The Rest of Last Week - Presentations and Partying and Actually Getting Work Done: The Story In Full

The rest of last week (that I didn't already tell you about) was pretty great!! :D
I'll get right to the point...

Wednesday & Thursday were relatively uneventful.
I went in to uni early on Wednesday to pay for the trip to Bern, and then stayed in the library working. I got lots done actually - I should go to the library more often! In the afternoon I had that postgrad translation class I mentioned before, which I always enjoy :)
Wednesday evening I had lots of free time - there's usually an exchange student pub night every Wednesday, but for some reason there wasn't one this week, so I took the evening off as I'd got so much work done during the day (and also I start class at 8:15 on Thursday mornings, which means getting up before 7am uuurrrggghhhh). Thursday was even less exciting. I went to my morning class, I spent the afternoon working towards a presentation I had to do on Friday, I went to bed early. #livingthehighlife

Friday was a very busy day!
I had class from 8 until 12 again (same as Thursday mornings) which was great although I'm starting to get a little bit stressed about exams now :/  This term feels like it's flown by, I don't feel like I've done anywhere near enough classes to do exams in these subjects?? argh!! ... I'm sure it will all be alright in the end... I'm just a natural panic-er hahaha
In the afternoon I did my presentation! It was on the recent passing of same-sex marriage laws in both the UK and France, and how the two countries reacted, and why that was based on societal context. I was super worried because it's a hard class, and the lecturer is quite harsh - but it seemed to go very well! :D
I WAS planning to have a quiet night in on Friday night, as I had to catch the train to Bern on Saturday, but a friend messaged me and invited me out to a club called Bypass, where apparently it was free entry and free drinks all night for girls!
Well, in Geneva, where it's like 10CHF MINIMUM for club entry, and it's rare to get a drink for under 5CHF, you just don't say no to a deal like that.
I promised myself, though, that I wouldn't drink too much (and would let my male friends have my share of the free drinks, bless 'em) and would get the last tram back rather than staying out all night, so that I would be able to get up in plenty of time to go to Bern.
We went in two groups on the public bus, which caused some confusion. I was part of the second group that went, and when we got there, the group that had gone before us weren't there!
What was going on? Did we have the right club? Where WAS everyone?
We found out the next day - at the train station on the way to Bern - that the other group had been turned away at the door because one of them was wearing trainers. To be honest if you'd seen this club you wouldn't be surprised at this! Everyone in Geneva seems to be super rich and this place was like on some other level of class. (they didn't appear to even sell beer. Just champagne, wine, and cocktails - all upwards of 25 francs. yikes.)
Those of us who were left had an awesome time all the same! Here's a picture -

I'm not sure I understand why I look so very excited... but this was the best group picture I could find!

I left early to get the last tram home at around 2am (they run later on Fridays and Saturdays, thank goodness!) and while I got some stick from the others for leaving early even though I wasn't the only one going on the Bern trip the next morning, I am sooooo glad I took the nice cosy warm tram back! It was COLD that night! (On a side note, I think it's a crime to charge five francs per item for a club cloakroom when it's November and below freezing outside....)

I think I'll make a separate post about my trip to Bern on Saturday! This post has already got quite long and I have sooooo much to tell you all about Bern! :D

Hope everyone reading is doing well and had a great weekend!

Charlie xo

Let's just admit that I am not all that good at keeping a blog....

I've not updated in a ridiculously long time, I am so sorry!
I've been sooooo busy and had a LOT of stuff to deal with, both personal and academic! It's been hard enough trying to keep up with friends and family on Facebook, never mind finding the time to upload pictures and write whole blog posts. and then of course the longer I leave it, the harder it is to backtrack!
I'll try my best to update on a weekly basis from here on in, as well as trying to retrospectively fill you all in on everything I've been up to over the last few months!

[Dear Bryn Hafren School: I'm sending you a little something in the post with more details of my life here in Geneva - hope it reaches you soon and you enjoy receiving some proper news from me! :D ]

Soooo... this week so far! It's only Tuesday, and last week I went back to the UK for reading week, so I've not been up to much.
Sunday I flew back to Geneva, and was back home by midafternoon. It's a good thing I had some pizza in the freezer that I could eat, as NOTHING is open in Switzerland on a Sunday!! I had to wait til Monday to get any decent food in the house!
I will admit that going home for the week actually made me MORE homesick... it reminded me of everything I missed. BUT I'll get to see everyone again at the end of this year, and make them all super jealous with my excellent tales of worldwide travel ;D
Monday I had a good long rest, as travelling always tires me out. I don't have class til 6pm on Mondays, so I woke up late, finished the work I didn't get to finish in reading week, and eventually got out the door to class. (It's disconcerting leaving the house for the first time when it is already dark, but at least the sunset over the mountains is usually pretty! I'll have to remember take a photo next time!)
Monday evening's class is actually a postgraduate-level class, but undergrad exchange students are allowed to take it too. I really enjoy this class most of the time. We have two classes with two different lecturers, one on a Monday and one on a Wednesday. We do all sorts of different kinds of translations, from sections of novels to adverts to restaurant reviews, and we even got to do some subtitling work this week. It's a lot of fun, if a bit higher-level than the stuff I've come across before, and genuinely feels like it's specifically preparing me for a potential career in translation! Exciting stuff!!
The only problem with class on a Monday evening is, it ends at 8pm, which means I come home closer to 9pm and super tired. I usually can't be bothered to cook that late at night so I'll eat some pizza or something while finishing off the homework due Tuesday mornings. #studentlife, right?
This Tuesday (today!) was something of a non-day for the first half of the day. Tuesdays tend to be as I don't have any classes at all on this day! I went into the uni building to eat lunch and sign up for a trip to Bern this weekend, sent off some emails and came straight back home to do some work for some other classes.
The best part about today was going to see Thor 2 with some friends from my postgrad class! (although they, too, are British undergrad exchange students.) We wanted to see it in English with French subtitles, but apparently that is the 18h30 showing almost every day ... except Tuesdays. Well ok then.
We were really worried that we wouldn't be able to understand a thing, and had just wasted 53CHF (that was for the three of us, plus the cost of the 3D glasses, WITH the orange 2-4-1 deal - gosh Switzerland would you STOP BEING SO EXPENSIVE?!) on a film we wouldn't be able to understand at all.
But we surprised ourselves! We actually understood around 90% of what was being said, maybe more? It was a bit confusing around the beginning when they were explaining the backstory, we didn't have a clue what was going on... but the rest went very well as far as comprehension was concerned! (although to be fair, Marvel films are very action-based and not hugely dialogue-based... )
Still! An achievement to be proud of - the first film I saw at the cinema, all in French, with no help from subtitles. I am proud of myself today :D
After the film we went to eat in McDonalds - coincidentally, the first ever McDonalds to be opened in Switzerland! That's a thing to tick off a list ;)
They actually had these really fancy things you could place an order on so you wouldn't have to queue! You could choose what you wanted, and your sides and drinks, from a touchscreen menu, then pay with card there and then, and after that all you had to do was take a numbered ticket and go straight to the counter and collect the correct meal! Very efficient - we could do with some of these in the UK!
We sat in McDonalds chatting and eating for a really long time. It was super nice - I'm glad to have been able to find nice friends here :D

I'm in a great mood tonight and feeling positive! I hope everybody reading is feeling good too! :D
Sorry for being such a flake before :( I'll try to keep updating from here on in.
Peace! x