Despite a rocky start, I had a great time visiting Switzerland this weekend. I had trouble getting money and the other people on the trip didn't want to lend me any. But after using euros to get swiss francs, I had a great time looking at the waterfront in Geneva and exploring the old quarter. The next day, I did more of the same: I went on a cruise, had a drink by the water, and had fondue in the old quarter.
My trip started early (for me)! Our TGV train left at around 8 am, so we needed to wake up before 7 am to take the RER to the TGV station. The Gare de Lyon station was very impressive. I wish that I had taken some more time to marvel at the high ceiling but we were in a rush to get on the train. Also since this was a new way of traveling, I didn't feel as comfortable taking time to look around: I wanted to get into my seat as quickly as possible.
I enjoyed riding the train as something different. The train was about 15 cars long and there was a little bar in the middle. I didn't go walking around but it was cool to see a nice train. The ride was very smooth and it was nice to not have to worry about having to prepare for landing. I didn't realize that the train stopped multiple times before going to Geneva so I almost got off at an incorrect stop but luckily I realized just as I stepped off the train that I was not, in fact, in Geneva yet.
Arriving at Geneva was a bit tense for me as I didn't have money and the other students weren't helpful. So we got there and my debit card did not work at the machines because my pin number was too long. I also have a credit card but that is not too useful because it does not have a pin number at all and I don't know if I informed that bank that I would be in Geneva. Regardless, I didn't have any money but the other people didn't want to withdraw extra money and have me pay them back. I could have been more forceful but I asked a couple people directly and they shrugged off my request. One thing that complicated matters was that the rest of the group was planning to go to CERN and I was not interested in that so I was planning to do my own thing in Switzerland.
Regardless, they more or less left on their trip. I was pretty annoyed. I walked to the hotel to try to get my room but it was not clean yet so I went around and looked for ATMs. Eventually, it occured to me that I had 60 euros so I could exchange those for swiss francs. So once I did that, I felt a lot better but I was still in a rancorous mood. Meanwhile, one other student in our group, Steven, had arrived earlier and he was supposed to meet me at the hotel. There were some communication problems with him and the rest of the group, but suffice it to say that we met up and there were not too many problems. The hotel gave me my room without too much trouble.
As I said, this was a rocky start, but after getting settled and getting some money, the trip became much better for me. Steven and I walked around and explored. We walked around the edge of the lake and had a good time seeing the water, the boats, and the nice parks in the area. Among other things, we got to see a number of sculptures, fountains and the famed garden clock.
The old neighborhood, with cobblestone walkways and ivy growing on the old looking walls, had an enjoyable atmosphere. There was an old church that was playing music using the bell tower. We explored a lot of cool shops. In addition to an extravagant chocolate store and a neat modern art store, we saw a scientific antique store. It was closed but in the window I saw a set of teeth that used to be used to teach dentists and a collection of microscopes. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.
The next day, I wandered around on my own and had a great, relaxing day. First, I went to wander around the park. I ended up finding a cruise that went around lake Geneva. In addition to getting a great view of the 140 m high water jet, the cruise gave me a beautiful view of the water and the ice-capped mountains. While I was sitting down on the top deck of the boat, I had a conversation with a family from Nigeria. They had recently moved from Nigeria to live in Geneva. Their daughter was very cute when she was excited about seeing Mont Blanc.
Afterwards, I wanted to relax a bit so I went to a place where I could look at the water and I got a glass of red wine. I sat around, did some GRE vocab and just looked at the water. I think that I have taken a liking to the European idea of sitting and just relaxing. I feel that our trips are always so rushed and I like to just sit around and relax.
Then I returned to the old quarter and walked around a bit. I wanted to get some type of Swiss meal. In my travels, I stumbled upon the Geneva Art and History museum. It was a free day since it was the first of the month - what luck! There were surprisingly few people there but I had a good time looking around in a quiet atmosphere. For some reason, they did not want me to talk pictures, even if I did not use flash. Another oddity was that of the 20 or so people that I saw there, there were no other men. I wonder if this means anything about women taking more time to appreciate art.
After that, I had fondue at a place that I scoped out earlier. It was a very relaxing meal and I enjoyed the Gruyere cheese. There were little birds fluttering about, hopping from table to table. I suspected that they were looking for a tasty piece of bread! The waitress took away the last bit of my bread before I could offer it to the birds.
I went to the train station and sat around for a while since I was early. The train ride was quite nice because I ended up in first class seating. They served us a nice meal. One strange aspect of the trip was that the train was, in my opinion, eerily quiet. Desiring to practice my French, I decided that I wanted to speak with the person across the row from me. I felt weird but I kept vacillating. I kept thinking over and over how I would initiate the conversation: "Bonjour" no "Bonsoir" "Mademoiselle" .. "Parlez-vous Francais?" ... Should I use "tu?" "Parles-tu Francais?" She has an iPod on, will she hear me? Is she sleeping? What if she doesn't speak French? Could I practice my french with you? "Est-ce que je pourrais practiquer mon francais avec vous (tu?)?" Is it too weird to start a conversation like that?... This went on for a while so I spoke to Kevin, one of the kids in my program for a while since that felt safer to me. Fortunately, I did get up the courage to start up a conversation.
I ended up talking (mostly) in French for about an hour with this Russian woman, until the train arrived. In high school, I didn't really see the reason for learning French. However, I can now see the reason. It is very fun to be able to talk to people in French and to hear their opinions on things. This woman was from Russia, was studing business in France and was planning to go to Geneva after she receives her degree. It is cool to meet these people who are so comfortable living internationally! I asked her about how she perceived the US and what stereotypes she had heard - this is a question that I commonly ask. One thing she mentioned is that she felt like Americans had a narrow view of Russians - people from Russians are drunk all the time, poor from communism, wearing the Russian Ushanka hats, etc. This was interesting to me because I do not know anything about contemporary Russia. She also said that she thought that going to Russia would be a much larger culture shock for me than me visiting Europe. I tried to ask her what she meant but she just said that I had to see what it is like for myself. All in all, I had a fun trip. I certainly see the benefits of striking up conversation with others but it is hard to find people who are willing to talk.
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