Welcome to Lausanne.

 Kris and I have arrived in Lausanne, and considering we have just moved to a new continent, things are going quite well. The city is beautiful, the couple we are living with are wonderful, and with the exception of jet-lagged we are feeling quite well. The journey here started with a slight hitch in the form of Cleveland Airport’s grumpiest customer service representative. Standing in line with all of our bags Kris and I were eyeing her up and saying how everything should go well as long as we didn’t get her. It was clear that at noon she had already had a very long day. We were pleased when we were called over by a friendly young woman, only to have her call over Mrs. Angryface for help. She promptly took over the interaction and tried to tell us that our final destination was London, not Geneva. After trying to gently explain that the leg to London was part of our return trip, she told me that clearly I must have booked wrong. After asking her to at least look at our printed itinerary, which she took like I was handing her a bag of dog droppings, she continued to tell us we were wrong. It got frustrated, to which she handed me back the itinerary and told me she wasn’t going to help me anymore.

 Eventually things got straightened out, and our interaction with her turned out to be the worst part of the trip. Our flight crews were friendly, our planes were on time, and Kris’s boss was kind enough to pick us up in Geneva and drive us to Lausanne. The couple we are living with have given us the living room as our home, which conveniently has a door to allow for a little privacy. After dropping off our bags, we left to buy cell phones and some groceries. Like those in much of Europe, the stores in Switzerland are closed on Sundays, so finding food was one of our top priorities. Fanny and Vic live within walking distance of the city center, so we walked down and after only a few wrong turns found our way. Cell phones and food in hand, we walked home and took a much-needed nap.

View from our window. 

 In the interest of showing us around, Fanny and Vic took us to the lake for a picnic with some of their friends. At this point I should mention that the couple we are living with - along with all of their friends - are French. Considering I can see France from my window, this isn't surprising. All of my previous interactions with Europeans were in Hamburg. So not only Germans, but north Germans. All those stereotypes about punctuality and cleanliness and eating french fries with forks: that is where they come from. Switzerland has a greater diversity of cultures, being a mix of the french, german, and italian cultures they border on. Lausanne, the city we are living in, is 40% non-Swiss residents. Our picnic clearly pulled more from the French side: showing up fashionably late, eating with our hands, and sharing bottles of French wine. All in all, it was a wonderful first evening.

Picnic on the lake. Those mountains you see across the lake? France.

 The next day Fanny and Vic took us to the "beach," which apparently counts as any bit of land next to the water. Our particular bit of grass had people speaking French, Italian, English, German, and at least two other languages Kris and I couldn't identify. The water was cool, there was plenty of shade, and walking in view of Lake Geneva, the Alps, and numerous vineyards certainly made for a beautiful day.

Monday morning marked the start of the great logistical marathon, which - by the looks of it - will last at least a month. After going to the university to talk to his department secretary, we were sent to the information desk. The information desk sent us to HR. HR sent us back downtown to the Department of Migration. At the Department of Migration we fumbled through with a man who only spoke French, initiating our B-permits. The B-permits are our long-term visas for living in the country. We have already been approved for them by the country, but apparently they have to be issued by the state. This requires the straight-forward process of:
1) Arriving with the D-permit and approval for the B-permit, then initializing the B-permit process.
2) Waiting 4-6 weeks for a letter to come in the mail telling you to go to the Biometrics Center.
3) Going to the Biometrics Center, having your photo and fingerprints taken, and then waiting for that information to be sent back to the Department of Migration.
4) Waiting 2-4 more weeks for the Department of Migration to issue an official B-permit.

This, of course, is further complicated by the fact that we are living at a temporary address. The days since have been filled with a mix of logistics, cooking, and starting our apartment application. It is about 20 pages long. I will save that story for another day.

Despite all the running around (we had to go back to the Department of Migration two days later to get an attestation of residency in order to open a bank account) Kris and I are getting used to the city and the time-zone. We have taken some pictures and found a grocery store we like. We have public transportation passes and an almost regular sleep schedule.

Hopefully I will have more exciting stories soon. Please feel free to write or Skype us. We know the time difference is awkward.

Au Revoir! Amanda and Kris