I have long been away...

It's been quite a while since my last post... I am such a horrible blogger :(

I have a good excuse though, I finally moved to Switzerland!!! After a crap load of paper work, I have my residence permit!!! I moved completely in September and I'm still getting used to this place hence my long silence. It is such a beautiful city!!! I have an apartment that has a spectacular view of Lac Leman... even though I am paying too much money as rent and will have to find a cheaper place soon, it is worth it for the time being! Geneva is so diverse, I love it!!! I had packed all the natural hair products I could find when I was in the US but when I got here, there were so many hair shops and salons that can take care of my hair :)

This city is filled with Diplomats, Ambassadors, Top negotiators and other bigwigs in international relations... pretty cool!!!

Downside... well, more shitty paper work to do about insurance (health and something vague called "civil responsibility insurance"... wth??? It is compulsory and costs close to 300CHF... WTH... I am a responsible person, why do I need insurance to prove it civilly??? (hehehe... I know, I'm not making any sense). Trying to make new friends, getting used to the work in grad school, paying too much money every month (it is so freaking expensive to live in this place, I went to buy groceries the other day and decided to finally treat myself to some good meat for a change, I had to pay 9CHF for a measly looking piece of lamb)... sigh... I am also adjusting to switching between English and French and learning all my classes in French (I bought a tape recorder to record lectures... can' t seem to get everything the Professors say in class... too busy trying to stay awake...hehe...

Awww, I will stop babbling now, I will try to make posts more often... have to get back to my mountain of readings for tomorrows classes... Ciao ;)

Communication bites!

I have been making preparations to go to graduate school in Geneva... things have been working out... well, sort of. There have been so many instances of miscommunication, it is really getting on my nerves. I am going to be learning Master's degree level material in French. I can speak, read and write extensively in French but I still find it hard to understand different accents and to discern the language when it is spoken at a fast rate. I'm a little bit worried that I might be lost in translation the whole time... that I might be the student in class who is always apologizing and answering questions with "Répétez votre question s'il vous plaît"... there is certainly a difference between learning a language within the socio-cultural milieu and learning the language from a distance. I hope I am making the right decision to study in Geneva.

Sometimes, I wonder if I should just stay where I am, to take a somewhat easier way out. I have made up my mind about Geneva though so I am going to stick to the plan. It takes the Swiss embassy a minimum of eight weeks to process a permit... wth? Why? Upon that, the application requires more that 15 different supporting documents. These are the times when I wish we lived in a world without national boundaries and limitations. Okay, so I am whining like a lazy bum... hehe...