I am from the mid-western US (grew up in Kansas City, went to college in Alabama) and I am new to Europe in general. I am a physicist working at a scientific institute close to Zurich. I speak some German and a very tiny bit of French, and my years of education in Spanish is of very limited use here. I like going to pubs and hearing live music. I regularly played guitar, sang, and wrote songs until I started work here a few months ago. So far, I've spent some time in Lausanne, Bern, London, Baden-Baden, Barcelona, and Paris. I will be travelling around Europe and the US for both business and pleasure over the next few years.