I suppose it's blindingly obvious (or is it?) that this site isn't really GenevaOnline, rather GenevaExpatriatesOnline. Now, who lives in Geneva? 1. Rich old people, 2. Their children, 3. Their au pairs, 4. International bureacrats, and 5. Foreigners who came here for a job. If you're a local, you have either moved to Annemasse to afford the rent, or gone travelling around Southeast Asia for a few year on the savings from your job at the Migros. Now being an expatriate here means you have certain preoccupations, like: 1. Why is everyone so unfriendly? 2. Why am I so bored? 3. How do I meet people? 4. Why is my love life / sex life so dreadful? 5. Where can I check the weather forecast? Thus the postings here focus on 1. Dating 2. Partying 3. Sports 4. Practical tips. Nothing wrong with that (or is there?) You don't come to a site like this looking for the life of the mind. Nor do you come to Geneva for it, unless you get all the intellectual stimulation you need from whatever's playing at Balexert. I think the last time I read anything both positive and interesting about Geneva was in William Shirer's accounts of getting away here for weekends from wartime Berlin. You know a city has a problem when it takes a mad dictator subjugating the rest of Europe to make it look good. Anyway, since we're talking about expatriates here, how about people coming forth with something about where they came from and what they liked about life there? These inane "Add to my List of Friends" and "Interests: Listening to Music, Hanging Out w Friends" things get old very quickly. End of rant. (Administrator, kindly figure out how to add line breaks in postings. Thank you.)


RohanSep 15, 2005 @ 22:31