It's April 25 today, and Easter term has finally begun. It's been a really long break - 5 weeks to be precise. But these past few weeks have also been really exciting and adventurous, while simultaneously being quite tiring from constantly moving about. My wallet's also taken quite the battering, but the memories made and the places I've seen, smelled, and heard were unforgettable and worth every penny.
Before heading back to school-related matters, I thought that I'd dedicate this last blog post to one more travel experience that I had. This past weekend, I visited Geneva, Switzerland - an astoundingly beautiful and clean city. The city struck me as beautiful, less out of the organized structure and classy modern architecture and more out of the remarkable scenery, from the crystal clear waters of Lake Geneva to the snow capped peaks of the Alps. I was shocked by how clean and transparent Lake Geneva was - never had I witnessed a body of water next to a metropolis so untouched by pollution.
I've lived next to the Han River of Seoul, the Potomac of DC, and the Thames of London, and anyone can tell you at first glance that these rivers do not exactly seem like the best place to take a dip. Naturally, these cities are significantly larger and much more industrial than Geneva, so perhaps this would not be a fair comparison. Nonetheless, I was impressed by how pristine Lake Geneva looked, as well as the efforts made to keep the city clean and the surrounding natural landscape environmentally healthy.
On Lake Geneva, I took a ferry to a small Swiss town called Nyon. I walked through the small, yet lively marketplace and sat down for a fantastic lunch special at a French eatery. The dessert that concluded the course was to die for - a mouth-watering sampling of creme brulee, raspberry pudding, and chocolate mousse, along with an excellent cup of espresso that woke me right up. Despite being a lunch special, the price of the meal was quite pricey.
But this was probably a good reflection of the exorbitant costs of everything here - the only meals that I, as a broke college student, could comfortably pay for was Swedish meatballs at Ikea and a beef kebab at a food truck. Geneva was definitely expensive (by far the most expensive city I have ever visited), but one of the best perks was how hotels are required by law to provide free public transportation passes for all guests. Although I stayed further out from the city, close to the airport, I could easily get to the city center with the very efficient and easily accessible public transportation network.
With Geneva being so close to the Swiss-French border, I was able to hop on a local bus that took me right to the border and then walk on over to France. While I had been travelling from one EU country to another up until that point, this was still a strange feeling. I had grown so accustomed to waiting long lines to pass through immigration and customs or simply being denied the ability to cross borders at all due to most certain death (such as the DMZ between the Koreas).
Yet to simply walk from Switzerland to France, with no hassle or questions asked and without any sense of division, was such a refreshing moment. At this small and quaint French town, I took a cable car to the top of Mont Saleve, which provided for the most exceptional view of Geneva. You could see the bustling city, the glittering Lake Geneva, snowy Alps up ahead, fields of yellow flowers and lush green grass. There were lots of adventure sports going about, with mountain bikers racing down the trails and paragliders fearlessly running down the slope and riding the movement of the wind. This was the perfect place to witness the beauties of Switzerland and France from high above, to lie down on the grass and read a book, to munch on snacks, and to simply walk about and admire all that nature had to offer.
As the home of the United Nations and the Red Cross headquarters for Europe, Geneva certainly attracts the attention of many foreign affairs students like myself. There's undoubtedly an global vibe to the city, thanks to the many expatriates working at multinational organizations, banks, companies, and research centers who have made this place their home. As I'm back now from my travels outside of the UK, getting ready for my last term here, could Geneva be a potential future home for me? We shall see.