Boy, did I have an adventure getting over here.
My flights were actually really good. I found my way around Vancouver and Frankfurt airports really easily. The Lufthansa staff were awesome; why can't Air Canada employees be that pleasant? (Actually, I did have one AC employee at check-in in Victoria who surprised me with how nice she was. Yay for you, AC girl!) I actually enjoyed my dinner on the plane last night... some kind of beef stir-fry thing with peppers in it.
It was a bit like the cattle car where I was sitting; lots of little kids, which was a bit weird. Isn't it really expensive to fly your entire family to Europe? Anyway, the kids were quite a bit wound up. The girls were giggling and the boys were running around, and I can't really blame them. I remember how excited I was to fly at that age. I didn't get nearly as much sleep as I was accustomed to, but I saw a gorgeous sunrise from the plane that kind of made up for it.
When I got to Geneva, things started to fall apart.
The bank machines won't accept my card. This really, really surprised me, as others had told me it would be no problem at all. So I tried my Visa. No dice. Eep.
I knew some of my research group was going to be at CERN already, so I decided to just go grab a cab, head out to CERN, and see if I could find someone to borrow money from. Ha. My French is OK if the person I'm talking to speaks nice and slowly, and in children's language. Trying to ask cab drivers if they took Visa was a nightmare. They kept asking me stuff and I have no idea what it was. Yikes. Finally a very nice lady cab driver who spoke English helped me out. She knew enough about that wild, fight-or-flight look in my eyes to speak slowly and repeat herself in English. She got me to CERN alright, filled out my cab chit, and let me sign it. Actually, I'm kind of bummed she did fill it out because I wanted to give her a big tip, but still having no cash at that point and the total already filled out, I couldn't.
On the way into CERN, I had to stop and get my hostel keys at security (since hostel reception is closed on the weekends). They really don't speak any English there either. Getting my keys was complicated further by the fact I had (stupidly) made my reservation in my married name, and my CERN ID was still in my maiden name. Got to get that changed on Monday! Oh, and also: I was listed asMr. Tamara Hughes.
Once I got my keys, and got my stuff up to my room, I decided to head over to building 40 so I could check my email and try to find someone here to loan me some money. The main door was stuck (apparently a common occurence) but I didn't know this; I thought it was locked (after being told that the building was always open!) I had to ask someone how to get in, and they told me, "Use that door."That door being not the main entrance, but having a giant"Closed, use main entrance" sign on it. It was unlocked anyway and I got in.
Once I found the ATLAS Canada space, I had yet another fun setback, as I couldn't remember my password for the computers. Thankfully there was someone else there who logged in for me and let me use their account.
I am not travelling alone again. Or if I do, I will go with my gut instinct to micro-manage the trip and get some cash before I go, and not trust crazy foreign bank machines. I think if the cash thing had gone OK, I wouldn't be nearly this frazzled now. And this is even after a nap, a loan, a shower, and some dinner.
