Q-Tips and Peanut Butter....

Our final IR class, held at the World Economic Forum

Peanut Butter and Q-Tips.....What? Those two things don't fit together in your mind? Well, they do for me. Both items are taken for granted when in the US, but they cannot be found any where else in the world! Yes, it is sad. I also wanted my tile to reflect the eclectic nature of this blog posting.

Hanging out in the World Economic Forum after class

So...let me start with a short update of the last few weeks. Just to give you a flavor of life, as I currently know it---which is ever changing. To start with, there is no pattern to anything, at this point. Over the course of the year I will be completing 24 modules. They are all of a different duration, with no pattern to their scheduling. For the most part, this is because the instructors are practitioners themselves of what they are teaching. This makes for awesome, applicable courses, but quick demanding workloads and eradic classes based around their work schedules. Thus far, we have completed one module, have one paper to complete a 2nd, one group project to complete a 3rd, and are in the mists of two others with a new one beginning this week. The program, as I have mentioned, is very unique and not very old. The alumni are very active and many are still working around town, coming in to give presentations, etc. and all remain enthusiastic about the program.

Yes, I am cheap enough to buy a salad in CH from McD's,
And yes they did include a  disposable dressing
bottle that I havesaved and  been reusing.  :)

Each year of the program, the class has its own dynamic. While all the groups have been relatively small, ours is particularly so. As a core cohort, we are 16 individuals, but there are a number of other individuals who are completing the program in 2 or 3 years and are a part of some of our courses. This makes for plenty of time to get to know my classmates while having a bit of spice with new additions to each class. Though by the end of 24 classes together I'm sure I will know the other 15 people pretty well! Just to give you an idea of who is in the class, there are a couple of other Americans, an Aussie, a Kiwi, a girl from China, S. Korea, Costa Rica, Greece, a Russian, and several people of mixed backgrounds, German, Lebanese, Korean, etc. It's been wonderful getting to know people and the very diverse set of backgrounds that we all have. Of the 16, there are just two who speak only one language.

Outside of class there is of course plenty going on as well. Being an international and lively city there are events, festivals, and groups to meet up with at every turn. I've fallen into a few things, but as of yet have no confirmed pattern to my days. There's volleyball, football (soccer), bible study groups, 'UN Drinks' (i.e. weekly networking), French classes, 1 on 1 French practice, etc. I"m so grateful that opportunities have been presenting themselves, and I've loved walking all around the city to do things.

Being in such a small class with such great opportunities abounding has been a bit overwhelming and a lot to take in. I'm finding that I'm re-evaluating how I interact with people and what constitutes 'an opportunity' worth pursuing. Often my conversations with people are limited in time and scope and I'm on the side of wanting something that they have to offer. It makes for potentially stress-inducing situations all the time! In light of that, it is also very exciting to have so many things laid out nicely in front of me and have the understanding that this is what the next 9 months is going to look like, so I don't have to take everything that is handed to me. With such forthcoming possibilities, I have the chance to test out different means to my end career goals. This is to say that I am able to try out different ways of building/maintaining communication with people. It is an interesting process to evaluate one's behavior and the results, and be able to adjust in such short periods of time. I'm not sure if this is making any sense to anyone......My point? I am learning a lot about myself and growing my communication skills. :)

I have spilled more things in Switzerland than the rest of my life combined!
Yogurt, trashcans, dishes, etc. 

Delicious Thai place for Friday night dinner

A final anecdote. I have been trying to build up my long-distance running ability. I've only come to appreciate the running in the last 6 months or so and thus have been trying to go running more regularly. I find it is a wonderful time to mentally rest and talk with the Lord, or have intense discussions with Him. Either way, I've always had mental blocks about how far I am able to run. Living on the lake gives me the option of running along the lake in either direction, so I've been mixin' it up and trying to run as far as I can before the lake path ends and roads hinder the path. The last few times I've gone running, I've felt that the time proved that I was running much further than my little pedometer had been telling me. For those of you who don't know, my little click on pedometer is one of my favorite travel items. When walking around a new place all day I always love to see how far I've walked, and I've never had a reason to consider it inaccurate. Well, on Friday after running for 1hr 15min my pedometer said 3.5miles. I can walk 3miles backwards  in less time, so I knew it was wrong. I decided I need to check with Google just to know the distance for sure....well, apparently when I thought I was pushing myself to run 3 miles (which is far for Jessica) I had actually been running 8.5miles!! I was/am kind of in shock. With that said (along with other stories I could tell), it has been fun to see God working in my life since I've been here. He is challenging me in the limits that I have placed on both myself and Him. What if I break out of the box? I thought I had before, but it is so exciting to see God continue to educate me on His power and might.....I anticipate more and look forward to sharing with you all too.

Some fun Swiss things I forgot....
-When paying at a cash register it is rude to hand your money to the person, you need to put it down so they can grab it.
-Public transport is so easy and clean.
-Co-ed bathrooms are no big deal
-A $20-$30 meal is cheap
-There are too many cheese and chocolate choices. RUN!

I wanted to end the blog on a sweet note: "The way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better." 
[Colossians 1:10]



Blessings, until next time. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this posting!
Jessica

Some classmates and I enjoying a Friday evening next to the Lake after class. 

 In case you are interested to see where some of my instructors work:
http://www.weforum.org/
http://www.usaid.gov/
http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm

Just another view of the Lake from the south side.