Culture, ice cream & the jet d'eau

After 3 weeks in Genève I've come to notice a lot of culture differences. Some of them are just because I'm in Western Europe (people ignoring hygiene, being way more fashionable...) and some are just purely Swiss, either way I thought it would make for an interesting blog....

1) I think all of Europe runs on a different "lifestyle" (for a lack of a better word) clock. The first few weeks of being here I have found myself doing things at my "normal" American speed and having my boss and those around me wonder why I'm rushing so much. Even in a big city like Genève, things are at a slower pace. My job is the perfect example, every morning instead of getting to work right at 9, we make coffee or tea and meet in my boss's office to chat about the day ahead, this often takes up to an hour and a half of our morning. Lunch is another difference, while we get the usual hour at work, at the UN they have two hour lunch breaks and Heidi and I often find ourselves done after 40 minutes at the most and waiting to get on with our days, as everyone else is relaxing and taking their time. The Swiss also consider their family time very important, which means on Sundays and everyday after 7pm most everything in the city is closed. Once I get home and make dinner it's well past seven and I find myself trying to figure out ways to occupy myself for the next 4 hours before I go to bed. I came to the conclusion today that "when in Rome, do as the Romans do..." so I'm going to make an effort to enjoy the European lifestyle, take my time when doing things, enjoy moments (and meals) and maybe learn to actually relax, something I think most Americans don't know how to do.

2)I think the thing that I've realized the most about myself since being here is how paranoid I am. I know I'm a little more neurotic than the average American, but I really never noticed how we live lives of constant worry, and why? I can't tell you the amount of times I've seen kids flying around on their scooters (which are still popular here, by the way) without helmets, I'm talking FLYING down huge hills on busy streets with nothing to protect them, and their parents, not worried in the least. Maybe that's not the best example, but it's the first that comes to mind. I think it's very "European" to not worry about things, and deal with situations as they come, and that is just exemplified by the Swiss's sense of trust. Never have I been in a country that trusts people the way the Swiss do, for God's sake, their bus system is all on the HONOR CODE. I think in the US we're so flooded with mass media hysteria, warnings and horror stories that we live in a society of fear. I remember first flying into the Zurich Airport, the woman next to me put her carry on in a seat near the gate and left for about 30 minutes to walk around the airport, trusting her belongings to everyone around. I immediately start thinking there might be a bomb in the bag.... sure enough, no bomb, just a lady who needed to take a walk and a bag that was simply too heavy to bring along. One would think because of all this trust floating around that people would take advantage of the Swiss all the time, but I think just the opposite happens, I have found myself not wanting to scam the bus lines but being more than willing to pay the 45 Franc a month fee for a bus pass, even if no one will ever check it. It really is strange how trust works.

3) The Swiss are some of the most reserved people I've ever encountered. They aren't outgoing, they don't spill their life stories when they meet you and they tend to sit back and take things in, this my friends is the COMPLETE opposite of me. Never have I noticed how aggressive American culture and people are. Walking down the streets everything is very calm and collected until you get a bunch of US/Canadian/where ever tourists who are yelling to each other and tromping around. It's even apparent in the UN meetings, when countries like Egypt, China and the US are spouting their opinions at every chance (and rightfully so) the Swiss will speak very rarely and will often not say things that stir the fondue pot if you will. Everything is always so calm and collective, as an outsider it kind of makes you feel like you're constantly a mess. I guess this is another thing to learn from the Swiss, how to rationally deal with situations.

Overall I think while culturally there aren't HUGE differences between the US and Switzerland, I am really hoping to come home more relaxed and less overwhelmed with things, and I have already been finding myself taking time out of my day to take in a deep breath and enjoy things as they are.

Speaking of enjoying things, tonight Heidi, Alex and I decided to venture out to get dessert, as I said before, everything closes at 7 so we ended up going down to the lac leman (lake leman) and getting an ice cream cone. As the sun was setting Heidi and Alex decided to walk out to the jet d'eau (a GIGANTIC jet of water that comes out of the lake) and see how close they could get, opting to not get wet, I stood on the dock and soaked in something else besides water. The skyline was amazing against the clouds and pink sun setting, and up in old town, looming over the whole city, St. Peter's Basilica's bells were ringing, I couldn't help but thinking of how lucky I was to be where I was at that exact moment. I really think Geneva is a gem of Europe that is looked over so often, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't know if it was the chocolate ice cream, the sailboats coming in from the lake, the swans floating in the water or the church bells ringing (grossly perfect right?) but everything seemed, right, and I swear to god, as disgusting as it seems, there was a little Swiss tear in my eye.

UNHRC

Well today was the second day of the 12th Session of the UN Human Rights Counsel, and was supposed to be the day that we would be hearing meetings on children in armed conflict and on child pornography, sale and prostitution, but a lesson to all of you, even the UN has time management issues.

It all started yesterday, Heidi and I got to the UN gates nice and early around 8:30 AM to get our badges and get through security and we were ready and waiting inside the UN compound at 9:20ish. The doors to the room where the council was taking place opened at 9:3o, so we went inside and took our seats expecting the meeting to start at 10 AM, oh how we were mistaken. After waiting 3 hours (the time the meeting was supposed to last for) and staring aimlessly at the breathtaking ceiling (literally, its a magnificent work of art donated by Spain) we were informed by another NGO sitting next to us that the meeting was delayed all because of Honduras. There was a coup in Honduras this past June and some how the UN accredited both groups (the former and current governments) to attend the meeting, needless to say they didn't see eye to eye on who actually would be able to go, and on top of that the rest of Latin and South America had their own opinions so we had to wait until it was 6 AM east coast time so the UN in Geneva could call the UN in NYC to get legal advice. Not exactly the start we were anticipating. Because of the lack of time we got to hear an advisor from Sri Lanka, the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations and Affairs from the US speak and then the princess of Thailand. A 3 hour wait for a total of 40 minutes of speeches. Once the first part of the meeting was done we ate lunch in the UN Cafeteria and went back to the office to spend the rest of the day and report back to our boss.

Because things were so pushed back the first day, today's agenda was completely changed. The first meeting of the day (which was supposed to be children in armed conflict) ended up being the high commissioner's statements (which you can find online and are really great) and then about 30 countries who had signed up got to speak for up to 3 minutes about their country's views and place in human rights. Essentially this turned into every country from Nigeria, Norway, USA, France, Russia to Qatar assuring the Human Rights Council that they indeed like and practice human rights within their perspective nations. These soon all blended together (besides France bringing up gay & transgender rights) until it was China's turn to speak. Well the High Commissioner of the HRC had mentioned the ethnic strife going on in China so the Chinese got mad, instead of talking about how they love human rights like the rest of the delegates these delegates accused the commissioner of alternative motives, working with groups who are against China and blamed the recent outbursts on people who are trying to take down the country....this is when I realized for once and for all, that China is a little loony.

After the statements we had a two hour break for lunch which was spent eating at the cafeteria (but because we're American we finish about an hour and a half before any of the Europeans) and then roaming the UN with our badges proudly displayed. We went back to the room for the second meeting of the day and it was delayed, this we have come to expect. We stayed in the meeting for around an hour before heading downstairs to a side event, the UN meeting on Trade and Development was hosting a lecture from Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs. I have been a HUGE fan a Sachs since seeing him in a video in one of my political science classes my freshman year of college. Let me paint the scene for you: He grew up in Detroit, Michigan went to Harvard where he got his undergrad, grad and ph.d degrees, became the youngest Harvard professor with tenure ever and then went on to help plan the economies of Bolivia, Poland..... and so on. He also is in his mid-fifties but resembles a 12 year old boy and giggles about politics and the economy, needless to say I'm in love.

Before we entered the room the woman at the front door said to sit "where ever you please" Heidi and I took this as an invitation to play "which country do you want to be", since the country signs are in French and Heidi wanted to be America (en Français etats-unis) we sat in the "E" section with her in the US's spot and I was in Ethiopia's. A couple of minutes after sitting down two men come up behind me and ask me "If I'm going to be representing them today", yes they were the delegates from Ethiopia. So of course I apologize and they laugh and tell me to stay put and sit behind me, but also warn me that if they're asked questions I'll have to speak for them. After some further joking I gave them back their seat and slumped back to the back of the room forever shamed as the intern who actually thought she could sit in Ethiopia's chair, I'm just happy that they were so friendly, I have a feeling that other states like....Russia or Algeria would not have been as happy to find a random intern in their spot.

Back to Sachs's speech, it was about the global economy's relationship to environmental change. He discussed the need for sustainable development and how fragile the Earth is. The man is so brilliant that his lecture terrified and inspired me beyond explanation. His basic point was that if we don't profoundly change how we interact with technology and attempt to stabilize the world's population, we will destroy the Earth beyond repair which is currently happening. Obviously when he discussed this it was much more articulate and filled with crazy facts but it's honestly too emotionally draining to read and type them out. Something big needs to happen and we need to change our attitude towards the economy and development or by 2050 we will be in big, BIG, irreversible trouble. (Note to self: Change world).

Needless to say after the lecture and questions following it up, we were pretty drained and emotional, remember since we're interns, like idiots, we still have feelings, so we decided to stop at a pub on the way home and discuss the day over a pint. I'm honestly not sure how people do this everyday, in ways it's so compelling and in other ways its the most draining thing I've ever been through. I can only hope that tomorrow I'll be a little tougher and will be able to get through the meetings without getting all caught up in the atrocities and problems of the world. I guess it'll be easier because I won't have a brilliant professor lecturing me on the end of society, perils of the developing world and how if we really cared, we could save it all.

Bank holidays, parks and lots of reading.

Well the first week of work is done and was extra short thanks to a Genevan bank holiday (I really think banking holidays need to be added to the US's calendar). Work was awesome, I knew I would get some hands on experience but didn't expect to get thrown into NGO working groups so quickly. I have already learned so much about how the UN and NGOs interact and what a balancing act everything is. It is so complicated and takes SO long for these NGOs to get the UN's attention on important issues and then it takes even longer for the UN to act (if they ever do). No wonder people think the UN doesn't do anything. It's amazing to me how all of these NGOs stay motivated when most of the people in the working groups we attended had been working for NGOs for their whole lives, one woman was even retired (after 44 years at the red cross) but came back to work for a different organization. It seems that these people have an endless amount of passion and it is really inspiring.

At work this week we learned that not only will we be attending multiple sessions of the UNHRC meetings for the next three weeks, but we will also be going to the UNECE meeting at the end of October and will have a very active role in that conference (I can't give away details as of yet). There is also a lecture series that the UN supports that our boss is trying to get us passes to go to and at this particular lecture Gorvachev will be discussing nuclear armament, needless to say I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be able to attend the lecture. Our boss is the perfect intern boss, she lets us be hands on but also wants us so badly to learn about the UN and various processes people go through to pass declarations, conventions and such. I really couldn't ask for more out of this internship.

As for Geneva, it's honestly getting better every day (I don't know how that's possible). Now that I know how to get around and can just enjoy the sights instead of being worried about finding my way home, it has made things much more enjoyable. Today I went for a run and ended up lake side watching dozens of sailboats floating by and people swimming, in the background of all of this were mountains and villas all along the hillside. I also went venturing through a park that used to be a huge estate that was given to the city after the owner passed away, it overlooks all of the lake and dozens more people were laying the grass, playing soccer and reading. I honestly think I may have found a city I like more than Portland, and I didn't think that was possible.

French is still a struggle, I'm definitely picking up a lot and starting to understand more but at times I can feel really over my head, luckily I have my handy french-english dictionary on me at all times and just try to push through it. I've taken some advice from David Sedaris and decided to just say yes to anything that I didn't understand, so far it's gotten me some weird looks, but everything has worked out.

En Route

I left on Tuesday for Switzerland, and this time my journey to Europe started in Detroit. After getting to the airport nice and early (thanks to the grandparents) I boarded a plane to Toronto for my first leg of the trip. Seeing as Detroit and Toronto are close together I expected a smaller flight, but not like this one. Only 12 people were on the plane, one per row and there were only 3 windows spread down each of the sides of the plane. Instead of a flight attendant one of the pilots climbed through the opening of the cockpit (which was kept open the entire flight) to give us the regular security talk and then assure us that if we needed anything or had any questions we could just come up to the cockpit and tap one of them on the shoulder. Needless to say I thought my trip was going to end before it even began.

Once in Toronto I did the usual customs, security, gate check routine and eventually got on my flight to Zurich. All 7 1/2 hours of it went by seemingly quick and without a problem.

After arriving in Zurich I realized what my study abroad advisors had meant when they said the Swiss took pride in how they looked. I got off the plane and was greeted with marble floors and various stores (Gucci, Hugo Boss, Prada, BCBG...) and was being passed by women and men who had been primping for anywhere between 3-4 hours that morning. I was a hot mess in a sweatshirt and jeans who hadn't had sleep in 17 hours, also known as the OBVIOUS American. After finding the gate I went to look for a bathroom and found a ladies room quickly. Once there I pulled on the door to open it and it was locked, so I waited for 10 maybe 15 minutes before a man walked up to the men's restroom near me, and pushed the door in and was immediately let in. Hanging my head in shame I tried pushing in the bathroom door and realized that the next time I travel in countries where I don't know the native tongue I will at the very least look up the translations of the words "push & pull".

Once in Zurich I also had to ask an airline employee for my boarding pass for the flight for to Geneva. I only knew of 3 German phases to say : goodbye, I love you and do you speak english? Luckily the third was the charm and I got my boarding pass, but overall it didn't go as expected, I didn't recieve the pat on the back or approval through an eye glance or arm caressing, HELLO dreamy Swiss-German male airline worker, I am the ONLY american who tried to use German with you and you're not even going to thank me?! Maybe I love you would have worked better after all.