It's Done!

I apologize for the lack in updates (again).
The past month has been nothing but pure work and studying.
But I'm proud to say that I am officially done with exams and papers. I have just gotten my results back from my last quarter of grad school and I've passed with flying colors; even better I got the best grades out of my other semesters which was very surprising considering I worked 30 hours and had two 8 am classes. As you can imagine it was an extremely tough semester and there were times where I wanted to break down but I'm really glad I pulled it through and I'm extremely happy with my results.

I still have the thesis left so I can't celebrate just yet, but it's a sigh of relief that I don't have to study for another test on sustainable development of renewable energy initiatives!

Now is a time of transition for me; I'm currently in limbo between working full time and still being a student. I will have to make big changes in the coming months and needless to say a lot of work needs to be done. But up till now I'm very happy and have no regrets on the steps I have taken the last 3 years. I have learned an enormous amount and I can't be more satisfied of coming to study in Geneva. I'm a bit apprehensive of what awaits next but at the same time I'm excited of where I am about to go.

I think for now I have to figure out the basics. For the past 3 years, I never really had a weekend since they were used for studying whether it was for GREs, catching up on reading, or reviewing lecture notes. So now that I have proper weekends, I'm a bit confused on what I should do. Is it bad that I spend my weekends sleeping and watching TV? Or should I be out enjoying the world? Any suggestions are welcome on weekend ideas!

Thank you for all your support, hopefully in the coming months I can keep you updated on more on my career and thesis progress (eek)

Cohort Love

When I first found out that my entire master's program was under 20 people, I was a bit scared. I'm used to big things. My high school class had close to 500 people. My college.... easily in the thousands. Many of the programs I applied to for grad school ranged from about 50-200 but under 20 was a lot less than I had ever experienced. When I showed up on the first day of orientation, I found out I was just one of 13!  I worried if we'd all get along with being such a small cohort. What if we were all so different we'd never agree on anything ?

 And yes, we don't. We seldomly all agree. But we always find consensus.

Though we all come from different backgrounds, nationalities, and expertise we've all grew close to one another in one way. As of now in our third academic semester, we have dwindled down to 10. But I feel that our bonds have just strengthened. Moreover, it really shows how efficient and effective we've become since we've worked so close with one another.

You really feel this when you interact with other graduate students from other masters. I've been taking class at the nearby Graduate Institute this semester; and though their establishment is high quality I find that the quality of the overall work done is nothing close to where we are (sorry!). The interaction, quality of work, and coordination that we've developed over the past year has been nothing but amazing.

In our last academic semester, we have less chances to see each other as we are all taking various electives. Nevertheless it's these rare moments we get together for a meal that I really feel the sense of belonging and real appreciation for the small size class we have. To a great cohort and good food (Persian!)

Food for Thought

One of the perks of being in Geneva is of course, the UN European Headquarters are here, and so there's many VIPs coming in and out. I was privleged to attend one of the round table talks held at the Graduate Institute where I also take classes. The event features speakers like Kofi Annan, Gro Brundland (THE person who made the Brudtland report which you would instatnly recognize if you're studying sustainability) and the Commissioner of the UNHCR with the theme of Syrian Migration. Not only was I blown away by the passionate message of all the speakers but that there is a great lacking of global cooperation on this issue. I don't want to go into any details as there have already been too many debates on this already, but just that states really need to go deeper and do more than what is done now in order to really change the situation.

Afterworks

People say that Geneva is terrible when it comes to the social scene and yes it is true. Bars are exorbitantly expensive and usually for bankers or after-work quick drinks. I long for the cheap and fantastic bar culture of Asia. It's about times things needs to be changed.

Recently there has been a montly event called "Afterworks". It's held at the art history museum (Musée d'art et d'histoire) and basically they turn the whole museum into a bar/social scene after hours. It's a great place for people to come together to join for a quick drink after work, plus you get to look around the museum. I've been to it twice already and I'm absolutely loving it. Dancing to a DJ in the hall where historical swords and arrows are displayed makes it much more interesting and change of scene. Plus how great is it to walk around the museum looking at art tipsy? I also love the fact that there's a different theme and various events going on the whole night. I am not sure how many more they are hosting but it's definitely worth a go for all of you who are sick and tired of the usual bland night life scene in Geneva.

A night in Italy themed night
 

Having a drink surrounded by armors and canons.. fantastic!

A theater group came to put on a parody show of the masterpieces, really funny

Why hello Rodin, we meet again in Geneva

One of my favorite paintings. Kinda looks like he's taking a selfie shot!

Halloween themed night 
 

Thriller flash mob dance!

They were passing out bone-shaped Halloween gummies

A fancy witch and Jason on a date

There's also a mini restaurant at the bottom of the museum

Autumn 紅葉の秋

It's getting into fall season...It's always beautiful walking along the river banks by campus

10月後半に入りメッキリ寒くなってきました。連日一桁気温！毎日歩いて通学しているので手袋とマフラーは欠かせません。ただし、紅葉が綺麗なので寒くても外を歩く価値大アリです♪　でもこれからもっと寒くなりそう・・　

Japanese Buddhistm and Madame Butterfly ジャポニズムと仏教

It's only been recently that I've started going to museums around Geneva. I guess around this time last year I was too busy adjusting that I didn't have the luxury to do much "cultural activities". This one at Musée de Ethnographie de Genève was particularly interesting as it was about 19th century Japanese Buddhism, Madame Butterfly and its influences it had in Europe. Thinking about it, I never saw Japan from the European prospective which I found quite interesting. Whereas in the US, we were looked upon as a second class odd culture (not all but mostly), there seems to have been a lot of exoticism and luxury built around the culture. The Europeans obsession with Buddhism was also quite interesting considering that in the US any non-Christian religion was taken as heretic. 

I was not allowed to take lots of pictures in the exhibit but if you're around Geneva, it's a really interesting exhibit whether you're familiar with Japanese culture and art or not. It's until mid-January 2016, I believe

ジュネーブに来て一年、やっと美術館や展示イベントに行くようになりました。思えば一年前の今頃は生活に慣れるのに精一杯でその余裕がなかったのよね　汗。今回行ってきたのは Musée de Ethnographie de Genèveの「マダムバタフライの仏教・仏教ジャポニズム」というやや不思議な名前の特別展示会。19世紀に日本文化と日本仏教がヨーロッパにどういう影響を与えたのか、というのがテーマ。マダムバタフライがオペラ化され人気が出たのもちょうどこの頃。

アメリカだと19世紀の日本文化は下等文化とされてきたし、 キリスト教以外の宗教は悪魔とされていたのでヨーロッパでは日本はどういう存在だったのか興味深々でした。行ってびっくりしたのは日本文化はエキゾチックで貴族社会の中では高い地位にあったということ。多くの人が日本の仏教に対して敬意を持っていたということも驚きでした。

展示作品は写真撮影不可だったのでほとんど写真が撮れなかったのは残念。もしジュネーブに来る機会があれば来年1月半ばまで展示されているのでぜひ！

Field Trip

Mini excursion with my ecosystems class out to the outskirts of Geneva,
It's beautiful around this time of the year!

Did not know we had an official university car...

Rest stop: Geneva 一時帰国

Whew, finally after about 7weeks, I'm finally back into my turf. I never expected to say this but oh Geneva how I missed you! I caught with a few of my classmates, went to the countryside to get some fresh apples. SLEEP. Oh you know, the usual stuff I'd do in Switzerland. It's good to be back but I'm taking off to Paris again!

つかの間ですが、ジュネーブに戻ってきました。本来はあと一週間ほど旅行の予定でしたが寮の家賃や新しい携帯を買う必要があったのでいわゆる「一時帰国」です　笑。体かなり憔悴していたので久しぶりにベッドでゆっくり休んだような気がします。明後日からパリにまたまた再出発です！

Lake Leman it's good to see you again!

Goofy classmates

Around autumn time, many farms place their apples in sheds and are open to the public for sale

3kg worth of apples!