After long preparation, from submitting the application for CERN Summer Student 2014, searching for sponsors and funding, and preparing the departure, it was the showtime. I would go to Europe, joining CERN Summer Student 2014 with 200 others students from around the globe.

It would be a lie if I told you I was not excited. Of course, I was over excited. Finally, after long effort over the past months, I could join the CERN Summer Student 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland. I could not wait for the countdown to departure, the two weeks waiting was just too long for me. On the last week before departure, I could not sleep well because I kept imagining if I was asleep in my room in CERN Saint Genis Hostel. It was an over-excited syndrome! Tomorrow was the day. I would depart on June 17th, 2014. This day, I gave my mom some farewell party. We watched How To Train Your Dragon 2 on a theater nearby and had some dinner together.

I had prepared my new big luggage and filled it up with everything I need. Because the maximum baggage allowed was 23kg, I had to weigh it first before I went to the airport. My strategy was to put everything that had large volume but relatively light in my luggage whereas everything that had small volume but relatively heavy went to my backpack. I double checked it again before my departure to the airport tomorrow. Then, it was a good time for sleep last time in my home before I slept somewhere in Europe!

June 17, 2014. The airport, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) is located on the northern of Jakarta, which is, approximately, 180km from Bandung, my hometown. Although there is an airport in Bandung, Husein Sastranegara International Airport (BDO), but it only serves a limited number of international flight and destinations. I went to CGK using shuttle bus with my mother at 10:00 A.M. Although my flight was scheduled at 7:35 P.M., I gave some spare time to compensate unexpected heavy traffic jam in Jakarta. Fortunately, I arrived at CGK around 3:00 P.M. My father also came to CGK from his office near the CGK. We took some pictures before departure.

My flight to Europe was divided into two parts. Both of the parts were served by Lufthansa. It was the cheapest flight I could found at that time (around USD 800 roundtrip).

• LH783 served using an Airbus A340-300 (single-deck, wide-body, quad-engine airliner). It flew from CGK (Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta-Indonesia) to FRA (Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt-Germany) with one stopover at KUL (Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia). The duration of the flight was 2 hours from CGK to KUL and 13 hours from KUL to FRA.
• LH1214 served using a Boeing 737-300 (single-deck, narrow-body, twin-engine airliner). It flew from FRA (Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt-Germany) to GVA (Geneva International Airport, Geneva-Switzerland). The duration of the flight was only 1 hour.
• The total time of the flight, including the time for transit, was approximately 19 hours. This was almost all-day flight!

Two hours before departure, I checked in my luggage. I had checked in using web check-in because it was very convenient and I could choose the seat earlier. My favorite seat is somewhere behind the wing where I can see the flaps, slats, the back part of the engine, and others flight control. I love to see how the flight control act in different time of flight phase (freak, huh?). I also specified the meal that I would receive during the flight.

So, it was the time to board the flight. See you Indonesia in the next 2 months!

Finally, I stepped my feet for the first time in Europe! I had to transit in Frankfurt, Germany before continuing my journey to Geneva. In Frankfurt, I had to pass the immigration as I entered the Schengen area from Germany. The total time spent in my way from my home (Bandung) to Geneva was approximately 25 hours. At that time, I was very tired, not to mention that I felt that jet lag for the first time. The time difference between Bandung and Geneva during summer time was 5 hours. But, summer made the afternoon was very long. My plan when I arrived at CERN Saint Genis Hostel was taking a bath and then sleeping for some hours.

I took a free ticket for commuting inside Geneva before went out from the baggage claim area at Geneva International Airport. I waited for the Bus Y which would bring me directly to the CERN Saint Genis Hostel. My first impression for Geneva was exquisite. It was a quiet and clean city. The public transport was very well scheduled and consisted of the tram, bus, and ship. No subway because the underground of Geneva occupied by LHC (just kidding 🙂 ). You can find out more about Geneva Public Transport from this link.

I thought when summer it would have ambiance temperature above 36 degrees Celcius, but I felt it was colder than Bandung (below 24 degrees Celcius). Later on, I felt very cold during midnight or early morning when the temperature could hit 5 degrees Celcius. I kept thinking why everyone called it summer. I was already freezing on summer, how about during winter?

The bus Y passed in front of CERN. It was a breathtaking moment when I could see the famous Globe of Science and Innovation just in front of my eyes! It was the same Globe that I saw in my textbook or on the internet! Then, the bus Y passed the border between Switzerland and France. Several minutes later, I arrived at CERN Saint Genis Hostel. I rushed to the check-in counter to claim my reservation but, unfortunately, the check-in could only be performed at 2.00 p.m.

Because it would be so boring to do nothing in 4 hours, I decided to go for sightseeing in CERN. I stored my big luggage inside the storage room and I caught the shuttle bus to go to CERN. Actually, I could not enter the CERN because I had not been registered yet. But, the guard in front of the gate let me went in after I explained that I was summer student whose contract started next week. I went to CERN Main Building, ATLAS Main Building, CERN Restaurant 1, Globe of Science and Innovation, and other places inside CERN Meyrin Site. I also bought a sim card for my phone at a small shop near the CERN Restaurant 1.

So, I went back to CERN Saint Genis Hostel for check-in. I was given a room in Building C, 1st floor, room number 312. Just for information, in Geneva (and most of Europe), floor numbering system is started with 0 as a ground floor. The floor above ground floor will use a positive number while the floor below ground floor will use a negative number. So, my room was located above the ground floor, and I had to climb the stairs while brought my big luggage.

I was very glad that my room had a great view from its windows. I could see the road with the bus stop there. There were a bed with its blanket and bed linen, a cupboard to store my apparel, a small wooden desk with a wooden chair that can be used for working, a washbasin, a heater which was currently not functional because it was summer, a mirror, some wall hooks, and small bookshelf. Later on, the management gave each room a refrigerator which was great!

On the outside, I had a long corridor which connected all of the room on one floor. There were ten rooms on one floor. At the end of the corridor, I could find two showers with cold and warm water and two toilets. The toilets were dry toilets which made me not familiar. The toilet in Indonesia is usually a wet toilet. Near the shower, I found an open space where I could use it to dry my towel or other laundry items.

At the other end of the corridor, I found a shared kitchen which had one microwave, two large tables with eight plastic chairs, ten private compartments to store food, seasoning and eating utensils, two electric induction stoves, one large refrigerator which was divided into ten small private compartment for freezing food (later be replaced by private refrigerator in each room), a large trash bin, and a washbasin. I was borrowed one large frying pan, one small boiler pan, some spoons and some forks. In addition, I brought a rice cooker to cook rice from home and some plastic cups.

On the ground floor, I found a vending machine, a laundry room with two wash machines and two dry machines which were operated using a coin that could be bought at the reception for EUR3.50 (one coin is for one machine and one-time use), and a large garage to park bicycle and motorcycle. Both of the laundry room and the garage were locked using a unique code that could be obtained from the reception. Moreover, there was a TV room but on other building. At that time, a lot of my friends gathered in that room to watch FIFA World Cup 2014 matches.

My opinion about this hostel was very impressive for its relatively low price. The water was clean that it could be drunk. The environment was clean and was taken care carefully each day. There was also a room service twice a week that would clean the floor in my room and change the bed linen for free. I only had one complaint, that was the internet speed. The internet speed was unacceptably very slow, especially during the night.

So, I had done field orientation this week before my contract begun. I believed that next week would be awesome. Finally, I can talk about CERN Summer Student 2014 activity on the next article. Stay tuned!

to be continued…