Last weekend was the big celebration of the new metro, the M2, opening. Included in festivities were free concerts all evening (in two simultaneous locations!) and lots of free exhibits during the daytime. On saturday, I met one of my classmates Nanne for one of the concerts. It was really amazing how many people came into town for the celebrations- not just young people and students, but people of all age groups and styles convened on several central locations. Even though the music in itself wasn't that exiting, the whole atmosphere of the town was welcoming and seemed alive. A few interesting observations that I wasn't used to: the ready availability of beer and other alcohol on the streets and also the great contrast between a really loud rock concert and a centuries-old cathedral looming above.
Now that I've been here for two weeks already I've had the opportunity to get a few very critical things taken care of: residence permit, bank account, cell phone. Next, apartment!
Daily routines are also getting established: I'm living pretty close to a grocery store so I can pick up potatoes, vegetables, etc. pretty easily and I'm finding most things to be available here. I have noticed that all of the produce seems to taste much, much better! I think it's because a lot of it is grown either in Switzerland or one of the surrounding countries, so it's very fresh and hasn't been transported in a truck for days and days. Dairy products are also fabulous (thanks to the cow bells?)!
Classes are also going well. I'm beginning to get used to doing the exercises in class with the assistant, and then just reviewing at home instead of spending hours and hours struggling through a problem set. I'm still not sure which one might be better for learning. I thought that it might be an interesting to study these two very different approaches: which one actually makes learning more efficient, effective, etc.? I am not sure how to experimentally measure "amount learned" or if it is a measurable quantity at all, but someday I would like to get involved in this kind of study, even if it is on my own (future) students!
25 September, 2008
In the beginning
This was actually written about a week ago, but I want to get into the habit of updating the blog and also keeping it complete, so here it is!
Things are going well here in Switzerland! The first couple of days were pretty difficult, but now that classes have started and I know how to go from door to campus without getting lost I am much more optimistic about life here. Right now I am staying in a small town called Le Mont north of the city and taking the regional bus to the downtown area before catching the metro to the university. The total commute is only about 45 minutes, but I would like to be closer to the main city and have a roommate so I'm not alone at home all the time!
I am taking 5 physics courses, including the "practical work" component- which will potentially become the area of my Masters thesis next year- involving meetings with my advisor and the other students in my group (which is the particle theory group) to do mini-projects. As for the classes, the system is a bit different here in that each course has a lecture component, and an "exercise" component. The exercises are led by post-docs and involve solving problems- like homework but in a class. So far, all the lectures have been in English but one of the "exercise" sessions was in French! Needless to say, that made it a bit more confusing than I would have liked. There are a few other international students from Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, India, etc. who appreciate courses in English, so we might try to convince the exercise leaders to conduct these sessions in English. However, right now I think I prefer the American version of homework- there is less pressure from time and more opportunity to try different ways of solving problems, get them wrong, then try them again.
I am making friends with some of the other students here, both the international students and the Swiss. We mostly speak French together, but some of the students don't speak French very well and prefer English. But we have all agreed that we would like to improve French so it is becoming the "lingua franca" so to speak! We will probably all get together for dinner this weekend or next week and spend some time relaxing together.
Last Saturday I went to visit Avenches, which is the old Roman city Aventicum. Aventicum was the capitol of Helvetia at that time (100-200AD). There was an amphitheater, at one end of which a tower was built ~1200AD, but some of the stones are remaining and even some of the old passageways. The tower was used during various raids, particularly from the Bernese, who ended up capturing the town at some point ~1500. The Roman theater was quite impressive and large portions are still remaining because it had been built into a hillside. Behind the theater, there were about ten cows grazing the field with their cowbells clanging noisily. All cows here seem to be happy grazing all day with their bells at various pitches- I haven't seen any cow with no bell yet!
Things are going well here in Switzerland! The first couple of days were pretty difficult, but now that classes have started and I know how to go from door to campus without getting lost I am much more optimistic about life here. Right now I am staying in a small town called Le Mont north of the city and taking the regional bus to the downtown area before catching the metro to the university. The total commute is only about 45 minutes, but I would like to be closer to the main city and have a roommate so I'm not alone at home all the time!
I am taking 5 physics courses, including the "practical work" component- which will potentially become the area of my Masters thesis next year- involving meetings with my advisor and the other students in my group (which is the particle theory group) to do mini-projects. As for the classes, the system is a bit different here in that each course has a lecture component, and an "exercise" component. The exercises are led by post-docs and involve solving problems- like homework but in a class. So far, all the lectures have been in English but one of the "exercise" sessions was in French! Needless to say, that made it a bit more confusing than I would have liked. There are a few other international students from Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, India, etc. who appreciate courses in English, so we might try to convince the exercise leaders to conduct these sessions in English. However, right now I think I prefer the American version of homework- there is less pressure from time and more opportunity to try different ways of solving problems, get them wrong, then try them again.
I am making friends with some of the other students here, both the international students and the Swiss. We mostly speak French together, but some of the students don't speak French very well and prefer English. But we have all agreed that we would like to improve French so it is becoming the "lingua franca" so to speak! We will probably all get together for dinner this weekend or next week and spend some time relaxing together.
Last Saturday I went to visit Avenches, which is the old Roman city Aventicum. Aventicum was the capitol of Helvetia at that time (100-200AD). There was an amphitheater, at one end of which a tower was built ~1200AD, but some of the stones are remaining and even some of the old passageways. The tower was used during various raids, particularly from the Bernese, who ended up capturing the town at some point ~1500. The Roman theater was quite impressive and large portions are still remaining because it had been built into a hillside. Behind the theater, there were about ten cows grazing the field with their cowbells clanging noisily. All cows here seem to be happy grazing all day with their bells at various pitches- I haven't seen any cow with no bell yet!
24 September, 2008
Welcome
Hi!
This blog is for my friends, my family, and also myself as a way to communicate and record interesting events during my time in Switzerland. Please let me know if there's something you especially want me to write about!
This blog is for my friends, my family, and also myself as a way to communicate and record interesting events during my time in Switzerland. Please let me know if there's something you especially want me to write about!
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