Je vais à la bibliothèque
To prove that I have thoroughly infiltrated Swiss society, I have taken a picture of the various cards and such that have been issued to me sine my arrival.
Fig. 1: My wallet bulges with ... cards. After I've been earning the sweet post-doc coin for a while, hopefully it'll bulge with "Giacometti's" as well.
On the right are all the (Swiss) cards I use regularly and thus carry with me in my wallet. On the left is my brand new Residence Permit, type B. This document -- which I am legaly obligated to keep on my person at all times -- not only allows me to remain legally in this country until at least 31 July 2009, but it also represents the final piece of the legal puzzle here. Permit in hand, I can finally apply for a credit card, sign up for internet access, and most importantly, get a library card.
Yesterday after French class, I finally fulfilled the promise made by every first-year high school French student, and je suis allé à la bibliothèque. Specifically, I went to the Bibliothèque Municipale, conveniently located at Place Chauderon, in the heart of Lausanne. Size-wise, it's not the biggest library I've ever seen (it's a bit larger than the Linda Vista library), but it does have a number of compelling features.
First, it's free. Those of you who know me well will think that I'm being a cheapskate; but, you will be forced to admit that when it comes to books, I tend to buy, buy, buy. Used books, at least. This is tough to do here in Switzerland, since books are ridiculously expensive. New paperbacks are around 15 - 25 CHF, and new hardbacks can be anywhere from 40 - 100 CHF. Although there are used bookstores everywhere, they don't typically have vastly lower prices. One had a "everything 3 CHF" bin out front for a while, and I bought a pocket paperback from a drugstore for 2 CHF once, but for the most part, used books here are not the steal that they are at Feldman's Books (Menlo Park, represent) or Moe's Books in Berkeley. Also, I live in a room smaller than most prison cells, so I try not to accumulate too much -- I only own one fork.
Second, it's open late -- ten o'clock on weekdays! As I have commented on frequently, it's rare to find anything open after seven at night, so it's nice to know there's somewhere I can go kill some time if I want to go for a walk.
And most importantly, they have a healthy selection of comic books, or BD -- bandes dessinées. When I first got here, I was really excited to go buy some of those famous French comic books that I'd heard so much about: Asterix, Tintin, etc. There are comic book stores all over the place (I can think of at least 3), but unfortunately they don't really resemble the comic book stores of my youth. There are no piles of boxes, barely arranged into aisles; no racks of unorganized new arrivals, not even protected by bags; and there are no surly, pony-tailed nerds waiting for you at the cash register. Instead, there are bright lights, big display cases, and relatively normal looking employees. They can afford to be this clean and hip, since a single comic book will set you back a small fortune (around 18 CHF). Of course, the books aren't printed on newsprint and bound in slightly thicker newsprint, as they are in the US; instead, they are glossy, full-color, gorgeous hardback novels. They're only 40 page novels, but who's counting?
At any rate, the Bibliothèque Municipale has beaucoup de BD, and once I got my residence permit, I went over to pick a couple up. One of my labmates, who knows about this kind of thing, suggested that I start with Lincoln, which is a western-superhero sort of comic. I read it last night, then when I had internet access this morning, I looked up all the swear words I didn't understand and I think I'll try to read it again tonight. It's a little too hip and cool for me to understand entirely, but it's amusing enough and I'll almost certainly pick up the next few books in the set when I have the chance.
Fig. 2: Learning French is easy with the King. Just TCB.
On a whim, I also picked up this other BD, pictured above. I only read through a bit of it, though, as it was hard to follow. For some reason that is not entirely clear to me, there is a lengthy sub-plot involving Elvis's still-born twin brother being interviewed, presumably in the afterlife. I kinda wish I was making that up. Anyway, we'll see how it goes.
Fig. 1: My wallet bulges with ... cards. After I've been earning the sweet post-doc coin for a while, hopefully it'll bulge with "Giacometti's" as well.On the right are all the (Swiss) cards I use regularly and thus carry with me in my wallet. On the left is my brand new Residence Permit, type B. This document -- which I am legaly obligated to keep on my person at all times -- not only allows me to remain legally in this country until at least 31 July 2009, but it also represents the final piece of the legal puzzle here. Permit in hand, I can finally apply for a credit card, sign up for internet access, and most importantly, get a library card.
Yesterday after French class, I finally fulfilled the promise made by every first-year high school French student, and je suis allé à la bibliothèque. Specifically, I went to the Bibliothèque Municipale, conveniently located at Place Chauderon, in the heart of Lausanne. Size-wise, it's not the biggest library I've ever seen (it's a bit larger than the Linda Vista library), but it does have a number of compelling features.
First, it's free. Those of you who know me well will think that I'm being a cheapskate; but, you will be forced to admit that when it comes to books, I tend to buy, buy, buy. Used books, at least. This is tough to do here in Switzerland, since books are ridiculously expensive. New paperbacks are around 15 - 25 CHF, and new hardbacks can be anywhere from 40 - 100 CHF. Although there are used bookstores everywhere, they don't typically have vastly lower prices. One had a "everything 3 CHF" bin out front for a while, and I bought a pocket paperback from a drugstore for 2 CHF once, but for the most part, used books here are not the steal that they are at Feldman's Books (Menlo Park, represent) or Moe's Books in Berkeley. Also, I live in a room smaller than most prison cells, so I try not to accumulate too much -- I only own one fork.
Second, it's open late -- ten o'clock on weekdays! As I have commented on frequently, it's rare to find anything open after seven at night, so it's nice to know there's somewhere I can go kill some time if I want to go for a walk.
And most importantly, they have a healthy selection of comic books, or BD -- bandes dessinées. When I first got here, I was really excited to go buy some of those famous French comic books that I'd heard so much about: Asterix, Tintin, etc. There are comic book stores all over the place (I can think of at least 3), but unfortunately they don't really resemble the comic book stores of my youth. There are no piles of boxes, barely arranged into aisles; no racks of unorganized new arrivals, not even protected by bags; and there are no surly, pony-tailed nerds waiting for you at the cash register. Instead, there are bright lights, big display cases, and relatively normal looking employees. They can afford to be this clean and hip, since a single comic book will set you back a small fortune (around 18 CHF). Of course, the books aren't printed on newsprint and bound in slightly thicker newsprint, as they are in the US; instead, they are glossy, full-color, gorgeous hardback novels. They're only 40 page novels, but who's counting?
At any rate, the Bibliothèque Municipale has beaucoup de BD, and once I got my residence permit, I went over to pick a couple up. One of my labmates, who knows about this kind of thing, suggested that I start with Lincoln, which is a western-superhero sort of comic. I read it last night, then when I had internet access this morning, I looked up all the swear words I didn't understand and I think I'll try to read it again tonight. It's a little too hip and cool for me to understand entirely, but it's amusing enough and I'll almost certainly pick up the next few books in the set when I have the chance.
Fig. 2: Learning French is easy with the King. Just TCB.On a whim, I also picked up this other BD, pictured above. I only read through a bit of it, though, as it was hard to follow. For some reason that is not entirely clear to me, there is a lengthy sub-plot involving Elvis's still-born twin brother being interviewed, presumably in the afterlife. I kinda wish I was making that up. Anyway, we'll see how it goes.
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