Dear josephine
I'm back in the U.S. I did some shopping in the U.N. gift shop on my last day in Geneva and I thought I deserved a special memento of my ten minutes of U.N. spotlight, so I bought myself a Universal Declaration on Human Rights 50th anniversary commemorative Swatch!! I won't wear it, but I'll keep it as a collector's item.
After the U.N. I decided to walk down the Rhone River and explore and it was the best time exploring I had in Geneva. I should have done it my first day there. For me, it's just natural to gravitate towards water, so if there was a river, I'm surprised I didn't explore it. The Rhone is a beautiful fast moving river that drains Lake Geneva, but never succeeds. People swim in the Rhone, so it's clean and I was surprised that I could see past the surface. it was a beautiful blue-green color. Several hundred years ago, people probably took it for granted that they could see all the way to the bottom of the river it was so clear, now it's a surprise to be able to see past the surface.
The Rhone isn't the only river flowing through Geneva, the L'Arve also flows through Geneva and joins the Rhone not very far from Lake Geneva. The L'Arve is very different. It is slow, brown, muddy, and ugly. So I was very curious to see what happens when the two rivers meet. So that's where I went exploring and it was fascinating!!
I was able to get to the piece of land right where the two rivers join. From there, I saw that there was a bridge that looked down right over that point. So I explored some more to find the bridge. Eventually I made it to the bridge, which had train tracks running on it, but also had a walkway for pedestrians.
It was really neat looking down and seeing the two rivers interact. The Rhone is the dominant river with its clear blue water. It overpowers the slow, muddy brown water of the L’Arve, but right where they meet it was really beautiful. The fast blue water of the Rhone would flow into and mix with the brown water of the L'Arve and there would be these feathery swirls and whirlpools of brown and blue water. I would never have been able to imagine such a beautiful sight.
An annoying thing happened to me while I was in Geneva. I felt myself lapsing back into the old personality. I guess it was being in a foreign country and a foreign language and my overpowering impulse to be polite and not come across as a typical rude American. But my personality overdoes it, and I get so polite that I become dysfunctional and paranoid and worried about every little detail of what everyone MIGHT be thinking about me. The way I want to be is not afraid to make mistakes, not afraid to take risks and look like an idiot, and not care what people think.
So, on my last night here I was in line at the McDonald's, and I had already caught on that people don't order meals by asking for a "number one". I did that once and the person had to look at the menu to see what that was. So I was standing in line and I heard the person behind me say MAcSalsa, and I noticed the long MAc, rather than the short "Mic" that Americans say. And instead of Big Mac meal, the menu said "Big Mac menu", and I remembered how Thais say "menu" differently and thought about how the French would say it. So when I got to the counter I very confidently said "Beeg MAc Menyuuu", and it worked!! She says, "Beeg MAc Menyuuuu" back to me and then says something in French that stuns me in my shoes. So I just go "oui", and that worked, too!!!
Showing posts with label Geneva. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geneva. Show all posts
Thursday, August 20, 1998
Wednesday, August 19, 1998
email - Geneva, Switzerland
Dear Feng,
Four days in Geneva are way too much. It is a city I would never want to live in. it's way too boring. every new section I find, there's nothing interesting. today is my last day and I think I'll spend most of it here at the UN and listen to what is going on. This morning was interesting. Representatives from Eritrea and Ethiopia were yelling at each other about the war going on between them this summer. The situation is tragic, but I was distracted by the ear thingie. I kept on switching to the other languages to see how the translators were keeping up with their yelling. They seemed to be doing well, even the Mandarin translator, but maybe they were leaving a lot out. Every seat in the room has those ear thingies. I was trying to steal one for you, but it's permanently connected.
For today I'm just going to sit in on more sessions and go to another lunchtime meeting. I'm not sure what I'll do after the UN, I hope I'm not bored to death this evening. I think I'll take a long walk down the river that drains Lake Geneva, River Rhone. It looks pretty nice, so if I have film left in my camera I'll finish it. Tomorrow I'll wake up and go to the airport since my flight is in the morning.
ok, if I don't e-mail you later, I will from New Jersey.
Series VIII, Roll 10 (Pentax ZX-5n, Tri-X):
United Nations:
Frame 24 - Just a hallway. I was just wandering around the U.N. building. I don't think there was anything special about this shot, I just wanted one from inside the building.
Frame 25 - Exterior shot. Again, I don't think there was anything special. I liked the lines. I didn't even note where this was around the U.N.
Frame 26 - Another exterior.
Frame 27 - No idea what this was or where it was. I wish I had some description for it.
Frame 28 - Inside the Sub-Commission hearing room. Obviously not in session. Obviously after wandering around and outside, I found my way back in and up on this balcony, but I didn't take note how I found it or got there.
Geneva Photostroll: I left the U.N. because I had nothing more to do there and didn't know anyone. I had the rest of the afternoon and evening and went for a long walk.
Frame 30 - I think this is the River L'Arve. I vaguely remember this hill I climbed to get this shot. That fountain in the background is in Lake Geneva and is in other shots I took around the lake.
Frame 31 - I think this is the River Rhone from all the greenery.
Frame 32 - This is where the L'Arve and the River Rhone met. I didn't get the swirls created by the confluence of the blue and brown waters. It was a remarkable sight, better captured in color, although you can sort of see the difference in tone. The clear, blue, fast-moving River Rhone is on the right in this shot, the slow, muddy, brown L'Arve is on the left. The negative is flipped, so in reality it's the opposite. I was way up high on a railroad bridge that I found my way up to, and you can see the shadows of the arches on the water.
Frame 35 - 'Nuther shot of the Rhone.
Four days in Geneva are way too much. It is a city I would never want to live in. it's way too boring. every new section I find, there's nothing interesting. today is my last day and I think I'll spend most of it here at the UN and listen to what is going on. This morning was interesting. Representatives from Eritrea and Ethiopia were yelling at each other about the war going on between them this summer. The situation is tragic, but I was distracted by the ear thingie. I kept on switching to the other languages to see how the translators were keeping up with their yelling. They seemed to be doing well, even the Mandarin translator, but maybe they were leaving a lot out. Every seat in the room has those ear thingies. I was trying to steal one for you, but it's permanently connected.
For today I'm just going to sit in on more sessions and go to another lunchtime meeting. I'm not sure what I'll do after the UN, I hope I'm not bored to death this evening. I think I'll take a long walk down the river that drains Lake Geneva, River Rhone. It looks pretty nice, so if I have film left in my camera I'll finish it. Tomorrow I'll wake up and go to the airport since my flight is in the morning.
ok, if I don't e-mail you later, I will from New Jersey.
Series VIII, Roll 10 (Pentax ZX-5n, Tri-X):
United Nations:
Frame 24 - Just a hallway. I was just wandering around the U.N. building. I don't think there was anything special about this shot, I just wanted one from inside the building.
Frame 25 - Exterior shot. Again, I don't think there was anything special. I liked the lines. I didn't even note where this was around the U.N.
Frame 26 - Another exterior.
Frame 27 - No idea what this was or where it was. I wish I had some description for it.
Frame 28 - Inside the Sub-Commission hearing room. Obviously not in session. Obviously after wandering around and outside, I found my way back in and up on this balcony, but I didn't take note how I found it or got there.
Geneva Photostroll: I left the U.N. because I had nothing more to do there and didn't know anyone. I had the rest of the afternoon and evening and went for a long walk.
Frame 30 - I think this is the River L'Arve. I vaguely remember this hill I climbed to get this shot. That fountain in the background is in Lake Geneva and is in other shots I took around the lake.
Frame 31 - I think this is the River Rhone from all the greenery.
Frame 32 - This is where the L'Arve and the River Rhone met. I didn't get the swirls created by the confluence of the blue and brown waters. It was a remarkable sight, better captured in color, although you can sort of see the difference in tone. The clear, blue, fast-moving River Rhone is on the right in this shot, the slow, muddy, brown L'Arve is on the left. The negative is flipped, so in reality it's the opposite. I was way up high on a railroad bridge that I found my way up to, and you can see the shadows of the arches on the water.
Frame 35 - 'Nuther shot of the Rhone.
Tuesday, August 18, 1998
email - Geneva, Switzerland
dear josephine,
so intervention finished, I need something to do for today and tomorrow. I think I'm done observing for today; too boring. Yesterday I went to a cemetery but that wasn't too exciting. Tomorrow I'll come to the UN again although I've met everyone I'm likely to meet and I've handed out everything I have to hand out except one more copy of my paper, which I'd better keep as my personal copy. I had like five or six copies of my intervention left and I left them on a table and when I came back, they were all gone. So that was great! Unless security came and threw them out. Maybe the representative from Myanmar threw them out!!! That would be so cool. But he wasn't there when I made the intervention, so he wouldn't have known anything about it. Not that he knows anything about anything. Jerk.
So I'm off, think I'll head out and go for a run. much much love.
so intervention finished, I need something to do for today and tomorrow. I think I'm done observing for today; too boring. Yesterday I went to a cemetery but that wasn't too exciting. Tomorrow I'll come to the UN again although I've met everyone I'm likely to meet and I've handed out everything I have to hand out except one more copy of my paper, which I'd better keep as my personal copy. I had like five or six copies of my intervention left and I left them on a table and when I came back, they were all gone. So that was great! Unless security came and threw them out. Maybe the representative from Myanmar threw them out!!! That would be so cool. But he wasn't there when I made the intervention, so he wouldn't have known anything about it. Not that he knows anything about anything. Jerk.
So I'm off, think I'll head out and go for a run. much much love.
email - Geneva, Switzerland
hez josephine,
I couldn't get a computer at the internet café last night, so I’m writing from the UN now. yesterday I woke up early to make sure I get to the UN on time. good boy that I am. responsible boy that I am. I dress casual. I get to the UN and it takes a little bit of effort to get my id badge, but I get it. ID badge, it's the kind that once you get it, you can go just about anywhere, that's the kind of badge that I like.
I find my way to the sub commission session room and I explore and eventually find a list of speakers. after someone arrives at the desk nearby, I ask how I can get on the list. he tells me all I have to do is tell him and he asks which agenda item. I tell him 7a. and he says, oh you have to do it today because it is closing today. no problem! he tells me I have to make 5 copies of the intervention for translation and for the next half hour I’m running around finding paper, finding a copier, making copies, and stapling them. I made 15 extra copies just in case. so then eventually I found out I have to sit at one of the tables with the microphones, so I finally find an empty place for ngo’s. so I sit there and listen for a long time. I get up a few times to stretch or go to the bathroom, and it happens that at the time I'm up seeing if I can find out when I have to speak, HRA is called and I don't answer because I’m not sitting at the table with that thing on my ear. no problem! I panic and run back to the person I talked to earlier and he tells me to go tell the secretary that I’m here. so fyi, I actually spoke to the secretary of the sub commission, "hey you, I’m from HRA and I’m here". he tells me to sit down and they go through the list again at the end for organizations that missed their first call. so I sit for a longer period of time. finally I’m called, the last one, and I make the intervention no problem. it was like being underwater for ten minutes. actually I don't know how long I spoke because since I was the last one and they were ahead of schedule (I guess), they didn't run the clock. which disturbed me at the time since I would look up to see how much time I had left and the clock wouldn't be going.
so I finish my intervention and turn around and there is this mob of people behind me and I go, "good lord". I quickly realize that they all want copies of my intervention. so I pull out the extra copies of my intervention and they're like vultures and all of them are gone in 20 seconds. agenda item 7 closed and the rest of my time here is cake. I’m still wondering what to do tomorrow. ok, I gotta go, there's a lunchtime meeting I want to attend. I’ll write more later. luv u, much,
I couldn't get a computer at the internet café last night, so I’m writing from the UN now. yesterday I woke up early to make sure I get to the UN on time. good boy that I am. responsible boy that I am. I dress casual. I get to the UN and it takes a little bit of effort to get my id badge, but I get it. ID badge, it's the kind that once you get it, you can go just about anywhere, that's the kind of badge that I like.
I find my way to the sub commission session room and I explore and eventually find a list of speakers. after someone arrives at the desk nearby, I ask how I can get on the list. he tells me all I have to do is tell him and he asks which agenda item. I tell him 7a. and he says, oh you have to do it today because it is closing today. no problem! he tells me I have to make 5 copies of the intervention for translation and for the next half hour I’m running around finding paper, finding a copier, making copies, and stapling them. I made 15 extra copies just in case. so then eventually I found out I have to sit at one of the tables with the microphones, so I finally find an empty place for ngo’s. so I sit there and listen for a long time. I get up a few times to stretch or go to the bathroom, and it happens that at the time I'm up seeing if I can find out when I have to speak, HRA is called and I don't answer because I’m not sitting at the table with that thing on my ear. no problem! I panic and run back to the person I talked to earlier and he tells me to go tell the secretary that I’m here. so fyi, I actually spoke to the secretary of the sub commission, "hey you, I’m from HRA and I’m here". he tells me to sit down and they go through the list again at the end for organizations that missed their first call. so I sit for a longer period of time. finally I’m called, the last one, and I make the intervention no problem. it was like being underwater for ten minutes. actually I don't know how long I spoke because since I was the last one and they were ahead of schedule (I guess), they didn't run the clock. which disturbed me at the time since I would look up to see how much time I had left and the clock wouldn't be going.
so I finish my intervention and turn around and there is this mob of people behind me and I go, "good lord". I quickly realize that they all want copies of my intervention. so I pull out the extra copies of my intervention and they're like vultures and all of them are gone in 20 seconds. agenda item 7 closed and the rest of my time here is cake. I’m still wondering what to do tomorrow. ok, I gotta go, there's a lunchtime meeting I want to attend. I’ll write more later. luv u, much,
Monday, August 17, 1998
Cemetery - Geneva, Switzerland
Series VIII, Roll 10 (Pentax ZX-5n, Tri-X):
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Sunday, August 16, 1998
email - Geneva, Switzerland
I got to Geneva no problem, it's a pretty boring city. How is Anita? She returned right? Let her know that her cousin will be put on trial soon in Burma, but it's all for show to treat the matter seriously and scare other people from trying to do the same thing. She will be released, I don't know when, but she won't be harmed. the Burmese military government is pretty stupid, but not stupid enough to harm U.S. citizens. I'll mention it to whoever I can meet at the U.N..
I haven't been to a U.N. session yet. I got to Geneva yesterday, changed money, wandered around the airport to get used to the atmosphere, and then grabbed a taxi to my hotel which wasn't far away but cost about $15!! My room is tiny but it's clean. But for $50 a night? Wow! After I checked in, I went out and walked down to the Rhone River which drains Lake Geneva. If I stayed at the hotel, I would have fallen asleep. It was dream-like. the sun set around 20:00 and I got back well after dark.
I went for a jog this morning and the U.N. is less than a mile away. I'll still take the bus there tomorrow to keep from getting tired. It already feels like I've been here a long time, or time is going by really slow. I took a boat ride out onto Lake Geneva which was relaxing and perfect because my energy was low and I wouldn't have any other time to do it. It would be nice if you were here. The weather is really, really nice. Europe in the summer, I guess. But their winters probably suck.
So that's all I've been doing, walking around. There are no interesting pictures to take and time is going by really slow. It's all dream-like, like I said.
U.N. stuff starts tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I won't make the intervention tomorrow. I think I have to hand in the written copy a day in advance, so I'm looking at Tuesday (so I'll only wear a suit on Tuesday). Otherwise I'll just be observing and trying to talk to people but I have no idea what to expect. Who knows? I might start my oral intervention and they'll stop me and say, "yea, yea, we know all about that...NEXT!!" I would probably crumple the pages into balls to throw at them.
I'll let you know how tomorrow goes. I'm thinking of you all the time and there are moments that my breath just stops when I think of how cute you are and the cute things you do. much much love,
I haven't been to a U.N. session yet. I got to Geneva yesterday, changed money, wandered around the airport to get used to the atmosphere, and then grabbed a taxi to my hotel which wasn't far away but cost about $15!! My room is tiny but it's clean. But for $50 a night? Wow! After I checked in, I went out and walked down to the Rhone River which drains Lake Geneva. If I stayed at the hotel, I would have fallen asleep. It was dream-like. the sun set around 20:00 and I got back well after dark.
I went for a jog this morning and the U.N. is less than a mile away. I'll still take the bus there tomorrow to keep from getting tired. It already feels like I've been here a long time, or time is going by really slow. I took a boat ride out onto Lake Geneva which was relaxing and perfect because my energy was low and I wouldn't have any other time to do it. It would be nice if you were here. The weather is really, really nice. Europe in the summer, I guess. But their winters probably suck.
So that's all I've been doing, walking around. There are no interesting pictures to take and time is going by really slow. It's all dream-like, like I said.
U.N. stuff starts tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I won't make the intervention tomorrow. I think I have to hand in the written copy a day in advance, so I'm looking at Tuesday (so I'll only wear a suit on Tuesday). Otherwise I'll just be observing and trying to talk to people but I have no idea what to expect. Who knows? I might start my oral intervention and they'll stop me and say, "yea, yea, we know all about that...NEXT!!" I would probably crumple the pages into balls to throw at them.
I'll let you know how tomorrow goes. I'm thinking of you all the time and there are moments that my breath just stops when I think of how cute you are and the cute things you do. much much love,
Saturday, August 15, 1998
Geneva, Switzerland:
Series VIII, Roll 10 (Pentax ZX-5n, Tri-X): Street shooting. Pretty dead streets in Geneva. I think this is right after I arrived. After checking in, I immediately hit the streets with my camera so that I didn't fall asleep.
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Friday, August 14, 1998
going to Geneva! I am so proud of you. You are so brave going there by yourself. I think you are really cool. School will begin next week, and everything has to go back to normal, get up early and study. I am thinking of things to do aside from school. I will practice guitar every day. You gave me a good start playing guitar. Thank you very much. I also will go on taking pictures. I also want to explore some other places around San Francisco. I hope you can find a job and stay in San Francisco. I know this is not an easy thing. I just hope. If you end up some place else, I will be happy for your decision too. You are so brave that I decide to be as strong as you are. It is OK to live apart, if we can live apart but together, then it means that there is something good between us. It means that we both are mature and responsible for ourselves. I am willing to see how strong our bond is. Living apart or getting through the stressful time is the best way to see it. Have a safe and wonderful journey. fly safely and enjoy. I will be watching you just like you have been always watching me. I love you. yu-feng
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