Day 7 in Lyon: Friday, May 23

I can't believe it's already our last full day in Lyon. This week went by so fast! For our last academic activity, our class went to the Chamber of Commerce down the street from our hotel. The architecture and decor of the building is consistent with the rest of the historic attractions of the city with carved sculptures at the top of the building. Inside, we walked through and past numerous archways and observed the painted ceilings embellished with gold and images of Hermes, the god of commerce. This building is absolutely breathtaking; if I worked here, I would enjoy every moment of it!

We proceeded into a room to listen to the history and issues facing the Lyon Chamber of Commerce. It was interesting to learn that the Chamber of Commerce regulates some businesses and restricts them from being open on Sundays, which really explains why it has been so hard for us to find an open supermarket, restaurant, or shop on this "day of rest". I learned that this is heavily influenced by the French labor unions. During the talk, I noticed the portraits of the presidents of the Chamber on the wall behind our speaker. Before the speaker even mentioned them, I already pointed out to my friends that they were/are all older, white men. When our speaker brought up the point later, he said that this is a crippling factor for the French industry. Unlike many other countries and regions around the world, the French is not benefiting from not promoting females and/or minorities to upper seats and positions. It would be interesting to see how long it will take for a woman or minority to finally be promoted to be president of the Chamber of Commerce.

The rest of our day was spent as free time. Lisa Loung, Evan, Chris Chostner, Kyle, and I decided to go back up to La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere at the top of the hill. We spent an hour up there taking in the beautiful view of Lyon and exploring the inner architecture and artwork of the basilica. Chris Chostner pointed out that all around the church were paintings that the Virgin Mary had much significance in (the Visitation, the Assumption, the Crucifixion, etc). As a Roman Catholic, I felt a connection with every Catholic church I've gone into, and have spent some time praying at each. I did the same at the basilica and felt an unique calmness fill me. Needless to say, this is one of the top 3 churches I visited in Europe (and I've already been to at least 10!).

Near the basilica were some Roman ruins. We trekked over to check it out and witnessed a beautiful bride and her groom taking wedding photos! What a special backdrop to use, and definitely a scene that you would not find in the US. Lisa and I took advantage of the photo op and snapped some pretty good views of Lyon.

I'm very sad that our time in Lyon has ended. It's certainly been an amazing learning experience, and I will definitely be back someday. Next stop: Paris!

Day 6 in Geneva: Thursday, May 22

I was looking forward to this day all week because we got to go to Geneva to visit the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. However, due to an unfortunate event in China, the UN had to close down to all visitors, so Rickie had to improvise and instead, got us a visit to Red Cross, Red Crescent instead.

The talk at the WTO caught my attention when our speaker started to talk about China and Taiwan. Without getting into too much politics, there are different perspectives revolving around the relationship between China and Taiwan, the Republic of China. My family originates from Taiwan. I learned that the WTO must categorize China and Taiwan into 4 different regions, named Hong Kong China, Macau China, the People's Republic of China, and Chinese Taipei (for Taiwan). I'm curious as to why Taiwan is called "Chinese Taipei" and plan on researching into this further when I get home. Chinese politics and the relationship between Taiwan and China have always been particularly interesting to me because of my heritage.

(Cool soundproof room that our WTO talk was held in)

We took a coffee break and soaked in the beautiful views of Lake Geneva from the WTO balcony. The girls and I all wore matching black outfits today, so we took advantage of the photo op (see below)! I wish the weather was better and that we got to spend more time in Geneva because I would have loved to take a walk around the Lake and just relax. This just means I'll have to come back again another time for a more extended visit.

(Lake Geneva behind me between the trees)

(Not letting a little rain stop us from exploring Old Geneva!)

Red Cross, Red Crescent was incredibly depressing, but also incredibly informational and a great learning experience. Growing up in such a prosperous area, I often take for granted all the opportunities and luxuries in my life. Listening to the testimonies of various victims around the world brought tears to my eyes, yet made me so grateful that there is such a wonderful organization and people in the world that aid the helpless. I feel it is time for me to "pay it forward" and help carry the burden of those who are in distress. So, one of my new goals is to someday volunteer my time to aid those who have been struck by an unfortunate event (such as Hurricane Katrina) in any way I can... not just through monetary means. Indeed, Thursday has been a day of growth and self reflection.

(Rows and rows of boxes filled with identity cards)

(Orphan children who were victims of diseases and natural disasters)

Day 5 in Lyon: Wednesday, May 21

Today, we got to visit one of the few remaining silk shops where scarf prints are still done by hand. We watched as the shop owner meticulously and intently applied the ink to a screen that showed an intricate design. Upon looking at the design closely, we noticed that it told a story about France with various significant landmarks. He laid the screen carefully upon the silk fabric and in two swift motions, rolled the ink over the screen and fabric twice. There is such an art to his work that amazed me. He makes the process look so simple, working with such ease and skill, but I know that it takes much effort to push that ink evenly across the screen and back. 

(Isn't that beautiful?!)

Our host explained to us that the next step to the process is to send it to Hermes. I can't quite remember what Hermes will do with the printed scarf, but just hearing that name and knowing that each scarf is handled by such a prestigious luxury company convinced me that I must buy an item before I leave. After our tour upstairs and learning about scarves with designs stitched and painted by hand with velvet patterns, I explored the scarves for sale and selected a print that I think my mom will like. Her birthday had just passed recently while I was in France, and I felt that a silk scarf with manual prints make an extra special gift.

(Learning about other various handmade scarves. The one above takes a single worker more than 10 hours to hand paint it! No wonder it's 350€!!)

The rest of the day was spent as free time. My friends and I decided to walk back to the hotel and along the way, we stopped in a couple clothing shops. European styles are not very different from American styles, and I certainly found a couple items that I really liked (particularly a leather jacket with a zipper that goes up diagonally!), but could not afford. Perhaps someday, I can come back to France and have more spending money on these items!

(Pretty Skye at dinner and our wine in a plastic bag of ice... There's a first for everything!)

Day 4 in Lyon: Tuesday, May 20

Best. Day. EVER!! I can't believe how much our class bonded today and love the friendships I've further developed with people I rarely hung out with during the school year. 

Our morning was spent working on our street project. Julia, Skye, Anuja, and I chose to interview tourists at the Catholic Church of Saint Jean to understand what brings them to France and what they think of the country so far.  We talked to several Americans, a Canadian, several German high school students, and a lovely Australian couple. All were happy to help us with our project and to be filmed except for the Canadian lady, who was comfortable with sharing her experiences with us but did not want to be on camera. The common themes among all the people we interviewed were: 1. French cuisine is amazing, 2. French people are nicer than anticipated, and 3. Lyon is a beautiful city with a lot of culture and fun. The most challenging aspect of this project was actually gathering the courage to approach tourists! None of the 4 of us are shy girls, but when it came to thinking of the best way to talk to strangers and explain concisely what we are doing and to trust us, we had some difficulty. We were taught before the trip to keep our belongings close, to be wary of strangers who approach us, so we completely understood why several tourists turned us down when we tried to talk to them. In general, Americans trusted us the most because there is no language barrier and we share the same American accents!

(Catholic Church of St. Jean next to some ruins)

(My street project team: Julia, myself, Skye, and Anuja)

Ok, fast forward to the evening. We went to Beaujolais for dinner and wine, and this was where the best bonding experience I've ever had occurred. Sure, I enjoyed the food, the wine, learning more about the French culture, but my favorite part of the evening was getting to know my classmates better. I really feel like we are one, big family, from encouraging each other to play French games to supporting JR, Alba, Skye, and Joseph in the French ceremony/initiation at the barn to an hour-long karaoke party on the bus on the way back. I've never felt such camaraderie among such a large group of people from various cultures and backgrounds before. Without a doubt, lifelong memories were made tonight, and I will cherish them forever. I think many of us feel the same way I do - that our friendships have grown deeper and stronger. Oh, and a big shout out to Lisa, Monica, Rickie, and our bus driver for putting up with our drunken singing! Hope y'all enjoyed it though :)

(Some of the girls next to the vineyard)

(Le chien + breathtaking views)

(Such a sweetheart!)

(Enjoying a cultural experience and dinner in the barn... Except for maybe Lisa. Haha!)

(Are they signing their souls away? French initiation into a Beaujolais special society!)

(Even Joe's strong arm couldn't pour the huge wine bottle!)

Au revoir, Beaujolais! Until next time :)

Day 3 in Lyon: Monday, May 19

Happy Monday! Today was our first day to visit Emlyon, one of the most prestigious business schools in France. The school is only composed of 3 buildings, but every year, they receive thousands of applications of which they can only accept 400 lucky individuals. We are very lucky to be able to attend a couple lectures given by this university's renowned staff. Today, we attended a lecture on international negotiations with Professor Hans.

This lecture was particularly interesting to me because I took a negotiations class this past spring semester with Professor Ziegler. There were several similar topics covered, such as a BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) that seems to be common across cultures. However, I learned that the French frown upon bartering and haggling, which is surprising because just yesterday at the farmer's market, people all around me were bartering with the vendors to get a good deal. Perhaps Hans was referring more to established shops and restaurants where a price is already posted on every item. Too bad I can't go into Louis Vuitton and haggle down a price for a handbag (although he did say we could try)! That's ok, I think I'll just appreciate the "detax" (tax free/duty free) that I will get on my purchase.

I chose to attend the visit to Smart Electric where we learned about various alternative energy resources (wind, water, solar, etc). As a bit of an environmentalist, this visit meant a lot more to me than Renault Trucks would. My favorite part about this trip was the simulation available where you could choose what sources of energy are used to power a residence in a specific season of the year (see picture below). Solar energy produces almost no power in the fall due to rain and overcast skies! I think this is an excellent tool that hopefully the company will continue to develop for all regions of the world.

(Energy simulator)

Lisa Loung and I checked out the mall at the end of the day. Of course, many of the stores are different from those of the US, but we noticed that the layout and shopping behaviors are nearly the same. It felt like we were in an American mall, except French was spoken all around us instead of English. We bought matching scarves and decided to head back to the hotel to have dinner with the rest of our friends.

Needless to say, today was certainly an educational day. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings... I am so excited to go to the wine country!

Day 2 in Lyon: Sunday, May 18

My first French macaron, pistachio flavored 

Bonsoir! Today was such a relaxing Sunday in Lyon. The French truly abide by the Christian habit of keeping Sunday as a day of rest. Many stores and restaurants were closed, so my group and I had a little bit of difficulty looking for places to eat or buy groceries. Luckily, the fabulous farmers market was open until the early afternoon. The produce, cooked food, flowers, everything, was so fresh and delicious! I ordered a rotisserie chicken and potatoes for a total of 3.50 euro. That was by far the cheapest, yet one of the most delectable meals, that I have had in Europe in the last week. I also bought some fresh cherries to snack on throughout the week and successfully bartered with the vendor to get 2 kilos for 3 euros instead of 4 euros, which was the original price. Part of my luck may have been because the farmers market was closing soon and he was trying to sell the rest of his inventory.

My lazy afternoon was spent in the hotel courtyard as we enjoyed the beautiful weather and munched on our farmers market purchases. In the evening, some of us went across the river to Vieux Lyon for dinner. An unpleasant experience occurred. We walked by a restaurant whose host excitedly encouraged us to have a seat on the patio and take advantage of the 30% off deal that would end at 7:30pm. She told us that if we were not hungry yet, that we can just order drinks and order food when we were ready. "Take it easy," she said. Since it was already 7:00pm, we figured we'd give the restaurant a shot. Shortly after sitting down, Lisa found terrible reviews on Yelp about the restaurant; poor service, tasteless food, and comments about it being a tourist trap. We decided that we would just order a couple of drinks and then move on to a different restaurant later.

The waitress took our orders, went over to the host, and clearly told her that we will not be eating there. The host's expression took a 180 - her smile faded and she scowled at us. "You all are not eating? Why not? There is 30% off! If you are not eating, please move inside to our indoor tables." We were stunned. Her attitude towards us completely changed, so we decided that it was not worth our time to be there at all; we apologized and left as quickly as we could, hoping we didn't just give all Americans a bad rep.

Though we had a little bit of a hiccup with that restaurant, we have been completely delighted with all the other French men and women we have met thus far. Everybody has been so kind and respectful, and we haven't felt like we were falling into a "trap" anywhere else. We ended up eating at a cute crepe restaurant and had a very pleasant dinner!

Day 1 in Lyon: Saturday, May 17

I'm in France! I can barely put into words how incredibly excited I am to be in this fantastic country. This is a particularly special trip for me because I've been wanting to visit France ever since I started taking French in middle school 13 years ago. I fell in love with it and making began planning to visit France, goal never had the time opportune. I'm so happy that my dreams have finally come true!

During my first day in Lyon, some of the Cohorts and I went to Monoprix to stock up on snacks and drinks. The first thing I noticed is how the supermarket here is much more compact than those back in Texas. Like most European cities, Lyon is old and space is limited, so there are multiple levels in the store. Wide-eyed and slightly overwhelmed, I navigated my way through the aisles to find "water" and "milk." To my surprise, the milk is NOT in the refrigerated section ... It was next to the bottled water in a regular aisle on a shelf.  I have never seen before unrefrigerated milk, and was very skeptical about the quality and whether or not I shoulds try drinking it. Well, I bought one and am happy to say that it doesn't taste different. 

Another strange aspect of is that you can tear apart a package of 6 bottled water if you only want one or two bottles. Back in America, individual bottles are sold separately and you would be responsible for paying for the entire package if you damage it before it leaves the store. I'm not quite sure why the French supermarkets do not just sell individual bottled water, but I'm glad I could just buy one or two bottles instead of lugging an entire 6 pack back to the hotel.

The welcome dinner was amazing. I can definitely imagine myself gaining a couple pounds before I go back to the States because the food is SO good. I love that ordering wine is basically the norm for every meal, and I can already tell I've become a bit of a wine snob. Last week, before arriving in Lyon, Julia and I went on a wine tour through Chateauneuf du Pape and tasted some of the most amazing wines. Needless to say, I can definitely tell that there is a clear difference between $7 and a $70 bottle of wine! 

 

I can not wait to see what the rest of the week brings. Let the cohort adventures begin!