Phew!!! You guys….I can’t believe it’s time for me to write this post. It feels like just yesterday that I was packing up my bags and heading to Switzerland. If you haven’t been following along on social media, or if you missed this post, I have been living in Switzerland for the last three months. And let. me. tell. you. what. I am a changed woman. In so many ways, I grew up – I stepped out of my comfort zone, reached out to new people, made new friends, went on wild adventures, did things I never thought I would do {in a good way!} and travelled and spent time in countries I had only seen on a map. I was so nervous about living abroad {I had never done so} and about leaving my husband {we are newlyweds!} friends, family, and all familiarity behind. But I tried to remember that this was an incredible opportunity, and to embrace everyday with a sense of gratefulness and appreciation for the experience.
I enrolled at Ecole Migros for their intensive french language course and it was amazing. I was so nervous about going back to school. Would I like my teachers? How would my classmates be? Would I find the course too challenging? How would I keep up? Within minutes of walking into my classroom, I instantly felt better. My teachers, Nathalie & Leila, were such kind & happy people. They made learning fun – we often broke into teams and told funny stories {in very broken French!} and the teachers always mad us feel comfortable. I think that was the most important thing they could have done – when we made mistakes {which we did often} they didn’t make us feel silly or ashamed. Instead they smiled, and helped us understand why we used the wrong conjugation or verb. It was all very comforting. After three months with them, I felt like I was leaving a little family. I will miss them desperately, and hope to see them again one day, and greet them en français ;). By the way, Ecole Migros is an incredible school with all sorts of programs to offer – everything from culinary, to sports, to photography and wine classes! The options are endless. I went to the location right in the center of Geneva, and it was so great to leave school everyday and be in the middle of town.
Now, after living in another country for 3 months, there are {of course} things I will miss, and other things…..not so much 🙂 For fun, and because I have received this question numerous times, I decided to write them out below and share them with you all. They are below!
Things I’ll miss:
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- One of the most special experiences from my trip were the almost weekly lunches with my husband’s grandmother. She is the ultimate matriarch of the family, and has led such a fascinating life, and although we hasd spent some time together before my move, it was never one-on-one. I honestly feel so blessed to have been able to spend so much time in her presence and just soak up everything she had to share. Everything from art to design to stories about her family, I felt like I was lucky to be able to learn so much. I loved being able to call my husband and tell him a story Grand-Mère had just told me and hear him say “wow! I didn’t even know that!” I know I’ll never again get that sort of time with her, so I’m just extremely grateful for those lunches.Being far from my husband’s Swiss family
- Sleeping with the window open
- As you might already know, most homes in Europe don’t have air conditioning because it is mild and/or cold for the majority of the year. I fell in love with falling asleep to the noises of the outside, and snuggling under my giant comforter on colder nights.
- Traveling everywhere by train
- Geneva is so centrally located and it made travelling to other countries so easy. Want to go to Paris for the weekend? You could book a round trip train ticket for under $200 and arrive in 3 hours — heaven!! The train was almost therapeutic – I could read,sleep, or study all while staring out at the incredible beautiful countryside.
- Being so centrally located
- See above. Europeans are so spoiled that in just a few hours they can be in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Croatia etc etc….whereas in Texas, I fly two hours, and I’m still in Texas! I loved having so many wonderful places at my fingertips and I tried to take advantage of this as much as possible
- Hearing people speak French
- Of course being in Switzerland to learn French, it was fun to be around people who spoke French in order to test my understanding. I think more than I even realize, this was extremely important in my learning process!
- Local beauty products
- One word: Avene — I’ve become addicted to this line!
- Being pushed out of my comfort zone
- This is a love/hate one – There were so many times that I was nervous, scared, intimidated, worried, anxious over the last three months, but there is also something so exhilarating at seeing that you can do something on your own. I constantly pushed myself and stepped out of my own comfort zone and I have so many wonderful memories because of it!
- My teachers & classmates from Ecole Migros
- As I mentioned above, my classmates and teachers became a bit like family. We were the only ones who knew what it was like to spend 4 hours a day, 5 days a week learning a new language together. There were many laughs, and I’ll miss them all terribly!
- Thomy
- If you’ve never had Thomy, you ain’t living right. It’s basically a condiments company that creates the worlds BEST mayonnaise {among other things like mustard, salad dressing and more}. I’ve already done a bit of digging and found that I can order it on Amazon {thank G for Amazon} so, I don’t have to live without the newest love of my life 😉
- Constant adventures
- This goes hand in hand with stepping out of my comfort zone, and being so centrally located. I was lucky enough to travel most weekends while abroad and was able to see so many new places! As much as I missed my regular ole Dallas routine sometimes, it was fun to have a few months with constant travel and adventures.
- Double creme & meringue
- A dessert I discovered in Gruyeres, Switzerland. Thick, creamy and so, so delicious with a few fresh raspberries and meringue! #swoon
Things I won’t miss:
- 3 kiss hellos
- I’m fine with the 2 kiss hellos, but the 3 just seems a bit overboard. I always joked that I could have an entire conversation with someone in the time it takes to kiss them 3 times!
- French food
- My ideal palette of food is light, healthy & fresh. French food is on the heavier side, and although I like a little cheese sometimes, I don’t live for it. And people in Switzerland….well, they live for it! And that reflects on the restaurant menus 🙂
- Everyone speaking French 😉
- Even though I said I loved it above, it was also one of those love/hate things. I can’t tell you how nice it is to be home and understand everything everyone is saying around me! It’s wonderful to be in a new place, learning a new language, but it’s also really nice to be home & back in my comfort zone 🙂
- Traffic
- Geneva tries to limit the amount of cars that drive into city center, and because I lived slightly outside of the city, this meant that I had to deal with LOTS of traffic every.single.day. WOOF! I will not miss Geneva traffic!
- Outrageous costs
- The same exact coffee from Starbucks in the states costs 2.5x as much in Geneva! A roll of sushi costs $27 CHF – the prices in Switzerland are OOC, and I’m glad to be back in Texas where I can buy a big salad for lunch for $9 🙂
- No air conditioning
- I only had to deal with this briefly, as it was cool almost until the time that I came home, but the last two weeks in Geneva were HOTT. I mean, I’m talkin 95 degree weather – and the difference in Europe vs. the US is that most places in the states have AC where you can come in, and cool off. In Geneva, if you’re hott, you’re not going to find reprieve inside or out!
- Confusing food labels
- I realized I had a slight allergy to soy while living in Switzerland, so I became interested in knowing what products had soy in them {as you can imagine, it’s in MANY foods!} Most of the packages had the ingredients in German {much of Switzerland speaks German} so, it was difficult for me to determine which products were not safe for me to eat. Also, instead of calories, everything was in kilojoule or kilocalories….Even though I googled it a thousand times, I could still never quite remember what was what.
- Allergies
- I was seriously allergic to something in Switzerland and the last 3 weeks of my stay were rough! I was constantly sneezing, sniffling and fuzzy headed. Thank goodness for Claritin D.
- Import taxes/shipping issues
- If you noticed my blog was quiet on the fashion front, you aren’t wrong! I wasn’t willing to pay the massive shipping & import fees required to buy clothes online, so I just took a little hiatus from buying new clothes {which in turn resulted in less fashion related posts!} I instead focused on spending my money on delicious food and travel 🙂 which I hope you all enjoyed in the mean time!
- Expensive phone plan
- I’m so excited to be able to talk to my husband and my family without having to worry if I’m connected to wifi {Whatsapp calling & FaceTime were lifesavers!} So happy to be back on a regular phone plan 🙂
This list is in no way exhaustive, and I’m sure I’m forgetting a million things, but what’s most important for me is that I stepped out of my comfort zone, and got to know a city in Europe that will always be in my life. I can’t wait until I’m back in Geneva, but until then, à bientôt!
xx B
So how is your French?!!!