Geneva

There is nothing better than traveling! I’ve met so many wonderful people. And when you couchsurf, you stay with people who are in their element. They know the town, they speak the language, they know the good and bad places to go. When I travel and stay at a When I meet other Americans though, sometimes I get the feeling that they are showing off where they have been or if they speak another language and look down on you and your experiences. It seems like they are competing and collecting experiences. I find that with some English too. I’ve never experienced that with an Australian. I’ve liked every Australian that I’ve met so far, no question. They are just more humble and laid back. Americans are so frickin insecure I think.

Today I played giant chess in the park, helped cook and ate a chicken that the woman's roommate’s parents grew on their farm. She has told me a lot about Geneva that there is no way I would know otherwise. For example, most people who live in geneve are not from there. The UN people pretty much stick to themselves. If someone decides to work for the UN as say a secretary or something, then you are marked as a secretary for life and can never move up in rank. But it’s worse than just that. If you take a certain position, not janitor or something, but work for the wrong office, that will mark you for your entire career. C’est bizzare. Also, the UN doesn’t pay taxes, so even though supposedly they are fighting for the rights of people all over the world, they are not contributing to the community that they are living in. hmm, a bit hypocritical perhaps??? There are also very different parts of town. There is the part with money and the part without. It is very difficult to find housing in Geneve because it is so expensive and it is full! There just aren’t places. Also in shared housing (ie apartments) each occupant has one day/half day in which they can do their laundry. She told me it is uniquely Swiss in this. There are many people who just find buildings to squat in for free, but they are starting to crack down on it more now. It’s stuff like this that you just can’t learn on a tour or staying in hostels. I didn’t ask what happens if you do laundry on a day that’s not yours . I just don’t think that’s done.

Anyway it feels great to be free and traveling again. I feel so much more myself when I am engaged and learning. There was just nothing for me in Paris and I felt like I was living someone else’s life. It is possible to live with the family, be learning things (about myself as well) and still have a social life. I think I felt stifiled in Paris because I felt that I couldn’t go out or do anything without being looked down upon. Maybe it was my mentality, but that is just how I felt. If I put the effort in, I could have gone out more, but honestly, it just didn’t inspire me to go out in Paris. I know they’re got to be people living there who I would love to hang out with, but I just can’t stay there long enough to find them. I also was experiencing many things for the first time and felt that what did I know, I was just experiencing instead of engaging. Hmm, not the first time I’ve approached something like that…

Halloween in Geneva: we had trick or treaters and they said thank you in English. At first, Caroline didn’t know what they wanted. Fortuneately, I had two lolies in my purse and gave it to them. What a strange experience.