Lausanne: Take 2!

Hello and happy new year 2013!

I've now been back in Lausanne for a week and finished my first exam on Tuesday. I think it went well, and am now working hard for my next one which is not until next Friday. I can honestly say though, that I am getting very sick of exams in general-- the amount of time I spend in my room, inside, working through masses of reading and memorizing, is really a lot, and I cannot wait for this time in two weeks when I'm off on holiday! It will be so nice to get some proper time off without the itchy feeling in the back of my head telling me to study if I have any inclination to do something fun. 2 weeks of skiing should cure whichever feeling of study-overload I will have acquired by then ;)

Lausanne presented cold and snowy when I got back, a very nice change from the dreary grey weather in Belgium. My flatmate and I are spending all our time inside, though, each studying, and emerging at random intervals to complain about the amount we have to do. All in a days work :)

I also learned something practical about refrigerators that I did not know. If you turn your fridge off to go away on holiday, having cleaned out the food and (seemingly) gotten rid of any crumbs, you have to leave the door OPEN. Otherwise, you get the result that I have now experienced, where the fridge was a very unhealthy shade of fuzzy green/grey, with a rather unpleasant smell. Yup- the mold had taken over!! EEEEK!  I therefore got the fun task of mixing a nice concoction of bleach and water, to then set to work and scrub down the entire thing. It now looks very nice and shiny, and has been supplied with new food and vegetables. So yes, there's a nice tip for anyone who wants to save some electricity over the holidays...

Some nice pictures from yesterday's "clear my head"-lunchtime walk . The Sauvabelin lake is completely frozen!

I am now going back to my neuroscience and immunology, trying to memorize that T-cells are activated by macrophages and B-cells by antigens but need help from the T-cells.. you know, the usual.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday and have gotten a good start to the new year!

Semester 1: CHECK

Hi!

Today is the last day of my first semester in Lausanne. I have been here for 3 months and 12 days.

The year's coming to an end, and I guess I can conclude that one of my greatest accomplishments in 2012 is becoming pro at buying milk.  After countless tries to find GOOD milk, and the milk that will last the longest in my fridge, I have now gone about 2 months buying the same milk every week. I'm officially giving myself a pat on the back for completing my first months on my own, I think the biggest change has been the basic administration of my life-- all the practical things to take care of... the commune mailing you documents to fill out, the university asking for information about your classes, the university in Belgium asking for information about your classes, the Swiss bank sending you papers, your mom asking what to do with your mail that's arrived in Belgium, and aaaall the cards! There's the student card and the identity card, then there's the Lausanne transport card and the Swiss train card, there's the credit cards and the bank cards, the international student card, and of course the fidelity card to Yves Rocher.

It's been great to see that medicine can be taught in different ways, and I have to say I'm impressed with the quality of the program at UNIL. The classes and workload have been pretty much the same as in Belgium, but like I hoped, it has given a lot of motivation to study in a new place, new auditoriums, a new library.

The past week I've been doing some very Christmas-y things, really gotten into the spirit because of all the lights and music in town, the "vin chaud" at the Christmas market at place St. Francois, the amazing snowfall we had last weekend (which has now depressingly melted and been replaced by sleet). I've finished my presents on time (*proud*), and I have packed my suitcase.

I can't wait to see my family and friends back home for Christmas and New year's. I have definitely missed them all so much, maybe even more than I thought I would, but now I'm going home.

Thank you Lausanne for a wonderful first semester, see you in January for exams! (Yes, the joy of studying during Christmas holidays awaits).

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone! Bisous xx

Ice skating at Flon <3 

Addition to Winter: Photo blog

I woke up Saturday morning....

 

 

Happy December :) xx

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

Primary visual cortex and some good old beer in a tube

Hi! :)
It's been an extremely busy month. November has zoomed by so fast I don't know where on earth it went. The forest has now done its transformation into solid copper, and in today's wind we're getting leaves blowing everywhere. For the past two weeks it's been raining almost constantly with fog and about 8 degrees. From today, however, temperatures are supposed to plummet and we're supposed to get some snow tomorrow!!

After my sisters visited at the beginning of the month, it's been pretty much all school work here. The bad weather hasn't let me do much outside, but that might be a good thing seeing all the studying I have to do. We finished our module on the immune system and infections, and have now moved on to neuroscience, the study of the nervous system (aka BRAIN). It's been really interesting so far-- the anatomy of the head is complicated and complex, but I find it pretty fascinating all the same how evolution has come up with some pretty intricate ways for us to function the way we do. This week it's all focus on the eye and its connection with the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe of the brain. It's quite an impressive system and it's fun to learn, even though I'm getting that fun panicky feeling telling me I (once again) am about a month and a half away from exams (they're in January).

Diagram of the general anatomy of the brain I'm quite proud of :) 

The month's been pretty regular otherwise....
- Every Monday I'm still striving my way through an intense 1h30mins of discofit, which is proving to be an amazing workout-- I'm always completely dead after, but it's great as Mondays are not my favorite day and a bit of physical activity brightens the day significantly.
- My newest food discovery (or obsession) is COTTAGE CHEESE. The stuff is soooo good and I can eat it with almost anything-- just as good on bread as it is in a spinach and salmon pasta sauce.
- I went out for a friends birthday last night and we went to the bar "Les Brasseurs" at Flon, which is great for both food and for their highly recommended beer (We were told by the waiter that the "Ambree" beer had gotten an award at an international beer convention this year... :P ). They serve beer in really big "tubes" put on the table, and you order 3 or 5 litre ones-- and there's plenty to share for everyone. Highly recommended if anyone's ever visiting Lausanne :).
http://www.les-brasseurs.ch/f/lausanne/index.htm 
And fun fact since we're talking about the brain: Which part of the brain gets intoxicated by alcohol consumption? The cerebellum (also called the "little brain") situated at the back of the head. It's involved in coordination of movement and speech. Hence the not walking in a straight line and being unable to pronounce the word acrocephalosyndactyly (early closure of the sutures between the bones of the skull).


It's coming into Christmas and advent season, and I'm starting to get really excited to see my family. You don't really realize you miss them until you've been away for a while- and I'd say 3 months is a good while.

Things I miss most about home right now:
- Food.. and someone else making dinner!
- Dishwasher.
- Access to a washing machine more than once every THREE weeks.
- The Saturday nights in front of the TV with candy and chocolate and the family just chilling around watching some random movie or show.
- My dog <3 I didn't realize I would miss taking her out after studying or her just sleeping next to me and snoring loudly so I can't concentrate when studying.

Christmas lights have come up in town now too, and I'm finally giving in to looking at them (normally I don't accept Christmas arriving before December)-- and there are little stalls serving hot wine popping up and I think December is going to be really nice here. I am proud of myself as I am trying to hold onto some advent traditions from home-- I have bought advent candles and I plan on lighting one every Sunday like we do at home.. otherwise I miss my little Christmas tree that I normally put up in my room.. but I guess I wouldn't really have anywhere to put it here. I'll just have to wait till I get home.

So there's a little update from me, hope everyone's having a good week! I'm going back to studying and some lunch. Hoping for some snow tomorrow- promise I will take pictures if that happens! Bisous x

Photo blog: November- when the forest turns to gold

November: Late fall in the Sauvabelin woods <3 

 

 

 

I guess I couldn't resist doing one last autumn post before winter steps in- hope you liked the pictures :)