They recycle here! And sell food!

Happy Welcome Day, aka Journée d’acceuil…not. So, today, I thought I would get a 2-hour head start on my 11 am day of welcoming at EPFL. I ate breakfast and packed a lunch and headed off to school. When I arrived at Hall SG, I was expecting to see droves of people, but alas, there was only one girl standing there with a map and a friend. I asked her if she knew where they were having the meeting for new students, and she said to me “Oh, ce sera demain.” Tomorrow?! Did I read the email wrong? Of course I did. After realizing this important error, I set off to the student services building to verify this girl’s information. Evidently, I was a day early, and there were more meetings scheduled before the 11 am session on Friday. Good thing I checked, I guess.

So, instead of meeting new exchange students and gaining a semblance of orientation, I was alone on campus. Fear not, though, because I managed to find the library and look up my classes on the internet. I found some of the locations, including a great computer lab in the basement of MX, the materials science building. I couldn’t figure out the printing situation, but I am almost positive that I now have free printing access at this location. Score!

After spending some time in the computer lab, I went in search of some of the buildings and classrooms that I couldn’t find before and found some great places for recycling on campus. They are much more aware of their environmental impact here, which made me quite delighted. I’m sure people were looking at me in wonderment because I was fervently snapping photos of PET and aluminum waste containers, but they would understand if they could see these outstanding photos…proof that Switzerland (or at least EPFL) cares about the environment.

Next on the agenda was to find the grocery store, and I chose to meander around PAM, a store at the Cérisaie métro stop. I have yet to calculate how much I save at any given chain (Migros, Co-op, PAM, Denner), but I am on my way to maximizing my use of money, especially considering the cost of fresh produce and other daily vittles.

Oh, and I bought my first bottle of wine, which may or may not be of high quality. I have decided to make a frittata and green salad for dinner because I have been craving vegetables lately. Perhaps this will be a nice compliment to my meal this evening.

Curious side note: Sweetened condensed milk comes in a tube!