This is a photo of my comfy comfy bed. I am living in Corsier, a Village outside of Geneva (about 25 minutes by bus), with the Kellers. The Kellers are a retired couple; Jules used to be a Swiss banker and his wife Helen now makes mixed media art pieces primarily using ties (or Cravatesas the French call them). They are Swiss German, which means that the TV, food products, and books in this house are all in Swiss German, a dialect found in the German part of Swissland. I cannot comprehend any Swiss German, but I do enjoy watching Music Schtar on Sunday evenings with the family...its the Swiss German American Idol, but its a bit like a bad Karaoke show.
This is a view of the inside of my University building, UNIMAIL. The University of Geneva is 450 years old and is HUGE. It is completely overwhelming. There are over 13,000 students. You could fit all of Guilford inside UNIMAIL, and this building only houses a few of the University's faculties such as Social Sciences and the School of Translation and Interpretation (where I am studying). Question of the day: What is the difference between translation and interpretation? I'll be impressed if you know!
This is what 11 francs (about 10.50USD) will get you at McDonalds: a six inch water bottle and a 4inch square hamburger thingy. A big mac is almost 12USD here. The cost of living in Geneva is very high, and finding an apartment is downright impossible. Although people here seem to have a lot of money, only 3% of the population works in the banking sector, though banking makes up about 30% of the economy. Having money is a large part of the lifestyle here; the Swiss love to shop and they love their Louis Vuitton Bags. The people here are overwhelmingly fashionable and a basic Swiss watch will set you back several thousand dollars...I have yet to see the effects of the financial crisis surfacing here, but I will keep you posted. Switzerland has incredible social support for its citizens so it is rare to see homeless and unemployed people on the streets.
This is a photo of one of Toyota's electric concept cars at the Geneva Auto Show. The Auto show is very famous and very well attended. Despite not being a huge "car person" I really enjoyed the show. Surprisingly enough Ford Motors and Mini Cooper had the coolest displays. Although, I really wouldn't mind taking the Diesel Subaru Forester for a ride...check out my Flikr Page for more of the cars!
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