How on earth did this happen? The day after tomorrow I'll be back in the Motherland, eating enough cheddar to give me nightmares for a month. (I suppose you all know by now that I mention cheddar in nearly every blog post purely because it is now a standing joke. I'm not actually that obsessed! Especially as the cheese in Switzerland is famous for a reason!)
I'm very sad to be leaving - I know this because of the manic job-hunting in Geneva that I've been doing over the past few days! Always good to keep your options open, and somehow I have a feeling I'll be back here one day, under my own steam. But, the tea supplies are running low and the price of a titchy box of PG Tips has reached a high of 8 euros in Carrefour, so a return home is inevitable, and it is very welcome. I've printed all my tickets, cleaned all of the flat except the bathroom (tomorrow's job!), and now I just need to get packing.
It was about a year ago that Emily and I were booking our tickets out to Bilbao and I was having a panic every time I thought about it. A lot's changed since then. I now understand the appeal of tapas, for example (it was lost on me before!) and I'm about to start owning a raclette machine so I can have Swiss-themed soirées next year. My hard drive is clogged up with photos and I feel like the whole world has opened up to me. I know this sounds a bit melodramatic, but from someone who'd never been on a plane before, I now realise it's not hard to travel and I have enough confidence to do it by myself, which I certainly didn't have before. It may be the end of the Year Abroad, but it's only the first year of the rest of my life with its newly-expanded horizons.
If I did this, I feel like I can do anything. So, to quote a very cool sci-fi series (Star Trek Next Gen, duh!): Ace is high. Nothing wild... and the sky's the limit.
See you on the other side.
Lucy xxx
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Monday, 11 June 2012
Welcome to hotel Lucy.
Once again my dear Blogeurs I am writing this from Geneva airport, as I've just sent Mummy Fisher home to go buy all the cheddar cheese in Tesco, and I'm waiting for Claire to land.
Mum and I did Geneva as best we could in the 6 days we had. The highlight was probably a fantastic day out with my landlady and her Dad (who had me literally crying with laughter at one point... my mascara is all over a very posh restaurant's napkin). We went to Nyon and took the boat over Lac Léman to Yvoire, where I bought the odd souvenir and we had an amazing lunch of fish and chips (though it was a far cry from the British counterpart... not a bit of batter in sight!) We had a good wander round, then we took the boat back. We also visited a chapel on top of a hill with a fab view over Geneva.
Me and Mum also did the reformation museum which was as dry as a bone. The audio guide needs a shimmy shake, the woman spoke with such an American drawl it was ridiculous, and she talked so slowly! She pronounced 'bishop' as 'bis-hope' which was rather annoying. I felt like volunteering to re-record the darn thing for them, but a 15 minute debate on predestination put me off. No need to be too enthusiastic now.
I have now tried a Raclette, which is where you have slices of cheese and melt them on a machine, then nom them down with potatoes and cold meats and pickles. My landlady did one for us and it was rather superb - I now want a machine so that I can have rather pretentious soirées next year! Hello Amazon...
And finally, it is exam season. The history module wasn't as bad as it might have been. Today I had the interpreting oral (the one I wrote the mahoosive project for) and I got some pretty good feedback from my project. They actually told me to go write a PhD, and I felt I shouldn't let them down by saying that 30 pages was more than enough for me! Still, being rather pleased and smug for the rest of the day.
I only have 10 days left and I have honestly googled jobs out here! I think returning PDQ would be rather good if it were under my own steam, when I could make it my life rather than just 4 months here and 4 months there. But we shall see, the future's a massive great thing that's ready for the planting, nurturing and growing. Allons-y!
Mum and I did Geneva as best we could in the 6 days we had. The highlight was probably a fantastic day out with my landlady and her Dad (who had me literally crying with laughter at one point... my mascara is all over a very posh restaurant's napkin). We went to Nyon and took the boat over Lac Léman to Yvoire, where I bought the odd souvenir and we had an amazing lunch of fish and chips (though it was a far cry from the British counterpart... not a bit of batter in sight!) We had a good wander round, then we took the boat back. We also visited a chapel on top of a hill with a fab view over Geneva.
Me and Mum also did the reformation museum which was as dry as a bone. The audio guide needs a shimmy shake, the woman spoke with such an American drawl it was ridiculous, and she talked so slowly! She pronounced 'bishop' as 'bis-hope' which was rather annoying. I felt like volunteering to re-record the darn thing for them, but a 15 minute debate on predestination put me off. No need to be too enthusiastic now.
I have now tried a Raclette, which is where you have slices of cheese and melt them on a machine, then nom them down with potatoes and cold meats and pickles. My landlady did one for us and it was rather superb - I now want a machine so that I can have rather pretentious soirées next year! Hello Amazon...
And finally, it is exam season. The history module wasn't as bad as it might have been. Today I had the interpreting oral (the one I wrote the mahoosive project for) and I got some pretty good feedback from my project. They actually told me to go write a PhD, and I felt I shouldn't let them down by saying that 30 pages was more than enough for me! Still, being rather pleased and smug for the rest of the day.
I only have 10 days left and I have honestly googled jobs out here! I think returning PDQ would be rather good if it were under my own steam, when I could make it my life rather than just 4 months here and 4 months there. But we shall see, the future's a massive great thing that's ready for the planting, nurturing and growing. Allons-y!
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