The Last Few Days

To send me off properly, Switzerland has decided to rain all week before I go home. I like rainy days and thunderstorms alright, but I was hoping to have at least one day of sun to take pictures of. Denied. I don't mind too terribly, though, because it does make for nice weather for tea and fondue and looking forward to California sun.

Finals are over, my papers are finished and classes aren't meeting anymore. I am on my last few days in Switzerland, and everything seems to be going a little too easily. I had no problem packing my bags and fitting everything and being under the weight limit, everything that had gone missing during the semester resurfaced, I checked out of my room (and moved in with Heidi) with no problems, and I am going to have exactly the right amount of chicken breasts to last until my last dinner. I feel like I should just be thankful and keep going, but it makes me nervous that something hasn't gone terribly wrong yet.

Last week, some of the local kids were playing baseball in the park that my window overlooks. It was amazing to see them playing something over than Europe's beloved football, and especially amazing to see baseball of all the other sports in the world. I watched them play for a good half hour and got probably a little too invested in their game, but it was brilliant. Just after a boy in a red cap hit the first home run, though, the game was called on account of rain. It continued to rain through the evening and when I walked back from my classes, I had a magnificent view of a thunder and lightning storm.

The cows have disappeared from outside my apartment building. As mysteriously as they showed up two months ago, grazing on the grass and watching the metro pass every ten minutes, they have gone. I got quite attached to them and their noisy cowbells, so I hope their are as happy as California cows wherever they are, because, as everyone knows, happy cows come from California. The Unil has moved the sheep and donkeys closer to my metro stop though, so instead of my daily "How now, brown cow?" I get to say a quick salut to the other animals.

I, however, apparently do not. In two of my classes, while discussing my plans to return home, it turns out that my classmates were very surprised to find that I am an American. They all could tell that I had an accent and spoke English, but both classes thought that I was Irish. Then me trying to explain that while my family is partly of Irish descent, I, nor my parents, ever lived in Ireland. Then to make it worse, Irish dancing (as many thought) is strictly reserved for only Irish people, so how could I possibly be of a different nationality? All those times I tried so hard to be on time and speak well and be polite to represent America just gave cool points to Ireland. Erin go bragh, I guess.



So now I would like to thank all of you dear readers for hearing about my silly little life in Switzerland. I have enjoyed this blogging thing, so I think that I shall continue for a while longer. Hopefully I will still be interesting in Long Beach! Ciaociao Lausanne!

Finals Week(s)

With two weeks to go before I come home, I am trying to take in as much as I can of my life here. As much as I would like to spend the next 14 days traveling the country (I still have not seen the Matterhorn!), that's more easily said than done in the midst of finals week. It's amazing what procrastination can accomplish, however. In avoiding my finals, I have cleaned my room, vacuumed the apartment, done two loads of dishes, and found both my missing journal and gloves all in one day! I am not looking forward to leaving my adventures here behind, but I must admit that I will be happy to go home for, if nothing else, the cereal.


This was in Utrecht, (Netherlands) where I was taunted by a heavenly box of Apple Jacks being held hostage behind those horrible bars. I almost cried when I couldn't rescue them. This store also had Betty Crocker frosting and blueberry muffin mix in the window, which inspired me to find a world market in Lausanne. So I did. It's inexplicably bizarre to go to the world market and find overpriced bottles of BBQ sauce and bags of marshmallows sitting on the shelves next to all the other "real" foreign foods. Just another reminder that here, an American s'more is just as exotic as some Anthony Bourdain-esque meal.

The Past Month

I probably should have seen it coming, but I never would have guessed he would have been so sneaky. My bird friend, who has spent so much time keeping me company, eventually flew in the the open window. But, to my surprise, he entered through the kitchen window, not my bedroom's. He claimed the kitchen table as his own new land, making just enough rustling and tip-toeing sounds to make me suspect a home intrusion. Sneaky, sneaky little oiseau. He left as quickly and quietly as I chased him (quickly, but not so quietly) back out. In California, I've notice that there are more ant attacks in the fall, before it gets colder for winter. I suppose I could decide that my feathered visitor's home invasion was meant to signify the start of a new season, too.

Spring has finally arrived, and it could not have come at a better time! The ugly knobbly trees finally have leaves, the insect population has grown both indoors and out, and, just like all those illustrated kids books always claimed, calfs and lambs have shown up next to their mama animals. I cannot stress, however, how much of an impact seeing the sun has had on me. My excitement at it not raining for a week has hindered my common sense though, and as a result of my reveling in the glorious sun, I've already had two sunburns. Although both were completely worth it.

The first I received while on what had started as a pleasant walk around Lac Léman. This walk eventually turned into an epic journey as my friend and I set the nearby city of Montreux as our goal. We reached our destination 21 lizards, 16 car honks, 7 hours, 5 speedo-or-less old men, and 20 miles later. The second was not as much of a sunburn as a light-pink tan while spending the day with my family in The Netherlands.


The Netherlands was amazing. As much as I didn't want to leave Rome when I visited Italy, I could have moved into a cardboard box just outside the residential area of Amsterdam. I keep trying to describe how beautiful the buildings were, how kind the people were, how happy I was there, but these words just aren't working the way they should. I will say that Dutch food is amazing, filled with tasty bread and chocolate and butter, Dutch people every ounce as friendly as they are tall, and cities built on top of canals is pretty much the way I would design my town if I had one of my own. (I would also have bubbles come from all public building windows, more bicycles than cars, and have a waterfall in the town center, just in case you were wondering.)

Life as Usual

The French verb naître means "to be born," and naissance means "birth."

So why, oh why, would I not realize that re-naissance on my quiz last week meant "re-birth," and not the period that followed the middle ages if the entire quiz focused on religion and not historical eras?


Life has been stiflingly slow as I am suffering one of my worst bouts of homework-writer's block. While I am still interested in all my subjects, and have faithfully been following my coursework, my motivation to not procrastinate and to finish all my work has almost completely disappeared. So, I remain locked in my room until my homework muse shows up.

Saturday night, while waiting for my muse, I faintly heard fireworks crackling outside. So I ran up to the roof to search the skyline. Unfortunately, there was a building perfectly blocking my view, so I watched the second half and finale of the show through the reflection of several windows of the apartment building across from mine. Not the most spectacular view, but still, it was a unique way of enjoying the fireworks.

For the past week, a brown finch-like little bird has been landing on my window sill and keeping me company. Sometimes he helps me to wake me up in the mornings. Other times, he just sits and primps himself while I read. Heidi says that it's like I am Cinderella, but as of yet, I have not seen any singing mice, and do not feel particularly inclined to make tiny hats and shirts for my new friend. I am very glad that he is so small and sweet, because my window has no screen, and he isn't afraid to sit right on the open frame. I don't want imagine my reaction if I were to wake up and see one of those evil-looking pigeons from Rome chilling just a few feet away.

Rain, Rain!

Monday was a beautiful sunny day. I didn't even have to wear a scarf to walk to class! Tuesday was just as beautiful, but it snowed the whole day. From Wednesday until the end of the week, it rained. The rain came pouring down as if it were Winnie the Pooh's blustery day. As I sat at my window, watching the little creek's water level rise, I wished that the storm would wash away the assignments written on my class syllabus the way it washed away the letters in his book. But, I was not so lucky as Pooh Bear, and I still had three papers to write.

Mid midterms season, most of my time is spent locked away in my room, writing and reading. Although I love both of those things, I don't think my head's come back right after my Italy trip. Bitten by the travel bug, school works is becoming increasingly more and more difficult to focus on. At least the two papers I have left to write are on my own topic choices, so it is definitely more motivating when I'm interested. Still, I am tired of my corner. See, my wireless card is only able to receive internet at the far corner of my room (luckily by the bed) and facing a certain angle at the kitchen table. The kitchen provides too many distractions, and I end up eating more than studying. So, I've barricaded myself in my cozy little corner, unable to move without losing all internet connection, typing away about the strange cases of both Jekyll and Hyde and The Yellow Wallpaper.

This evening, I went to Circus Nock, a charming 1-ring circus under a great big red and white striped tent. There were tigers, zebras, horses and llamas all ready to perform for Heidi's first circus. Like every good circus, there were too many jugglers, cotton candy by the pound, and the acrobats fell just enough to give you a scare. My favorite act was, as always, the tightrope walker, who could unicycle and toe-shoe across the highwire. Although the show was aimed for kids and there wasn't anything earth-shatteringly original, it was an enchanting distraction from homework for just a few hours, and was able to rival Wednesday's sunset thunder and lightning storm for the best part of my week.

I've Really Been There!

It has been brought to my attention that because most of my blog pictures are not of anybody, one could doubt that I actually visited any of these places I've been talking about. I don't deny that I would make up stories to tell you all, but in this case, everything so far has been true, and I have the proof! Enjoy this vain display of my travels!

At the Foro Romano

In windy Lyon

After climbing Giotto's Tower in Florence

Riding a giant seahorse in Vevey

The Traveling Gnomes at St. Peter's Square

Italian Holiday

It's funny the way things are never exactly the picture you paint in your imagination. I think a lot of people view seeing the differences between their imagined version and the real thing as disappointment, but I love it. I love making those comparisons and learning about what the world is really like. Sometimes I maintain that my imagined version is better than the real thing, but this was most definitely not the case with Rome. Granted, I had it in my mind that there would be less people in Italy, but I guess traveling during Spring Break isn't the most original idea. Still, it was amazing to be there in Florence and Rome, actually using the Italian I've learned, eating pizza, and browsing street vendor shops.

My favorite place in Rome was definitely Trevi Fountain, although the Spanish steps were magnificent at night! I loved the way you had to search for the fountain, as it was hidden down these little streets filled with tourist shops and gelaterias, then boum! The whole fountain is just spread out between the buildings with all of its waterfalls and lights and pure white statues. Although it was overcrowded with tourists,the fountain was beautiful enough to actually help me block out the other people. The Spanish steps were even harder to find, but we could see a beautiful night skyline of Rome from the top, and were entertained by a group of Italian high-school age kids with two guitars, stumbling their way through Red Hot Chile Peppers songs. The way the city has so much history woven through it, thousand-year old pillars just chillin' next to the metro line fascinated me. Plus, Heidi and I were only the 2nd people to enter the Colosseum, so it was actually much more haunting and impacting being there without the innumerable tour groups. Also, the week after Easter is free to enter almost all museums and attractions, so that was an unexpected and fantastic surprise.

Florence was quaint and intimate, much less polluted by cars and tourists than Rome, but I have to honestly say that I enjoyed myself in Rome a little bit more. I think my opinion might be a bit biased, though, because my welcome to the city was at all the image of Italy I had, and it was not the version I preferred. While searching for an ATM, there was a flash of lightening that filled the piazza with the most intense white light from lightening I've ever seen, and the thunder followed so quickly after and so loudly I thought for a moment that the small plaza was being bombed. So, as those WWII elementary school videos instructed me, I ducked, covered, and kissed my butt goodbye. Fortunately, there had not been a bombing and my duck and cover greatly entertained two homeless men. Then, the rain started, which was not a problem until I realized that Italian streets are prone to puddles, and my shoes were not waterproof. Then the rain turned into snow, and the snow into hail- all within the ten minutes it took me to get to the ATM and back. So, as much as the architecture and art and people of Firenze were lovely, I had cold, wet feet for the rest of my time there, despite my efforts of protecting my feet by stealing the hostel's trash bags and wrapping my feet in them.

So I returned home to Lausanne, ecstatic to be in my own bed, eating food other than bread, cheese and apples, and away from those consistently late Italian trains. Waiting for me in my email box was a message instructing me to call Cal Sate Long Beach Housing. I did, and learned that I was offered the position of Resident Coordinator back in the Halls! Yay! To explain the job, I will be staying at Long Beach one extra year to supervise, train, evaluate, determine, develop, assist, check in/out, and coordinate residents, Resident Assistants, and Student Assistants. There are a bunch of other verbs I could yank from the Coord. application to try to describe it, but roughly, it's a promotion in which I will be able to be an RA for the RA's and have more responsibilities.

So after this amazing week, it felt like there could be nothing wrong at all in the world. Then I realized that classes were starting back up, and I had an essay to write. So, at this very moment, I am not a traveler nor a coordinator in Long Beach. I am just an American student in Switzerland with a whole lot of homework to do.