Made In...

日本とスイスって違うようでかなり似ていてその共通点の一つが「国産大好き」精神。
もちろんどの国でも外国産よりかはやっぱりどうしても国産応援しちゃいますよね。

でも日本人とスイス人として愛国心よりも更に高いのが自分の国の作るモノに対してのプライドと
圧倒的な信頼性。20分も電車で行けばフランスのスーパーでも同じ商品を半額で買えるのに「チーズなんて品質の悪いフランス産なんて買えない」（←チーズ大国フランスですよ　汗）、とか「やっぱりスイスのりんごは格別」と喜んで食べています。それを見ているとやはり少し高くても質のいい日本の電化製品とか「輸入米は考えられない」と豪語している日本人とよく似ているな～と思うです。

アメリカ人、中国人、ロシア人の人達と話すと逆に「自分の国の作った大抵のものは信頼できない」と言ってる位なので　汗　そう思うと、自分の国の製品に自信と信頼を持てるってすごいことだと思うし、誇りに持てることなのかも。　

もちろんコーラもスイス産！キャップ上でバッチリアピール　笑

Halloween Fun

Halloween may have started somewhere in the United Kindgom, then exploded with consumerism in the US, and then now it's everywhere in the world. I know that now that I'm over 21, Halloween is just another party excuse to drink. But why not? Afterall, it's probably my last time celebrating as a student ever.

Props and thanks to Adrian and Ava who helped put together a fantastic party with the best decorations!

Btw, what was my costume you ask? I tried my best to be a gothic lolita but I'm definitely lacking in the makeup area.... although I did watch quite a few YouTube videos. Hope everyone had a safe and fantastic Halloween!

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.

UN 70th Anniversary

Having spent about a month working on projects and attending conferences in the UN during the summer made me really jaded about the Palais des Nations, the UN European headquarters. But to the public, having the UN grounds open is quite a bit thing. For starters, security is very very strict on the campus grounds. And of course, being the UN many people are really interested to see what really goes on inside, especially when it's on the news a lot. So it's no surprise thousands and thousands showed up for the UN 70the anniversary event, where much of the grounds were open to the public.

I freaked out. Because on a normal day, you hardly see people outside or inside except maybe meeting areas, cafes, and cafeterias. Most of the time, people are in meetings or offices. I've never seen so many people in the Palais building in my life! I do have student access to the UN so I instantly regretted I should've come here on a normal day when things are actually peaceful and quiet. But it was quite interesting to see the various booths and events. I do advise you that if you plan to come to any open public event for the UN, make sure you come early and eat before you come because typically they don't sell any foods there.

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

Fromage Blanc

I've started work so apologies for not posting in a while and also that my last few posts were in Japanese! I started this blog mainly to reflect on the journey that I started since I left my last job and Japan, but as time passed I started to write for my family; especially since my little cousins started reading them. But few have asked what I write in English so I'll try to write in both as much as possible :) 

As you all know, I was in France this past summer living with a host family. My host mother was excellent with food and I have many new understanding of the French cuisine and traditions. One of the best things I was introduced to was fromage blanc. It literally translates to: white cheese. When my host mom first proposed I should eat this every morning for breakfast with some granola, I thought "wow French people must really love cheese!" But in fact it's a creamy textured yogurt like product. I always tell people it tastes exactly like yogurt and just a bit less thicker than Greek yogurt. It's called "cheese" it goes through the same process of cheese which is fermentation of milk but it's not ripened, hence it retains the yogurt-like texture.

I love it because it's very thick in texture but not as much as the Greek ones, and it keeps you really full. Plus, it's less calories than low-fat yogurt. Since there's not flavor added to it you can also add jam (my host mom makes the best jams) or you can make savory dip sauces out of it. I probably ate this almost every day during the duration of my homestay and I was completely hooked!

Seeing that it was quite ubiquitous in France (you can find it in any supermarket), I thought it won't be a problem at all in Suisse-Romande where we pretty much share a lot of the food culture. But to my surprise, I couldn't find it. I must've walked through the aisles of many supermarkets for half an hour! Finally I realized that in Switzerland it's called quark or séré. Seems like there are some technical differences in how it's made but tastes exactly the same. The problem is that of course being Switzerland, it's extremely expensive. This is why I buy big tubs of 1kg fromage blanc in France where it merely costs 1.5 Euros! Total win :) I do not think it's very easy to find outside of Western Europe but I definitely recommend you try it if you get a chance!

フランスの白いチーズ

夏のフランスでのホームステイで多分一番ハマったのが、フロマージュ・ブロン。直訳すると「白いチーズ」。なのでホストマザーが「明日の朝食は白いチーズを食べていきなさい。シリアルと混ぜてもいいわよ」と初日に言われたのでその時は「シリアルとチーズってどうよ⁉︎」と勝手に思ってたんだけど、実際はチーズと言っても見た目はヨーグルト。食感は濃厚なギリシャヨーグルトと普通のヨーグルトの間ぐらい。なのでクリーミーで本当に美味しいんです❤︎

ホームスティ先では、冷蔵庫に必ず常備してあって毎朝グラノーラと混ぜて食べたり、あとホストマザーの手作りジャムと一緒に食べても美味しかった★

スイスに戻ってきて、フランス語圏なんだからスーパーにでも絶対にあるっしょ思い30分ぐらい歩きまわったけど全く見つからない‼︎ さすがにスイス人は食べないんだな〜と思ってたところ、スイスフランス語ではQuarkもしくはSéréと呼ばれているようです💦

でももちろんスイスだと高いのでフランスでお買い物に行く時にこの白いチーズ買ってます♪ ちなみに1キロでなんと二百円未満で激安です。さすがチーズ好きフランス人、太っ腹‼︎