After a few weeks of feeling a bit overwhelmed and lost in a world of unfamiliar, I began to settle in and appreciate what is around me. A weekend trip to Annecy awoke the dormant passion that I have for France. We wove through a sea of people buying their weekly cheese and sausage at the market, savored a picnic in the grass over looking the lake which is nestled among mountains, and leisurely paddled around the lake on paddle boards finishing the day with two exquisite scoops of hand made gelato. Nothing could have made this day better except the realization that this is now my life.
The feeling of comfort is beginning to settle in as I locate all of the basic necessities around me. I now know which markets have the best fruits and veggies, which grocery stores have the cheapest dry goods, which bakery has the best croissants, and which fromagerie has the biggest selection of cheese. All of the essentials are now in place. I also know how to pay my tuition fees (which happens at the post office), buy more minutes for my phone (which happens at the grocery store), and buy a bike (which happens in the basement of a high-school.)
The other great thing about beginning to belong is meeting friends. Most of my friends here are not Swiss. This was not by choice but by matter of convenience. I am not partial to where my friends are from as long as they walk a similar path of life. All of the people who have been open to exploring and making new friends have been other foreigners in the same situation as me. Last night I found myself at a free salsa class surrounded by a group of people from the Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium, Finland, and India. All of them were here in Switzerland either studying or interning in an incredibly inspiring field. I used to think that I was pretty worldly and cool and now I just feel like one more person following her dreams and aspirations to different corners of the world.
Geneva is not Switzerland. Although it may appear to be in Switzerland on a map, do not be deceived . It is a country all of its own. It is one of the most international cities in the world, and because of this, it has lost a bit of its Swiss charm. It lacks the adorable shuttered buildings with flower baskets hanging out the windows. It lacks the markets that fill entire blocks of cobble stoned streets. It lacks the culture of stopping at five different specialty shops to get your groceries. And most of all, it lacks the incredible bakeries that both Switzerland and France are known for. Despite all of these disappointments, it does provide a dynamic cultural experience in which you can be a part of thousands of different cultures in the same city.
Luckily, France is nearby to offer mouth watering pastries, cheese, sausage, coffee, and gelato in artisan shops that are scattered along cobbled streets that every so often cross over meandering canals. I imagine that I will be spending a lot of time in France.
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