International Organization, and a lack thereof

It's been a nutso week! Work went into full swing, with a series of UNHCR meetings at the Palais, or the UN Office at Geneva Headquarters. I was lucky enough to help out and attend the sessions - my job was "running the traffic lights" in UN speak, or running the timers for how long each delegation may speak about an issue (note to US Congress: UN delegations actually obey the time limits. No kidding). It was fascinating to see how the negotiations of some of these issues and language work - the process through which agreements are reached (or not), and how much time is spent on terms that seem like they should be simple enough. I was also able to tour the lovely UN grounds and snap some pics.

Classes also started last week - and by started, I mean the circus of trying to get into them started. The registration system here allows you to "shop around" for the first two weeks to see what you like / what you can get into - sounds like a great idea, until you're still not sure what you're taking, are visiting three classes a day, pleading with professors and also getting assigned work for all of these classes... leading to the conundrum of which work to do? All of it? None of it? Do you buy the coursepak? Forget it all and plan a trip to Munich for next weekend? Wait, yes, that's exactly what I'm doing. Oktoberfest or bust!