I've arrived! 2 days late and without any luggage, but I've finally arrived in Switzerland and caught sight Europe from outside of an airport. On the flight with my family from Amsterdam to Paris I payed special attention to the travelers, and thought to myself: so these are the french. Even though it may be poor form to base judgments off of such a minuscule encounter...um...I did it anyway: they were very thin and looked put together, they were unafraid of public displays of affection, and the food was beautiful-it was airplane food, and it tasted good and looked even better! I wasn't surprised by any of these observations, they are all pretty typical french stereotypes, but for some reason it felt different to observe these people and know that they would be surrounding me for the next 5 months. It was intimidating, but not nearly as intimidating as listening to the beautiful flawless French that casually flew from their tongues. Because we had no luggage upon arriving in Geneva, I had to report our missing bags and talk to an agent about getting them delivered to our hotel in Zermatt, in French. Until then all the French I had spoken was to order a soda from the flight attendant...and even saying that was kinda shaky. I was so (so so) nervous at first, but it went pretty well. Afterward, he told my dad in English "You'll be traveling in good hands." I felt silly afterward for acting as the translator for my family, but I'm glad that he humored me because that simple conversation did a lot for confidence. Since then, I've been speaking French every chance I get.
Love and Happy Holidays,
Lauren
26 December 2008
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Hi Lauren, my Grandma and I are watching a show on Geneva, Switzerland right now. Zermatt looks like its pretty close to Geneva but I don't know if you plan on visiting Geneva. If you do then you should probably indulge in plenty of chocolate and wine. Nestle is headquartered there though the local shops look like they offer chocolate that is better cared for. Apparently all measurements were developed in France, but the concept of the liter confused many a tipsy townspeople. Maybe it is time for you to finally get a watch too? When all the Huguenots were chased out of France by Louis XIV they-being the crafty mechanical people that they were-all fled to Switzerland and started making watches. Finally, the penalty for dropping the bread into the cheese while eating fondu may be to kiss everyone at the table to make up for it... but in some cases it may not be that simple. Hope you and your family are enjoying your holiday.
ReplyDelete~Mak