Geneva = Party Time

On Tuesday morning, we rushed out of the house to find that we had missed the express train to Paris by mere seconds. Then the next train was delayed - which meant that even though we ran through the sequential train stations as though our lives depended on it, we missed our train to Geneva by about 3 minutes. 89 euros later, we were waiting to get on the next train in the Gare Nord. Lucky for us, there was an IKEA couch display that we glady took advantage of. Unluckily for us, it was about 20 degrees in the station. I'm pretty sure I almost froze to death on the couch. Anyhow, we finally got on the train and on our way to Geneva after only a measly two hours of sleep.
Fireplaces must be rare in France & Switzerland because we saw these little Santas everywhere - especially on this hotel! I tried to find one for myself, but no luck. Maybe next time, France - I mean - Switzerland!

We took the bus to our hotel which was fairly easy and then settled in for a little afternoon nap before our conference started. I was kinda worried about the whole - "I don't speak French" thing, but an hour or so into the conference, Kristine and I found this room and suddenly, I felt in control of the situation.

The gym had these neat homemade snowflakes hanging from the ceiling - and they stayed up all weekend. I thought it was a good idea to put up decorations that could stay up! Smart planning, I say!

During our adventures playing Rock Band and Sing Star, we met a group of British/American kids (can I still call people my age "kids"??) and we decided that it would be beneficial to befriend them. I mean - 1. We speak the same native language. 2. Kristine wants to go visit London and it would be nice to have friends there 3. I'm willing to be friends with just about anyone, right? Including these clowns:

Of course I didn't have a hat or coat with a hood on it, so my pink pagmina doubled as a head wrap in some attempt to keep my hair dry and my head warm. I don't think it did much of either, but I tried.

We were taken on a tour of old Geneva by Lucille who's home town it is. After seeing some of the sights around the center of town, like this cannon:

And this sign like the one I posted on my blog before I left - so I made Brock pose by it - even though he had no idea why I was excited about a stupid sign.

Lucille took us up to the top of the St. Pierre Cathedral to see the view - isn't it amazing? Quite pretty with the freshly fallen snow too.

Really - it was freezing - here's Kristine with the proof.

And the obligatory group photo. We really did have a lot of fun with everyone in this picture - I frequently forget before I go on trips about the friendships that I'll make once I get there. I have a feeling that I'll see some of these people again. Crazy to think that we met in Geneva, right?

{Emily, Spyke, Lucille Tom, Kevin, Rachel, Christof, Andi, Olivia, Brock, Me, Kristine}

Lucille continued the tour so that we could see the geyser since "someone" wanted to see it up close. It was at about this time in our tour that Brock said to me "You know, this isn't really a happy experience anymore - in fact, it is quite miserable." So we took an "I'm miserable but check the geyser out behind us" photo.

And then for some reason, Kristine and I felt the need to tromp through half a foot of snow and water to get a dark picture in front of it. Maybe it is prettier in the summer.

After a chocolat chaud break, we hurried back to the hotel to get gussied up for the "purity ball." Ok ok ok - it wasn't really a purity ball - that is just what I called it since they asked people to wear white. The theme of the conference was "Let your light shine" and I'm not really sure why the theme was a) in English or b)there at all since they never really talked about "letting your light shine". Or maybe that got caught up in the French that I didn't understand. Who knows. Anyway - the dance was fun. Here are a smattering of pictures of me and Kristine with our new English/French/Swiss friends:






Midnight almost came and went without my knowledge since I couldn't figure out what all the yelling was about - that's when I was grateful that Kristine was there with me so that she could tell the American idiot that they were counting backwards in French! haha! GO me! We all hugged and told everyone bonne annee! while dancing to Michael Jackson's "Black and White" followed by "Ghostbusters." I can't make this stuff up. Who knew that instead of Auld Lang Syne, they dance to Michael Jackson in Switzerland. Next time I will be more prepared and wear white socks with my black shoes. We toasted out in the snow with our English/American friends and at about 2am, started wondering when the dance was going to end. Upon asking someone, we learned that it was going until 6am. Yes, that's right. And 8 hour long church dance. We had no idea. We left at 2:45am after saying quick goodbyes so that we could get a few hours of sleep before our train ride that morning to Lausanne.

Ready for more? Stay tuned for tomorrow's installment of more France - I mean Switzerland!

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