Foam Walls

Today was productive.

Well, sort of. I accomplished a lot, but it wasn’t exactly efficient. I was often lost, turning my maps upside and sideways, trying to determine which building was which and silently yelling at the City of Lausanne for not posting street signs. 

In addition, I kept running into what I’ve started to call “Foam Walls.”  Foam Walls are sort of like the proverbial “Brick Wall”—and obstacle in your way, an unexpected occurrence impeding forward motion. Unlike Brick Walls, however, Foam Walls don’t completely stop you in your tracks. They don’t require a total revision of plans—they simply cause you to slow down. Foam Walls can be a misreading of a map, a train running late, a misinterpreted instruction. Or, in my case, all of the above.

foam walls are a little easier. (source)

To be fair, my day started with a rather ambitious to-do list:

          -Attend Lab Meeting
          -Obtain EPFL student card, papers, etc.
          -Obtain Swiss Residence Permit
          -Read articles related to research project
          -Sign a housing lease (?)

It went something like this:

Attend Lab Meeting
For my first lab meeting, Amanda, the PhD student I’ll be working with this year, agreed to meet me at the metro stop.  When I met Amanda, I liked her immediately. Our metro ride passed quickly as she told me about her recent road trip to Brussels and her upcoming field hockey game. While on the metro, I was shocked to run into an old friend , Dino, I met at the EPFL two years ago—and , was even more shocked to learn that he was in the same lab as Amanda and me! Together, Amanda and Dino ensured me that my new lab was young, lively, and, as they put it, “The best lab at the EPFL.”

The lab meeting went well. I enjoyed meeting everyone, and thought the research presented was particularly interesting.  After the meeting, I met with the lab secretary, Ingrid. Ingrid was incredibly helpful, walking me through how to get my student card, register for classes, and obtain a Swiss residence permit. She armed me with directions and maps, and I set off.

Obtain EPFL Card: Student and Lab
Although the directions to the EPFL student center were straight forward, once inside, I was shuffled around,  office to office, no one being certain where exactly exchange students were supposed to go. I finally ended up back at the main desk (go figure…) where I finally got my student card and certificate of enrollment. I’m now officially enrolled at the EPFL!

wandering around the epfl.

Obtain Swiss Residence Permit
This was easily one of the most difficult items on my to-do list. Before coming to Switzerland, I had no idea what I residence permit even was. I had a visa, and I assumed that was enough. However, after arriving, I quickly discovered that a residence permit is crucial, required to rent almost all apartments, open a bank account, or even sign a cell phone contract. Obtaining a residence permit is also, as I learned today, required by Swiss Law.

Knowing this, I set off for the permit office, armed with a city map, my passport, a few passport-style photos of myself, and a slew of papers confirming that I really am supposed to be here. After a few wrong turns, I finally showed up at the office, only to discover that it was closed until 1 pm. Fortunately, Lausanne is speckled is lovely parks and there was a particularly nice one directly adjacent to the office.

where I read, waiting for the office to open. 

An hour later I returned, waited a half-hour in line, and gave the officer my materials.  She took a while, scanning my visa and EPFL enrollment certificate, before finally saying that everything was good to go except for one small problem: In my photos, I was smiling.

Yesterday, Ben and I faced a similar predicament. We had decided to get transportation passes, but in order to do so, we needed passport-style photos, something neither of us had brought. We were at a bit of a loss, not knowing where to find a Walgreens or CVS equivalent, until a metro officer pointed us in the direction of a photobooth in the main train station.  It was the type of booth you sometimes see in malls or movie theatres in the US- one of those where you receive a strip of photos, each with a different (often funny) face.  It wasn’t what I pictured when I thought “passport photo”, but it was a solution, and, at only 2 francs per sheet, a surprisingly cheap one.  Now, I was headed back to that same photobooth, taking my second set of photos, this time taking care not to smile.

I returned to the permit office, waited another half-hour, and present my materials-- this time including an  unhappy (but correct!) set of photos.  Everything was accepted and in a month I should be receiving my Swiss Residence Permit!

Read Articles related to research project
After the residence permit ordeal, I was fairly zonked. I went back to campus and met up with Ben. We headed to “The Wave”, EPFL’s enormous and insanely  awesome new library/resource center/student center.  I was too tired to get through the dense jargon of more than one article, but I did manage to walk around and take photographs of the amazing architecture.

"the wave" from a distance. 

under the building, surrounded by concrete curves.

unique sculpture underneath the building.

inside the building, ben lounging on a chair he fashioned
out of the many colorful beanbags.

Sign a housing lease
Although Ben and I have spent the past couple of days viewing several promising apartments, we are, alas, still homeless after the month of September.

French word of the day: Lunnettes = Glasses (your asked to remove then when taking your passport photo)