À Genève

3 days at a hostel and I've finally settled in. For those of you who are actually reading this and know me, which I'd hope is everyone cause if not, that would be a bit strange, I'm not very good at these types of things. But here goes- my apologies in advance...

As our plane crossed over the Alps (which were taller than the clouds...who knew real mountains even existed?), it seemed only fitting that none other than Miley's "Party in the USA" came on my iPod. Welcome to Europe. My first experience of a full meal on an airplane was...exactly what I expected. They served apple danishes for dessert, and in failed efforts to heat the frozen cakes up, we managed to turn our first European pastry into an apple pancake. Erin and Nicole can attest. Ick.

Everyone has told me to bring back either chocolate or watches from Switzerland, and from the second I stepped off the plane, it was pretty clear that finding the latter wouldn't be a problem. The walls of the airport in Geneva are lined with ads, just like in America, but EVERY single one was for a different watch company, from Swatch to Rolex, they were all there (one could aptly call Tik Tok the theme song for this trip, especially after Erin and I were jammin on the plane...). No guarantees for souvenirs to the family though...funds are limited.

Upon getting in to the city, two observations made it glaringly evident that I was an American in Europe for the first time: Switzerland is expensive and Switzerland is quiet. About the first: exchange rate is pretty close to 1:1-i.e. it's pretty accurate to think of everything in terms of dollars. However, bagel and cream cheese at the airport=9.00 CHF. That's $9.00. for a bagel. Coffee runs between 5 and 6 CHF per cup, but its some of the best coffee I've ever tasted. So much so that I've quickly become accustomed to drinking it black.

Concerning the eerie silence here: Earl, our academic director-more to come later-told us during our first meeting that its simply not part of the Swiss culture to raise one's voice, and that couldn't be more evident. Friday we went in to the old city of Geneva in which there is a main road that cuts through the town. It was almost reminiscent of New York in the sense that there are tons of upscale shops and restaurants along a wide street packed with cars. The sidewalks are jammed with people, even on a weekday afternoon, but it's SILENT. I have heard 2 horns honk over 4 days, and you can hardly hear a single voice when walking down the street. No one talks on their cell phones on buses or trains even though those are the most popular methods of transportation. People automatically assume that our group is American simply because of the level of our voices, and it's pretty easy to find other Americans, as well. Poor Earl is probably going deaf during our class discussions because he speaks so softly, but all of our responses in comparison sound like we're shouting to be heard in a crowd. A product of American schools? I'll blame that...