hello and thank you. at this point, that's the extent of my french, but somehow i've managed to make it from the airplane, collected my bags, through customs, exchanged some money at the airport ( NEVER do this unless you absolutely have to, they totally rob you the fees are so crazy) bough a few things at the grocery store, and have wandered around the city without getting myself too lost.
swiss francs are so pretty, i don't want to spend them!
i did manage to get myself soaked while vising the famous jet d'eau, but no big deal, i wasn't the only one. it's one of geneva's most famous landmarks! the jet blasts water over 500 feet into the air. a stone walk way that's no more than 5 feet wide leads you out to get a super close view. you can get within 10 feet of it! at the start of the walkway signs are posted saying : be careful of the wind direction, it can change suddenly and you could get stranded! yeah, that obviously wasn't enough for me because i was going all the way out there anyways! such an awesome view and i sat down with everyone else and watched the sailboats on the lake for a while. i wouldn't say the wind completely changed directions, but a huge gust of wind came in from nowhere and just dumped water on us. i think everyone was a bit in shock because no one moved. no one was stranded, but it just proved to be a soggy walk home.
visiting the grocery store proved to be an interesting experience. after living off airplane meals, i was so ready to cook some real food in my tiny kitchenette. (i'll make a post with the "apartment" tour soon, it won't take long. haha) i was shocked to see how small the store was, but it still had everything you could want, there just weren't a million different brands and types of the same product to choose from. really, it makes grocery shopping a lot simpler and you don't notice that there was only 1 brand of yogurt instead of 16. cheese and bread were the only things that appeared to have tons of options, but hey, it's switzerland, this country is famous for both!
any guesses on what i bought?! no, the first one isn't champagne...that would have been a good idea though. what's wrong with throwing yourself a welcome-to-europe-apartment-warming party?!
first grocery store visit, i bought milk, yogurt, eggs, mushrooms, an avocado, cheese, and some kleenex. so far, everything has tasted amazing, so i'm pretty sure i didn't buy anything really weird. everyone says that groceries and pretty much everything is cheaper in france so they just ride the trains there to shop. it's on my to do list, but i didn't feel that adventurous on the first day!
its incredible to me how much a place this foreign can feel like home right off the bat. maybe it's the lake? i'm not sure, but my whole life has been spent living on a lake and theres a peaceful feeling about it. for some reason, i could definitely see myself living here. i can't wait to get more familiar with the transportation system so i can go on more adventures!
things i've realized so far:
-everyone dresses up so nicely, they would absolutely die if they were to walk through wal-mart or the iowa state fair
-i need to find a bike, they are everywhere and so convenient since geneva is wrapped around the end of the lake, makes getting to the other side of the city much faster
-apartment in america translates to dorm room in europe, i should have known i wasn't going to get a full apartment, duh!