3 - Week 1: New Kid on the Block 1ier - Geneve

Monday, Feb 24

Et voilà, it's back to the salt mines today; lucky me that the commute is easy.  I take the tram two blocks from the apartment to the main station where I take a train that terminates a 5 minute walk from the office!  I made use of my morning commute to get in my DuoLingo lessons for the day but I'm going to see about finding either podcasts or audiobooks en français to listen to.  I suppose there's also a good chance I'll run into coworkers on the train too.  

Café and a pain aux raisins to kick this off.

Sipping on tea while waiting for the tram, I'll eventually be filling this thing with coffee but I didn't feel like messing with the French press this morning.

Walking to the plant réception, it was a brief discussion with the security guards to establish I was the guy they'd been notified of.  I'd managed to do the security training online last night so all that was left was to review my passport and give me a badge.  My badge says "temporary contractor" on it but they say that all new employees are getting those tags, I guess we'll see if I'm able to put money on my card or use it to print.🤷‍♂️

A good colleague collected me at the guest réception and we walked over to the process engineering office.  I'm told the office I'm in is the "cool" office, the other one has a view of a hillside vineyard but has a constant hum from ventilation.  It turns out that about half of the team was out of the office today but it was a plenty good start for me.  My colleague did a good job of ensuring everything was ready for my arrival, it was truly impressive: everything in the team's direct sphere of influence was set up and accounted for, all that remained was safety gear.  The engineers here wear labcoats in the plant, to a degree I think it makes sense but seems weird to me considering at home we don't mandate a specific layer aside from long sleeves.  On the one hand, changing into a protective layer means I get less chemical smell on my clothes, en revanche it sets a very clear visual distinction between jobs.  Maybe I'm overthinking it.

The day went well, mostly around settling in and an introductory discussion regarding my upcoming project.  My energy levels crashed around 2pm, I wonder if lunch had anything to do with it or I was just bound to dip.  I managed to rally again and stuck it out till I shared the train home with a coworker.  Rather, fellow employees make up the vast majority of people who take the train to the end of the line, so we actually encountered another new hire and chatted on the way home.

The Leman Express, running quick routes between Geneva's main hub and my company's sites.

When I recounted how I'd gotten squeezed out of buying groceries over the weekend, they pointed out that some of the most popular supermarkets are in the main train station since they stay open till about 10pm.  A quick map search showed that the nearest supermarket to my apartment closes at 7pm: guess I better make use of the Saturday market to do more shopping on the future.

A quick visit to the store turned up some interesting finds and some essentials (like laundry and dish detergent).  But I didn't feel like staying in for dinner and made a quick run to a restaurant in the old town.  I have to tip my hat to Geneva's transit system: with options running every 5-20 minutes, the city seems pretty accessible to me.  Now I just have to get a better hang of the routes and map. 

An interesting solution for coffee; I'm not sure how the sphere is supposed to work...

I'd seen donkey sausage in SW France and Spain, I guess in Switzerland they got horse steak in the grocery store.

Let's start this dining experience off right, I'm trying to fit a lifetime supply of cheese into this trip.

Instead of the classic half & half (I think it's supposed to be Gruyere and Vacherin), this came with mushrooms too 😋