Swiss Mister

Stop 1- Geneva, Switzerland





12:15 - Wow, good thing I'll be typing this up or else you'd be deciphering my writing through the sweat droplets on this page. I am quite sure I just set the record for a mile run inside Charles DeGaulle airport. My first flight (I'll get to that in a second) was to arrive at 11am, with this flight to Geneva leaving at noon. However, we didn't land until 11:20 and by the time we got to the gate and got out (I was in the back) it was 11:40. So, within the first 12 hours of my trip, it's already a good idea I did this alone. I was running at a very unsustainable pace but I didn't want to look weak in front of the French, so I kept going all out. I'm being serious, I really got the energy to run b/c of that thought. I'm sure there were a couple old people who, when seeing me run, had flashbacks to operation overlord...or not. Also, the 15 minutes of sleep I got on the plane didn't help. There were two stops along the way in the airport, one to check passports and another to check bags. For passports, the line was very long and would've taken at least 30 minutes, but I sweet talked some cute french girls into letting me get in front. By sweet talk, I mean panting and mumbling something in french, pointing to my ticket. And by cute french girls, I mean some 50-year old roundabouts, if you will. At the x-ray area, I foolishly took off my shoes, which I guess isn't required, but the security people seemed to enjoy it. Anyway, I made it, just barely.

The first flight started out bad, there was turbulence and the plane had NO personal entertainment screens for each seat like Virgin Atlantic. This turned out to be good as it forced me to talk to the Polish girl next to me, and we ended up talking for almost the entire flight about everything from Chopin to Polish dogs (although she'd never been to Costco...the horror!). She's an Au Pair in San Francisco but was heading home for a couple weeks. Other than that, the flight was uneventful and like I said, I didn't really get much sleep.

6:56 pm Why am I not staying more than one night in Geneva? This city is great and I was originally going to skip it altogether. Good thing I didn't as my bags weren't as nimble as I, so they have yet to arrive. No biggie, in fact that's better b/c I didn't have to lug them to the hotel. After checking in, I went down to the lake and ate a Kebab. They closed the Burger King, but I don't care, Kebabs are great. Everyone I've talked to so far has been incredibly nice and kept speaking in French even after hearing my accent. It's amazing how differently people treat you when you're not a missionary. Don't get me wrong, people who knew us treated us like demi-gods, but strangers were often very cautious. Everyone at the stores, the post office (sent 70 bucks worth of chocolate home, I'll distribute it when I get back), and train station have gone out of there way to help me. I know where things are, but I still enjoy people telling me, I like playing the naive tourist.

I walked around the old town, stopping at the cathedral where John Calvin preached, leading to the protestant group named after him, the Lutherans (I think Luther was his nickname). I love sitting in cathedrals, the architecture just blows my mind given the period of their construction. At the risk of sounding like George Costanza, I kinda wish I would’ve studied architecture in college. After the old town (or Olde Towne?), I headed to Meyrin where I lived at the beginning of my mission. It’s a dump, but there are a lot of memories there. I guess they were mostly bad ones, but that’s where I met Nick, so I guess it was worth it, for his sake, not mine.

9:30pm Now I’m at Starbucks getting ready to post this, I’ll head to bed right after. Here are some photos from the day:


Kebab by the Lake? Heaven.


The Jet D'eau was right beneath the ball moments before this picture, they turned it off to spite me. Anyway, the ball is there for the EuroCup.






I know, this is the typical setup for a missionary photo, but I still couldn't resist.


My first missionary residence.


Looking to save money on marketing costs, Meyrin Fitness decided to use the logo of the building's former tenant, Michel's Kama Sutra Center.
I remember this place from when I was a missionary, but tried to stay above such jokes and didn't take a picture. I've since recovered.


I’ll post again on Sunday night, if I’m still alive from canyoning.