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!

trips and traveling

2 weeks left in my internship. Seriously?! I feel like I just got here and it's already June?! I'm so not prepared  to finish yet, just because there's so many things to be done. But I'm more than prepared to go back to Lyon. In fact, I'll be in Lyon this weekend. I can't wait to be home with my lovely French folks, bike riding on the quai, eating delicious food, and waltzed by street musicians. All under the beautiful Lyonnais sun.

I seem to have failed to blog in the past 2 weeks. All ok though because I was mostly in and out of work, and doing a bit of traveling. Voici some of my adventures:

Gruyères (CH):

morning train ride into the countryside

Cheeeeeeese

Old town

View from the Chateau

NOMNOM traditional food

La double crème, it's to die for

Yvoire (FR)

By the shores

Port of Yvoire

Preeettty 

delicious crepes

Bowl of ale (perfect for a rainy day)

Absolutely beautiful places to be for the weekend. And today, one of my wish was granted, to see the inside of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation! For the sake of privacy, I won't post any photos of the inside, but it was beautiful and big. And yes, there were actually houses in there, so Russian people who works in the Mission lives in the Mission. I ate a ton of Russian food and drank vodka, as expected, of course. And they all gave us a parting gift, which was.....you guessed it! Vodka.

Back to Lyon, back to where my heart is.

Happy Friday and Bon weekend!

happy friday!

It's been a pretty busy week. Work is busy, life is busy. But at least it's Friday. I just finished a week long course on Arms Control and Disarmament today. It's basically a crash course for delegates and people at the permanent missions. The best thing is that this class was free and we get a nice, shiny certificate at the end. Overall, great discussions under Chatham house rules, something that should be happening more often.

And because it actually hasn't been raining consecutively, I may flee from Geneva and head to Gruyere for their cheese and chocolate. Life could be much worse. It is my "last month" in Geneva, so I want to touch on a few last places I want to visit before I am ready to explore France and all its glory. Best part? A friend is coming to visit! It'll be nice to share the love for cheese and wine and chocolate together.

I can't believe there's only 21 more days left until I finish this internship. In retrospect, I think I learned all I could for this internship and I am satisfied. It is time to move on to something else, whatever that may be. A friend tells me that there's always a solution, so I haven't been worried much.

And because it's Friday, I'll leave y'all with some food for thought.

Putin (president of Russia) is single again! Anyone interested??

Apparently, the French "confirmed" that Syria is using chemical weapons. My dream that I had after the NPT PrepCom was over is coming true. T__T

The Conference on Disarmament may look at its 17th year of deadlock. Questions of the relevance of the CD are flying left and right. But seriously, after all this time, is the CD even relevant anymore? Can it restart its substantial work after 17 years of impasse? The system is outdated and is in dire need to be reformed from the inside.

Lastly, I need this. I miss playing the piano and can't wait to get my hands on my friend's piano in Lyon. And I need to go to NYC where this is happening right now.

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!

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!

unlimited traveling

Another weekend gone. Time is flying by too fast. Someonefindmeajobherekthx. I'm still loving my internship and getting more busy.

Somehow, I managed to get my hands on 2 baguettes this past weekend and I've devoured all of them, with cheese, olive paste and wine. No regrets, not after all the walking, running and muscle workouts.

Oh, did I also mention I'm going back to Lyon this weekend again? Going back to my lovely, whimsical French family who means the world to me. They say that home is where the heart is. In that case, Lyon definitely has my heart. Lyon is turning into my little get away. I'm so close to Lyon, but I find myself missing it more than I was in the States. Since arriving in Geneva, I've been told that I speak French like a French person, but not like a Swiss. Makes sense, since I was in France for a year. I've also been told that I'm more European than American. I'll take that as a compliment, though I'm pretty sure I haven't got the sophisticated part down yet. Must learn my French friend's secret to being sophisticated.

And speaking of traveling....I give you my more concise list. OSLO NEXT WEEKEND. SO EXCITED. I'll be there for the Civil Society Forum for the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons. The prices of traveling has been a bit ridiculous since the last time I was here but thank goodness I was able to get a somewhat cheap hotel there.

January:
- Lyon

February:
- Fribourg 3/02/2013
- Lausanne 9/02/2013
- Neuchâtel 17/02/2013
- Lyon

March:
- Oslo (conference)
- Lille
- Bruges
- Annecy (meeting)
- Lyon
- Vienna and Salzburg

April:
- St. Gallen
- Appellen
- Zermatt
- Chamonix
- Lyon
- Strasbourg

May:
- Slovenia and Croatia
- Amsterdam
- Dijon
- Lyon
- Gruyère
- Basel
- Interlaken
- Luzern
- La Rochelle, France

June:
- Ukraine
- Nîmes
- Aix-en-Provence
- Lyon
- Paris

July:
- Rome
- Florence
- Venice
- Kyrgyzstan

August:
- Russia
- Kazakhstan
- Uzbekistan
- Back to Monterey

I was in Neuchâtel this past Sunday. Nice little place, cute old town but cold (no surprises). I had no map, just let my sense of direction take over.

There were a lot of these fountains here

Over all, it was good, I didn't get lost. Oh, and if you go, there's a great (and cheap) kebab place on Place Pury. Your nose will guide you to the small restaurant. It's right at the center of the Place and looks like a kiosque. But seriously, your nose will get you there. I bought a Petite galette kebab, to be fair, I should have gotten the grande size. It was a bit oily and probably not the healthiest thing, but damn it, it was so delicious. Speaking of kebabs, I should get some while I'm in Lyon this weekend. The weekend can't come any faster (for Lyon I mean, otherwise, please slow the time down).

Bonne semaine, everyone!

monday mornings: a winter storm, a saturday trip, slippery paths

The reality of me falling in love with Europe all over again is starting to show itself once more. And along with it, the addiction of pastries and chocolate. The sweet, glorious, light pastries. Let's not forget the chocolate either. I officially have no more self control. None. It flew out the window of a tram I take every morning and possibly also on the TGV I take to get to France. These lovely pastries and chocolate are becoming my péchés mignons. Just taking a bite out of the flan nature or a tartelette makes me swoon in delight. No use in denying my wants anymore, although I have to say, France beats Switzerland in pastries any day.

And speaking of France, I'm not prepared to have this internal battle taking place in mid-July when I have to leave Europe for Central Asia and back to Monterey. It means I have to leave where my heart is, where my soul is. It means leaving my friends in Lyon, especially that of my neighbor. Leaving her and her family the first time was already hard enough. I'm not sure if I want to or can do it a second time. I think I'm just not going to the think about it and concentrate on work here and finding a job here first. My life has been falling in place for the past year and half. No reason it shouldn't now.

It's been snowing here like crazy today. Beautiful, but seriously, I don't have the proper footwear. I'm wearing heels, in 20 cm of snow. It's not just flurries this time, but seriously snowing. Good thing I had the sense to bring an umbrella with me.

Does anyone else want to walk in this weather? The tram got stuck, so I walked part of way to the bus stop. Then the bus got stuck because the road was slippery and there was just too much snow. So I walked the rest of the way to work. To say that I was walking would probably be an understatement. I was literally flying along the white soft particle, brushing past many people taking it easy in the snow. They were probably wondering why there's a girl in red trench coat darting in the snow with a grin on her face. Some of my co-workers didn't make it to work, and neither did my supervisor. One of my other co-workers is hoping for a snow day. But seriously, does that even exist in the UN???

Saturday, I decided to head to Lausanne, only half an hour by train. It was super early in the morning, but at least time I was prepared for the cold. Lausanne is a beautiful city by the lake and has a bigger old town than Geneva. And hills. Lots and lots of hills, as always. I have a feeling I'll be spending half of my time in every city I visit climbing hills.

The view from here was amazing

Look at all that snow!

I spent about a good 4 hours in the city before coming back to Geneva and calling some folks in China for New Year greetings. I was in Ferney-Voltaire yesterday for some grocery shopping and hopefully may not need to go shopping for food for the next two weeks, if I manage right.

Oh and I'm also planning on going back to Lyon at the end of this month. Woo hoo!