Bringing back traditions...

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a house warming and a celebratory Chinese New Year party with some of my dearest lab friends.It was such a festive evening surrounded by people who have made me feel so at home here in Lausanne. 

However, with this lovely dinner I learnt something and also decided on a few things that I want for my future.  The first thing, is that it is so important to make time with your colleagues. To spend time getting to know them and their families, understanding what they are going through in their own lives, their dreams and aspirations. One might then be able to understand why they go through hard times and learn how to help them. A bonus to that is that you build a wonderful relationship with your colleagues who become friends and this raises the work environment from just work to actually having fun. 

Secondly, the dinner reminded me of the importance of dinner parties. I am not sure how often it happens with other people but with my family we host a lot of braais (barbeques) and have people around. But a dinner party, is different and equally important. Everyone sits at the table and shares a meal together. No phones and no distractions. Everyone shares a laugh and everyone gets involved in the cooking. A dinner party also gives one the opportunity to wear a slightly smarter outfit. And it is always fun wearing something a little more smart. 

Lastly, the whole experience has really made me realise how much I want a family of my own one day. To have a husband whom I can build a home with and then have beautiful children who will fill that home one day. The family who we shared the home with designed this house themselves, creating it to their ideals. That most certainly is a step in towards making a house, a home. 

An afternoon in Vevey...

Sometimes all we need are those spontaneous days - where you plan something and the complete opposite happens. Well today was a day like that. I had arranged to have dinner with a dear friend at a Sports Cafe which has become one of my favourite local hangouts. When I texted the manager to announce my arrival, he replied they had closed today. This forced us to find somewhere else to go and so we headed into Lausanne central for some food. Not exactly excited to be in the centre of Lausanne as we were quite keen to explore a bit, we managed to find a nice Turkish restaurant that served a really good burger. In Switzerland, a lot of the restaurants close on a Sunday (to promote family time at home) so finding a restaurant open is a challenge in itself. 

After lunch, my friend announced he was taking me for a drive into the vineyards, if I wanted. Of course, I wanted to see some more of Switzerland! So off we went. It was so beautiful and even though we had had rain that day, the scenery didn't fail to impress. Rolling hills with vines and the most exquisite little houses all along the lake allowed us to get lost in a little bit of the Swiss village feel. Once we had driven through some tiny alleyways and along the countryside, we headed into Vevey town centre where it is compulsory to have an afternoon coffee. This adventure is definitely a requirement for every season as the countryside bursts with colour as the seasons change. In my opinion, Vevey has a Tuscan feel with its small and winding roads. The houses have cute little coloured shutters and of course as the sun sets, there are lights everywhere making this little town magical.

Just a little entertainment between siblings...

When one lives in Switzerland, one needs to save money at every chance, as it is very expensive especially when on a student salary. I have taken some plastic spoons from the take away at work for my little room to make life a bit easier as people look at you funny when making coffee using a pen as a stirrer. A few nights ago, I used one of my trusty plastic spoons and the rest of the story between my supportive sister and I follows... 

(Just to put things into perspective - the kettle is located in the bar which is in the lobby of the hostel and it always has about 4/5 males present. I was trying to be invisible as to avoid conversation so I could get back to my room).

I have since been given a kettle. I love my kettle. 

Ever grateful for cereal

Today was a great day. I worked late on campus and got up to date with all the little notes etc. so that tomorrow brings less hassle and promising lab work. Leaving campus close to 10pm, you can't help but notice the beauty on campus when lit-up by scattered lights. It is breathtaking... Below are two pictures that I took leaving just after sunset last week. So blessed to be in such a beautiful learning environment. 

Back to my gratefulness of cereal... Rushing to the metro, I make it in good time. Then its a walk between the metro and the bus stop. Two stops on the bus and I am at my road to get home. Not tonight! Tonight the bus driver decided he wasn't stopping at my stop, even after I signaled him to stop. So we stop further down the road which wasn't just down the road but rather down the road, round the circle and up the hill. I get out, fearful he will merely carry on with us and his now 'Tour of Lausanne' bus ride. And so I begin my walk home. It takes me far longer than usual, obviously. By this time, the garage shops are closed and restaurants are empty and closing. 

To give you an indication of how far I walked (at 10pm in the snow) I will give you my stepper readings. There is a lovely app on my Samsung called S Health. And I have only recently been using it and believe it or not, I can easily do 6000 steps around the lab and getting to work and back home again. Well, today, my stepper count is at 9299. My feet have served me well today. 

I arrive at my room, very ready for a hot meal but at this stage everything is closed so no hot meal to be found. It is at this time that I peek into my kitchenette... And there, staring back at me, is my beloved box of Frosties. It is in this moment, that I am ever so grateful for my cereal as it can be enjoyed at anytime, anywhere. 

Favourite photo of the week!

This is my favourite photo of the week, taken off my personal Instagram account. I believe it captures the essence of Lake Geneva. The colours give it a cold look (winter blues!) and there are still some last remnants of autumn. Those boots have a lot of walking ahead yet!

Little adventures...

Week 2 complete, in Switzerland...

 

This is my hostel and the first evidence of snow in Lausanne

This week has brought many little adventures. And with adventures come some laughs, some tears and some victories. The first adventure started when I had to go shopping in the rain. I myself, am not a huge fan of shopping. But it is a necessity, especially when it comes to groceries. My story starts in the rain. After a long day in the lab, running to the small grocery store on campus to restock my miniscule kitchen. I didn't buy too much, but it was enough to fill an entire paper bag. Paper bag being the keyword here. I am not one to get embarrassed easily, however should my paper bag get wet and all my groceries fall all over the place, I think then, I might be. So the mission was to get home, with bag intact. This proved difficult as I did not know the word for rain in French and so attempted making 'rain' signals to people so they'd understand my need to stand under the shelter and not in the 'wet area'. I also could not put the bag on the floor because that would ensure that the bottom of the bag get wet and well, I would then have the bottom fall away and no doubt, end up chasing grapes around the Metro stop. So, I put up with the cramping hands and walked on home. I managed. In celebration I high-fived the packet, only to find that my ever-cherished paper bag, had a plastic-like finish...

A very exciting thing happened this week - it snowed! I went right into it and stood there, in the falling snow, to experience the little snowflakes fall on my face and on my eyelashes. What a treat. I don't think I could ever get bored of watching falling snow. 

As I am staying in a student hostel, one needs to book in time to do one's laundry. I did not know this and so ended up wearing non-matching items to work until laundry day. Nevertheless, laundry day came round. Ever so proud of myself that I had: 1. remembered it was laundry day and 2. organised my clothes into two loads worth, I wandered up to the laundry room to begin load 1. Well, I do not yet speak French nor German which is unfortunate as these are the only two languages my washing machine uses. Not a problem, hello Google Translate. There is however bad signal in the washing room and so everything just takes that little bit longer. I decide to wing it. Clothes in, little soap piece in, close the door, press a few buttons and GO! My washing begins! At a closer glance I realize the little soap piece has jumped out from being IN the clothes to being IN the door. I of course, do not know what 'open' is in either foreign language. I egg the soap on, to jump back in with the clothes or for one of the items of clothing to 'hook' the soap back in with them. It is not to be. So I leave my washing to go round and round and decide that at least they get a good rinse! Needless to say, my one load of washing took around 4 hours, therefore only one load of washing was done. My next washing day is tomorrow - this should go a lot better.

This week I had many realizations and will do my best to take them with me as life goes on. One of them we know so well and yet never implement. That is, to never rely on anyone else to give us our happiness. We need to create our own happiness because at the end of the day, that is all we have to get us through. If anyone else gives us happiness, then that needs to be taken as a bonus. I realized this, when there was a time I wasn't in communications with some of my favourite people. Life gets in the way and you get so busy that before you know it, its too late to talk, or work becomes our priority. I got frustrated that I wasn't happy because for that portion of time, they were not in my life. That is when I decided that I cannot depend on others to make me smile and to make me laugh. Sure, its great when it does happen, but I need to learn to do those things for myself. It is a real hard lesson, because all of us find ourselves living from one moment to the next with our favourite people. However, we can most definitely try to make it that we are happy within ourselves first. 

The first bit of sunshine deserved a selfie!

This thought led me to another. When we are experiencing hard times, we truly need to remember and live off the good times, good moments and good laughs. Its almost as if you need to have a little box of memories that you can call on at any time to get you through a hard day. I am working on building mine up. I started with exploring some of Lausanne today and having a walk around Lake Geneva. Some photos of my journey are below :) Today I found a bit of adventure for myself.

There will be many more pictures of Switzerland to follow as the adventures are just beginning - but these are a start! Have a lovely week and go find or make your own happiness!

A side thought...

Emotions are a funny thing. They rule our lives. They can change our day. They can make our day. It’s all down to how we feel. They change when we are alone and when we are in a crowd of people. They change whether we listen to music or whether we are surrounded by silence.

Often we know exactly what we should be feeling in a certain situation and we just cannot get there. For example, I am given this amazing opportunity and I know I should be feeling excited, inspired and ready. But even in writing that sentence, I feel overwhelmed, nervous and very much like a small fish. It’s harder when people look to you as their pillar of strength because you in actual fact do not feel strong at all.

The same happens in love. One day, you know you should pull back and guard your heart and yet, the next, you are throwing yourself into something you are not sure will work but don’t want to be faced with the questions, what if I tried harder or what if I never told him? It is a complete catch 22 or being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Another plaguing and terrifying thought, is when are we ready? When are we ready to make a commitment, to say yes and to allow yourself to openly fall head over heels in love with someone? We never truly know. So by pulling yourself back, are you denying yourself the chance at love or are you making a wise decision to save yourself the heartache. The biggest problem is that by the time one starts asking themselves these questions, you have already lost your heart to someone and now, merely trying to make yourself feel OK with how you feel. However, you may think you are in love, but it is only ‘in love’ when it is reciprocated. Then, I believe, you can totally and completely fall, head over heels, in love with someone. And when that happens, it is beautiful. Scary, because you are at your most vulnerable, but beautiful. And if you can find a person who can completely hold and nurture that love, then that is when we should go for it.

Finally, there is an art to words that I have learnt over time. Having been through long relationships, short relationships and adventures (if I may) I have learnt that people take the words ‘I am in love with you’ and ‘I adore you’ too lightly. One person can love many people. However, to be in love with a person is completely different. You can only be in love with one person, or so you should anyway. I can barely handle one person, I am not sure how people handle more than one. Then, when you are involved with a person, you need to adore them. Treat them like your better half. Take their interests and dreams seriously and nurture them. When they share their problems, take them gently as you may not think they are problems at all but for them, they may be. Never stop dating. I read a saying once, that if you treat a relationship the same way you did in the first 3 months, your relationship will never see an end. People like being wanted and even more so, needed.

When you find a person, who you think you may be in love with, remember that when you say those words, you are opening yourself up and showing them your most beautiful and vulnerable self. Be ready to accept them as you want them to accept you. May we all find a little bit of love this year.