Category Archives: Life in Geneva

Say Hello. Wave Goodbye.

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Post by Lauren

Canadienne Buffets will simply never be the same. Yes, one of the original fab-five, D, is leaving Geneva to return back to the US after her summer internship with the Lutheran World Federation.

It is definitely a bummer for us as she was one of the first three friends we made in Geneva. However, we knew that goodbyes like this would happen during our time here, as Geneva is a transient city by definition. With 40% foreign residents, people often come and go because assignments usually aren’t permanent. So this week, we sadly learn it firsthand!!

L hosted a goodbye party in honor of D this weekend, with the theme “sticks” since the joke was that she is returning to the sticks (to continue studies at UK, in Kentucky). A, D and L came up with this idea that everything had to be served on sticks and I’d have to give them major kudos – it was delicious and memorable.

So, it was a really fun way to bid adieu to D and wish her a bon voyage back to the US. We’ll miss her a lot.

The silver lining of this coming and going thing about Geneva is good friends from Charlotte, S and S, moved here this week. We were really glad they are getting settled well and look forward to great times Swiss style with them.

Gratitude Friday: The Great Outdoors

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Post by Lauren

One of the things I am so grateful for in Geneva is the beautiful parks and green spaces. I wrote about this on a previous post when we first arrived.

However, I am just continually impressed by how the community uses these spaces, especially in the summer when the fountains are on for the kids swimming pleasure. Even better, the ville de Genève hosts tons of extraordinary events outside. These don’t just happen every week, or once a month. There is something literally every day and usually two happening in the same evening. Sadly, we haven’t been able to experience it much this week because of the monsoons, but here are just two ways we have enjoyed it in the last 2 weeks:

# 1 – Free concerts in Parc a la Grange – these are twice a week – Wednesdays and Fridays for the entire summer. There is seating, or you can choose to bring a picnic. Large groups of people meet and picnic together, listening to the music. Gabe and I biked there and enjoyed a little picnic for two.

# 2 – Free movies in Parc Perle du Lac – this happens four times a week. Gabe really wanted to see Top Gun, so we spread the word and had a really nice evening with A & A, D, and C & M last Saturday night.

We loved the spirit of the movie-goers. Someone dressed up as an air-traffic controller, and others brought sparklers. However, the funniest part were the Swiss spoofs on Top Gun they did before hand. You can see the spoof videos as well as more detail on the evening here on A’s post about the evening.

We look forward to trying out the other things but in the meantime, we are just so thankful that Geneva offers these programs and we get to enjoy them in the beautiful open air, gratuits!!!

Bon weekend, everyone!

Rain, rain go away…..

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Post by Lauren

When it rained in Charlotte, it wasn’t a big deal. I mean, it was a good water cooler topic, with people commenting, “ummm…i think its supposed to rain today” and “man, did you hear that crazy storm last night?” but it really wasn’t a show stopper. Mainly because we had cars there. And you’d hop in your car that was really close to the office entrance and drive that car to a grocery store and park really close and then home which was virtually by your door or even completely sans rain with a garage. And you could keep rain gear in your car if the occasion arose to need it.

And as we continue, this post is not meant to discourage public transportation. I am a huge fan and it would rank in one of the top 3 reasons I love Geneva. But, I am certainly developing a whole new appreciation for city-dwellers all over the world. They have this completely different life than what I am used to.

And……sometimes it is not glamourous.

I got my first taste of this when I walked / trammed / bussed home a large house plant from IKEA over the course of a 2 hour adventure. Quite different from my experience buying a plant in the US. Before, I’d roll up to the Home Depot about a mile from my house, pull my car really close, use a cart to load it, and I was set. It would take 10 minutes tops and I wouldn’t break a sweat. A little different carrying a fern a mile and then getting boxed into a tram and needing a rescue effort to get out and home.

And, now, I am learning from rain. Life goes on when it rains, but in a city, it is quite different. You have to be prepared, or else be drenched.

#1 – You have to remember your umbrella. And if you live on a lake, there is a chance of rain most days, so you really should bring it with you at all times. And since we don’t use cars, this means – carry on your person. Here are the contents I already have in my bag this week:
– normal purse stuff – wallet, phone, camera, passport, etc.
– gym clothes and shoes – since i go before French, and then have to carry my clothes and shoes for the next 12 hours. This would be better if Globo Gym didn’t require a clean set of shoes upon entrance, but it is what it is and i have to carry them around in my purse all day after my session
– toiletries from showering at the gym – makeup, hair, comb
– my school books, papers, pens, pencils, highlighters, French dictionary, reading glasses
– my breakfast and lunch for the day – the lunch line is too long with our 15 min break
– my umbrella and rain coat
It makes me tired listing this out. The umbrella and rain coat are the items that really push it though.

# 2 – You have to accommodate your umbrella at all times. On the tram, while you are walking if its not raining anymore but the thing is wet, in stores ( got yelled at for bringing mine in store the other day), and when you reach your destination – whether it be temporary or permanent.

# 3 – You have to navigate your umbrella. On a city street, this can get awkward. I had a showdown with a lady in my neighborhood on the teeny sidewalk. Who was going to jump of the sidewalk and risk death by bus? I ended up raising mine really high to the sky to avoid either of us going into the street…not easy when you are 5’ 2”. However, I am worried I might lose an eye over here to an umbrella showdown.

# 4 – You are permanently damp and icky. But at least everyone is. Just today, I had an appointment with the chiropractor at 6:30. It required an hours worth of connections to get there. It just so happened one of my transfers that I wasn’t familiar with was in the middle of a big downpour burst and doing the turmoil, my umbrella broke and I was soaked to the bone. Good thing I had my gym clothes with me, as guess what I did?

There’s always a bright side to being a bag lady I suppose.

A few tid-bits of Genève history

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Post by Lauren

Now that I am a student, I am learning more about the history of Genève. We actually have some cultural excursions built into our summer French course. On Monday, a professor gave us a walking tour of the area around the University. She said it was the last time she was going to teach us anything in English, so I figured I better report on this one as my facts might get a little screwy in the future when I am trying to digest them en français.

Henri Dufour was one of most important men in Geneva history. He was a Swiss army officer, and engineer and topographer. He helped found the Red Cross along with Henry Dunant.

Our professor said that the windows along Rue de Confederation were designed to maintain the same perspective the entire length of the street. Good to know if I ever decide to paint it!

 

 

T

he population of Geneva doubled by 10,000 in one year in the 16th Century as French and Italian Protestant refugees fled from their countries into Switzerland to escape the massacres. Since it was a walled city for its own protection, they ran out of room and had to go upward. See the different stories and window patterns as you go up?

Note, that in the Reformation, that is why Geneva became the center of commerce and trade – it now housed an extraordinary amount of watchmakers, jewelers, & bankers.

It still be it is harder to find an apartment now in Geneva than back in the day. Current vacancy rate is 0.17% – yes, that is a tenth of 1 percent, not 17%.

Place de la Fusterie and Molard used to be actual ports. Water once was were cafés now are. There were different ports for different goods, like water, food and stone.

Place du Molard, current times

Place du Fusterie, current times

They had to eventually push the Rhone out to make more room for the population. Temple de la Fusterie was a French Protestant Temple after they pushed back the water. Globo Gym is located directly between these two. If only they knew back then.

Pierre du Nitron

We have seen this little rock many a day, but never knew its significance. It was brought in by the glaciers and used to be a place for human sacrifice in the Iron Ages. Later, when the mountain elevations of Switzerland were being mapped, this rock was apparently used as a surveying basis for determining heights for all of Switzerland.

Okay, that is it for now as I need to be a good student and study more French. Au revoir!

I always wanted to be a débutante

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Post by Lauren

It’s official….I am now a student of the University of Genève. Actually, I am just taking a 3 week intensive French course. The unfortunate thing about it is that I’ll have to turn in my handy student ID on August 6th. I was looking forward to the student discounts!!

We had to take a knowledge test yesterday and then all anxiously arrived early today to see what class we were placed in. I am an A2. Which means, I am not the lowest in the bunch, but still a beginner. And did you know that “beginner” in French is “débutante” ? Sweet, I always wanted to be a débutante.

University of Geneva

It turns out, A2’s are a little bit advanced for my pace. The teacher only speaks in French to teach us. Plus, I am the only one in my classroom who doesn’t already know a second language. People are working on their 3rd, 4th and 5th ones. I am a bit behind but am determined that I will get better faster by swimming in the bigger pond.

In my class, we had to say where we are from and group whether it was masculine or feminine. Here are a few of the countries. Guess which one I am from?

Origins of our class

I missed one because I couldn’t understand her, but it sounded exotic. Also, I shouldn’t leave out the fact that our professor lives part time in Switzerland, France and Morocco. These next 3 weeks are going to be interesting…..

 

Fête de la Tomate & Carouge

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Post by Lauren

Friday night, we checked out the Fête de la Tomate in Carouge. The Swiss love their festivals (we have seen/been to 4 already in our short time here) and we equally love going to them. Mainly, because it provides a neat outing and more tasty & affordable cuisine than we can find in the restaurants.

The Fête de la Tomate was a really enjoyable evening, but this festival was a lot smaller than the others. Especially as I think it is a bit more lively on Saturday vs. Friday night since it apparently was the first year its been open Friday night. Maybe everyone didn’t get the memo including the vendors as the tomato stands, tomato sauce stands, etc. weren’t open.

We explored it for a bit, enjoyed the band, had some food, and then headed back into Carouge to have a glass of wine and dessert.  Ironically, we ran into friends A & A and their pups during our walk.

 

Why our life looks like the NYSE

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Post by Lauren

 

I actually hope that by the time I post this, I am over my down-funk that I have been living in all week.

But I knew that it would likely come…….

In acclimation class, we learned about the various stages of culture shock. This is the true terminology, but I realize that when I use the phrase “culture shock”, it comes across as strong or extreme. I think maybe a better way to describe it is “culture disorientation,” so for the purpose of this blog post, I’ll use that vocabulary.

For those who aren’t familiar, the textbook stages of “cultural disorientation” go like this:

1. Initial excitement
2. Initial anxiety
3. Arrival fascination
4. Initial culture shock
5. Surface adjustment
6. Internal shock
7. Acceptance & adaptation
8. Return anxiety
9. Reintegration shock

However, it is not guaranteed how long you stay in each stage as well as both spouses can be in different stages or move along the continuum at different paces.

Here is a depiction of this with our 8 weeks here in Geneva. The pink is me and the blue is Gabe. I actually don’t even know where we are on the numbered list…..maybe somewhere between 3 and 5.

“How can you be blue in the land of cheese and chocolate?” one might say. “Don’t the Alp views you see daily give you a high all the time?”

We would probably be happy non-stop if it weren’t for culture disorientation – a reaction to the loss and to the ambiguity created by the unknown rules of the new culture. So, at our downturns, some may seem reasonable (we miss friends and family) but some others may seem a little silly (laundry, not being understood, not understanding).

However, sometimes the little things can have pretty big effects. The textbook explanation is that these little things get at the core of your self image – on how you view yourself as a person. You used to be capable, but in this new situation, you are not. While you were seen one way amongst your community in your home country, in this new country, people react to you and see you differently. While you expect to miss your friends and family, you don’t expect to feel like a different person some days because of your environment.

Here is an example…..after standing in a really long line at the grocery store, I happened to have a zucchini in my basket. When the cashier got to it, I hadn’t known to put a produce sticker on it from the machine in the produce department. So, it didn’t have a barcode for her and she growled some French disdain at me. I didn’t know enough French to explain that I didn’t know and I was sorry, that they could put it back, or I could put it back, whatever was easier to keep the line moving. I just kind of muttered “je suis désolé” which i thought was “I’m sorry” and just stood there pitifully while they got a manager to come take the zucchini, weigh it, bring it back and plop it on the register with even more disdain for me and my idiocy. The people in line behind me gave me exasperated looks like I ruined their day.

And this happens every day – I don’t necessarily get down on myself that I didn’t know how to do things – that is to be expected. But, some of the disorientation comes when people perceive you as something you never believed yourself to be. In the US, that situation would have gone differently for me because I knew the language and norms of my local grocery. I would handled myself fine. And it gives me empathy for those visiting the US and how they are treated if English isn’t their primary language and they are just starting to learn, like I am here.

And of course, the peaks of this experience are well worth these downturns. As I share on Gratitude Fridays, these highs are just incredible. The highs are just balanced by the valleys too; as is life – full of ups and downs.

Like the top photo, I am sure our experience in the end will turn out soaring like this mountain range. However, I just wanted to share a little more on this subject, and it gives me a reason to use PowerPoint, which i miss and used to be really good at 🙂

Gratitude Friday: Cosmopolitans Anyone?

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Post by Lauren

This Gratitude Friday, my post is both a vocabulary lesson and a story of my appreciation for this new word.

Before moving to Switzerland, my definition of the word “cosmopolitan” consisted of : #1 the pinky yummy martini, #2 the magazine, and #3 maybe an adjective to describe a swanky metropolitan environment.

Pre-Geneva me knew cosmopolitan as this

I realized I was a bit naïve in this area when our cultural trainer Gary kept referring to Geneva as “cosmopolitan”. See, we’d been there just a month prior and I wouldn’t have described it as using the word cosmopolitan, as I knew it. In fact, what came to mind was beautiful, ancient, wordly and a bit ecclectic.

However, thanks to Wikipedia, I learned the proper definition of cosmopolitan is:
–A city/place or person that embraces its multicultural demographics
—World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship
—Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community
–Cosmopolitan Society/Cosmopolitan City, where people of many ethnicities, religions and cultures meet and live in close proximity (especially applied to busy sea ports)

Well, in living in Geneva, I think I would agree with those better than my prior vocabulary.

In fact, Geneva is quite an anomaly compared to the rest of Switzerland. In training, we learned about Swiss stereotypes, how our personalities matched to their customs, and how to adjust our behaviors accordingly. However, Geneva is more “Swiss-light”, with a big influence from France, and an even bigger cosmopolitan influence.

One big reason is the proximity to France and influence of French culture, food, language, and architecture. Fast Fact: the canton of Geneva shares only 4 km of border with Switzerland, but 108 km with France. I read that most Swiss Germans don’t even consider Geneva really part of Switzerland at all!


the tail is not wagging the dog here



However, probably the biggest reason is the cosmopolitan nature of Geneva. Based on the numerous humanitarian agencies, world organizations, and corporations headquartered here, 40% of Geneva residents are foreigners. There are people here from all over the world, living, working, and bringing their cultural influences in. Just in my own experiences, there are 40 nationalities represented at my church and 54 at my women’s club. It’s mind boggling!

So, onto Gratitude Friday. I absolutely love this about Geneva: interacting with people from completely different backgrounds as me and the exposure to all of their opinions, interests & beliefs.

Here are just a few specific examples of this :

In my Monday French classes, there is a South African woman, an Ethiopian woman, a Dutch woman, a British woman and me. Our teacher, Esther, is Swiss and was a teenager during WW2 here. All learning French together, we all have different accents and interpretations of words which is really entertaining and Esther considers it her English lesson at the same time.

Last week, Esther asked what the lady from South Africa thought of Nelson Mandela’s leadership, and it was a really neat education for me to hear firsthand from someone who lived there to hear about her own experiences. Prior to living in Geneva, I had never had this opportunity – all I learned was from movies and books.

In my photography group, there are three ladies from the Netherlands, a few Americans, one from the U.K., one from Australia, and one from Brazil. We all bring different things to the table. I really enjoy how much time the women from the Netherlands take to find out how you are doing and to learn about you. I always felt so much in a whirlwind that I am not sure if I have done this enough with people.

Friend and fellow blogger, Lady J, has taught me about Singapore and her time in Japan and I love her passion for her favorite foods and her dedication to bringing those flavors to Geneva in a beautiful way.

At Canadienne Buffets, we have been so lucky to meet great people from China, South Africa & Australia who we really have enjoyed hanging out with and learning about their experiences.

So much to be grateful for this week when it comes to the word cosmopolitan!

Bon weekend!

What’s the opposite of Lance Armstrong? That’s me.

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Post by Lauren

Yesterday was really pretty so I decided to go to the beach to study French.

Normally, my mode of transportation is the TPG ( transports publics genevois) because #1 – I am lazy and #2 – I have a toe condition that I am supposed to limit walking and # 3 – TPG is awesome. We splurged on TPG annual passes and it was our best purchase yet. We can hop on and off the trams, buses and boats anytime we want. Even still, I probably still walk 2 to 3 miles a day.

While there are two buses that go to the beach, they require connections. It’s not a bad walk either, but yesterday with the sun shining, I felt brave enough to take my bike out.

We have been out on our bikes 3 times, but this was my first time without Gabe. I have been afraid so far since I am not a very good at it and city biking is intimidating to me. The big deal is that In Geneva, you have to blend in with traffic and are forbidden from using sidewalks. I like to follow him and just do whatever he since I have no clue.

I should also note that the few times we had been, it was late in the evening or on the weekends where Geneva is very quiet so there weren’t a lot of cars. For a great recap of what it’s like to bike in Geneva during the day with obstacles, check out my friend A’s post. She has really good diagrams.

On the way there, I got honked at twice. Once, really really loud. I am not sure if I mentioned that Swiss people like to point out when you do something wrong, so this was no exception. It has just never happened to me with horns yet.

Nevertheless, most of this venture to the beach was downhill, so I just managed to weave in and out of traffic to make it to the main Quai where it was easy-peasy and I could mingle with the other beach cruisers on the large bike path.

Grateful for still having my life, I happily camped out on the beach for a few hours with my French workbook enjoying the day.

Going home, I was more determined to not have anyone honk at me. I choose to go home through the park where I didn’t have to work in with the traffic. The steep park. I almost had to stop halfway through as my legs couldn’t go anymore. Then onto the main roads again.

Stopped at a light, a homeless man kept smiling at me and pointing at a BMW motorcycle parked right beside me and pointing. I am not sure if he was saying that bike was better than mine, or just laughing at my bike-skills, but it was in French and I couldn’t understand.

Nevertheless, I trudged on, up more and more hills. Cars, motorcycles, and buses whizzed by me coming about 6 inches from me. I wish they knew that I didn’t really have very much control at all. In fact, I almost hit an elderly lady while going uphill in the park. However, they continued to get within inches.

I considered leaving the bike on one particular hill as my legs wouldn’t go anymore after a really hard lifting session today at Globo Gym. I could always go back and get it later. However, I realized how hard Gabe would laugh at me if I did this. I am not sure where the energy came from in the end, or maybe it was the flat road that finally came, but I finally made it home. I had never been so grateful to see that place. I was so tired, it took 3 attempts to lift the bike back on its hook in our scary basement.

I think I may stick to the TPG during traffic hours from now on. It’s much safer for me.

Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas Anymore: Part 1

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Post by Lauren

This is a new series meant to bring a little bit of humor to things that we see on a day-to-day basis. Of course, we want visitors to come see these neat differences yourselves, but hopefully this will keep you up-to-date in the interim!

1 – Freshly baked pastries and FREE wine on short flights – this is a normal occurrence on Swiss Air. I understand they had some financial problems recently but I am not complaining. I have never had an airplane meal this good, sans charge.

2 – The lack of refrigeration of dairy (milk, cream, whipped cream) and egg products. Milk products are ultra pasteurized so that they can stay on shelf. They’ll last up to two months before opening. Eggs are also left on shelf, but just need to be consumed within a week. If you could see the size of our fridge, you’d be trés grateful you can stock up on dairy without needing precious cold space!

3 – Don’t even try it, folks. This gas station does not take 1000 CHF bills. Note: this is like $1200 USD. In the US, they frown at you for giving 50 dollar bills.

4 – The use of Indians to guide angry cars and people during construction. Here he is saying, “Caution – roadwork. I am your guide”.

No further comment. I am just pretty sure I wouldn’t see something like this back home.