Friday, June 29, 2007

My tummy hurts.

J'ai trop mangé aujourd'hui... je suis allée au supermarché et j'ai décidé d'acheter des nouveaux fruits. J'ai acheté une pêche et la "fruit de la semaine"... un melon charentais jolly. La pêche était bonne, mais je n'ai pas encore goûté le melon.

I ate too much today... I went to the supermarket and decided to buy some new fruit. I bought a peach and the "fruit of the week"... a charentais jolly melon. The peach was good, but I haven't tasted the melon yet.

C'est fou ce que je suis devenue fan de "Secret Story"... c'est un peu embarrassant. Les gens eduqués ne sont pas censés aimer ce genre d'émission. Aujourd'hui ils ont dévoilé le secret de Marjorie et celui de Fred. Je n'aime pas trop Fred... j'espère qu'il parte ce soir.

It's crazy how much of a fan of "Secret Story" I've become... It's a little embarrassing. Educated people aren't supposed to like this sort of show. Today they revealed the secrets of Marjorie and Fred. I don't like Fred very much... I hope he gets voted off tonight.

J'ai pris quelques photos aujourd'hui pendant ma petite excursion à Genève plage... les voici:

I took some pictures today during my little trip to Genève plage... here they are:

Le jet d'eau/The water jet:




La cathédrale/The cathedral:




L'arc-en-ciel sous le jet d'eau/The rainbow under the water jet:




Une belle fontaine/A pretty fountain:




L'horloge fleurie/The flower clock:

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Ice cold milk

...and an Oreo cookie!

I picked up my package today. My mom sent me Jelly Belly jelly beans, Oreo cookies, and American deodorant along with my clothes. (Hooray for the deodorant--I'm tired of being stinky like everybody else!)

Now I have Oreo breath. (Minus the ice cold milk. I don't like milk very much.)

I lied yesterday. I said I was going to clean my room, but I didn't. I just haven't got enough motivation to do it. Bad Kitty.

I did, however, go to school and install the CD-ROM version of the Petit Robert and the Webster's Complete and Unabriged Dictionary on my laptop. Now I can work on my thesis without having to go to the library or lug big heavy books around everywhere I go.

I'm going to make corn on the cob tomorrow. I have two fresh ears of corn in my refrigerator just begging to be eaten. (They were expensive, too!)

I am dying to go swimming, but I'm really embarrassed about being seen in public in my bathing suit. I've gained too much weight! I went on another walk/run today, but they don't seem to be helping very much.

Sorry--no French today!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Mince!

J'ai reçu un colis aujourd'hui, mais j'ai oublié d'aller le récupérer à la réception ce soir. Ma mère m'a dit qu'il y avait des surprises là-dedans, et j'ai hâte de voir de quoi il s'agit. Je suis tellement déçue.

I got a package today, but I forgot to go pick it up at the reception desk tonight. My mom told me that there were surprises inside, and I really want to know what they are. I'm so disappointed.

Demain je vais nettoyer ma chambre. Elle est vraiment tout en vrac. Je ne l'ai pas nettoyée ces dernières semaines parce que j'étais trop occupée avec les examens. Maintenant je n'arrive à trouver quoi que ce soit.

Tomorrow I'm going to clean my room. It's very messy. I haven't cleaned it the past few weeks because I was busy with exams. Now I can't find anything.

J'ai essayé de renouveler mon abonnement à Norton Internet Security, mais parce que leur système détecte que je suis en Suisse, la page s'affiche en allemand. Ca m'énerve, car seulement 60% de la population suisse est de langue maternelle allemande, et ils n'affichent pas une traduction vers les autres langues officielles de la Suisse. En principe, on n'est pas censé favoriser une des langues officielles par rapport aux autres, mais plusieurs entreprises privés ne semblent pas avoir compris ça...

I tried to renew my subscription to Norton Internet Security, but since their system can tell that I'm in Switzerland, the page comes up in German. That bugs me, since only 60% of the Swiss population are native German speakers, and they don't provide a translation in Switzerland's other official languages. As a matter of principle, all the official languages are supposed to have equal status, but several private companies don't seem to have understood that...

I'm too grumpy for school being out (maybe it's the weather...). Hopefully tomorrow will be a little bit better.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Free! I'm free!

Six exams down, none to go. I am so happy! Now I just have to wait to find out whether or not I passed everything.

I found out from Dixie Peach that it's Language Week 2007. All this week, you are encouraged to blog in a language that you don't usually blog in. So I am going to try to write a little bit in French each day. There's no spelling or grammar checker on here, so my apologies in advance...

Pour célébrer la fin des examens, mes amies et moi, nous allons voir Shrek le troisième demain après-midi. J'aurais préféré voir Pirates des Caraïbes, mais tout le monde est déjà allé le voir.

To celebrate the end of exams, my friends and I are going to see Shrek 3 tomorrow afternoon. I would rather have seen Pirates of the Caribbean, but everybody else already saw it.

Maintenant que les examens sont finis, je dois commencer à travailler sur ma mémoire. Je fais une traduction argumentée de certains extraits de Du rêve pour les oufs par Faïza Guène. ça devrait être intéressant...

Now that exams are over, I have to start working on my thesis. I'm translating a few chapters of Du rêve pour les oufs by Faïza Guène. It should be interesting work...

Je suis plutôt fière de moi... j'arrive à répondre à la plupart des questions de rapidité sur la version française de Qui veut gagner des millions. J'aime bien regarder la télé ici, même quand les émissions sont un peu stupides. "Secret story" a commencé hier soir... c'est une sorte de variation sur "Big Brother" où tous les candidats ont une secrète qu'ils cachent de leurs camarades dans la maison. Et comme dans "Big Brother", les candidats sont complètement coupés du monde extérieur--pas d'internet, de télé, etc. Ils essaient de dévoiler les secrets les uns des autres et un est expulsé chaque semaine.

I'm rather proud of myself... I can answer most of the fast finger questions on the French version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I like watching TV here, even when the programs are a little bit dumb. "Secret Story" started last night... it's a sort of variation on "Big Brother" where all the contestants have a secret that they're hiding from their housemates. And just like "Big Brother", the contestants are completely cut off from the outside world--no internet, TV, etc. They try to figure out each other's secrets, and one is kicked off each week.

Je suis allée au Jardin Botanique hier pour me détendre un peu, et j'ai pris quelques photos.

I went to the Botanical Gardens yesterday to relax a little, and I took some pictures.

Le jet d'eau/the Water Jet:



Un cygne et des bébés cygnes/a swan and cygnets:


La flûtiste charmante/the charming flautist:


Trouvez le pâon caché dans l'arbre/find the peacock hiding in the tree:


Une fleur étrange/a weird flower:


Voilà tout. A demain!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Sunshine

Today and tomorrow are the last few days of sunshine that we're going to have for awhile... Today I went on two walks and spent half an hour reading on a park bench. It feels good to get outside and get away from exams and studying for awhile.

On Thursday, a friend and I discovered the best ice cream store in Geneva. It's really expensive, but well worth it. We ordered a half liter of cinnamon and chocolate mint, and it was delicious! Here's a picture of the store:



It's at Place de la Navigation (close to the train station), just in case any of you pass through Geneva and get a hankering for homemade ice cream.

Five exams down, one to go... keep your fingers crossed that I've passed everything!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Aaahhhh. Nice.

It was very hot today. I'm still trying to get used to hot without air conditioning. But I found a great way to beat the heat... I went to the grocery store and walked veeeeery sloooowly down the refrigerator aisles. Mmmmm. I was probably in everybody's way (and I didn't need to buy anything refrigerated), but it felt oh so good.

Four and a half exams down, one and a half to go. (The "half" is a take-home exam on Islamic finance.) I'm done on Monday afternoon, and Paris Hilton will be getting out of jail just a few short days later. Yay for me! (I'll reserve judgement on Paris.)

Tomorrow is the first day of summer and my swimsuit still hasn't arrived from the US... it's going to be another scorcher.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Thank goodness!

I just had an enormous weight lifted off my shoulders. I feel a lot better now.

Three exams down, three to go... I promise to be a much more interesting person a week from now. A much more excited person, too... Harry Potter countdown! I need to go to FNAC and see if I can preorder a copy. I absolutely cannot wait to read the book, but I'm sad that it will be all over soon.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Perspective

There are lots of differences in perspective between the US and Europe, but two in particular struck me today:

First, one of my friends was giving a speech in her interpretation class about the new Creation Museum. She said, "And 2/3 of the US population lives within a six-hour drive of the museum!" But the German and French interpreters translated that as, "It takes six whole hours for 2/3 of the US population to reach the museum!"

Then, I was watching the French weather report tonight. France has a color-coded warning system for severe weather. Rain rates as an orange... the second-highest level on the scale! That definitely cracks me up, as I grew up in Tornado Alley and my parents now live close enough to the Gulf Coast to hear all about hurricane season...

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Being good

I ate a kiwi instead of making icing. I figured that kiwi is better brain food. I need as much of that as I can get.

Missions

There is absolutely nothing exciting going on in my life right now. Studying for exams is taking up all my time... especially the economics exam. I am so glad that I don't have to take any more economics after this.

I'm also a little bummed out that I'm not at home for my mom's birthday (happy birthday, Mom!) This is the first year I haven't spent time with her on her birthday.

So just to keep y'all entertained, I decided to put up a few pictures from my trip to four of the missions in San Antonio two summers ago (I skipped the Alamo on this particular trip).

















I'm giving up on economics for the rest of the evening and watching Céline Dion and Law & Order: SVU instead.

And maybe I'll make another batch of icing to cheer myself up a little.

Friday, June 8, 2007

Jail

Well, I've been complaining a lot about how stressful and unhappy the next three weeks are going to be because of exams.

Then I realized it could be worse... I could be Paris Hilton spending the next three weeks in jail. Although her jail stint is beginning to look like Britney Spears' rehab--in and out, in and out, etc.

I can't wait for exams to be over.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Yay!!!

The boy I like gave me the three traditional "bisous" that Swiss friends give each other... I was completely and totally floored, as he's never done it before and I wasn't expecting it. I sure did like it, though!!! Now if only I could kiss him for real... That would be niiiiice.

Somehow that just made all the day's frustrations melt away. :)

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Gnats

It's still really stressful around here... It will be for the next three weeks. The one thing I really dislike about the European university model is the way exams and grades are done.

I sewed my teddy bear's head back on today. For the third time. Everybody say, "Awww, poor Snuggles." He's 11 years old now...

I'm back on my walk/jog program. I had stopped for a week or so because of knee pain. It's gnat season in our local park... I ate at least three this evening. Protein.

It's also bee and wasp season. Y'all should have seen me dancing around my room this morning, trying to open the window to let the very angry wasp out without being stung. I think I could have won some modern dance prize or something for all the contortions I was doing.

Back to studying.