Geneva has been my hometown since I was born. It is considerably more cosmopolitan than Noosa since Geneva is the cradle of a great number of international organisations and a lot of people from everywhere in the world come to work there. In addition, half of the population are foreigners.

Geneva is located in Switzerland in the middle of Europe, therefore there is no sea only the famous "Leman" lake, whereas Noosa is situated in the East Coast of Australia and is well-known for its "Main" Beach.

According to my point of view Geneva is easily the most fascinating town that I have ever been. The landscape is unique. The center of the city is old and authentic with walls and buildings dating from the Middle Age. The atmosphere is traditional and convivial. People can find small cafes or chocolate shops. Noosa is as convivial as Geneva, but it is considerably more modern with its beaches which attract a lot of surfers and holiday-makers from every part of Australia.

Around the lake there are much more hotels than everywhere else in the city. These hotels display their luxury not only in the architecture of the premises, but also in all the cars parked in front of them. Facilities are provided to satisfy whealthy people as high quality and expensive shops as Rolex, Channel, Christian Dior, Prada, etc. Noosa is nowhere near as sophisticated as Geneva in relation to this characteristic. Obviously, since Noosa is principally a holiday place, the life standard is quite high too, but it is not as high as Geneva's is.

However, lifestyle in Noosa is barely similar to Geneva's one. Indeed, in Noosa everyone is chilled out and relaxed in contrast to Geneva where inhabitants are pretty much stressed out and frenzied all the time. Geneva is a city of work and perfection and has rarely a rest. People work not only meticulously, but assiduously to achieve their highness in whatever they do as watchmaking, chocolate making or even in the financial system where banks are by far the most safe than everywhere else. Whereas in Noosa work is essentially related to tourism.

Impressions and expectations of Australia

I have been in Australia for more than a week now. The scenery is absolutely magic. I love the fact that nature is very present and it is in total harmony with human-beings. I have to get used to it because I am scared of seeing big insects and everything.:-)

Actually, I like Noosa. It is really a magnificent place to be and to live. Everyone is relaxed. It was exactly what I expected from this spot.

However, what is weird, because I did not realise that before departure from Switzerland, is that I am a little bit homesick. I miss my family and my friends so much, but apparently it is quite normal at the beginning of a long trip like mine.

I am staying as an Aupair in a lovely family. This means that technically I have to work fifteen hours a week for the family. I have to deal with my work and the CAE course and homework. It is quite hard to do everything, I have actually not a lot of free time left during the week.

I expect a lot of this trip in Australia because it is really an unique experience to be indepedent for a while and do things by myself. I hope that after this trip I will be changed in a good way. I guess that I will be more mature. At the same time, I will come back to Switzerland with much more knowledge.

Furthermore, I really hope that after my trip, I will speak perfectly English. For the moment, I am attending the CAE course, but then if I sit the CAE exam, I willl attend the CPE. It is like a challenge for me and I know that I am going to do my best.

I want to take advantage of my trip as much as possible. Learning English, travelling around Australia for a while and understanding a different culture from mine are the main aims that I want to reach during this six months away from my homecountry.