The daily grind
So I realized that I don't write enough about our daily lives here and since we have been getting requests for pictures of our apartment and the neighborhood, I figure I would share them with everyone!
During the last couple of weeks while Gary is off at work I've been busy trying to manage our daily life activities in a place where I don't speak the language and coordinate our travel & social life here in Geneva. My French classes start next week (5 days a week for a while!) so the language thing should be getting easier in time. And there is, of course, the everyday cleaning, shopping, & cooking. You heard it right people... I cook almost every day now! Full meals... not just heating things up either!
One example of "everyday stuff" that I had to tackle this week was getting a hair cut. Now, this is really no big deal, but you have to know that I've been going to the same guy (Bill) to get my hair cut since I was 14! I even used to drive to San Mateo all the way down from Davis to have Bill cut my hair. So, you see my hesitation in letting someone else cut it, especially someone I'm not even sure speaks my language! But, it turned out well. The French gal who cut my hair was fantastic, even though she told me that my hair was "tired" (this is French for "split ends"). Hey, it had been about three months, so what can I say? I have tired hair!
On the social front we've been making some great strides in the last couple of weeks. Since we were in town last weekend, we went to a big party on Saturday night sponsored by a group called Geneva On Line, which is an on-line community aimed at making Geneva life more fun for locals & expats. It was great! There were about 400 people there. We met people from all over the world and Gary & I danced until the wee hours of the morning (he was a dancing machine!)
Then Tuesday I was out with some of Gary's co-workers for pizza & beer, Wednesday we went to "New Member Drinks" with the "GOL" crowd, tonight we are off to a big comedy night with Gary's work friends, and Friday we are planning to meet up with a group for bowling & drinks for St. Patrick’s Day!
Here are some pictures of our place, the neighborhood, and Gary's office (which is out by the airport). Our apartment is less than a block from Lake Geneva and just across from the old town. The neighborhood is very nice, with a nearby local market & department store, lots of restaurants, and everything we need right within walking distance. Across the lake, in the old town, things are a little more scenic, but our neighborhood had a wonderful charm and I'm thrilled to be living in the heart of the city, we honestly couldn't have ended up in a better spot!
The winter view out our window to the church across the street.
Our little corner of Geneva. The top two left (half) windows is our apartment. Our entrance is right in the center (chocolate shop on the left, Tunis Air on the right).
The chocolate shop at the entrance to our building.
The view from our corner across the Mont-Blanc Bridge.
A view from the Mont-Blanc Bridge up our street. Our building is just to the right of the center. But, the Four Season's Hotel gets all the water views, while we are up a block facing the main street.
A few members of the local flock of 100 or so swans that live near us on Lake Geneva (or Lac Leman in French).
The walkway along the lake.
One of the many local parks.
A view from the train station down our street. Our building is on the right three blocks down, just before the lake at the end of the street.
Our neighborhood Chinese place with the rude, French speaking, Chinese waiter who loves to flirt with our friend, Kofi. They serve the best soup this side of the Mississippi! :)
Gary's office building.
Gary relaxing at his desk...
So that gives you a taste of our neighborhood (& Gary's office) in winter. Next time I will post pictures of our apartment.
On a side note, Gary & I have officially immersed ourselves in European culture and bought ourselves a Nespresso machine. If you haven't heard of such a thing, no worries, we hadn't either. But soon after moving here we came to realize that this little coffee machine is all the rage here. There is one at Gary's office, all of our Swiss friends have one, and now we do too. You put in a little capsule in the machine and out comes the most scrumptious Italian coffee you have ever tasted! This isn't helping my coffee habit that I have tried so hard over the years to quit, but I've decided to take a two year break from my caffeine battle while I'm here and enjoy every ounce! ;)
During the last couple of weeks while Gary is off at work I've been busy trying to manage our daily life activities in a place where I don't speak the language and coordinate our travel & social life here in Geneva. My French classes start next week (5 days a week for a while!) so the language thing should be getting easier in time. And there is, of course, the everyday cleaning, shopping, & cooking. You heard it right people... I cook almost every day now! Full meals... not just heating things up either!
One example of "everyday stuff" that I had to tackle this week was getting a hair cut. Now, this is really no big deal, but you have to know that I've been going to the same guy (Bill) to get my hair cut since I was 14! I even used to drive to San Mateo all the way down from Davis to have Bill cut my hair. So, you see my hesitation in letting someone else cut it, especially someone I'm not even sure speaks my language! But, it turned out well. The French gal who cut my hair was fantastic, even though she told me that my hair was "tired" (this is French for "split ends"). Hey, it had been about three months, so what can I say? I have tired hair!
On the social front we've been making some great strides in the last couple of weeks. Since we were in town last weekend, we went to a big party on Saturday night sponsored by a group called Geneva On Line, which is an on-line community aimed at making Geneva life more fun for locals & expats. It was great! There were about 400 people there. We met people from all over the world and Gary & I danced until the wee hours of the morning (he was a dancing machine!)
Then Tuesday I was out with some of Gary's co-workers for pizza & beer, Wednesday we went to "New Member Drinks" with the "GOL" crowd, tonight we are off to a big comedy night with Gary's work friends, and Friday we are planning to meet up with a group for bowling & drinks for St. Patrick’s Day!
Here are some pictures of our place, the neighborhood, and Gary's office (which is out by the airport). Our apartment is less than a block from Lake Geneva and just across from the old town. The neighborhood is very nice, with a nearby local market & department store, lots of restaurants, and everything we need right within walking distance. Across the lake, in the old town, things are a little more scenic, but our neighborhood had a wonderful charm and I'm thrilled to be living in the heart of the city, we honestly couldn't have ended up in a better spot!
The winter view out our window to the church across the street.
Our little corner of Geneva. The top two left (half) windows is our apartment. Our entrance is right in the center (chocolate shop on the left, Tunis Air on the right).
The chocolate shop at the entrance to our building.
The view from our corner across the Mont-Blanc Bridge.
A view from the Mont-Blanc Bridge up our street. Our building is just to the right of the center. But, the Four Season's Hotel gets all the water views, while we are up a block facing the main street.
A few members of the local flock of 100 or so swans that live near us on Lake Geneva (or Lac Leman in French).
The walkway along the lake.
One of the many local parks.
A view from the train station down our street. Our building is on the right three blocks down, just before the lake at the end of the street.
Our neighborhood Chinese place with the rude, French speaking, Chinese waiter who loves to flirt with our friend, Kofi. They serve the best soup this side of the Mississippi! :)
Gary's office building.
Gary relaxing at his desk...
So that gives you a taste of our neighborhood (& Gary's office) in winter. Next time I will post pictures of our apartment.
On a side note, Gary & I have officially immersed ourselves in European culture and bought ourselves a Nespresso machine. If you haven't heard of such a thing, no worries, we hadn't either. But soon after moving here we came to realize that this little coffee machine is all the rage here. There is one at Gary's office, all of our Swiss friends have one, and now we do too. You put in a little capsule in the machine and out comes the most scrumptious Italian coffee you have ever tasted! This isn't helping my coffee habit that I have tried so hard over the years to quit, but I've decided to take a two year break from my caffeine battle while I'm here and enjoy every ounce! ;)
posted by Swiss Miss | 13:53
3 Comments:
HI again! I saw your comment on my site. i was soo excited since no one ever comments!
I love reading your blog, it makes me HOME SICK THOUGH! And I HAVE an Nespresso Machine. I am on my third one. They keep coming up with better ones. When we moved to the US in 1982, my mom was discusted with AMERICAN coffee. WHo could blame her, it sat on that warmer all day. no one appreciated coffee here in the US and no one took time to just sit and drink coffee. She wanted to open "un cafe", but we kept telling her that Americans WOULD never go for it! Can you imagine, we would have been the Starbucks of the world! :-) So for years we had different espresso Machines and then we discovered Nespresso. Makes a perfect cup every time! My favorite is Roma and the Purple capsule. The good news is you can continue your nespresso habit after you come back! ;-)
I remember when I was little they had a hidden camera show on Swiss TV and they had tricked passerbys in believing that they could turn the "jet D'eau" (shoot I can't think of the word in English; it is the water "fountain" in the lake-I did a free translation and got "water Throw").. anyways, that was 25+ years ago and it was funny! They made people believe that you could put 2 Sfr in this little slot and then the Jet would turn on. Little stupid trivia!
WE love American Idol. WE text vote and the whole thing (my 11 year old and I). When we were in Lucerne (by the way be happy that you have to learn French and not Swiss German! haa) we used to get together and watch American Idol on some English Channel, we had Sky. DO you have Sky? We got it illegally of course.Sky is like Driect Tv, it is English Sattelite. Used someone's address in England and set it up so we had all English TV. My husband and my daughter were happy. I was just thrilled to watch my French TV! WE also bought series on TV such as 24, and we would watch that on horrible weekends, when the weather was soo horrible, that you just stayed home.
2 years goes so fast. WE were in Lucerne for 2+ years and it felt like it went with a blink of an eye. It is difficult with the language. But in Geneva there should be tons of English speaking people with the UN and all the companies around there. I had an English friend who lived in Versoix for a while. Her husband worked for Serano (sp? pharmaceutical company). She made tons of English speaking friends. She couldn't take French lessons, because she had twins babies, so no time for French! They moved back here after two years.
Have you had a chance to travel. We travelled all of the time. That is the beauty with Switz, you are soo central.
Do you do any food shopping in France. GOOD deals on meats and stuff. There is a limit on how much you can bring back but it is worth it!
have you been to the old town in Annecy, in France not far from you. It is a charming town! You can go for the day and have a nice lunch.
Evian is cute too!
have you been To Gruyere in Switz. NIce castle, and little tiny town in the castle. Very toursity. Also there is the Guyere Cheese factory below the castle. Nice tour. I love cheese!! ;-)
Do you ski?
Ok, I think I have rambled on enough.
Sabine
thank you for sharing the "day-to-day" life that you two are leading over there. Love the pics, seems so fun and exciting.
Thanks for sharing this - I enjoyed seeing what everyday life is like for you two, and look forward to the pictures of the apartment.
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