Monday, July 06, 2009

What an adventure-filled week. Vizille was a much better field trip than Chambery. The grounds of the museum were beautiful- gardens, flowers, with a river flowing through and mountains in the background. The museum itself was alright- we had to fill out elementary-school-esque worksheets that really detracted from looking at things, but it was still interesting. Afterward, Alex M. and I ate our lunches we had packed (I’m saving so much money doing that!) and then walked around the town while the others ate. Then we had class for a bit on the grounds.
Thursday Alex M, Alex T, Christina, Brittany and I hiked up the Bastille. It was beautiful! But also extremely hot. I wish there was some information explaining when and why it was created, but all we could find was how the mountains were created by shifting tectonic plates. It took us about an hour and fifteen minutes, but I suspect I could do it in around 45. At the top, I bought souvenirs galore, but I won’t disclose what I got there as some will be surprises. We then enjoyed a refreshing bottle of Orangina at the restaurant on top, and ended by taking the telepherique down (kind of like a lift).
Friday was also very busy- right after class we went to Monoprix to pick up groceries for the Geneva trip because we were told that Switzerland is very expensive. At 5:10 everyone was at the gare (train station), and someone asked, “Does everyone have their passports?” And a look of horror appeared on one girl’s face- who had booked our hotel. With our train leaving in less than 15 minutes, I quickly wrote down all of the hotel information she had with the confirmation code and directions to get there, and someone grabbed the tickets. It was decided she would catch the next train, but we had no idea when it was.
An hour into our trip we had a confusing “change” of trains where we moved cars and then the train separated- which we almost missed because we didn’t understand what people were saying. The scenery along the way was gorgeous- huge lakes with mountains surrounding them. However, the new car we were in must have had broken air conditioning, and it was like being in a sauna. I had to stand in the between-car-bathroom-area to be able to breathe.
Once we got to Geneva, everyone looked at each other with puzzled expressions. I then took charge. While traveling abroad, I have learned three things. 1- Things will go wrong, sometimes horribly. 2- Stay calm, don’t panic. 3- Be smart and think logically about the situation, like it’s a game or puzzle.
So, I gathered my thoughts and concluded that to we needed to get to our hotel by tram. To buy tram tickets we needed Swiss currency (Swiss franc), so the first order of business was to get money. After some searching we found an ATM. Now armed each with 50 francs, we went outside. I read the tram ticket machine and deduced that we needed to each buy a 24 hour ticket, but that if we put in our 50 franc bill, it would not give us any change. So, I marched everyone inside to buy something to get the correct change (there are no change machines or converters). With tickets in hand, we took a tram, and then made our connection successfully. Luckily (!), when we got off, we were right across the street from the hotel, so I didn’t have to ask a stranger where to find it.
We walked up to the doors to find them locked. A nice Belgium man named Faisel with his Californian friend David and English friend Indie let us in. We then discovered that the office was closed for the night (it closed at 8). So I used someone’s cell phone to call the number listed. I spoke with a man who luckily didn’t ask for a credit card number (it was the girl who left her passport!), and had me open a small safe which contained our room keys. Success!
The hotel was ridiculously nice! After setting our stuff down, a few decided to go meet the girl coming at the train station, because it took a group of 10 people an hour to get to the hotel, and we figured it would be extremely difficult for her, especially later at night. So we went back to the train station to wait for her. We waited…..and waited….and waited, until no more trains from France were coming. We were very worried, so we called our professor to get her host mother’s number. The host mother told us that she had, in fact, left that day, so for all we knew she could be anywhere. With no other options but to pray that she was safe, we made the long trek back to the hotel.
Where we were greeted by the girl! She had taken a train only 30 minutes after us, which had not been on the schedules we saw. So that was a big relief. The downside was that we had been invited to a rave and Bollywood music bar by the group who let us into the building, but by that time they had already left, and Friday night was wasted.
Saturday four of us woke up early and took a boat ride of Lake Geneva. We saw the Jet d’Eau, which means jet of water, and it’s in Lake Geneva, and just spouts up water very high in the air (tallest in the world). We also saw various famous buildings, like where Byron and Shelley lived, Napoleon’s wife, and the United Nations. We next walked to the UN to meet the rest of our group. It was a very long walk. I was very surprised by the number of free water fountains scattered all across Geneva. I guess it doesn’t seem that strange when compared to the U.S., but in Europe it’s very rare. And to add, the fountains are coming out of sculptures and the like (they aren’t your average bubbler).
Once at the United Nations, we took some pictures, and discovered there was nothing else to do there, so some of us went back into town and looked at the Basilica Notre Dame. Then we got some ice cream, and watched a gay pride parade (at least we think that’s what it was). If so, it was rather tame, and mainly consisted of floats with techno blasting and people in outrageous costumes dancing. Later that night we went out to eat at a very nice restaurant downtown. The food was very good, but can you imagine that we paid 6.60 francs per bottle of water! They have no free water, and it was more expensive than a soda. (Sidenote: the dollar is worth slightly more than the franc, surprisingly. 50 francs is around 47 dollars).
We tried to go dancing at a discoteque after dinner, but to no avail. The only club we found rejected us for not being properly dressed (flipflops=no good). That was a bit embarrassing, but other than the flipflops we were dressed nice! Oh well.
Then next morning I woke everyone up because it was near check out time. With backpacks strapped on, we walked up to the old part of the city and toured the archeological ruins underneath the Cathedral St. Pierre. It was constructed around the 3rd century, so its foundations are all still underground. We were literally walking in what was the old church. I saw bell casting molds, monk’s quarters, baptismal fonts, mosaics, wells (dating back to B.C.),etc. It was amazing. Next Alex M and I walked around (packed lunches again). We strolled through the park, up to the Grand Theatre, back into the old city where we listened to a talented violinist which was beautiful.
We searched for a chocolate shop (hello—we’re in Switzerland!) but to no avail. Note to all travelers: Europe is closed on Sundays.
The group then took a ride on a ferris wheel where we could see the entire city, which was awesome. There was one “gondola” that was ‘VIP’ and cost 100 francs. It had tinted windows and included champagne. Suffice it to say, we did not purchase the vip. Some people got Starbucks (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) next. I went inside….but only to use their bathroom, which I think is acceptable. We then had 50 minutes to get to the train station. We tried walking back to the tram, but did not realize that it runs on a diagonal, so we ended up walking a very long way to find it (in the opposite direction of the gare). Our walk turning into a swift jaunt, we reached the tram, and took what we thought to be the tram to the gare. Until the train turned and my eyes widened in panic as I shouted to everyone, “Get off at the next stop!” We did, and managed to run to the next tram. Some had already resigned to missing the tram (it left in 15 minutes!), but I wasn’t giving up. We called two others who were already there and they told us the train was at platform 7. Pulling up to the gare, we strapped down our backpacks tight and readied ourselves at the door. Luckily the old woman who had been in front of us got off at the stop before, or she would have been crushed. With three minutes to go, the tram doors opened, and the sprint began. I was in the lead as we dodged other citizens sprinting full force in flipflops. I flung around the corner into the entrance where the customs woman who saw us told the couple in front of me to let the young people through- the man moved for me in time, his wife….not so lucky. I ran into her a bit…nothing serious, but to be fair, she was warned.
Dashed up the stairs, and went up to the doors of the train, but panicked realizing we hadn’t “composter”-ed our tickets, we turned around but the conductor said to just get on because it was leaving.
We made it!
Today we took our placement tests for the CUEF grammar class. I first had an “oral exam” which was so easy I didn’t even know I was taking it- I just had to answer questions like “What’s your name?” while the woman filled out a sheet of paper. When she found out I was American, she was surprised, and said she thought I was Austrian. I took this as a good thing, I’m not sure why. She also told me that I have a very good accent (!!!), so maybe that’s why she thought I wasn’t American?
I then took the written/listening portion. It would have been helpful to know that it was being timed and what time it would end. All of the sudden the woman said, “15 minutes left!” and everyone panicked because no one was near done. I “finished” but I don’t think it was my best work, so hopefully I’m placed correctly. I then enrolled for my two courses that I pick. I chose “Perfectionnement Orale” and “Vocabulaire”, so oral perfection is conversational and vocabulary is…self-explanatory. I’ve taken enough literature classes at Madison, and in the long run what I want to keep is my speaking ability.
Tomorrow we don’t have class till 12, but just because they’re grading our exams- so I’ll find out tomorrow where I’m placed. Since we can sleep in, we’re going out tonight. That’s all for now, I hope everyone had a relaxing, fun Fourth of July, and I miss everyone!