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!
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2 comments:
Thank you for saving me from the mudslinging that I would have received if _I_ had been the first one in the family to get a Swiss bank account.
Great blog Audrey! We hope that you will keep writing and let us know what it's REALLY like to have a Swiss bank account, go hiking in France on the weekend, learn physics European style, and be an American abroad these days. Oh, and also "what did you have for breakfast?" (besides chocolate?
Mo
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