Is there anybody here? & accidental horse

04/02 - I met Dan and some of the other UK people for a beer at 6, informed James of this and he promptly hopped off the bus (he was already on his way home), walked back and joined us. In retrospect this was a little pointless, as we then had one drink and went and got the bus anyway - Dan stayed behind to do some work, but within 15 minutes had sent us both the following text message:

I quickly realised I can't be fucked with all this. Give me a text when you guys have finished dinner and I'll come meet you for a walk.

James and I had planned to while away the evening exploring the Old Town (left). After dinner (nasi goreng with all the leftover rice from Tuesday, yum) we set out as far as the cathedral and at each turning we would spin a bottle to choose which direction to go. Unfortunately, due to the fact we didn't want to (a) leave the Old Town and (b) didn't want to go down any obviously empty streets, we mostly overruled the bottle's decision. It wasn't long before it dawned on me that Geneva's Old Town is a very small region, made up mostly of the Cathedral and roads that lead to the Cathedral. In the end we stopped at a place called Le Roi Ubu, which looked cool enough until we saw the prices - my 100ml of red wine was £3, which in retrospect wasn't actually that bad. James' beer was nearly £6, although it was also 9% so at least he got his money's worth. By the time we had had a couple it was almost 11 and I was (unjustifiably) knackered, so we walked back home via a few nice viewpoints and the like. I am convinced that this city must hold some exciting and interesting bars, hidden away somewhere, I am just not altogether sure how to find them.

05/02 - A rushed and exceedingly rainy morning got me in for my morning meeting, where I was quizzed about plans and progress. By emphasising the former and asking questions instead of speaking about the latter, I think I came out of it pretty well, albeit with a full (and slightly intimidating) to do list. At lunch I hurried to the steak frites section of Restaurant 1, as my morning banana had been woefully ineffective at staving off hunger until now (2pm). However, I made a mistake - due to a stack of plates in front of the sign, what I read as steak de choix (steak how you like it) was actually steak de cheval (slab of rare horse). I realised this after I had added mayonnaise to my chips and chilli to my meat, so I was in no position to exchange my meal for another and found a seat. I was on my own again initially, but I was swiftly joined my Matilde and Elisa, two friends from London. This would have made me happy if it weren't for the fact that Matilde had a beef steak - I can only assume there was a rush on horse and they had to make do. It wasn't actually that bad, as long as I concentrated on the sauces and not the somewhat sinewy texture.

I attended my first on-site meeting today, the meeting of the Top X-section group. I followed a little of what they said, but quickly snuck out after my relevant talks to go and meet Joe (a chap I met ages ago in Oxford and have seen a few times since) in R1. After my bout of sadness yesterday lunchtime I got chatting to a few people about what I needed for winter sports this weekend, and Joe offered to lend me some snowboarding trousers while James said I could have his goggles. Joe wasn't there, but I chatted to some people who are going skiing tomorrow and they advised me that the resort they have chosen (Argentière) really isn't good for beginners, so I may not need all the gear anyway (very kind of them though - the trousers are a rather fetching turquoise). Whether or not I go tomorrow is an important decision for a few reasons:

1. If I don't go I will be able to go out tonight (if there's anywhere to go out to)
2. I need to do some skiing before Kelly gets here in March, as she will have just spent a week skiing and I don't want to be shown up
3. If I go then I will only have Sunday to look round Geneva (if you remember from my previous post, almost everything in Geneva is shut on Sunday and I really need to buy some stuff - my 7 year old Nike Hi-tops aren't holding up too well in the snow and rain)

Oh, one more thing - I wrote most of this entry sitting on a broken office chair amongst a pile of rubbish outside the lift in my building. This is because I left my keys in my coat pocket when I went to my meeting and then everyone left and locked the office.