Counting days but no luck with rooms yet!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Yes, we got a couple more days to go before I depart Winnipeg and head off to Geneva, Switzerland. I am somewhat feeling a mix of fear, worry and excitement with my impending departure. Fear as I do not know a soul in Geneva and I could not converse in fluent French. Worry as after more than 2 weeks of searching, no room has been found yet. And of course excitement as this will be a new continent and country I'll be setting foot in, it's a fulfilment of a childhood ambition as I've always dreamt of setting foot in Europe when I was a kid.

Yes, as I've told you, it has been really tough finding a room in Geneva. Although my internship has been approved in principle way way back in September, I just got my contract on the 11th. Add to that my end-of-term requirements in the graduate school so I am just actually left with approximately 2 1/2 weeks for room searching.

Searching for a room in Geneva is in simple words, crazy! As one website puts it, it can 'reduce grown, intelligent adults to anger, kicking and screaming - even tears.' Well, I am taking it easy. I haven't set foot in Switzerland yet so this might be a big factor why I'm not having any luck at all with the tenants. Plus, je ne parle pas français couramment. Another factor might be the anticipated cultural barrier, considering that I am a foreigner and not Swiss or French or say European.

It's been a pretty interesting house-searching though. I've sent out a couple of emails to landlords and the response has been somewhat funny. I didn't know that sex, linguistic capabilities and/or nationality might actually make or break a deal with a potential landlord. There's Emma, who wrote me back saying that they only prefer female colocataires. Well, that's well-given, it's somewhat natural for some girls not to like roommates of the opposite sex especially strangers like me. Then there's Pierre, I sent an email to this guy and he responded back immediately, like in 2-3 hours after the email was sent. He asked questions wheter I speak English perfectly, if I do have an accent, and if I am a girl.... Well, the first two questions are understandable as he might want to perfect his English. But the last question? Your guess is good as mine :)

Another thing that worries me is the astronomically high rent prices. I can't imagine that a room, take note only a room - and not an apartment costs SFr 600 ($1 CAD ~ SFr 1) above! You even see students willing to pay SFr 1000 just for a single room! Having lived in Winnipeg for two winters, I apparently got spoiled with the 'mild' rent prices in this cold city. One Mexican exchange student friend of mine has the entire basement with cable TV, washer and drier, and internet for just $300 CAD! Well, oh well, that's why they say Switzerland is one if not the most expensive country in the world to live.

Don't get me wrong, I am not whining. I try to approach the situation open-mindedly. Perhaps we could get an affordable place to live once I do the searching inside of Geneva and not through electronic means with my PC and internet connection here in Winnipeg.