The blog was quite the personal endeavor, so much so that when I meant to send it to my Cosmopolitanism class, I inadvertently sent it to my French 203 students. You can imagine my surprise when I learned I sent it to them the next day, as students were telling me how much they appreciated what I had written. My cheeks were cherry red for most of the class as I realized just how much of my personal life I had shared with them. Well, at least they learned that TAs have lives and thoughts, too. :)
This blog is aimed more at my friends and family, so they can keep in touch with my adventurings in Switzerland and share in my musings. They already know about my personal life and I will continue to share it here...
I'm looking forward to my ten months there, but I'm also nervous and approaching it with some trepidation as I leave behind my familiar routines here in Madison. Geneva promises to be a great experience though. After all, as Rousseau wrote, "Je ne puis vous dire, Madame, combien Genève m'a paru embelli sans que rien y soit changé... Ce qu'il y a de sûr, c'est que cette ville me paraît une des plus charmantes du monde, et ses habitants les hommes les plus sages et les plus heureux que je connaisse. La liberté y est bien affermie, le gouvernement tranquille, les citoyens éclairés, fermes et modestes, connaissant et soutenant courageusement leurs droits, mais respectant ceux d'autrui."
We shall see if Geneva lives up to that tall bill--but any city that is one of the most charming in the world, with happy, wise, respectful citizens sounds like a good place to live to me!
And the BBC and the Mercer 2010 Quality of Living Survey would agree:
Geneva ranked third in top 50 cities in the world
Here's where I'll be!
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