First of all, thanks to everyone that let me stay at their apartment in Chicago and Champaign during the one week that I was there to get my visa. I stayed in the US for 6 days because the Consulate General of Switzerland in Chicago told me that the process after authorization would take 3-5 days, but as I soon found out, it took about 20 minutes. Anyway, it was great to see my friends for the last time in probably awhile. I actually tried backpacking a little bit in Chicago, but when I found out that the Art Institute cost 18 (?) dollars for entry, I said, forget it. I did manage to wander through the streets of Chicago and tailgate for a U of I football game that nobody had tickets for.
On the 15th of September, I flew from O'Hare to Switzerland. With a bit of fear and a bit of excitement, I disembarked the plane in Geneva and headed for Lausanne, a 30 minute train ride. And of course I knew this, but WOW was everything in French! I could pretty much tell then that it was going to be a rough year with my limited capacity for French. Nevertheless, I arrived in Lausanne, and I was able to find my apartment without much problem. On the same day, I went into lab to discuss my project, and by the time I had finished, it was already around 6:30. The strangest thing about Switzerland is how everything closes at 6 or 7 and definitely on Sundays. Not having known this, I was forced to sleep that night with a towel over me, freezing to death.
Here's my room now:
For the next couple of days, I had to get a residence permit, open a bank account, go see my scholarship officer, buy a metro card, get a phone, buy all of the bed stuff, buy groceries, and of course, I had to find people to hang out with. It was the weekend! Fortunately, I had bumped into one of the other Fulbright scholar at the immigration office, whom I had met at the Harvard interview. Ever since then, we had been hanging out with a bunch of German Erasmus students along with several other people at the dorms. This particular weekend in Lausanne was a big music festival with several stages in the city center. My roommate (another German) and I went out to the festival, eating kebabs, drinking beer, and we met up with the others to go out. Ever since then, it's been about 3 or 4 nights of going out per week. Feels like senior year of college all over again.
The sunday of the weekend, My roommate and I, along with 3 others, drove to Annecy in France, supposedly known as the most beautiful city in France to the natives. And wow. I was first incredulous about taking a day trip to South France. I was absolutely floored by the beauty of the city, and it definitely helped that it was a beautiful, sunshine-filled day. It's hard to capture the beauty with pictures, but I tried my best. We just strolled around town, sat down at a creperie, drank wine on the porch of the restaurant, and just relaxed. What a wonderful introduction to Europe!
My lab work consisted of reading and designing experiments for the first few weeks so I wasn't that busy though I'm sure things will start picking up. But right now, the anticipation for the weekend overrides any scientific paper or a to-do list (I still like science, I promise). My friend in Zurich from U of I had been in touch with me about going to Oktoberfest in Germany, which started in September. So it was nice to hear one of my German friends suggesting we go to Stutgart's Beer Festival, the second largest Oktoberfest in Germany, and she will drive and we can stay at her parents' house. Talk about a sweet deal. After a few hours of driving, we crossed the border to Germany (we didn't even get checked), ready to taste the finest beer that Germany has to offer. On Saturday, we went to the tents at around 3 o'clock, where people were already completely plastered. Knowing we needed to last until midnight, we decided to take it slowly, but this plan had been completely demolished after the first two 1-liter mugs. Priceless, priceless moments. Then of course, some of us somehow stumbled our way towards a club until 4am when the day/night finally concluded.
By week 2 of my stay, everything had kind of started to settle down, and I finally became somewhat comfortable in this French speaking environment. I'm far from being able to have a normal conversation, but I have been taking measures to improve my French: listen to French music everyday, watch French cartoons, take a French course, and talk to friends in French. Even after 2.5 weeks, I feel a little bit more comfortable speaking to natives. This weekend, I finally walked around Lausanne with a Lonely Planet in hand, trying to memorize the winding streets, looking for nice restaurants, pubs, etc, and of course, sight seeing. The 800 year old Cathedral of Notre Dame is the highlight of Lausanne along with a small castle and the cobblestone city center. Down by the lake, my friend and I had bought white wine, chilled it in the Lake (or tried to), and people-watched for hours.
And just today, a bunch of students hiked up a beautiful mountain, and it was absolutely exhilirating...even if I only got 3 hours of sleep the night before. The clear skies, pure air, and a wonderful view combined for an amazing day trip out of Lausanne. It's the end of hiking season right now, and soon, skiing season begins. My roommate is going to get out his fondue set soon enough, and I'll enjoy winter like I have never before...
So obviously I had been keeping myself busy, and I'm absolutely exhausted. I only sleep a few hours a night so tonight, I'm going to bed at midnight and get a full night of sleep for the first time in a week. So goodnight. Sweet dreams.
- Ryoji
