Sent September 2, 2004 @ 11:55
day 3:
jet lagged (couldn't fall asleep at night, but would sleep in...a lot)
duvet is incredibly hot. sleep with my teal star blanket instead took the bus to the market. fabulous! lots of fresh foods. fruits, vegetables, cheese, a whole stand for mushrooms, fish, and flowers!
bought myself a bouquet of flowers just becasue i like fresh cut
flowers, and just because i'm on my own so i deserve some flowers!
prices were pretty steep (as usual). i'd say they're a little more than grocery store prices, but whatever. it's fresher. example: small pint of raspberries = 4.5CHF. smae goes for blackberries (which were superhuge). i ate the blackberries on the way home becasue they were getting squashed in my bag (soooo juicy) and my snacking left evidence. red fingers! another example: 1 ear of corn (on the cob) = 1CHF.
had an iced tea in an outdoor cafe by myself. i thought iced tea was "the glace", but here it's "the froid". weird suisse people. always wanted to eat at an outdoor (european style) cafe by myself. this place didnt' really serve food, so i just had a drink. i read a suisse newspaper while sitting there (it was already on the table) and it all made sense (it was in french).
noticed that doors push to open (even ones with knobs to turn), as opposed to them swinging towards you). think about it. it's opposite to canada.
cool thing: supermarket has an escalator for grocery carts. yup.
since the store is multileveled, they'd built little escalators for the carts. you push the cart in, then get on the normal escalator as your cart moved up beside you.
weather: sunny (between 28-30C)
day 4:
jet lagged still (woke up at noon - ie. 6am)
breakfast of nutella (bought yesterday at the brocery store) on bread.
and some raspberries too.
watched woman's volleyball final (olympics) on tv, where china beat russia in 5 sets (good comeback!)
have a couple mosquito looking bites.
went hiking in the uphill forest behind my apartment. strenuous. (my calves were sore before today from walking up and down hills - i live on a mountain, right?) never really got to a good lookout point to take pictures, but apparently becasue i went through random paths instead of the really major one they've got. you may not remember, but in some paths in toronto, there are pit stops where you can do exercises. they have them here too. i saw two. one for doing curl ups (with directions for easy and hard) and the other for stretching
(with directions).
sat on sunny balcony to write in journal
oven in degrees C
egg yolks here are really really bright orangish/yellow.
watched the weakest link in french ("le maillon faible"), closing ceremonies, jamie oliver (cooking show) and others.
day 5:
tried to start an internet journal (more details to come)
went grocery shopping. noticed that the cart moves slower so that you're at the top (or bottom depending on if you're going up or down) before your cart has hit their destination (the escalator thing - i was trying to figure it out when i went home last time).
finally finished my water still in my water bottle from pearson
international water fountain...by feeding my flowers with it.
weather: grey and breezy during the day. sun hot. early evening = heavy winds.
surprised at the number of ethnic people i see around. and strange to not hear them speaking their native tongue (or english) but french!
wonder if people look at me and know i don't speak french.
watched on tv: would wants to be a millionaire (french version), the nanny with fran drescher and her funny nasal voice (in french) met the "concierge" today. sort of like a landlord to the apartment.
my laundry day is wednesdays. every two weeks! learned about garbage procedures. no dryer. hang dry everything. washing machine goes by temperature. she was really really nice. whole conversation in french. ok!
my doorbell is a rotating knob in the middle of my front door.
went into mcdonalds to see prices (curious). meal = 12-13CHF! mcflurry = 3CHF.
day 6:
called mom at work @ 5:30pm (oops, i mean 17:30). noticed that she spoke a lot of chinese (was that on purpose, or did i just notice it becasue i haven't heard it in a week)
getting over jet lag? ok with duvet ... used the eye cover thing that i got free from BA.
went shopping in market again (saturday, tues and thursday mornings).
bought some postacrds, but upset that none show the town i live in (east of neuchatel, but TINY).
when cut yellow zucchini open, area around seeds are a little green in colour.
talked to the other math teacher about teaching. seems really nice and willing to help.
registered with the town. "commune/police des habitants". i had to register not with the city of neuchatel, but with the town of haute-rive, because that's where i'm living (habitating?).
had my first "pain au chocolat" (here, called "croissant au chocolat") this morning on the way to the bus stop (yup, there's a bakery on the way to the bus stop - this could be a bad thing). 1.70 CHF. not too bad.
watched: french survivor! ("koh-lanta") it was the season finale too!
apparently, i get a wireless internet signal in my appartment. too bad i don't the person's password, or else i'd get free access!
ambulances are red and white with blue flashing lights. sirens sound "european" (what i imagine they'd sound like in europe before i got here)
took photos for various documents in photobooth in train station
(amelie moment!!!)
talked to dad around dinnertime when he called
day 7:
had first official staff meeting, but only with new staff and the principal, to go over a couple things.
i keep feeling like i want to take pictures of all of this because it's such a big deal to me, but then don't think it's appropriate or that other people will think i'm weird. it's SUCH a big deal to me that i'm here. not only is it switzerland, but it's my first job ever! everyone else seems like it's just another normal day in their life. like it's not interesting. or exciting, but i feel like it's the coolest thing ever!
met individually with the principal to go over a couple things.
principal gave me a brochure for the local figure skating club.
hopefully something will happen there.
met other teachers for the first time. wine and cheese. principal did a little welcoming toast. felt young. all returning staff seem really nice. they all seem really close to teach other. very small group (think would be cooler if more people).
met next door neighbour. saw her coming up the stairs behind me and said hello and asked if she had a cat, because there's a cat crate outside her door. she has three cats, two turtles, a guinea pig and some fish. i talked with her for a bit. she seems really really nice. said to ask her if i had any questions. all in french. ok!
talked to "P" (returning teacher) who was in my apartment last year, and was his first year teaching last year. made me feel exctied for the year and reassured that it would all be ok.
think that's it.
cheers,
*L*
p.s. i've taken pictures about all of this, but still haven't tried to put them into my computer
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