Advice for a 'Murrican going to CERN

[Mike Pemulis]

Title says it all. I'm a grad student in experimental particle research and this summer I'll be lucky enough to go to CERN for the first time. Never been out of the States before. Anything I should know? Questions include but are not limited to,

- I need to get a power adapter, right?
- Will my cell phone work? How about wireless internet?
- I won't have a car. How is the public transportation around CERN and Geneva? Should I rent a bike?
- Can I get away with not knowing any French?
- What's the weather like, compared to say the New York area?
- Where are some cool places to go in Geneva?

Thanks!

 

[KingNothing]

- I need to get a power adapter, right?
- How about wireless internet?
- I won't have a car. How is the public transportation around CERN and Geneva? Should I rent a bike?

Power adapter: yes. Some devices (like laptops) can accept a 220V input, but just need a physical adapter (which is cheap). A lot of smaller electronics will need the power to be transformed. Look on the power adapters of your stuff.

I would highly recommend renting a bike, but then again I love biking so it's easy for me to say.

 

[Kevin_Axion]

French is a very easy language to learn but I think Google translate will help you understand albeit they probably speak English anyways.

 

[Evo]

Sounds exciting!

Call your cell phone provider and see which phones work there and the costs involved.

 

[Geezer]

French is a very easy language to learn but I think Google translate will help you understand albeit they probably speak English anyways.

Anyone at CERN will speak English, but you should take some time to visit neighboring areas, too. On the weekends, hop a train to Berlin, or Paris, or Prague, or any other number of fabulous cities. Grab a language guide that has both French and German in it, put on your explorer's hat, and have fun!

 

[Borek]

Be ready for a metric distances and Celsius temperature in weather forecasts.

 

[Pengwuino]

A couple friends of mine have spent a few summers at CERN. Don't plan on eating out much, they would pay $30 a plate just for something you'd get in the US for $10. They also still don't really know any French so you can get away with it . Most people over there know a few languages at least. They had a waitress who knew 6 languages at one place!

Oh and the mexican food is god awful apparently.

 

[brewnog]

While most people here will speak several languages, if you make a bit of effort (whether that's French, German, or English!) you're much more likely to get a favourable response. Don't be the stereotypical 'yank abroad' just speaking louder than normal; a few phrases will go a long way.

Geneva is expensive, even by British standards. Not a great deal to see there, so make the most of your trip and try and see as much of Europe as possible. 6 weeks would give you a taste of much of Europe.

 

[fss]

- I need to get a power adapter, right?

Yes, but most likely you'll only need a $3 plug adapter for things like your computer.

- Will my cell phone work? How about wireless internet?

No way to answer this without knowing what kind of phone/service you have now.

- I won't have a car. How is the public transportation around CERN and Geneva? Should I rent a bike?

It's very good. The tram when I was there was being extended out to Ferney, which is walkable to Entrance 1 of CERN. There's also a bus stop right by Entrance 2. The campus itself is fairly large, but it's also walkable. Between the tram and the bus you can get pretty much everywhere; and both are in much nicer condition than you'd find pretty much anywhere in the US.

- Can I get away with not knowing any French?

Yes.

- What's the weather like, compared to say the New York area?

Not as hot as NY in the summer; the weather is really nice.

- Where are some cool places to go in Geneva?

Hiking the Saleve is nice. Lausanne, Montreaux, Lyon, Annecy are all pretty good day trips.

On the weekends, hop a train to Berlin, or Paris, or Prague...

Berlin and Prague are 10+ hours on the train. Not exactly a weekend trip.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

Maybe,
Be prepared to like veal and cheese.
Be prepared to remove shoes entering homes.
Learn what to do with rubbish, and abide by that. (An exception is dog mess)
Be prepared to watch out for dog mess.

 

[Amok]

I live in the French part of Switzerland, you can ask me stuff if you want to when you get there (like about French, for example). Send me messages.

And Switzerland is beautiful, especially in the summertime. If you like hiking, it's a paradise. You should visit Lucerne, Bern, Graubunden... Go hiking in the mountains in Graubunden, you'll feel great. Plus Switzerland is full of pretty lakes.

Be prepared to watch out for dog mess.

In most parts of Switzerland people are very careful with dog crap.

 

[Lacy33]

If you are leaving from NYC then just GO! Nothing could be more confusing that NYC. Worry about everything else later.
If your Jewish contact Chabad in the area and you will always have a good Friday and Saturday meal. If your not Jewish Go to them anyway the soup is great.
Congratulations on your opportunity.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Ferney? Maybe you mean St. Genis. Ferney is quite a hike from CERN: maybe 90 minutes through the Mategnin Douane and a bit over two hours through the Ferney Douane. Until the Y bus line was extended, it was not so easy to get from CERN to Ferney on public transportation: it took 3 different busses.

Anyway, yes, you need an adapter. You need a Swiss adapter, which is hexagonal. Many of the so-called "European" adapters sold in the US are too large. You can get a French-to-Swiss adapter once you are there, but like everything in Geneva, it's expensive.

Wireless internet will work. Your cell will probably work, but you should be prepared for outrageous roaming charges - think "dollars per minute".

Public transportation is excellent in Geneva. It's so-so in the Pays de Gex. You can get a free loaner bike from CERN-PH.

It will help to know a little French. Discussions are in English, but when you come to a door marked "Tirez" do you push or pull it? The menus in the cafeterias are (at best) in Franglish, so a little French is best. "Tete de veau" is exactly what it sounds like.

Geneva usually has mild summers, with perhaps one or two weeks where it's hot and humid. Since there's not much air conditioning, these weeks can be rough.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

In most parts of Switzerland people are very careful with dog crap.

I'm happy to be corrected about that. It did seem too ironic. Possibly I saw evidence of other tourists with touring dogs.

 

[Drakkith]

Geneva usually has mild summers, with perhaps one or two weeks where it's hot and humid. Since there's not much air conditioning, these weeks can be rough.

Sounds like a good week or so in about April-May for me. Hell, i had to get my AC fixed back in October because it was like 85-90 or something and my AC broke. Still paying that 5k loan off too...

Title says it all. I'm a grad student in experimental particle research and this summer I'll be lucky enough to go to CERN for the first time. Never been out of the States before.

While I'd love to go to Cern for a tour or something, I can't stand travelling. Just boring. Been to Mexico for a few hours way back when. Although when I say Mexico I mean a crappy border town near Brownsville Texas.

All I can advise is to be sure to always wear something with the US flag on it and loudly talk to everyone you meet in a slow manner to make sure they understand you. But seriously don't do either of those two things.

 

[Amok]

I'm happy to be corrected about that. It did seem too ironic. Possibly I saw evidence of other tourists with touring dogs.

I dunno, I live in Lausanne and in my neighborhood there's dog poop all over the place. I was pretty surprised when I moved here, because in other parts of Switzerland there isn't poop anywhere. They even have special bins for dog poop, complete with little plastic bag dispenser.

And something you I forgot to mention, Mike. The Swiss don't talk much and you can get around with English only (especially in Geneva). However, it's always cool to know a few phrases, it shows that you aren't arrogant and don't expect everyone to speak English. The most important phrase is "I can't speak French", so you can give the other person the opportunity to switch to English. In Switzerland, if you don't do this, nothing will happen, but people probably won't be as friendly. If you got to France, it's a whole other story. Go there speaking absolutely no French and expecting people to speak English, and you're in for some bad times. Learn some basic French and gesticulate and people will do everything in their power to help you.

And dude, I don't really know you, but if you come to Lausanne, tell me and maybe we can hang out :) I study at the Lausanne Tech Institute, and I'd be happy to meet a murrican student.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

I see, it varies.

I dunno, I live in Lausanne.

Nice! Lausanne looked beautiful!

 

[Amok]

Well, kinda. People here are very serious about cleanliness :)

 

[fss]

Actually I meant Meyrin, not Ferney.

 

[Borek]

Well, kinda. People here are very serious about cleanliness :)

Read Asterix in Switzerland if you doubt.

 

[Andre]

About the language, there is an unexpected downside to knowing a bit of French. If you make an attempt to dialogue in French, the autochtones may misunderstand that, assuming that you are a native speaker and speed up their talking pace some orders of magnitudes, leaving you helplessly 50 words behind in processing.

However, I observe that the swiss speak much slower and clearer French than the French do.

 

[Amok]

About the language, there is an unexpected downside to knowing a bit of French. If you make an attempt to dialogue in French, the autochtones may misunderstand that, assuming that you are a native speaker and speed up their talking pace some orders of magnitudes, leaving you helplessly 50 words behind in processing.

However, I observe that the swiss speak much slower and clearer French than the French do.

What? No man, if you only know a few phrases then no is going to think they can speak to you as if you were a native speaker. Has this happened to you?

 

[gbeagle]

Oh and the mexican food is god awful apparently.

It is... Forty CHF for the most ungodly abomination to ever cross my lips. If you're being paid by a US institution it won't matter though, since you can't afford to eat out ever. ;)

As to the OP's questions:
- For computers, generally you just need a plug adapter, you can get a US to Swiss one for like 2 CHF at Media Markt (Best Buy like place). There is one right on the 18 tram line (tram that goes to CERN now). Things without a power brick won't work - I left all of that sort of stuff in the US.

- For the cell phone it depends. Even if it could work technically, unless its unlocked you won't be able to put a Swiss/French sim card in it. I just bought a piece of junk nokia for about 30 CHF when I moved here. As for wireless its all the same IEEE 802.11b/g/n standard equipment (can be slight differences in the channels that are available in the spectrum).

- Public transportation in Geneva is good. There is now a tram direct from CERN to the main train station downtown as of a few days ago. Used to be two changes before that. In the Pays de Gex (France) there is public transportation in only the vaguest sense. If you live in Geneva its probably up to you if you want a bike or not. If you live in France and don't have a car it is basically a necessity. You can rent bikes from CERN though if you are arriving in the summer there is often a waiting list in my experience!

- It is perfectly possible to get by knowing little or no French. I've been here about two years and I am still basically useless when trying to talk to people in French. I can read French now though (which helps the most I have found). Also were I live, Saint Genis (village just across the French border from CERN), has basically been taken over by CERN people, so in a given day I hear people talking in English or some other language as often I hear people speaking French.

- The weather in pretty nice in the summer. Some people complain about the humidity sometimes, but it never bothered me even without AC. I grew up in the South though so maybe my humidity/heat tolerance is high. Winter can be a bit deary since it is cloudy a lot, but it never really gets all that cold. Winters in New York are definitely colder than they are in Geneva. It does snow some here. This winter it snowed in the end of November/December some, but then didn't really snow the rest of the winter.

- Fun things to do... Time to do fun things? That would distract from the making of histograms! Geneva itself is kind of boring to me at least. If you like hiking or cycling then there is lots of cool places to go. The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiguille_du_Midi" is cool especially if you hike up or down to the middle station on the cable car. I liked the Château de Chillon in Montreux too. Its a nice day trip on the train from Geneva.

One final thing it is really, really expensive here! That is really the only to me of living here. Though if your coming from NYC (guessing from your post?) it might not seem so bad. Food in CH is pretty pricey though. Food prices in France are much better - not all that different than in California. I spend about as much per week on groceries as I did in the Bay Area before coming here.

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask!

 

[gbeagle]

What? No man, if you only know a few phrases then no is going to think they can speak to you as if you were a native speaker. Has this happened to you?

Yeah, that has not been my experience either. I have never been confused for a native speaker. Generally when I try to talk to people in French in Geneva they realize after a second and just start talking to me in English... Even in France its been the same. When I went to the sous-préfecture to do my car registration, the women at the counter was just like, "It's ok, I speak English. It will be easier." when I was trying to muddle through.

 

[MarioO]

I'll be going to CERN for the summer as well.
I might end up making my own food and perhaps selling it.

 

[Geezer]

Be ready for a metric distances and Celsius temperature in weather forecasts.

Sounds like heaven!

Down with ounces, pounds, and teaspoons!

 

[brewnog]

Sounds like heaven!

Down with ounces, pounds, and teaspoons!

So how do you stir your tea?

 

[Geezer]

So how do you stir your tea?

I take my tea black.

 

[brewnog]

I take my tea black.

Eurgh.

 

[Amok]

Don't you guys, as scientists, have to learn to use the metric system, even in the US?

 

[Borek]

Judging from the hole in Mars, they don't have to.

 

[Amok]

What?

 

[Geezer]

Don't you guys, as scientists, have to learn to use the metric system, even in the US?

Huh?

All American students are introduced to the metric system in elementary school; in general, our rulers indicate inches and feet as well as centimeters, millimeters, etc. In fact, I can always remember that 1 foot (12 inches) is about 30 centimeters long because of the ruler I used in school.

Officially, the U.S. is supposed to go metric (or already be metric?) but many Americans are too lazy to want to learn a new standard of measurement. Consequently, a lot of stuff is labeled with both systems of units (e.g. food labels). No one knows when the U.S. will really be metric.

As far as physicists are concerned, we work almost exclusively in SI or metric units, both in high school and at university.

 

[Drakkith]

What?

Mars Climate Orbiter

From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

The MCO MIB has determined that the root cause for the loss of the MCO spacecraft was the failure to use metric units in the coding of a ground software file, “Small Forces,” used in trajectory models. Specifically, thruster performance data in English units instead of metric units was used in the software application code titled SM_FORCES (small forces). The output from the SM_FORCES application code as required by a MSOP Project Software Interface Specification (SIS) was to be in metric units of Newtonseconds (N-s). Instead, the data was reported in English units of pound-seconds (lbf-s). The Angular Momentum Desaturation (AMD) file contained the output data from the SM_FORCES software. The SIS, which was not followed, defines both the format and units of the AMD file generated by ground-based computers. Subsequent processing of the data from AMD file by the navigation software algorithm therefore, underestimated the effect on the spacecraft trajectory by a factor of 4.45, which is the required conversion factor from force in pounds to Newtons. An erroneous trajectory was computed using this incorrect data.

 

[Drakkith]

Officially, the U.S. is supposed to go metric (or already be metric?) but many Americans are too lazy to want to learn a new standard of measurement. Consequently, a lot of stuff is labeled with both systems of units (e.g. food labels). No one knows when the U.S. will really be metric.

I can't wait!

 

[Geezer]

I can't wait!

Moi non plus!

 

[Drakkith]

Moi non plus!

No! You are a hot pocket!

 

[Amok]

I got used to some Imperial system units, but the great thing about the metric system is that everything is a multiple of 10 of something else, which makes things easier. I always get completely lost when people start talking about ounces (fluid or not). I can understand, inches, feet, yards, gallons and pints (BEER!).

 

[Kurdt]

Tell them you're Canadian.

 

[brewnog]

Don't you guys, as scientists, have to learn to use the metric system, even in the US?

Nah, they're still waiting to see if it catches on anywhere else...

 

[Geezer]

Tell them you're Canadian.

I once read that the most valuable passports on the black market are Canadian passports (they're even more desirable than US passports); no one has a beef with Canada, so Canadians can pretty much go anywhere hassle free.

 

[AlephZero]

I once read that the most valuable passports on the black market are Canadian passports (they're even more desirable than US passports); no one has a beef with Canada, so Canadians can pretty much go anywhere hassle free.

That may be true in general, but I remember am off the record comment from one of my employer's security people that "you can get Canadian citizenship by collecting the tops of cereal packets" - i.e. they dioesn't score many points in a security check.

 

[AlephZero]

Nah, they're still waiting to see if it catches on anywhere else...

Look out for published papers where the test specimen was 0.0254m long, or its mass was 0.4543kg. 'Nuff said.

My favorite compromise over this is what Boeing do. Their large airliners are designed in sections 8 feet 4 inches long. Think about it (and use a calculator if necessary).

 

[Norman]

Judging from the hole in Mars, they don't have to.

You are confusing engineers with scientists...

 

[lisab]

Look out for published papers where the test specimen was 0.0254m long, or its mass was 0.4543kg. 'Nuff said.

My favorite compromise over this is what Boeing do. Their large airliners are designed in sections 8 feet 4 inches long. Think about it (and use a calculator if necessary).

Imperial Metric !

 

[Geezer]

You are confusing engineers with scientists...

Good one.

 

[AlephZero]

Imperial Metric !

But the metric system has taken half the fun out of engineering software develoopment.

Gone are the days when the newbies used to come to the experts asking things like "Why is there a factor of 51337 in this formula" and get the instant answer "Oh, that's just to convert from tsi to pounds per square foot, divided by 2 pi".

Whaddaya mean, "documentation"? Never 'eard of such a thing!