Well, it’s official: As of today, we’re a quarter of the way through the two years we’re expecting to live in Switzerland. Time has flown by, and, without a doubt, the last three months were much easier on us than the first three. Let me catch you guys up.

For one thing, what a difference it makes when you can understand what’s going on around you. I’ve now taken four and a half months of French classes, and, by golly, those things really work! I went from learning the alphabet to writing an essay last month on a book that changed my life (I had a harder time deciding on the book than actually writing the assignment, but, for what it’s worth, I went with Pride and Prejudice). In my daily life, that means I’m okay when the teller at the post office goes off the usual script and asks about postage class, or when I need to ask for help at the supermarket with finding a substitute for some weird tomato ingredient Gui sent me hunting for, or when I show up to enroll in my English-speaking Masters program and, incredibly, the official only speaks French.

Which brings me to my next update: I’ll be pivoting from spending my days in French classes to attending graduate school at the University of Geneva this month! I had my doubts about my brain’s ability to study again — it’s been years since I was last in a classroom — but I’m feeling more confident now that I’ve had success in my French intensive. Even though the program is supposed to only require English proficiency, I already would have been lost without any French knowledge. The enrollment process? In French, as I mentioned. The FAQ about starting classes? Yup, in French. The online student portal? You got it: In French. Wish me luck!

What else? Gui and I were lucky enough to have both of our families and some great friends visit Geneva this summer, and I can’t emphasize enough how happy it made us. We’ve also made some local friends who we’re excited to reconnect with as everyone heads back from their summer vacations. Our current country count? We’ve visited a whopping eight in the past six months, thought most of our travel has been, and will continue to be, concentrated in the countries closest to us: France, Italy, and, of course, Switzerland. City count? I came up with 25, but it depends on your metrics 🙂

A little *housekeeping*: The Plaid Shirt Diaries is now on Twitter, Instragram, Pinterest and Bloglovin’ (click each for a direct link), so please connect with me on any or all of the above for more photos and insights!

A big thanks, as always, for following along with us on this great adventure.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy September, and a relaxing Labor Day weekend to those of you in the states. Cheers!