Time to Learn French!

This was a day I wish I knew French!

Yesterday was my first day at the lab. Six people from the Lab (including myself) went to the cafeteria which is not far from the Lab. I had no idea how to order in French and of course I was first in line from our group. So I pointed to another persons plate and said, "I'll have the same." I took a chance and the lunch ended up being good. It worked out!

Just before leaving work (5:30 PM), I went on the Internet to find popular places to eat in Lausanne. A few places came up which said they had good food and I marked them on my map. I then started to walk to the restaurant. On my way, I saw an underground route to the train station so I went down the stairs. It was a different city below. Everyone was hustling and bustling running for their train to go home. I then came back up to street level and continued on my way to the restaurant. The road turned into a brick street and continued to get steeper. Now, I have climbed many steep hills, but this one was a doozie especially with a backpack. Did I mention it was raining? I opened the door of the German Restaurant (door opens into the building) and the first thing I noticed was no one was eating. Everyone was drinking. I proceeded to sit down at one of the open tables. The waiter came up to me and asked in French "What do you want to drink? A beer?" "Yes," I said. So I sat and waited. The bartender eventually came over to me to see if I needed anything else. I said, "Do you all serve dinner." It was about 5:45 PM which is the normal time for dinner in America. One thing I didn't know is they do not start serving dinner until 7:00 PM because the cooks do not get there until 6:45 PM. Unlike America, the restaurants are open until midnight or 1 AM so everyone eats a late dinner. Therefore, I people watched while I waited for my food for a hour. The bartender must have put my order in because at 7:00 my stroganoff came out. I finished my meal, walked down the hill, and caught the Metro bus to my hotel.