Week One

With my bags fully packed and an appetite for exploration, I left Denver on Sept. 9, 2007(picture to the left of my mom and niece dropping me off at the airport). My first Trans-Atlantic flight was rather uneventful. I figured I would have the luxury of catching some sleep on the trip over-- unfortunately the man sitting directly behind snored loudly through most of the trip. I landed in London Heathrow to a radically different airport than I am used to in the states; the airport practically a shopping my with a few scattered gates for planes to dock. There was many luxury/designer stores and many restaurants.

As I flew into Geneva, I witnessed some amazing views from the plane. Geneva, as well as Lausanne, are situated on Lake Geneva(Lac Le'man as the locals say).

Being my first time on the European continent, I was expecting a totally diffirent world-- instead I was greeted by an expresso maker advertisement with George Clooney and all sorts of Coke ads! Also, as I was walking down the terminal, they had a pretty cool montage of Gone With the Wind photos. All of this reminded me very much of America.

My exhange partner, Jessica, from Lausanne picked me up in Geneva and helped me find my way to my apartment in Lausanne. I feel very fortunate to have such a patient exchange partner-- its fairly difficult not speaking much French. When we arrived at the apartment the head master told me(in French, of course) that I couldn't check in since I didn't have an appointment. He was very adament and a bit rude. After several rounds of yelling between him and Jessica, he finally relented let me into my room. I do not know why he was so rude, but he has been friendly to me since then. My room is fairly nice and has a great view of the mountains.

My first night was spent unpacking, drinking way too much red wine, and staying up too late with 2 of my roomates: Vanessa and Patrick. But they certainly made my first night enjoyable. They are moving out later this week so I am expecting new roomates.

The rest of the week I have been trying to recover from jet lag, certainly aggrevated by the wine and lack of sleep my first night. It really bothered me and it wasn't until Thursday afternoon when I began feeling somewhat normal again.

I did manage to ride the metro train to the towne centre. It was pretty neat, with many shops. Of course, I forgot to charge my camera battery so there are no pictures. But I did buy an amazing ham and cheese coursaint from a street vendor.

Its difficult being in a place where its hard to communicate and its difficult to be on your own after always being surrounded by many people who care. Many of college aged people speak English and I met some new people today. However, it is always diffult when someone starts speaking to you and all you can say is, "No Francais." But more often than not, my response is followed by, "Oh, you speak English." Which is always a relief to hear. I really am actually looking forward to school starting and I can get to meeting more people. Also I am going to start going to the Xchange functions later this week, which should be a source of many new people and lots of fun.

Till my next post, Au revoir(a bit of the French I know).