French for beginners

Sweet, I'll be starting a 'French for beginners' course soon. At least, I think... Here's the message I got:

Module de français

Bonjour,

Nous avons le plaisir de confirmer votre placement dans un groupe du Centre de langues selon les modalités ci-après :

Module semi-intensif (FR)
Groupe : FR semi-int A2 II E
Horaire : Lundi de 16:15 à 17:45 | Mardi de 16:15 à 17:45 | Mercredi de 16:15 à 17:45 | Jeudi de 16:15 à 17:45
Salle : CE2447

VOTRE ENGAGEMENT : Nous vous rappelons que l'inscription à un module du Centre de langues est un engagement ferme à le suivre régulièrement et dans son intégralité. Il peut arriver qu'un cas de force majeure vous contraigne à y renoncer : nous vous prions de nous en aviser au plus vite. Important : deux absences non excusées impliquent une exclusion immédiate du groupe.

Vous pouvez vous excuser par email ou téléphone ou directement auprès de votre enseignant-e.

En vous souhaitant beaucoup de plaisir à suivre cette formation, nous vous adressons nos salutations les meilleures.

Centre de langues EPFL

Deep down the message I also found the English translation... Good thing is, the A2 level is already a little bit advanced (third level), so I'm not starting completely from scrap.

The Berg Sans Nipple

What? The Berg Sans Nipple? What sick topic will this be...
Don't worry, nothing weird going on here.

Yesterday I went to see my first concert in Lausanne. And so this was by the band The Berg Sans Nipple. Pretty cool they were playing here! It was not the first time I'd seen them (Jasper and Jeffrey may still remember their performance at the obcure Rhâââ Lovely Festival in 2004) and that was really good.Yesterday they played at Le Romandie, which is a cool place since it actually consists of one of the arches of Le Grand Pont, the big bridge here in Lausanne.

Again they played a very good show, short though... Probably because they weren't the main act of the night. The headliner was so bad though that I left during the 4th song. I just couldn't stand it any more...

The end of cool

It took the bike mechanic almost two weeks to fix my bike. Apparently bike tires are hard to get in this country.

But, now my sweetheart is back and every day I take her for a little spin to work.

Ain't she sweet?

Unfortunately, I did have to make a though decission. The roads here are populated by big cars that tend to abruptly change direction to where I am on my bike. Saturday I therefore surrendered, went to the bike store and bought a helmet.

There's no denying: I look like a dork...

30ºC

Even the park is too warm to stay for a long time...

Ascension Day

Today is Ascension Day (Hemelvaartsdag), which is an official holiday in Switzerland. The scientist I am, this didn't stop me from going to the lab for a few hours. Nor did it stop my fellow scientist / lab members. I usually like working on holidays and in weekends, because these are quiet days and I get a lot of things done.
Only problem today: all canteens, restaurants and other vending places were closed. Not unexpectedly, this resulted in a lab full of hungry grumpy scientists. That left us with only one option: have lunch on the terrace of Le Skipper.

Hurrah for 28 degrees celcius and French gastronomic influence!

Small laundry, big laundry

I put them all in the washing machine and then let it nicely spin (for the non-Dutch people on this blog: it's a well-known Dutch song). Tonight was my weekly night-out to the laundry shop.
So far I've always been lucky to live at places where a washing machine was present, so I am still getting used to the situation. Doing laundry at Lavanderie de Simplon is easy, quick and close to home though.

1. Insert dirty laundry, soap and 5 francs (that's 3.33 euros or $712.14)
2. Incubate 45 minutes

3. Transfer laundry to dryer and insert another 5 francs
4. Incubate another 20 minutes

And then... add 10 more centimes to open the door. You didn't think there was no catch involved, did you?

Safety training

My new employer is clearly a technical institution. Today I had to show up for safety training, and wow, that's serious business here.

After an hour of First Aid talks, finally what I was coming for: FIRE TRAINING! You bet I was ready to extinguishing some fire. And you can imagine my disappointment when I found out that the EPFL geeks have an actual fire training simulator. So, no real fire, just aiming the extinguisher at a screen.

Exit excitement... Enter nerd universe.

Lausanne >>> Rotterdam >>> Lausanne <<<

No more traveling for me for a while. After only 10 days of Lausanne I spent my last 5 days in Rotterdam again (congrats again Iris for defending your PhD!). From now on I'm fully concentrating on becoming a model Swiss citizen.
So no more urban Maaskade view, but back to rural mountains and small village Switzerland.

And not to forget, back to work!

EPFL, here I come!

Weekend

I decided to keep the first weekend on my own in Lausanne to be a weekend of relaxation and acclimatisation. So no reports here of earthshaking achievements or ambitous activities.

Yesterday I did walk around the city a bit though, doing a bit of shopping while trying to find my way around. Now that I've been in the centre a few times I'm starting to already know my way around quite well. Which in conclusion just shows that the city is just not very big.

This afternoon I continued relaxing, by having a coffee at the pier, while reading a nice book. Not to make you jealous, but I had to make the picture on the right. Everytime I see the mountains I'm still stunned how beautiful they are and how abrupt they suddenly end at the other side of the lake. Mabe you've also noticed the clouds, right now I'm happy to be home watching the rain poor down.

Still up for tonight is my trip to the laundromat. Adventure can also be found in the most common things!

And on day 5...

... I already found my bike with a flat tyre
(picture just for illustrative purpose).

Mental note: "do not forget to buy bike repair kit when in The Netherlands next week".

"This is not a hotel..."

... is what my mother used to tell me when I was younger. And I have to admit, she was probably right about that too.
The little appartment I'm living in now though, does definitely have some characteristics of a hotel! When entering my room after work I found my kitchen and bathroom cleaned, my floor vacuumed and best of all; fresh towels and bed sheets.

Next time I see the cleaner I will ask if I can call him/her "Maman"

Ready for the jetset

Whoohoo, I'm in! I've got a Swiss bank account.

Now I'm ready for a jetset-life. Isn't Paris Hilton single again?

Lausanne, the first few days

It's been only three days since I arrived in Lausanne. Before already jumping to all kinds of philosophical conclusions, it may just be better to stick to the facts.

For the moment I will be living in a 'compact' 8 m2 studio on the Avenue Dapples. 8 m2 sounds worse than it actually is, since the place is efficiently organised, is in the middle of the city and allows me to move out almosta t any time I would find something permanent.

Today I went to work for the first day. I will be working in the Cancer Institute of the EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. I will probably soon try to write a bit about the research I will be doing. For now you can find some background information here.

My parents were nice enough to drive me to Lausanne on Friday. The weekend we spent together, seeing a bit of the city and the surroundings. Lausanne lies on the shores of Lake Geneva (or Lake Léman, as the Swiss like to call it). Since it is a Swiss city, there's several hundred meters of difference in height within the city. I'm glad my newly bought bike has quite a number of gears!
So far, my first impression is that the city is not too big and a wild. A lot of events and activities are announced though, so I don't think I will be easily bored. Soon I hope to give you more details!

Daan's Swiss Adventures

Welcome to my blog, or whatever this may become...
Time went by extremely fast and now suddenly I find myself being in Switzerland!
I hope this blog will allow me to share my future exciting adventures in Lausanne, my thoughts about the Swiss culture and life, and probably most of the time, some updates on plain daily life.
I will let you know every now and then when new stories appear. I hope you will enjoy!

Daan