The Sunday Post #62 – New Job, and Costume Balls

Posted 13 December, 2015 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Memes, Wrap-up Posts / 77 Comments

The Sunday Post - (un)Conventional Bookviews

The Sunday Post #62 – Weekly Wrap-up

Welcome to my Sunday Post. Thank you to Kim over at The Caffeinated Reviewer, who is hosting this weekly event. It is the perfect opportunity to share what happened here on my own blog, as well as some of the happenings elsewhere in the Blogosphere.

During the night between December 11th and December 12th in 1602, Geneva fought off the French who tried to take over the city of Geneva. A few weeks before, one of the citizens had noticed foreigners who were measuring the wall around the city, and they immediately thought of a future attack. To counter this, during the night, the citizens built an extension to the wall, to make it higher, thus thwarting the French from being able to enter the city. When they arrived and couldn’t climb over the wall, they got another surprise as well – at one point, a woman was preparing a caldron of vegetable soup, and she managed to pour the hot soup over some of those soldiers who were still trying to enter Geneva. Nowadays, the tradition is that on the last Friday before that night, high school and primary school students dress up (it’s like our Halloween in a way) and on December 12th, we share a chocolate caldron with marzipan vegetables to remember the courage of those people over four hundred years ago. So there were a lot of fun costumes to see on Friday, the parc outside uni was full of kids who were already partying at 10 am, and we had our very own caldron-breaking with the chocolate yesterday 🙂

Chocolate Caldron - (un)Conventional Bookviews - Sunday Post

On Tuesday morning, I had an interview for a long term substitute teacher position at a high school not far from my house, and I got it! I’m really happy to know that from January to June, I will teach eight hours per week 🙂 And when I told them I had a trip planned in May – for Chicago and BEA – they said that was not a problem. And after I had prepared this post, I got a call from the school to let me know that if at all possible, it would be great if I can start on Monday. That is tomorrow!

We also have a terror threat in Geneva, so things are pretty tense here these days. On Friday, after my class at uni in the morning, armed policemen, four in uniform and four in civil clothes came inside, started running around… which made us go outside… and came back out 20 minutes later with a young man in handcuffs. Nothing about it on the news, so I have no idea if it had anything to do with the threats or not. My heart was beating so fast, my iWatch told me I did 35 minutes of sports.

We’ve also finally had some sun again (yup, I prefer to end on a positive note!) and here’s a picture of the beautiful sunset we had on Friday.

Sunset - (un)Conventional Bookviews

This week’s posts:

This week’s reviews:

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere:

Bec @ Readers in Wonderland wonders Are Reading Challenges Effective?

Aila @ Happy Indulgence share Why She Reads Science Fiction.

Pixie @ Great Imaginations chats about Reading Slumps.

Rashika @ The Social Potato has an awesome (and ironic) post about Why She Doesn’t Read YA.

Cait @ Paperfury shares Ten Types of Characters She Loves.

What have you been up to this past week? Don’t forget to leave me a link so I can come visit your Sunday Post as well.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you’ve enjoyed your weekend, and that next week will be filled with awesome!

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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77 responses to “The Sunday Post #62 – New Job, and Costume Balls

  1. Oh wow, that’s scary about the terror threats- I’m glad you’re okay with whatever happened at the university too!! You just never know!

    Thanks for sharing your initial story. that’s so fascinating; that chocolate cauldron looks great. Congrats on the long-term job and that’s awesome they were okay with you going to Chicago in May. I really wish I could go and meet you! It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to make it though, with planning a trip to London in September.

    -lauren

    ShootingStarsMag recently posted: Subscription Reviews: For the Faithful + OrangeGlad
    • It’s so weird, because there hasn’t been any mention of it on the news here… Oh well – at least we were all safe, and hopefully, whatever that guy was up to was thwarted.

      Yeah, I love this specific celebration, who doesn’t love chocolate?

      Oh, that’s too bad, Lauren. But London is really close to Geneva 😉 And I plan on going to conventions each year, when I can manage. in 2017 I want to go to RT again.

      Thanks for stopping by xoxo

  2. Nice sunset! And congrats on the job- that’s awesome. Good for you. 🙂 Love the story behind your tradition- that chocolate looks great.

    That’s too close a call! Glad no one was hurt, whatever he was up to. It’s tense these days with not knowing what’s going to happen…

    Have a fantastic week!

    Greg recently posted: Sunday Post #121
    • You know, in retrospect, it might not have even been a close call, it could be that everybody is on high alert, and the police preferred coming in with too many men rather than not enough. I’m not used to seeing our police with guns, though, so it was very impressive.

      Thanks for stopping by, Greg!

  3. So happy for you Lexxie! Congrats on the new job! 🙂 what a wonderful (and yummy!) tradition! Thanks for sharing the story. Can’t wait for you next Sunday Post to hear about your first week teaching at this new school 🙂 good luck!

  4. Great Picture on the sunset…..I rarely see sunsets now a days because of my work schedule ( I sleep in late afternoon and early evening since I work at 2 A.M) but I do love the sunrises. Love the historic share you gave…it’s always great to see those traditions especially in honoring courageous people from the past. Funny tidbit about the iWatch though.

  5. I had heard of the terror threats in Geneva, but not what happened in your school. When I heard about the threat, I immediately thought of you. It is a scary world we live in right now. I hope you stay safe.

    I had know idea that I was in for a history lesson this morning. It was very interesting and I learned something new. That is so neat and I love your chocolate cauldron. I hope you enjoyed it.

    Melanie Simmons @mlsimmons recently posted: Wolf Trouble Audiobook by Paige Tyler (REVIEW)
    • You know, they didn’t say a thing about what happened at Uni in the news here, either. And yes, it is a scary world we live in. But we still try to just go about life as usual – if not the terrorists win by default.

      Chocolate cauldrons rock 🙂 I love this tradition, which I had never heard of before I moved here. Thanks for stopping by, Melanie.

  6. When I started reading your post, I missed the year (1602) and I thought this was currently going on. I really am out of it!!! It sure sounded funny, though, thinking the crazy French were invading Switzerland!

    Congratulations on your awesome new job!!! It sounds perfect for you! Are your kids in the same school??

    I’m so EXCITED to hear you’re making the trip to the states for BEA!!! I will be there and we must meet up!! I’m staying at the hotel closest to Convention Center. If you want to meet, we’ll coordinate more later 😉 I’ve already got my convention badge and hotel reservations.

    • Oh yes! We will definitely have to meet up! I have my convention badge and hotel reservation, too. But I’m not staying in the hotel closest to the convention, I reserved my plane tickets and hotel back in August, and there were no links for hotels yet then. But I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out! It’s so exciting to know I will be able to meet more of the bloggers I love visiting virtually 🙂

      My kids are not in the same school, it’s the first time I’ll teach in this high school, and they use different books than what I’m used to, so I need to get myself ready. I’m really excited, though, because it will also help to have had yet another long-term contract when I start my MA in pedagogy.

      Hehe, the French and the Swiss are mostly good friends these days, thank goodness 😀 But the history is still something that makes the celebration special.

  7. What a fun tradition! I never heard of that before. And a chocolate caldron with marizpan veggies? That sounds yummy! And it looks so fun! It must have been fun to see all the costumes.

    Congrats on the job, although that’s crazy you suddenly got a call if you could start tomorrow. I am sure you’ll do great and that’s ncie your trip to BEA wasn’t a problem.

    That terror threat sounds scary. And that must’ve been scary with how the police came to your uni. Your weather looks better than here, what a ncie picture! We have had a bit of sun, but mostly grey and cloudy. I’ll check out some of those posts you linked to, they sound interesting. Have a great week!

    Lola recently posted: Sunday Post #156
    • It’s a great tradition, Lola, and we always look forward to it 🙂

      When I was in for my interview, they told me they might need me earlier than planned, as the teacher was out on sick leave that day. And as it’s for a maternity leave, it also will depend on whether the other teacher can come back to work after the Christmas vacation or not.

      It was scary to see those armed policemen for sure. But I’m also glad they check up on every little thing to make sure we are as safe as possible.

      Having better weather has been very good for my energy levels, the week before this, we had fog and rain every day, and I only wanted to stay in bed 🙂

  8. Congrats on the position! And I hope the scary threats are behind you.

    I like that your iWatch gave you credit for sports…LOL

    Beautiful sunset…enjoy your week! Thanks for visiting my blog.

    • I probably did mention it last year, too, Laura, it’s always a lot of fun 🙂 I would have probably not taken the job if they said no for a week off – I already have my BEA pass plus my hotel reservation and my plane tickets… Thanks for stopping by.

  9. Congrats on the Job! Very happy for you!.
    Sorry about the scare, we have those a lot here, California and recently at a mall but they gave no details so I am not sure what happened. The world is a crazy place, Stay Safe.

    Love that tradition, thanks for sharing, I love when people talk about things we don’t do here.

    Have a great week, Lexxie! Happy Reading! ox

    Michelle@Because Reading recently posted: Late days, Slump, Cookies and a Shitty Breakfast ~ WIR & TSP
  10. Ooooh thanks for sharing about your tradition Lexxie, I’d never heard about this^^ I love learning about different customs like that! I’m so sorry that you had a terror threat though D: That’s scary! Stay safe and hopefully this week calms down on that front! xxxx

    Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows Reviews recently posted: Review: Sinner
  11. Beautiful photo!

    Congrats on the job, that is fantastic news! *throws confetti* On top of school, family, and blogging, you are one busy lady.

    What a fun tradition for your national holiday. Perhaps someday, these current threats will have something equally joyful as a remembrance.

    • Thanks, Bea! I’m really happy about my job, too 🙂 It’s always nicer to know in advance that I will have work, you know.

      It’s nice to have a fun tradition like this one, and maybe you’re right – one day, these strange times will become something different in our memories 🙂

  12. Congratulations on the new job and I hope you have a great first day!! Your tradition was really fascinating and it is a fun way of remembering the history. That is scary and everyone is on high alert these days. I hope you stay safe and enjoy your week!

  13. So glad your threat did not turn out more serious than it was! Congratulations on the job and may it be a great first day.

  14. Thank you for linking up Pixie’s discussion!

    That sounds like an awesome holiday! And the cauldron is so adorable. I love learning about other holidays from around the world. So I love it when you have a holiday update!

    Congrats on the job! I am so happy for you!!

    • I am really wondering why there was no mention on the news. I know not many people saw what happened, but if something serious was going on, I think we should know about it.
      I’m glad, too, Charlie, and I look forward to meeting my new students today 🙂

  15. Ah, nasty French people 😉 At least, thanks to us, you now have chocolate marzipans every year to celebrate, that picture makes me hungry ! And congratulations on the new job !!! We had alerts last week too : policemen came into the library, told us there was a car parked in front that was suspect – in fact, a few minutes later, a father came and tucked his baby inside, completely unaware of the fright he gave us. And a scared reader said she wanted to exit the library because there was a threatening Muslim reading a religious book at a table : the poor guy was homeless and dozing on the book, enjoying the warmth in the library. The reader left anyway ! And there were guns found in a building near my daughters’s college… We hear sirens every day… and keep working. Ah well… There’s sun today here too, it’s breaking through the fog surrounding my little valley 🙂 I hope that first day at your new job is fantastic !

    Red Iza recently posted: The Sunday post #61 : we miss Loullig
    • Haha, Iza. I don’t think anyone actually think about the French as nasty! But the Duc de Savoie was probably viewed very differently.
      *sighs* It bothers me the most that many of us (and yes, in some cases, myself included) become afraid of other people. And suspicious 🙁 It’s sad, really.
      I’m glad the sun was able to pierce the fog, Iza. Bisous.

  16. I greatly enjoyed your story about the wall and the chocolate cauldron. It’s so neat to me to learn about other cultures. It was a story I had never heard before, but sounds like a ton of fun to celebrate. Congrats on your job!! It’s good to know you’ll have some stability there with the length of the sub job. I live in the states and still have never made a BEA. I hope you have a blast!! And crazy about the terror threat and young man being arrested. Stay safe!!

    Jaclyn Canada recently posted: Fandom Mashups [8]
  17. Your story about from the 1600’s was fascinating and you are right it is sort of like Halloween. And the terrorist thing is really scary. Now that I live about 40 minutes from Washington D.C. and ten minutes from the NSA, things are even more scary when I hear things like this. I am glad it all worked out okay! Glad you got the job, and I hope you enjoy it!

  18. Congrats on your new teaching position, Lexxie! It’s fantastic that they asked you to start early. And that they had no issue with your trip to Chicago in May. 😉

    Scary times we’re living in…my kids’ school was on lockdown status last Thursday. I had Sky with me, as I’d taken her to get her allergy shots, but Berk and Jax were still in the school. It turns out a kid claimed to have a gun and threatened to start shooting. He was arrested and all was okay – but very scary considering he was right across the hall from where Jax was.

    On a happy note, I have a snow day today! As do the kids. 😀 We’re all home enjoying a fire while watching it snow. The kids have a study day since finals start tomorrow. 🙂 **BIG HUGS**

    • Oh my gosh, Brandee, I loved that they didn’t have a problem with my trip. That would have made me say no, I’m sure 😀
      I saw that there was a lockdown on Thursday, it’s really bad, and I’m sure Berk and Jax were scared, too! Why would a kid claim to have a gun in school? I just don’t get that at all.
      I hope you had a fun snow day. *BIG HUGS*

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