10 - Week 2 1iere: Dawn of the evening stuff - Geneve

 Monday, March 03

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this thing, I was able to get out the door in 15 minutes and catch my tram to the main station.  I'm not so sure I want to cut it so close every day, but to gain an extra 10 minutes of sleep on a Monday morning was definitely worth it.  I'm still a bit tired from all my R&R over the weekend. 

A nice, sunny day to have vineyards next door.

Today was a few more meetings but they helped further frame this visit: by blocking out days it'll be interesting to be in one lab, I free myself up to make appointments to visit other labs and manage my 2 actual projects.  I found myself unable to take notes live during the meeting: I needed all my attention on tracking the conversation that I couldn't bounce back and forth between recording what I was holding in memory vs capturing new dialogue.  I was also struck by the presence of a long viny plant in someone's office; it added a bit of a cozy feel to the place and I think I'll plan on adding a few low maintenance plants to my office when I get home.  

The process engineer team's little café station, tucked in one of the shared office rooms.  Apparently it's perfectly acceptable to walk in and make a loud cup of coffee while people work at their desks on the other side of the room.

I'm feeling pretty chipper for two reasons: 

1) I ate lunch with a table of chemists and was pleased with how well the integration went.  I think I lucked out in sitting next to someone very sociable and has family loving in CA but from there the conversation about weekends, hobbies (les loisirs), and a bit of work rolled through the meal and coffee.  I realize that my lunches at home often skew towards dining with fellow engineers because the chemists usually stay close to their labs; here, it seems almost everyone takes a bit of time to cross the street to eat in the cafeteria at least once on a while.

2) the fine folks at CERN wrote me back about visiting underground at the Compact Muon Solenoid particle detector!!!  I'd written an email a week ago and figured that I'd never hear back, but they actually responded to me!  Ok, saying it out loud, a week delayed response for a service scheduling free visits to one of the biggest science toys in history sounds perfectly reasonable 😅 Anyhow, I'm checking with my local site boss about sending an invitation out to the group and see who's available on Saturday.  I'd initially sent the email thinking of just snagging a spot for myself, but they asked how many guests I'd like to bring, so it'd be a shame to seal off this opportunity just for myself.  Plus, maybe I can get someone with a car to go and take me with them 😜 

Well, if we include me in the count, I'm hoping at least one visitor would like me but I suppose there's no guarantee.  😅

On the ride home with my coworker, the subject of moules-frites came up.  I remembered seeing moules-frites on the menu in France for a reasonable prices like €15 or so and recalled the mussels of Penn Cove being plentiful and delicious.  She was bracing for her warm coat smelling of shellfish tomorrow.  

I toyed with the idea of swimming tonight (there's a pool a 20 minute walk away that's open till 10pm Mondays) but I opted to do dinner and resolve administrative/planning stuff tonight.  Tomorrow, there's another pool within a 10 minute walk that'll be open late instead.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  Still, I think it's a good sign that I'm feeling comfortable with going out and doing things in the evenings aside from dinner; I think it took me a long time to reach that point when I first started my assignment in Dax, France.  

For dinner: risotto with morels (les myrilles).  It was good but also supremely salty.

After my meal, I walked around for a bit and found both pools.  This one had some sort of team practice going on, with a coach and everything.

It was quiet but I certainly wasn't the only person out at 9pm, some people were still headed to the sport center, which featured a skating rink and a pool.  

Hmm, I'll have to see about maybe watching a hockey game if there's one available.

Oh, and my Swiss Pass card arrived the mail today!