Winter

It's snowing today :) A lot.

There was definitely a certain level of distraction in my neuroscience class on the inner ear and auditory signal transduction today, as through the windows in the auditorium we had a fantastic view of massive snowflakes whirling past in the wind. Even the professor had to stop at a point to comment on the VERY winter-like weather outside, it's the first time I've ever felt truly "cosy" in an auditorium.. at least it was nice and warm right?

Temperatures are hovering around zero, but have stayed negative today, and are supposed to drop further during the coming week.

I'm spending my days inside studying, as exams in January seem a little closer when there's only two weeks till Christmas! There's a lot of hot chocolate and tea and warm soup involved. I have also ventured twice into town to fix some Christmas presents, once this afternoon- in the snow. I mean blizzard. The lights have all come up in town, shops are playing carols, and market stalls are popping up everywhere, especially at Place St. Francois which looked very idyllic today with the snow (there is also a Starbucks there which is now serving their christmas/holiday coffee blends... yum... I admit I gave in and had one today).

Candle in a bolognese sauce glass :) 

I am surprised, however, that Lausanne actually experiences a certain level of "paralysis" when it comes to the first proper snowfall of the year. I had an excellent time getting to the Dorigny campus Monday night (when the snow started)-- my bus spent 20 minutes at a depot on the way to town getting chains! Today again, the buses were all completely delayed and the ones going upward came at random when I was going back home from town. I hear there's a lot of snow in Belgium at the moment as well, and that schools were closed. It is definitely not that bad here--- just like in Norway, kids have to go to school even though the town decided to look like the clouds had decided to have a massive pillow fight, covering the ground in soft fluffy icy-ness.

I'm lighting candles inside (see the bolognese glass idea? One has to make do when candle-holders are not available!), cooking warm food, and generally enjoying the feeling that I'll see my family and friends really soon. The semester's passed so fast and I can't believe I've been here 13 weeks tomorrow! I'm sooooo enjoying the massive box I received right before December started as well-- Christmas calendar with a little package every day!! Yesterday was St. Nicolas, and I got a packet of good old Belgian Lotus Speculoos <3 much happiness!

I hope everyone is enjoying December and that you take a break to look up and see the snowflakes. It's really beautiful. Have a great weekend! Bisous from La Suisse xx