Very delayed arrival post!

Hello from Geneva! Unfortunately the internet at our temporary accommodation has been absolutely horrendous, so every time I go to write a blog post, of course the internet isn't working, but for the moment it looks like it is going to let me sneak one in! I promise whenever we get our permanent accommodation, we will have super reliable and fast internet so that we can keep in touch with everyone via the blog and Facetime :) For the next few weeks, we apologize in advance if it appears as if we have disappeared into a black hole because of this problem though....

We arrived on Wednesday and have been enveloped in a flurry of activity!  We have been to the grocery store many times (this sounds a lot simpler in writing than it actually is!), registered at the migration office (essentially Geneva's form of a town hall that registers all expats), gone apartment shopping with our relocation agent and put an application in on two apartments (our application was just accepted for our favorite apartment!), gone to a happy hour with other expats, had some traditional Swiss cheese fondue, explored the city a TON, cooked some meals at home, gone out for Korean BBQ with new friends, hiked in the Portes du Soleil area (essentially the French alps) and had lunch on top of a mountain, and watched some good ol' American football with some more new friends.

Everything is running really smoothly for us so far, we haven't run into any major issues, in particular a lot of the big problem areas for expats entering Switzerland so far haven't created any big issues (our permits were approved really quickly, we found an amazing apartment and the first application we put in for it was accepted, we have had lots of time off to explore and settle in, etc.).  We are really thankful because so far this has been making our transition quite simple to be honest! I also have the next 2 weeks off before starting work to help us deal with any pesky issues/errands that come up.

Here are some pictures from our first few days of initial exploring around the city and region, as you can see the city itself is really pretty - we're liking it more and more each day. It may not be a huge city, but its pretty and situated at the gateway to the most amazing locations within Switzerland and Europe. We can't wait to start exploring!



Scenery from our hike in Portes du Soleil - we hiked up to the top of a mountain and had the most amazing meal and this was the scenery on the way back down



Just one of the many cute streets in the Vieille Ville ('Old Town') in Geneva

The windows in our temporary accommodation don't have screens so we have to keep a close eye on our curious cat to make sure he doesn't fall out of the windows!

This is a view from the city overlooking Lac Leman ('Lake Geneva') - it is one of the largest bodies of water in Europe, stretching over 60 miles long 

Love the European architecture and balconies of the buildings in town

In front of the Swiss flags and the flags that symbolize the Canton of Geneva - Switzerland operates via separate "cantons", which are essentially equivalent to states in the US; however, the cantons operate almost autonomously

There are so many beautiful doors throughout the city - I'm tempted to start a photo album full of photos of doors :)

Another photo from our hike with friends and their dogs in the Alps

In one of the many parks in Geneva - the city is known as the city of parks because parks cover over one quarter of the city's area

Enjoying some traditional Swiss fondue! Tip for future visitors - make sure to accept the digestive alcohol that is offered after eating fondue otherwise you will have a killer stomach ache the next day due to the block of cheese stuck in your stomach -- I learnt this lesson firsthand!