Asian markets in Geneva

Watching Ocean's 13 right now as I write today's post. The weather was really nice, so R and I decided to spend the day in Geneva. Overall today was a success—I bought a Swiss cell phone so R and I can contact each other while in Switzerland (and for emergencies everywhere else). Then we visited some schools that offer French language courses.

FRENCH CLASSES

There are several good options which I've listed below—at this time I'm leaning towards Migros' École-Club which is located in Geneva, Switzerland just over the French border. Before signing up, I will check at the Mairie in case they can suggest French classes closer to home.

University of Geneva (UNIGE) offers fairly cheap, intensive summer French classes, and is located a short tram ride away from Cornavin, Geneva's central train station.

Migros, a Swiss supermarket chain offers French courses as part of École-Club. In addition to French and other language classes, they also offer dance, fitness, cooking, finance, and business classes. At École-Club, I took a free French language placement test and got 26/36 questions correct, placing me at the A2 level (which is advanced beginner). 

Ifage is another option. Like Migros, it is well-priced, with good schedules, and is centrally located at the train station. But it was kind of depressing looking. I saw some brochures for EF at Ifage, however, I don't think EF is associated with Ifage.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO GENEVA
Before arriving in Geneva I knew very little about the city, only that it ranked as the number one city to live (having tied with Zurich in a study conducted in 2007) and that it was home to the United Nations and the Geneva Conventions. Therefore I knew Geneva would be international, but just how much was quite a surprise. Wikipedia gives la ville de Genève a population of 191, 000 (as of 2010) while the Canton of Geneva has a population 457,428. Of that nearly half a million population, 39.2% are foreigners and more than 50% of people living in Geneva (the canton I believe) hold foreign passports. These numbers don't even take into account foreigners who work in Geneva but live in neighboring France (such as me and R and many expats who work for CERN situated both in Pays Gex (France) and Geneva).

The United Nations and its many agencies play a huge part in creating an international, bringing in diplomats, staff, and support from 192 countries, or member-states. Wikipedia cites that Geneva is home to 22 international organizations and more than 250 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). In addition Geneva serves as the European headquarters for many corporate companies like Proctor and Gamble, HP, and Dupont amongst others.

Due to its international setting, there are more Asian stores than I expected, most of them centered in the Paquis district, close to the railroad station. Walking around the Paquis, R and I found many more shops than we found through a quick Google search. I read somewhere that Geneva has a large Japanese ex-pat population. And more recently Geneva is trying to court the Chinese banks so there may be a small Chinatown here in the near future. Genève is quite small and compact so we weren't that far away from the Paquis district. Today we visited the stores below.

ASIAN STORES IN GENEVA

Asia Store 

• Pros: Clean and organized, no weird smells, with good basic selection. A nice surprise was the owner of Asia Store was not only Chinese, but he spoke Teo Chew, my dialect. We chatted briefly and I found out his last name is Chan, which is as common as Smith or Jones. He emigrated to France from Cambodia and now lives in Switzerland.

• Cons: Tiny with only about 3 rows of food. Not a wide selection. Quite expensive. I paid 7.10CHF for ginger, vermicelli, and rice paper (which would have cost maybe $3 in Boston). Eating out, and food in general, costs much more in Switzerland partly due to universal healthcare and the high salaries the Swiss enjoy. I have to keep that in mind instead of making a straight comparison to Boston prices.

Alimentation Japonaise Miyai
45 Rue de Zurich, 1201 Genéve
Tel: 022-731-4862
Pros: Neat, well-stocked Japanese grocery store where I bought pickled plums, miso paste, wasabi peas, and gyoza wrappers.
Cons: Expensive, but not any more expensive than Asia Store or other Asian markets in Geneva.

Vietnamese Market (whose name I forget)
En route to find dinner, we accidentally found the best Chinese/Vietnamese supermarket.

• Pros: The owners are Vietnamese—and directed us to Cho Lon, a Vietnamese restaurant around the corner from their store. We should have heeded their advice, but we didn’t, opting instead for another one nearby. Before heading to dinner, we checked out the store. Although still quite small compared to Asian markets in Boston, it was still the biggest one yet. It carried a big selection of Asian fresh vegetables, packaged goods, big bags of rice, different kinds of tofu, lots of frozen fish, fish sauce, shrimp paste, rice paper, many kinds of noodles, and even "mam", fermented river fish. Most of the goods came from China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand. I quickly bought some hoisin sauce, roast pork "char siu" marinade, and a bag of dried green mung beans. Why mung beans? From these dried beans, I can sprout my own bean sprouts at any moment to use in fresh summer rolls, or to use in Vietnamese dishes. I have yet to find fresh bean sprouts in my French markets, so I'm super excited that I found the dried green mung beans today!

• Cons: None