la vie quotidienne - lyonnaise style

Place Bellecour: The calm before the storm

I. Can't. Stop. Eating. Pastries. There's no way I'm denying myself. It just means I have to increase my exercising activity, which is pretty easy to do here in Lyon. Why deny myself pastries? Life is too short for that. Self-control can come in other forms (I'm extremely good at that). Though to be fair, if I enjoy it so much, I really should learn to make some myself.

Omelette Norvégienne (Don't ask me what makes them Norwegian)

This picture was taken at a fabulous restaurant behind Perrache. I'll have to look up the name because I can't remember it for the life of me. It was a last minute whim to go there... at 22h00!! We ended up devouring this lovely dessert with fries and of course, two glasses of white wine. I realize the frites were a bit unorthodox, but hey, I'm a girl and I've got occasional cravings to satisfy. 

On a side note, I've started taking Russian lessons again. They're fairly cheap and frankly, I'd rather spend money on something I'm passionate about rather than on clothes or other bizarre things. I'm also hoping to sign up for piano lessons again. This drive in me is still alive and kicking. Honestly, I hope this drive continues and I'll have the energy to do everything I want to do. I'm not completely sure where my energy is coming from, but I'm definitely thankful to have so much of it to keep me going. How I manage to get up so early in the morning, bike to and back from work, work, go for a run, study Russian and playing the piano all in one day is beyond me.

It's almost a month since I've started working here. I think I've got my schedule down and I'm balancing my work life and social life pretty well. At least my French mom don't have to be worried about me being a hermit like I was last summer. Now that it's no longer the dead of summer, the city is alive once again with many events! Free concerts are everywhere at both the conservatories and occasionally, I can treat myself to a concert at the Auditorium de Lyon. Thank God for music keeping me sane and thank God for my French mom for keeping me grounded. I do roll my eyes though, every time she asks me what I'm up to and I give her a list to which she tells me "très bien" with a very satisfied tone.

My travel bug is revitalizing its feet and wings. I am now ready to travel to various cities in France. However, the first stop for me is Geneva. In fact, I went there yesterday to see a few friends. As much as I do enjoy being around Genève sometimes, I will never cheat on Lyon. Ever.

As for out of country trips, there has been one scheduled for Easter break. Last Easter break, I went to Austria. This year, I'm heading to Estonia and Finland!

So yes, I am enjoying my lyonnaise life and everything this beautiful city has to offer. But seriously, I need to stop eating a pastry every day...

two weeks until landing in us of a

OEWG

It's time for the 2 week conference on the Open-ended working group to take forward multilateral disarmament (OEWG). And what am I doing to prepare for it? Yes, that's right, nothing (other than some light reading). I'm currently blogging and procrastinating to epic proportions by watching Chinese dramas. Because my brain currently is mush and in order not to think outside work, I watch Chinese dramas. No thinking required. In fact, no brain required. I've sent off my drafts for the transparency and verification project I'm working on to my supervisor and waiting to get comments/feedback. But seriously, I need to get on with my life, like preparing for the new semester, application for jobs, among other things (and getting back to Lyon).

But, the open-ended working group. There are some that are skeptical about progress being made in the group while others repeat the same language over and over again. However, there are many approaches mentioned to help disarmament negotiations along. To find a list of all the working papers, look here. For the first time, an NGO submitted a working paper! To read Reaching Critical Will's paper on achieving a world free of nuclear weapons, click here.

The first meeting on Monday afternoon was characterized by...mic problems and a presentation of various approaches to nuclear disarmament. So many approaches, in fact, that my head felt like spinning when I left the meetings. Hopefully, I survive all the meetings this week and next. Let's see how many cups of coffee I'll have consumed by the end of the meetings. I may just have to catch up on sleep in the plane.

As much as I'm dreading returning to the States, namely to Monterey, there are some things I do look forward to:

1. Fall in all its glory

2. Running along the ocean

3. Finishing my studies aka GETTING MY MASTERS

4. While I'm going to miss the Fête des Lumières again, as always, I do look forward to the holiday season. As always.

5. Seeing some old friends in Monterey

Finally:

How can I ever leave this?? I must come back asap.

Who knows when I'll be back here to my beautiful city? I just know I'll be back soon. I don't know when, but I know it's soon. Like I said, the next time I'm back in Lyon, it's to live and make a home there.

I also realized I do need to cook more and put my cooking skills into use. Last year, due to my hectic schedule, I survived on couscous with vegetables, raw vegetables (lots) with hummus, bread, cheese, wine and of course, coffee. Because it was easy and quick to make. You boil the couscous, toss frozen or fresh veggies in a skillet and mix the two together. Et voilà, you get dinner for a week! No knives and no extra plates.

Let the OEWG engage mode and madness commence.

busy, busy, busy!

It's been a crazy last week. And now another week is about to start. Total nuclear research and conference engage mode time. The last two weeks of August will be so hectic and crazy that I haven't gotten anything ready yet. Things I should have gotten ready like....yesterday.

Oh and I changed my plane ticket from the 25th to the 31st. For legitimate reasons, it's for the open ended working group to take forward multilateral disarmament negotiations. For... not so legitimate reasons, for staying another week in Europe. I mean of course, I want to stay here for as long as possible, no doubt! Well, there's work combined with an extra week so yes, that's totally legitimate.

Apparently, every sunday in Lyon, I can hear a symphony of music coming from all the apartments around me. Some are nice, and some are not.. so pleasing to the ear. It's better than hearing drunk people in the streets singing in the middle of the night.

Between the craziness of running in and out of Geneva, I managed to find some time to head off for a day trip to Vichy, France. So beautiful and green. Combined with buildings from La Belle Epoque, the sources of thermal water, and old Vichy, it was a beautiful city to stroll around. Voici some pictures from Vichy:

Hôtel de ville

Old Vichy

A park that totally gives off the Belle Epoque vibe

An ancient house

Sources de Celestins. The thermal water, which supposedly has healing powers, is free

Mini Musée de Vichy

Musée de la Belle Epoque

So much history in Vichy and no one talks about it. There was barely anything on the second world war. There has to be something, I mean, after all, Vichy was the capital of the Nazi occupied France. I suppose I can understand why no one talks about it, since it was a.. darker period of French history. Vichy though, is a beautiful place. Next time I go, I will definitely get myself a spa treatment! Since it was a beautiful, sunny and not-so-hot day, there were people everywhere. Walking around the park in downtown Vichy, I felt like I was in the Belle Epoque sans the elegant clothes, of course.

I was quite hungry stepping off the train ride since it was around 13h30. For some reason, it took me awhile to find a boulangerie while pounding the narrow streets in those orange sandals. Luckily, I satisfied my hunger with a nice mushroom quiche and macaroon. 

And because it's my last 3 weeks or so in Lyon, I plan to take every advantage of being outside and eating pastries. In fact, I plan on getting a pastry everyday. It's a good thing I run and walk everyday!

View from Musée des beaux arts of Place des Terreaux

View from Fourvière at night

Bring on the craziness! I'm so ready for this. Happy Monday, everyone!

a week and weekend of heatwave

Is it really the weekend already? I don't even know what happened in the past week that made me feel like time is just slipping away from me.

Oh wait. I know.

I am currently waist deep in transparency and verification of nuclear weapons states. Forget about sleep, reporting forms are just too important! Confidence and trust are being built, people. It's work in all its disarmament glory (as much glory as it can get).

And then there's the constant moving. Being in and out of Geneva, Lyon and Annecy and attempting to have a social life in Lyon, it's tiring, I gotta say. My French mom has been nagging me to get out and meet people. The problem is that at work, I already see a lot of people so when I'm home, all I want is to be able to work (and drink coffee) in peace. But after all the nudging and pushing, I finally dragged myself to a soirée Thursday night. Needless to say, it was probably what I just needed. It was a short walk from my house to the café and I have rediscovered how cheap a glass of wine is in France compared to Geneva. Just 2 euros! Wine always make for interesting conversations. In the heat of a summer night, deep in the heart of the Lyonnais old town, anything is interesting. I also opted for a glass of white wine because I needed something that would cool me down in this ridiculous heat wave.

Honestly, I wouldn't have minded the heat if French people believed in AIR CONDITIONING. How ridiculous is the heat wave right now? Even the French are complaining about it, that's how bad it is. I have zero motivation to go outside and I'm currently more tanned than I have ever been since college. So I'm hiding in the shelter of my house, working away and drinking a ton of cold water. I also have no motivation to eat due to the heat, so I've been bingeing on coffee and water.

I blame the heat for my inability to sleep at night and therefore feeding my caffeine addiction.

Some pictures from Annecy (finally, I was there on a sunny day!)

lots of tourists, but beautiful town, nonetheless

Despite the heat, there's been wind. At least it's not sweltering wind. On the other hand, had it not been for this hot weather, I would have never discovered the wonderful taste of a Diabolo Fraise. Super refreshing drink that I totally needed to survive this heat.

Next stop, Clérey. My lovely French folks have a countryside house there. I need to take advantage of that.  Of course, I won't stop working because I can't take a vacation, but at least I won't have to trek back and forth next week.

I still can't believe how lucky I am.

Have a beautiful weekend!

last week at UNODA

One week left of my internship! To be honest, I'm glad I'm coming to an end at this internship and I'm looking forward to the next step whatever that may be. Rather, I'm looking forward to going home to Lyon. A lot. My anxiety, though, about leaving Lyon when the time comes is on full blast, but I feel strangely somewhat at peace about it because for some crazy reason, I know I'll be back. Without a doubt. And I don't mean just a for a visit. I mean here to stay. Or it could just be a crazy dream that I've been having every night. Either way, I'm determined to find something to do in Lyon to keep me there for a few years...or more.

This entire past weekend, Geneva was blasting music everywhere. In the parks, in buildings, in old town, on the lake, anywhere there's an open space, there was music. It was the Fête de la Musique. Of course I enjoyed being waltzed everywhere I went. It was pretty much a huge 3-day party scene in Geneva. Oh and did I mention there are pianos everywhere?? Lyon is doing the same and I can't wait to go back to the beautiful city and play the piano. As if I need more reasons to fall in love with the place that stole my heart. I managed to get myself to 2 classical concerts and ran into some other random concerts while walking on the streets.

Victoria Hall

Just outside the Musée d'arts et d'histoires

Fete de la musique ads

Take me to the Opera!

Yeah, I can't wait to go back to Lyon.

Speaking of this summer, there's a chance I may have a second internship, but if not, I'll only be able to stay here until the beginning of August. Still, that gives me a good solid month in Lyon. A month to stay home with my lovely French family. So if I do go back to the bay area in August, I may just run to San Francisco every other day to enjoy the concerts and walk around a bit before getting back into the craziness of grad school. Then again, who wants go back to the States when I can relax and frolic in France? I just need to concentrate on my last semester of grad school, FIND A JOB, and pay off my student debt. Because apparently, when you get smarter, you accumulate debt. A lot of debt.  Oh, and that job WILL be in France or the surrounding area (i.e. Switzerland, Austria). A girl can dream, right?

Anyways, it's my dear friend's birthday this Friday and I wish I could just pop over to Lyon for a night to celebrate it with her. Unfortunately, I have other obligations that I need to fulfill here (i.e. go to Paris this weekend with my piano teacher and her family -- aka I may need several glasses of wine after this. Life could be worse). But I have this fabulous plan to surprise her next week when I get there. In the event that I do stay in Lyon until the end of August, I plan to use every single moment soaking up the French culture, the French language and no English will ever be allowed for the next 2 months. Frankly, it's just not fun when you're surround by all things fabulous and French and suddenly, someone speaks English to you.

So, here's to the next step, whatever that may be and to the next step this roller coaster of a life will take me.

through the countryside to the city

This weekend has been the best weekend ever, other than the ones I spent in Lyon. One of that reason is because a friend of mine came to visit from DC! She's actually here for a conference but had time to do some travelling. So, Saturday was spent at the Caves Ouvertes, and Sunday, we were able to spend the entire day in beautiful Lyon. I can't think of a better way to spend this weekend wine tasting  in the gorgeous countryside at the border of Switzerland and France and going to my favorite city in the world.

The Caves Ouverts weren't terribly well marked, but even so, we managed to get to a few and just enjoy ourselves, the wine, the beautiful countryside and the festive event. I think on one sunny weekend, I'm just going to take a long walk in the countryside and I'll be able to hit many cute towns.

somewhere close to the French border

one of the cave ouvert!

Luckily for us, it wasn't really raining much and not so cold.

And Sunday was spent in lovely Lyon. It's my friend's first time there so I enjoyed being an unofficial tour guide for the day. We pretty much ate our way through the market and enjoyed the stroll through old town and by the rivers. The weather got much better in the afternoon as we trekked our way up to Fourviere and the Gallo-Roman theatre.

A marching band through the market

arts and crafts market

theatre ruins

Bonus: Getting ready for les nuits Fourviere

We even managed to catch a recital by Diana Damrau, an opera singer known for her role of the Queen of the Night from Mozart's The Magic Flute! A real treat, indeed.

A beautiful weekend with a beautiful friend. I'm hoping that the weather will get better (Because it's been raining all week). I expect warmer weather soon, Geneva! (And sans rain, please).

prepcom - over!

Is it really over? Yes, it is! The 2nd NPT PrepCom is officially over as of 13h20 today.

I must say, I enjoyed the experience, learned a lot, and met a ton of people, but it was exhausting. Because today was the final day, everyone had to adopt the draft report. Of course, there would be drama flying left and right today. We didn't start the plenary session until 12h instead of 10h. Egypt requested in a note verbale that their walkout be reflected in the report. The League of Arab States and the NAM had their meeting, all contributing to the late start of the plenary.  Yay for procedural issues!

And now, it's time for a break....

We were liberated early today so I came home and slept for 2 hours. It should have been a relaxing nap, except, I had what seems to be a stress dream. In this scenario, I was on the tram for some reason. Then it made a stop, where I thought I had to get something from outside the tram. So I got off the tram for a few seconds intending to get back on. But then, the tram left!! With all my stuff! Panicked, I chased after the tram to get my stuff. And that's when I woke up. Clearly, I need some R&R.

This is why I'm off to Lyon tomorrow morning. Time for a delightful break while dancing under the starry nights of Lyon.

More pictures and adventures will follow soon!

Happy weekend, everyone!

all work and some play

Just another rainy, cold weekend in lovely Geneva. It would be more lovely in Geneva if the weather was actually nice. Wishful thinking I suppose, but maybe the rain will be over in May? After all, april showers bring May flowers. So, here's to hoping that sunny weather is sure to follow very soon.

Following a most lovely workshop on the open ended working group with ideas flying left and right (at least there was caffeine), I spent the rest of rainy Saturday (besides teaching) in bed with a book and tea.

Sunday proved more interesting as a friend of mine arrived from Vienna and insisted on going outside of Geneva. So, we made a quick trip to Vevey, just outside of Montreux, along Lac Léman. Beautiful view along the lake shores and view of the mountains.

We strolled into old town and walked along the lake shores. In our epic mission to search for a place to eat (because it was Sunday), we ended up walking all the way to Le Tour de Peliz, which is technically another town, but super close to Vevey. We saw the Musée de jeu (Swiss museum of games) and climbed a tower

Hopscotch, swiss style

So there it is. I'm more excited for Lyon this weekend. Home! The Prepcom is almost over! I'm reaping a bunch of benefits by being here. And stuffing my brain full of yummy knowledge. I don't think my brain is going to explode (it might implode though...)

And speaking of the NPT, Egypt walked out. Yesterday!! Due to their discontent over the postponement of the Middle East Conference. What a shock for the Chair.

But seriously, thank goodness for Lyon, thank goodness for work and nuclear related issues to keep me sane. Two more month left in my internship. Someoneslowdowntimeformethx.

happy weekend!

Just a tad bit late on the weekend post. Working like no other all week and Saturday.

Apparently, disarmament awaits for no one...and doesn't take breaks. Then again, if I were doing this for the rest of my life, I wouldn't mind. AT ALL. (As long as I still get to travel)

One more week of Prepcom. Freedom will be sweet, but short because the week after that, CD starts all over again and with that, the Open-ended Working Group to take forward multilateral disarmament.

DPRK's name card in the NPT?!

We actually got Friday afternoon off. The chair of the NPT asked all the delegates if they wanted to have Friday afternoon off or Monday morning off. Thank goodness they chose Friday afternoon. Although Thomas Countryman (US Assistant Secretary of State) threw up his hands and shouted "BOTH!" Wishful thinking!

We had a mini CNS gathering last night at a ridiculously expensive restaurant. Voici my fancy dinner

Springtime salad with bacon and poached egg. 

One more week til Lyon, two more weeks til Gruyère, Lucern, (and other swiss cities), three more weeks until Slovenia and Croatia!! (May is going to be awesome)

On that note, have a good weekend, everyone!

npt prepcom negotiations

The game is on! NPT Prepcom, here I come! It'll be 2 weeks filled with negotiations, debates, arguments

Follow us at #prepcom as we cook up mischief. 

I no longer sound like I've been chain smoking so it looks like it was just a cold. At least I won't be scaring any delegates. But sitting in a stuffy room is not cool.

Today, to say the least has been really hectic, messy and trying to figure out what in the world is going on.

Funny conversation:

A bunch of us CNS folks were trying to get a trolley to get the massive amount of boxes up to the assembly hall. So we asked the security.

Me: Excusez-moi, Ou est-ce que je peux trouver un chariot?  (Excuse me, where can I find a trolley?)
Security dude:  Un chariot??? Mais, ici, c'est pas une gare, c'est pas un aéroport!!!  (A trolley? This isn't a train station or an airport!!!)

Me and the rest of the guys (the ones who understood French):  ???!!! Well, excusez-moi. 

I suddenly remembered where I could find a trolley and sprinted to the other side of the hall and got one. My colleague actually rolled it down in front of security after our trip to deliver books just to prove our point.

Way to be unhelpful and rude, security folks.

But anyways, follow our journey for the next 2 weeks as we blog, twitter, and bomb our way through the Nonproliferation treaty (in a good way)!

sunshine weekend

My second whole weekend in Geneva! And what great weather it has been. It's finally summer-like weather and my californian skin, now my fabulous French skin can finally get some relief! I hope the weather holds up and not get too cold in the next coming week, just in time for the NPT Prepcom.

I was going to go on a boat ride, but it turns out that the Rhone's current was too unstable so no boats were going out during the weekend. But not to worry, I spent plenty of time in the sun. Running, reading, strolling and sitting at an outside café with my housemate enjoying a cup of coffee, pastries and ice cream.

Oui, c'est trop bon

voilà, la glace!

All in Carouge, my favorite place in Geneva. I'm much more excited to be going back to Lyon to be enjoying the amazing weather, biking near the rivers, spending time with my French family, listening to concerts, drinking rosé. Ok, I'm just dreaming now. I'll stop.

After teaching on Sunday, I was able to walk around old town for a bit and enjoy the sun on my face.

Super nice view of the mountains. The mountains in the picture aren't that far away, and that's France. Things will get very busy from here on, but I look forward to the work, to the busy-ness and my reward  for when the Prepcom is done in May is a trip back home to Lyon.

Happy Monday, everyone!

happy weekend!

Friday. TGIF. Dieu Merci, C'est Vendredi.

Never have I been happier saying that. It's been an exhausting, yet rewarding week being in involved with the CCW (Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons) Meeting of Experts. Two issues that I've been particularly interested in are the issues of landmines and victim assistance. Once it starts getting extremely technical, I really couldn't help zoning out for a bit.

A typical day during the CCW Meeting of Experts is usually like this (for me):

6h30 wake up
8h15 or 8h30 arrive at work
8h30 - 10h00 prepare for meeting
10h00 meeting starts
13h00 break for lunch
Depending on the day, there may be sessions during lunch
15h00 meeting resumes
18h00 meeting ends

I left an hour and half early from work as I've not done much food shopping for about 2 weeks now...and because I need a break. Thank goodness for pasta.

The good thing about this meeting is that we were in another part of the Palais:

Voici my very own, darn large office:

All to myself!

Even though I'm in the only intern at the UNODA, I'm loving it because I get all the work. Gotta love my job. Now, if I could only find work here....

I suppose this is good preparation for the NPT Prepcom coming up in about a week. Basically, I'll have no life. Even so, I'll find time to chill and FINALLY BASK IN THE WARM WEATHER OF GENEVA.

*note that this is in Celsius

Apparently, we're skipping spring. Oh well, Summer, here I come! Time to pull out those sandals and flip flops. My lovely conversation partner, whom I now consider a dear friend (because we spend about a bijillion hours together per week chatting away in Franglais), will be taking me to picnics with lots and lots of rosé wine (who doesn't want wine?) when the weather is warmer. Also, I'm totally looking forward to hanging out in Carouge next week in the warm weather. And of course, there's Lyon. I can't wait to go home, back to France, back to ma petite famille française in May.

Happy Friday and bon weekend!

a little work humor +a protest +outings = fun

(courtesy of Dave Granlund)

My sanity, as always, flew out the window again. I'm in love with work so much that I woke up one morning at 5am this week to finish a report for the CD (Conference on Disarmament) that I had no time to do the day before. Next up on the line of presidencies for the CD is Indonesia! I casually suggested to my fellow Indonesian colleagues that we should introduce something drastic in the Programme of work, just to stir things up. I mean, the rules of procedure should be followed, but rules are made to be broken. So, why not? Diplomacy will always be there, but I think track 2 diplomacy (informal) is more important. Of course, not everyone is going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but friendship between delegates should be encouraged. Can we get a little bit of bromance in here?

The Open-ended working group (OEWG) begins today with the first official meeting starting May 14th. Let's see what countries can do to take forward negotiations on abolishing those nukes.

I think if I hear another country condemning DPRK on the nuclear test that happened a couple weeks ago, I may start twitching. (Speaking of the bombing, can we just bomb them with chocolate?? I'm sure the people will love it!) Just because it's been repeated so many times. This week's meeting lasted three hours before the interpreters got needy and needed a break.

Speaking of diplomacy, I wonder what will happen if I showed this clip to the DPRK delegate:

I think I just want to see his expression.... it won't be the first time I've infiltrated into another culture.

Anyways, I was a bit late to work Monday morning, because of this:

(Manifestation)

 Protesting in its finest: A Tibetan guy protesting Chinese rule on top of the Broken Chair

I managed to get some shots with my phone before heading into the Palais. Fun times, as you can see. I'm so excited to be at the heart of the action.

Thank goodness for work to keep me busy and thank goodness for my lovely swiss friend for getting me out so I can have a life outside work. Annecy next weekend!! Other than attending meetings, it's PASTRIES TIME.

Another adventure awaits this weekend.

fairy tale enchantment - a weekend well spent

Another weekend over. Someoneslowdowntimeformethx. I want my European dream to last as long as possible.

This weekend's trip was to Montreux and Château Chillon. Located on the other side of the Lake Leman, it made for a perfect day trip.

My friend and I caught the 9h33 train Saturday morning and went our merry way, armed with a cup of hot chocolate for her and cappuccino for me. It was a warm day and we were rejoicing the fact that spring might just be around the corner. (I hope)

Montreux is as charming as any other European town and its old town is bigger than Geneva. We probably spent nearly two hours in old town, including going to a café and having some lovely dessert, aka breakfast.

Mmmm, trop bon

Great view from this little charming café. It was literally sitting on top of a hill. The day doesn't get any better than eating a fantastic breakfast (dessert) with a view.

Walking up yet another hill

We climbed about every single staircase we saw, even if they led to nowhere. The Château de Chillon is approx 45 mins from the Gare Montreux. We opted walking there instead of taking the bus. It was a gorgeous walk, foggy, but warm. I loved it. The sun was making an effort to peak out but mostly, we were surrounded by the thick, glorious fog.

Just from a fairytale. The Château Chillon was built on rocks and was the home to the Counts of Savoie. It was absolutely huge.

Barrels of wine 

A look of the outside of the castle

courtyard

The feeling of enchantment hasn't left me...yet. I've been charmed by these European cities so much in the time I've spent in Europe. Never ending enchantment. I'll take that any day. I'm not sure where I'm off to this weekend, but Annecy next weekend! For this coming weekend, I'll just follow my feelings and see where that takes me.

Sunday, I spent outside mostly on a run and a long walk around the city.

Jet d'eau (view from a hill)

Friday was International Women's Day. The UN's cafeteria was passing out flowers. :) I especially want to thank the three women who's been making such a big difference in my life. They are strong, wise, brillant and beautiful. Thank you for being such positive influences to me, for being my role models, supporting me every step of the way to reach my goals and encouraging me to keep on dreaming.

Happy Monday!