that is due next week. I'm researching the issue (or non-issue) of homeless people in Geneva, since they seem to be non-existent. Hopefully I'll be able to talk to some people at some shelters in Geneva or at the social service office to get some more details. Its weird to actually have a bit of work to do. We have this paper due next Thurs, our final proposal for our thesis due next Tues, and then our French final next week as well. I think i may actually be a bit stressed (haha).
Then next weekend me, Steph, Chris, Kellen, Kat, and Greta are going to Genoa, Italy for a long weekend we have off for Easter. After that, we have a take-home final in our ISS class, and then we are done with official class on march 27th (I think). Then, from march 27th til the end of the program, we have to research and write our thesis. Should be interesting!
I'm wiped, time to go chill and catch up on some much needed sleep (I'm also a bit sick, boo for colds!)
Sunday, March 9, 2008
March 9, 2008
So it's been a while, but this week was pretty quiet. We had Monday off as a recovery day for the Paris trip, Tuesday we had an interesting professor come to talk to us about basic political economic, weds was a review session, and Thursday we went to the ILO to have a briefing on child labor which was actually pretty interesting.
Jena also came to visit this weekend! She came in on thursday night so I just stayed around Nyon after French class and met her at the airport around 7:45. We dropped her stuff off at the hostel she was staying in, and then walked around Geneva for a little while (it was freezing though, so not that long), and grabbed some dinner. After dinner I headed home.
We met back up in the morning because I only had a few short meetings at school. Jena, Steph, and I walked around Old Town and Steph and I gave her an abridged tour, which she seemed to enjoy. Then I headed back for a short ISP meeting with Alexandre (my prof) and Jena met and hung out with some of my friends. We all grabbed some lunch and then headed back to SIT so I could pick up my graded papers and talk to Aline (another prof) about my cultural paper due in a few weeks (the meeting turned out to be wayyyyy too long, way to be a good sport jena!). Turns out SIT doesn't grade hard at all, because I got A's on both my papers with putting minimal effort into them (and I mean that hahah).
Around 4pm, Jena and I caught a train to Luzern, a cool little city in the middle of the country. The ride there was about 3 hrs, but we met up with a really nice couple and they talked to us almost the entire way there. The city was beautiful when we arrived and there was a crazy light show going on. The city is best known for its covered bridges (see pictures) from the medieval ages. We watched the show for a while, headed to our hotel, and then grabbed some dinner (after wandering around the city for about an hour looking for a good, cheap place). After dinner we headed to a little jazz club and grabbed a drink, but we were exhausted and called it a night.
Yesterday (Sat.), we woke up and set out to explore the city. We walked all over the city (which isn't very large), and hiked up to the old part of the city which is actually enclosed in a fortified wall from centuries ago. Unfortunately, the wall was closed during the winter, so we couldn't go in it and walk along the top of it. After exploring for a few more hours, we went into a cool little art museum, a personal collection of modernist art, including a ton of Picasso. After, we got some raclette (for jena's sake), and chilled in a cool restaurant by the water for a while. Then we went back and chilled in the hotel until dinner. We grabbed some dinner, and then went to a cool little bar for a while. We called it an early night because I wasn't feeling great, woke up this morning, checked out, and now I'm home.
It was really nice to take a break from the group for a few days and be with a good friend again. It was also really intriguing to get Jena's take on Switzerland (she loved it and thought it was beautiful, but couldn't believe how quiet it was at night and stuff). I think we had a good, relaxing weekend, and I can't wait to get a taste of Barcelona life in April (hopefully).
This week should be interesting. We have the last cultural paper for our FSS due in a week and a half, so I gotta start working on that. We are also headed to the UNCTAD (UN Center on Trade and Development), as well as a few other IO's that deal with economics and politics, which is what I'm really interested in. Other than that, we have only two or three weeks of actually class left before we begin out ISP period. Pretty crazy. I can't believe how fast time is flying by here, I have less that two months left before I head home.
Luzern Pics
Jena also came to visit this weekend! She came in on thursday night so I just stayed around Nyon after French class and met her at the airport around 7:45. We dropped her stuff off at the hostel she was staying in, and then walked around Geneva for a little while (it was freezing though, so not that long), and grabbed some dinner. After dinner I headed home.
We met back up in the morning because I only had a few short meetings at school. Jena, Steph, and I walked around Old Town and Steph and I gave her an abridged tour, which she seemed to enjoy. Then I headed back for a short ISP meeting with Alexandre (my prof) and Jena met and hung out with some of my friends. We all grabbed some lunch and then headed back to SIT so I could pick up my graded papers and talk to Aline (another prof) about my cultural paper due in a few weeks (the meeting turned out to be wayyyyy too long, way to be a good sport jena!). Turns out SIT doesn't grade hard at all, because I got A's on both my papers with putting minimal effort into them (and I mean that hahah).
Around 4pm, Jena and I caught a train to Luzern, a cool little city in the middle of the country. The ride there was about 3 hrs, but we met up with a really nice couple and they talked to us almost the entire way there. The city was beautiful when we arrived and there was a crazy light show going on. The city is best known for its covered bridges (see pictures) from the medieval ages. We watched the show for a while, headed to our hotel, and then grabbed some dinner (after wandering around the city for about an hour looking for a good, cheap place). After dinner we headed to a little jazz club and grabbed a drink, but we were exhausted and called it a night.
Yesterday (Sat.), we woke up and set out to explore the city. We walked all over the city (which isn't very large), and hiked up to the old part of the city which is actually enclosed in a fortified wall from centuries ago. Unfortunately, the wall was closed during the winter, so we couldn't go in it and walk along the top of it. After exploring for a few more hours, we went into a cool little art museum, a personal collection of modernist art, including a ton of Picasso. After, we got some raclette (for jena's sake), and chilled in a cool restaurant by the water for a while. Then we went back and chilled in the hotel until dinner. We grabbed some dinner, and then went to a cool little bar for a while. We called it an early night because I wasn't feeling great, woke up this morning, checked out, and now I'm home.
It was really nice to take a break from the group for a few days and be with a good friend again. It was also really intriguing to get Jena's take on Switzerland (she loved it and thought it was beautiful, but couldn't believe how quiet it was at night and stuff). I think we had a good, relaxing weekend, and I can't wait to get a taste of Barcelona life in April (hopefully).
This week should be interesting. We have the last cultural paper for our FSS due in a week and a half, so I gotta start working on that. We are also headed to the UNCTAD (UN Center on Trade and Development), as well as a few other IO's that deal with economics and politics, which is what I'm really interested in. Other than that, we have only two or three weeks of actually class left before we begin out ISP period. Pretty crazy. I can't believe how fast time is flying by here, I have less that two months left before I head home.
Luzern Pics
Monday, March 3, 2008
Pictures!
I think I finally figured out how to link to my facebook albums for anybody not on facebook. So hopefully these links will work:
Geneva Orientation
Week 1
Week 2
Bern
Brussels
Paris
Versailles
Geneva Orientation
Week 1
Week 2
Bern
Brussels
Paris
Versailles
March 3, 2008
(Just a warning, this is going to be a long post)
I got back yesterday from a week of traveling with the program. We were in Brussels from Sunday 2/24 to Weds 2/27 and Paris from Weds 2/27 to Sunday 3/2.
We'll start with Brussels:
We got there on Sunday after a long day of traveling and walked about twenty mins from the train station to the hotel. We were a little nervous because we had all heard mixed reviews of the city and the walk from the train station to the hotel looked like we were walking through Queens. We got to the hotel and headed out to explore the city.
Well, we were wrong about the city. It was awesome. A few of us headed out to explore, and somehow found ourselves sitting at an outdoor cafe drinkin Hoegardden (a great beer) on tap. After some more walking, we picked up some bottles of wine for the night and went back to the hotel to drink and chill for a while. We ended up gettin a bit drunk and feasting on real Belgian waffles and fries for dinner.
Monday we woke up and headed to the European Commission, a division of the European Union. We had a few really interesting lectures and then were free for the afternoon. We headed out to explore further and found the Grand Place, the main square. It was unbelievably stunning and we were all taken back by it. Then we went back to nap in the hotel and get ready for the night. That night we met up with Kellen's friend who happened to be there with his study abroad program and a group of 10 of us got dinner in this small alley with great deals on three course meals with the famous mussels from brussels. After, we headed to this amazing bar called Delerium Cafe with over 2000 beers available. Needless to say, it was a good night.
Tuesday we woke up early and were quite unhappy and a bit hungover, but headed out to the Free University of Brussels for a day of lectures. The lectures were horrible and boring, and the rain and wind outside only added to the unhappiness. Finally, around 5pm we finished up school stuff, and headed back to the hotel. There we crashed for a bit, and then met back up with Kellen's friend and grabbed dinner at a great Vietnamese place. Then, it was back to Delerium cafe for a crazy night where nearly the two entire study abroad programs were present. From there we headed to a really smoky tiny Irish bar with a small dance floor and danced until like 2:30am. We left, and had to drag Greta home cause she was a bit drunk hahah but it was all fun.
Weds we woke up quite tired and eventually headed out to the train station. We got into Paris around 4 and crashed for a bit. Then we got up and me, Chris, Greta, and Kellen headed out to explore. Our hotel was in the Sacre Coeur area, not a great area. We headed up to the church (Sacre Coeur), which is on the top of a hill that overlooks the whole city. We grabbed dinner in a really cute French cafe and then decided we had to go see the Eiffel Tower. After a bit of confusion on the Metro and a long walk down by the river, we finally found it and it was well worth the walk. At about 11pm we went back to the hotel and crashed.
On Thursday, we woke up early and went to a meeting at UNESCO (United Nations Education, Social, and Cultural Organization) where a guy talked to us about the Education policies and efforts of UNESCO. At about 11am we finished up and Chris, Kellen, Greta, Kat, Steph and I headed out to explore. We went to a cafe and grabbed some crepes for lunch and then went to Notre Dame. It was really impressive, but really crowded because it was rainy and ugly outside. From there Kat, Kellen, Chris, and I decided to go to the Pompidou, the modern art museum, and walked around for a few hours. After feeling fully confused by most of the art, we met back up with Steph and Greta and decided to go the Catacombs (the old old Paris buried underneath the streets). After about an hour ride on the metro, we arrived to find out that they are closed for renovation. So we went back to the hotel and chilled. We drank a bit and finally headed out around 9:30pm to the Latin Quarter for some dinner. After dinner we met up with a few of Stephs friends and went to a small bar for a few hours. Wasn't super exciting but fairly chill.
Friday morning we woke up early again, and had a few people speak to us on French foreign policy. The first speaker was everything stereotypical about French people, very arrogant and responded to every questions with "France is amazing and doing everything amazing" more or less. The second speaker spoke to us about the attempt to create a Mediterranean Union for economic and cooperative help which was fairly interesting.
After the lectures, we grabbed lunch over by the Louvre and I had my first croquette monsieur (ham and cheese toasted, its a French specialty). Then we headed into the Louvre which was, of course, amazing. It is unbelievably huge and I probably could have spent about 5 days looking at everything in it. But we saw the obligatory Mona Lisa and Winged Victory, and walked around for a few hours. After we grabbed some desert crepes and went back to the hotel.
That night, nobody really wanted to go out, but me, Greta, Kat, and Steph went to meet up with Steph's friends at a bar. Here we got some pitchers of beer and taught some French guys how to play beer pong (and then thoroughly beat them). Steph got pretty drunk and inaugurated the trip with the first vomit on the Metro (it was pretty gross haha).
Saturday morning was a bit rough, but we woke up around 9 and decided to head out to Versailles. Me, Chris, Kat, Kellen, and Ava all went and bought our train tickets and Palace tickets together, which proved to save a lot of time in the end. I wish I could even begin to describe the place. It was easily the coolest man-made thing I have ever seen. To even imagine that somebody spent the time and money to build a place like that is absurd. I'll post links to the pictures, because words really cannot do it justice.
Saturday night was Leah's 21st birthday so we all went to this cool bar called the Lizard Lounge and drank for a while. In typical American 21st style, Leah got drunk and puked on the streets of Paris, ahhh what a birthday story haha.
Sunday morning we woke up late, nearly missed the train back home, but caught it at nearly the last minute. We got back around 5pm. The week was great. Not only did we see a ton of stuff, but it was nice to get really close with a small group of people. It was hard to do everything as a large group, so we were forced to hang out with smaller groups. I really can't describe everything I saw and hopefully my pictures will do justice to the amazing this I saw. Brussels was awesome and way underrated, and Paris was - well, Paris!
I got back yesterday from a week of traveling with the program. We were in Brussels from Sunday 2/24 to Weds 2/27 and Paris from Weds 2/27 to Sunday 3/2.
We'll start with Brussels:
We got there on Sunday after a long day of traveling and walked about twenty mins from the train station to the hotel. We were a little nervous because we had all heard mixed reviews of the city and the walk from the train station to the hotel looked like we were walking through Queens. We got to the hotel and headed out to explore the city.
Well, we were wrong about the city. It was awesome. A few of us headed out to explore, and somehow found ourselves sitting at an outdoor cafe drinkin Hoegardden (a great beer) on tap. After some more walking, we picked up some bottles of wine for the night and went back to the hotel to drink and chill for a while. We ended up gettin a bit drunk and feasting on real Belgian waffles and fries for dinner.
Monday we woke up and headed to the European Commission, a division of the European Union. We had a few really interesting lectures and then were free for the afternoon. We headed out to explore further and found the Grand Place, the main square. It was unbelievably stunning and we were all taken back by it. Then we went back to nap in the hotel and get ready for the night. That night we met up with Kellen's friend who happened to be there with his study abroad program and a group of 10 of us got dinner in this small alley with great deals on three course meals with the famous mussels from brussels. After, we headed to this amazing bar called Delerium Cafe with over 2000 beers available. Needless to say, it was a good night.
Tuesday we woke up early and were quite unhappy and a bit hungover, but headed out to the Free University of Brussels for a day of lectures. The lectures were horrible and boring, and the rain and wind outside only added to the unhappiness. Finally, around 5pm we finished up school stuff, and headed back to the hotel. There we crashed for a bit, and then met back up with Kellen's friend and grabbed dinner at a great Vietnamese place. Then, it was back to Delerium cafe for a crazy night where nearly the two entire study abroad programs were present. From there we headed to a really smoky tiny Irish bar with a small dance floor and danced until like 2:30am. We left, and had to drag Greta home cause she was a bit drunk hahah but it was all fun.
Weds we woke up quite tired and eventually headed out to the train station. We got into Paris around 4 and crashed for a bit. Then we got up and me, Chris, Greta, and Kellen headed out to explore. Our hotel was in the Sacre Coeur area, not a great area. We headed up to the church (Sacre Coeur), which is on the top of a hill that overlooks the whole city. We grabbed dinner in a really cute French cafe and then decided we had to go see the Eiffel Tower. After a bit of confusion on the Metro and a long walk down by the river, we finally found it and it was well worth the walk. At about 11pm we went back to the hotel and crashed.
On Thursday, we woke up early and went to a meeting at UNESCO (United Nations Education, Social, and Cultural Organization) where a guy talked to us about the Education policies and efforts of UNESCO. At about 11am we finished up and Chris, Kellen, Greta, Kat, Steph and I headed out to explore. We went to a cafe and grabbed some crepes for lunch and then went to Notre Dame. It was really impressive, but really crowded because it was rainy and ugly outside. From there Kat, Kellen, Chris, and I decided to go to the Pompidou, the modern art museum, and walked around for a few hours. After feeling fully confused by most of the art, we met back up with Steph and Greta and decided to go the Catacombs (the old old Paris buried underneath the streets). After about an hour ride on the metro, we arrived to find out that they are closed for renovation. So we went back to the hotel and chilled. We drank a bit and finally headed out around 9:30pm to the Latin Quarter for some dinner. After dinner we met up with a few of Stephs friends and went to a small bar for a few hours. Wasn't super exciting but fairly chill.
Friday morning we woke up early again, and had a few people speak to us on French foreign policy. The first speaker was everything stereotypical about French people, very arrogant and responded to every questions with "France is amazing and doing everything amazing" more or less. The second speaker spoke to us about the attempt to create a Mediterranean Union for economic and cooperative help which was fairly interesting.
After the lectures, we grabbed lunch over by the Louvre and I had my first croquette monsieur (ham and cheese toasted, its a French specialty). Then we headed into the Louvre which was, of course, amazing. It is unbelievably huge and I probably could have spent about 5 days looking at everything in it. But we saw the obligatory Mona Lisa and Winged Victory, and walked around for a few hours. After we grabbed some desert crepes and went back to the hotel.
That night, nobody really wanted to go out, but me, Greta, Kat, and Steph went to meet up with Steph's friends at a bar. Here we got some pitchers of beer and taught some French guys how to play beer pong (and then thoroughly beat them). Steph got pretty drunk and inaugurated the trip with the first vomit on the Metro (it was pretty gross haha).
Saturday morning was a bit rough, but we woke up around 9 and decided to head out to Versailles. Me, Chris, Kat, Kellen, and Ava all went and bought our train tickets and Palace tickets together, which proved to save a lot of time in the end. I wish I could even begin to describe the place. It was easily the coolest man-made thing I have ever seen. To even imagine that somebody spent the time and money to build a place like that is absurd. I'll post links to the pictures, because words really cannot do it justice.
Saturday night was Leah's 21st birthday so we all went to this cool bar called the Lizard Lounge and drank for a while. In typical American 21st style, Leah got drunk and puked on the streets of Paris, ahhh what a birthday story haha.
Sunday morning we woke up late, nearly missed the train back home, but caught it at nearly the last minute. We got back around 5pm. The week was great. Not only did we see a ton of stuff, but it was nice to get really close with a small group of people. It was hard to do everything as a large group, so we were forced to hang out with smaller groups. I really can't describe everything I saw and hopefully my pictures will do justice to the amazing this I saw. Brussels was awesome and way underrated, and Paris was - well, Paris!
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