New Home
So, this post is long overdue because I've been putting it off for one reason or another, but today I figured I would just sit down and write it out. As I mentioned in a previous entry, due to my aunt being transferred I was forced to seek alternative housing. The place I ended up picking turned out not to be the one mentioned in that entry (not really worth going into any details on the how or why behind that), but another place altogether.
The new place is literally right by one of the bus stops that goes to work (the Vernes stop on the 56 line), which is many many stops closer than where I used to be living, turning the ~45 minute bus ride into maybe 5-10 minutes. In fact it's only about a 25 minute run from my office in building 188 (which is at the far end of CERN) to my new home, which is actually more or less right in my current window of endurance (my training is paying off!)
I'm renting a room in an apartment on the tenth floor, from a very pleasant couple. They were originally from Argentina, but have been in Switzerland for quite some time now, I either forget how long exactly, or I never asked. The husband speaks English, but the wife doesn't (aside from a few small phrases, and she's trying to learn more). They both speak French and Spanish though, and since my Spanish is stronger than my French (thank you four years of secondary, and a semester of college) this is actually pretty good news for me. One of the first few evenings, Livio (the husband) was out late, for some reason or another, so it was just me and Karina (the wife) having supper, and we actually managed to hold a semi-decent conversation, and she seemed very relieved and said something along the lines of "At least we'll be able to understand each other," which made me realize that she was probably just as nervous, if not more, about a potential language problem. That said, my Spanish is terribly rusty, and I've made quite a few embarrassing elementary mistakes from time to time, and I'm struggling to remember how to conjugate some of the tenses, but it will likely come back to me over the next few months.
They have a great sense of humour, and are very friendly. They're also fairly sociable, and have quite a few friends nearby. Every Sunday there is a tradition of taking an approximately one hour long walk around some walking paths at around 11, and then getting together for a brunch, so I've been participating in these as well. One of the family's involved is also hosting a CERN student, though his time here is coming to an end, as I think he leaves at the end of June, if I remember right. But in any rate at least, it's quite a bit more interaction with people than I've been getting in the past so far, so that's also a good thing I suppose.
Hmm, I thought there was more I was going to say, but I seem to have forgotten whatever it was, so I guess I'll just wrap up with this for now, and if something does end up coming back to me, I can just add it in later.
The new place is literally right by one of the bus stops that goes to work (the Vernes stop on the 56 line), which is many many stops closer than where I used to be living, turning the ~45 minute bus ride into maybe 5-10 minutes. In fact it's only about a 25 minute run from my office in building 188 (which is at the far end of CERN) to my new home, which is actually more or less right in my current window of endurance (my training is paying off!)
I'm renting a room in an apartment on the tenth floor, from a very pleasant couple. They were originally from Argentina, but have been in Switzerland for quite some time now, I either forget how long exactly, or I never asked. The husband speaks English, but the wife doesn't (aside from a few small phrases, and she's trying to learn more). They both speak French and Spanish though, and since my Spanish is stronger than my French (thank you four years of secondary, and a semester of college) this is actually pretty good news for me. One of the first few evenings, Livio (the husband) was out late, for some reason or another, so it was just me and Karina (the wife) having supper, and we actually managed to hold a semi-decent conversation, and she seemed very relieved and said something along the lines of "At least we'll be able to understand each other," which made me realize that she was probably just as nervous, if not more, about a potential language problem. That said, my Spanish is terribly rusty, and I've made quite a few embarrassing elementary mistakes from time to time, and I'm struggling to remember how to conjugate some of the tenses, but it will likely come back to me over the next few months.
They have a great sense of humour, and are very friendly. They're also fairly sociable, and have quite a few friends nearby. Every Sunday there is a tradition of taking an approximately one hour long walk around some walking paths at around 11, and then getting together for a brunch, so I've been participating in these as well. One of the family's involved is also hosting a CERN student, though his time here is coming to an end, as I think he leaves at the end of June, if I remember right. But in any rate at least, it's quite a bit more interaction with people than I've been getting in the past so far, so that's also a good thing I suppose.
Hmm, I thought there was more I was going to say, but I seem to have forgotten whatever it was, so I guess I'll just wrap up with this for now, and if something does end up coming back to me, I can just add it in later.