Arrival

After a brutal plane ride of 8 and some hours, packed into our seats like sardines and unable to sleep without contorting into anatomically impossible positions, my parents and I arrived at London Gatwick Airport in time to watch the sun rise over the English hills. We had a delicious breakfast at Joe’s Coffee- I got to try bubble and squeak, a patty made of turnip, potato, onion, and something green. I’d always wondered what it was… Next, we had three hours to kill until our flight to Geneva, which I mostly spent sleeping and being generally out of it. Then we had a speedy, comfortable flight to the Swiss city, grabbed a rental car and headed to Morteau. The GPS led us on a merry ride through the “mountains” (I have trouble calling them mountains, they’re all shorter than the tree line!) and valleys, using a combination of highways and charming, shoulder-less, one-lane back roads that took us past farmer’s fields and through tiny, ancient villages.

We arrived in town at about 6pm and I met up with my teacher, who took us over to the residence and the school so I could see everything and drop off my luggage. It was a lot to take in. The building that I’m staying in is the old residence of the lycée, and it hasn’t had students living in it since about 2008. My room has three wardrobes, four tables and two beds. One of the beds has no mattress, however, so it is now leaning against the wall. Some people may be interested in the fact that I’m only using two of the wardrobes for clothes- the other one is for general storage. The kitchen was a bit of a shock, but now that I’ve been here a few days, I’ve gotten used to it. I will have to look up lots of recipes that you can make in a toaster oven. There’s also a canteen that I’m allowed to eat at; it’s used by the boarders and I think the non-boarding students also eat lunch there during the school week.

I don’t have internet yet, so I’m writing this on Word and will post it when I get the chance. The other assistants are arriving sometime this week and we’ll figure out the internet then.