Van Gogh

 Snuck in a photo with my iphone at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam

Swiss Mug Shot

Hello!  Just wanted to check in—things have been going really well!! (despite the above photo—to be explained) School has picked up a lot in the last week and will continue to do so in the next few weeks.  Papers, exams, projects, presentations, weekend seminars galore!  I’m becoming much more comfortable being here and just doing everyday things—getting into the groove!

One thing I love about Swiss culture:

·      Somehow, I always end up being able to communicate with people even if we don’t speak the same language.  Somehow, I have gotten a grocery store card, spoken with my mail-lady about my mail, ordered food, and communicated with neighbors without having the person I was speaking to understand English—the other day I was paying for a panini at a Portuguese café, and the man was speaking to me in Portuguese and I responded in French (and by French I mean saying "oui" (yes) - I may have thrown in a couple of Portuguese words to make him laugh—which he did)

One thing I do not like about Swiss culture:

·      They don’t allow you to smile at all in pictures for official use.  The other day I went to apply for my Swiss permit after finally receiving my student visa from the US (which means I’ll officially be a resident in a month!).  I rolled out of bed and went to the building to apply, 2 passport-sized photos in hand.  When I arrived, they said that my photos wouldn’t be acceptable because I was smiling.  So off to the photobooth I went to take my mug shot.

Voila!

Mrs. Ox

While living here, I have quickly learned that the Swiss way of doing things is not always the same way of doing things in the US. However, after 2 months of living here, I finally got internet in my apartment today!! (well…legitimately – thanks to my neighbors for unbeknowingly letting me steal their internet thus far!) When I first called up Swisscom (the telephone/internet provider I am using) when I got here, they needed a Swiss permit number, so we gave them Armughan’s name and number. Although we tried to make it clear that I would be the one getting the services, I quickly became “Mrs. Arnzyghan Syed” according to the mail I received from them. Several phone calls later, I finally received a piece of mail from Swisscom in my own name! – almost. I was now “Heather Ox.” A step in the right direction, at least. After even more phone calls, they finally sent the internet router to me, and I received a yellow note in my mailbox instructing me to pick it up from the post office yesterday. Unfortunately, when I went to pick it up, they said that it would not be available to pick up until the next day. (Of course! – why wouldn’t they leave a note for me to come pick it up if it wasn’t ready yet?) Thankfully, when I went to the post office today I was handed my router with no problems! The woman behind the counter asked who the package was for, and when I told her it was for me, she asked, “your last name is ‘Ox’”? I giggled and told her it was a mistake. Thankfully, after getting home and sitting on my floor with too many connection cables and instruction booklets for a while, I now have wireless internet that is all my own!

In other news, I did something today that I have been afraid of doing ever since I stepped into (or out of) my apartment two months ago. I love my apartment and the building that I live in—however, my apartment door locks automatically whenever it shuts. Therefore, if I step out without my keys (and I haven’t had a chance to make a copy yet), I am screwed. Today, as I was leaving my apartment to run errands, I left with keys in hand. After shutting the door, I thought that I may want to pick up some groceries on my way home—in order to do so, I would need to bring along my own grocery bags (one thing I love about European culture and wish they would enforce in the US). I rushed back in to grab the bags, threw my keys on the kitchen table, and ran out the door. I was screwed. Thankfully, Armughan helped me reach my landlord, who lives only two buildings over. Soon, a petite elderly man showed up on the bottom floor of my building. After not understanding a word of the French that he was speaking to me, we decided to communicate in Spanish. In the elevator on our way up, he said that he would “try but wasn’t making any promises.” (I was a bit confused – is it that difficult to put the key in and open the door?) When we reached my door together, he pulled out a flimsy tape measure and a thin metal rod about 5 inches long. (Of course! Why would a landlord have a spare key when he could just break into the apartment instead?) After several minutes, this crafty elderly man magically opened my door and I was saved!

Although sometimes there have been difficulties in making things happen the way I am used to, I have actually enjoyed learning about and adapting to Swiss culture. The next step is to learn French (I will start class in a couple of weeks!) and maybe make a few copies of my apartment key.

Amsterdam

What a great week it’s been! Armughan and I went to Amsterdam for a few days for Spring Break (after only 4 weeks of class – love the quarter system). We slept a lot, ate too much, went on a dinner cruise, walked around, visited museums, went tandem bike riding!, and so much more. I also bought myself a new toy to play with – a Diana F+ camera! I also got a polaroid attachment for it which has been fun to play with. Will post more pics when they are developed and when I get my scanner up and running!

New Beginning...

View from my apartment (it looks like a mountain range - but it's actually just a huge rock!)

Hi everyone!

I decided to make a blog so that I can keep in touch with all of you better and share my experiences, travels, and photographs while living in Geneva. As you may know, I moved here about a month ago to get a master’s degree in Media and Communication at the International University in Geneva.

I have a cute studio apartment with an amazing view, and I’m enjoying adjusting to life here. I will try to update weekly and would love to hear from all of you! To start I’ll put up some photos from Geneva – I will add more as the weather gets nicer. I will put up some photos from a trip I took to Egypt before classes started as well.

Also, I want to congratulate my brother Craig and my sister-in-law Gulden on the delivery of their first little bundle of joy and my newest nephew, Aaron Ulkumen Fox!

Photograph taken last summer at Lake Geneva

Photograph taken yesterday while walking around