We were going to go to Lausanne but that didn't happen... again. LOL eventually I'll make it there. Solveig got home Saturday evening but will leave again tonight for another business trip. However, she'll be home this weekend and then is supposed to be in town for a while.
On Saturday night I went out to a bar in Nyon and again, while it was really boring to be there alone I did manage to make some conversation with one guy who invited me to sit with him and his 2 friends. So I spent part of the evening with 3 nice, although mostly French speaking men. I got a free beer out of it though! No numbers or facebook addresses though. Which is sort of sad, but hey - the point is I went out right?
Sunday I tried to sleep in and managed somewhat until the kids were just too loud for me to take it. So, I went downstairs and had breakfast with the family and then worked on my very difficult homework. At about 2 we went into Nyon where they had the same flea market that was there my first weekend in town. It's hard to believe it's been a month since I arrived. Last night was my first full moon in Switzerland. It was bright and beautiful and at the same time, a little sad.
In Nyon I met up with a classmate who speaks German, a little English and a little French. We spent the afternoon wandering around trying not to get too wet in the rain and went to a pub and had a coffee. We're planning to go out again soon. She's nice, a little younger than me but European so 19 isn't so different from 21. Age is one thing I have yet to really figure out. Since you can start drinking in bars at 16 it's tough to figure out if that boy sitting at the other end of the bar is 17 or 23 - and while I don't have a problem dating someone younger than me, it'd be nice to know how much younger they are without having to ask.... Oh well.
This coming weekend I am going out of town with the Au Pair club for a movie/sleepover weekend. It should be fun, at least I hope it will be. I mainly hope that I can connect with some people and maybe make friends that I can see outside the meetings. I plan on going tonight to the Au Pair club bible study - we'll see how it is. My religious feelings have been very... different in the last several years and so it will be interesting to see how they take it. It might be too much for me, or it could be the kind of exploration I need... who knows. I'm trying to keep an open mind, because that really is all I have. At some point I might feel like I have more skills and things to offer the world but right now, I feel like a floater, like someone caught in between the normal life she leads and this alternative reality where dreams are translated into languages you can't understand and sadness looms around the corner.
I just need to meet people, and continue meeting people. It's terrible to think but it has become very apparent to me that the only way you can meet strangers here is by smoking cigarettes. I guess it's a good thing I wasn't against it, and my family here doesn't mind if I smoke socially when the kids aren't around, we were talking yesterday and they concur that it really is one of the few ways you can meet/talk with strangers. People are very - clicky here - they stick with their social groups it seems - it's only outside when strangers huddle under the heat lamps with a cigarette that the doors to conversation seem to open. Since I'm not 100% against smoking, and I'm allowed to do so, it has helped that I can go out and start a conversation with my beer and smokes. Not the best attitude, but I can't imagine how much worse it would be if I were trying to make conversation inside a crowded bar where no one talks to anyone other than their group of friends. Ah... C'est la vie.
Anyway, I'm sorry it's been a while since I last reported. I'm busy but not... it's hard to describe. Tomorrow is class, we'll see how it goes - and if I did my homework correctly! And if I go out later this week I'll be sure to let you all know about it.
Love,
Mattie
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