Geneva

Hi-ho; broadcasting from Geneva, Switzerland to say that I just had a fantastic weekend with Winnie. It was a little bit of everything: food, shopping, sightseeing, speaking more French, listening to a Swiss man's music collection, learning how to make thai curry, and meeting nice and interesting people. It also meant getting to know Winnie better - I love trips that allow you to do that. Today we topped off my visit with a trip to Lavey-les-bains, the nearby thermal baths nestled in the alps. My favourite part was the hot Turkish steam bath with the strong minty fragrance and the cool delicious water fountain at the centre. The only thing I did not get from this trip was enough sleep!

Winnie's French has improved exponentially since being immersed in Geneva, and I am quite jealous. It's starting to look like my New Year's resolutions will include learning Danish and improving French, ahead of learning Spanish (sorry Cesar!!). Chinese will have to wait, but it has not been forgotten. In fact, Winnie's boyfriend and her other friends kept insisting that we speak Cantonese to each other, which we deftly avoided most of the time. We both agreed, it mortifies us to hear our degrading accents with ad lib conversations. Luckily, I devised a strategy about a year back for what to do when people ask to hear a bit of Chinese from me. I simply recite a famous, short poem. It's good Chinese, I'm comfortable with it (having repeated it so many times), and it's mercifully short. It was also devilishly fun to hear the Swiss wrap their tongues around some Cantonese.

My Swiss schedule advances, and I must obey the clock. My flight leaves at 8pm on the dot. I leave Geneva laden with cheese and chocolate, and with the delight of anticipation of seeing Kendrick at the Copenhagen airport.