Wow, it's been a busy week!
Let's see, what have I done since I last posted...
Sunday Maia and I wanted to check out the Médiatheque but it was closed... as everything is on Sundays, except the Cinema! So we went and saw "slumdog millionaire". It was really good! Then we came back to my apartment and watched another movie because it's cheaper to watch them for free :)
Monday I went to go check out a rock climbing class but it was canceled so I met up with Maia and Yan at the cafeteria... not much to say about that, it's cafeteria food, only bread and cheese and quiche instead of... American food, but still mass processed and mushy. Then Yan and I went shopping! I got boots in case it rains (which it did once but doesn't look like it will again... great...) and some really cheap cute clothes! Right now it's Les Soldes (sales) so everything is on sale, except the new clothes for spring, but who needs that?
Tuesday was my first day of classes... what an interesting experience. My first class was Savoirs Culturels which is like learning about French customs and cultures. We talked about stereotypes about French people and what is true and why. That's two hours. Then right afterwards is language block, another two hours. The first day we just chose our classes then did some ridiculous listening activity that nobody else finished. Sam, a girl from the LC group, and I have all our classes together which is nice. Then we have a two hour break then 4 hours straight of options courses: Phonétiques (phonetics), Les Langues de la Rue (street language), Philosophie du Monde, and Philosophie de la France. All of the option courses are interesting.
Wednesday Sam came over and we recopied our notes and talked about classes. Then we had another language block which is semi-interesting/semi-boring because it's really easy stuff, but at least the class won't be too hard! We were going to check out Mouvements Litteraires (literary movements) but it was cancelled.
Thursday we went to Diversité Linguistique de la France (Linguistic Diversity in France) but our prof never showed up, probably because of the strike. Then we tried to find out information for taking a course at the faculté (the actual French university, not the international school that we go to) and the office was also closed because of the strike. Apparently there was a nationwide strike and a lot of public workers like teachers and transportation workers were on strike against vague things like education, the economic crisis, and Sarkozy. Unfortunately I didn't get to see any of the manifestations because I went to bed for the rest of the day besides our village project class. I had a really bad cold that is still bothering me so hopefully I get over it soon...
Friday I skipped my morning class to get rest because we went on an excursion! We met up with the Nancy group (another group of students from LC) and took a bus to Colmar. There we visited an old church with a famous organ, and the the Musée d'Unterlinden to see the Retable d'Issenheim, a famous religious painting. The museum was very cool, they had everything from old religious statues, to artifacts from the neanderthal period to modern paintings, I even saw two Picassos! We were able to wander around by ourselves for a while and then had a guide explain the Retable d'Issenheim. I really enjoyed hearing all the background and explanations about the paintings, I really wouldn't have appreciated it without that. Next we went to a museum of Eau de Vie, which is a special type of liquer. The man that owns this small museum showed us how it was made and explained the history of a bunch of different bottles of liquer, as well as the history of absinthe. Then we got to taste some Eau de Vie! It was very very strong and not something I'd want to drink again, but I also tried a liquer called Exotic Cranberry which was sweet and delicious :)
After all that we were starving and we headed off for dinner. We ate at a restaurant called L'Agneau d'Or (the Golden Lamb). It was definitely very french... first the waitress came around and poured us all wine... then 100 years later (really only half an hour maybe, but I was starving so everything took forever) she brought this whipped vegetable purée thing... it was good but only because I was starving. Then another 100 years later we got a salad with munster cheese biscuit things! (sorry everyone, I forgot all the real names for everything) That was DELICIOUS! but definitely not filling enough... next course, sorbet to cleanse the palate. Then we had the main course, guinea fowl with homemade noodles and vegetables. It was so good! Finally I was full :) For a while we were scared that the salad was all we were going to get because the menu was out of order plus we didn't really understand what it said, so we were very happy when she brought out big plates of meat and veggies. After the delicious main course we had chocolate tart with ice cream (I'm sure it was something more fancy than that but that's how it translates in my American mind) All in all it was a very fancy delicious meal, I just wish it didn't take so long! We were there for about three hours!
Today I slept till about 11:30 because I'm still feeling icky and cold-infested but the Nancy group was still in Strasbourg and I wanted to go hang out with some friends before they left. Sam brought over the notes I missed Thursday and Friday. Then Maia and I went shopping for some food for my birthday party Sunday night! (I hope I'm feeling better by then!) After we dropped the groceries off at the apartment we met up with Catherine and Alla at a huge shopping center and walked around. It was nice being in a warm building instead of out in the cold but by the end I was feeling tired and icky again. We dropped Catherine off at her hotel then Maia and I came back to my apartment and watched some TV.
I would make this more interesting and detailed but I've been tired and sick since Thursday so my brain isn't functioning at it's fullest capacity... Tomorrow I'm going to rest up before my birthday party in the evening and Monday I have a Rock Climbing class I hope I'm in full form to attend. Then back into the school week with 8 hours of class on Tuesday! As long as I can make it through the first four hours of culture and language block the rest of the day should be interesting. Oh! And I get to pick up a birthday package at the post office on Monday :) Hopefully a good Birthday week to look forward to if I'm not still sick with une rhume (a cold)!
samedi 31 janvier 2009
samedi 24 janvier 2009
Une Baguette
Friday I got my bank card and saw the results of my language placement test, I'm in the DAEF group with a few other people from L&C. (DAEF is like second from the top, so that's good!)
Afterwards we had an academic meeting with Beth. She just explained how to register for classes, etc. So far it looks like I won't have any classes on Monday or Friday! Except for maybe a rock climbing class on Mondays or if I take a class at the Fac (faculté, the REAL French university).
Had a delicious Salmon dinner and then went to the theatre!
Hélène had bought a ticket to Vie et Destin a while ago but couldn't go so she gave me her ticket. The play was very intense... It was in Russian with French subtitles (or surtitres since they were above the stage) on a screen. So it gave me a headache looking up and reading the whole time while trying to keep track of what was going on, but I think maybe it was easier than if they had been speaking French because it would have been so fast. It was about a family in Russia during the holocaust. Very intense and powerful...
Overall I enjoyed it, but I'd like to go to a comedy next time :)
Afterwards I joined some friends from the group at Dubliner's, but we didn't stay long, they were tired and so was I.
Last night I had a dream about home and woke up suddenly and realized I was far far away in my room in France. :( It's a little daunting to think that I'll be so far away for so long, but I get busy and forget about it so it's not too bad...
I met my friend Maia at the mall and we did some shopping. There was a bookstore with books for 2€! I got a book by Antoine Saint-Exupéry (author of Le Petit Prince) and one by Pablo Neruda. We also got notebooks and pens for school. And a baguette! Très delicieuse! I can't wait until the weather gets warmer and I'll just sit outside with a baguette, cheese, and a book aaaaaall day. Especially Sundays since there's NOTHING to do on Sundays, except go to the movies.
After that we went downtown and walked around looking for a microphone so Maia can call her mom on Skype. Not much else except sitting outside a café until we headed home. And here I am!
We'll have dinner soon and then Maia and I are going to try to find Le Trolley Bus, Coline recommended it to me.
I have two more days this weekend to try to fill up so I don't get too lonely... Tomorrow we'll probably go check out the Médiathèque, a giant library next to the mall.
Oh! That reminds me... I need to get some bags there because at the grocery store you have to bring your own bags! We ended up carrying around all our school supplies in our purses today because they didn't give us bags... but I've seen people carrying around bags from the Médiathèque and they look pretty cool so I have to remember to get those.
Well, I hope everyone at home is doing well. I miss you all and love you!
À tout à l'heure!
Afterwards we had an academic meeting with Beth. She just explained how to register for classes, etc. So far it looks like I won't have any classes on Monday or Friday! Except for maybe a rock climbing class on Mondays or if I take a class at the Fac (faculté, the REAL French university).
Had a delicious Salmon dinner and then went to the theatre!
Hélène had bought a ticket to Vie et Destin a while ago but couldn't go so she gave me her ticket. The play was very intense... It was in Russian with French subtitles (or surtitres since they were above the stage) on a screen. So it gave me a headache looking up and reading the whole time while trying to keep track of what was going on, but I think maybe it was easier than if they had been speaking French because it would have been so fast. It was about a family in Russia during the holocaust. Very intense and powerful...
Overall I enjoyed it, but I'd like to go to a comedy next time :)
Afterwards I joined some friends from the group at Dubliner's, but we didn't stay long, they were tired and so was I.
Last night I had a dream about home and woke up suddenly and realized I was far far away in my room in France. :( It's a little daunting to think that I'll be so far away for so long, but I get busy and forget about it so it's not too bad...
I met my friend Maia at the mall and we did some shopping. There was a bookstore with books for 2€! I got a book by Antoine Saint-Exupéry (author of Le Petit Prince) and one by Pablo Neruda. We also got notebooks and pens for school. And a baguette! Très delicieuse! I can't wait until the weather gets warmer and I'll just sit outside with a baguette, cheese, and a book aaaaaall day. Especially Sundays since there's NOTHING to do on Sundays, except go to the movies.
After that we went downtown and walked around looking for a microphone so Maia can call her mom on Skype. Not much else except sitting outside a café until we headed home. And here I am!
We'll have dinner soon and then Maia and I are going to try to find Le Trolley Bus, Coline recommended it to me.
I have two more days this weekend to try to fill up so I don't get too lonely... Tomorrow we'll probably go check out the Médiathèque, a giant library next to the mall.
Oh! That reminds me... I need to get some bags there because at the grocery store you have to bring your own bags! We ended up carrying around all our school supplies in our purses today because they didn't give us bags... but I've seen people carrying around bags from the Médiathèque and they look pretty cool so I have to remember to get those.
Well, I hope everyone at home is doing well. I miss you all and love you!
À tout à l'heure!
jeudi 22 janvier 2009
It's going to be hard to think of a name for every entry...
Yesterday was tourist day! We did a tour on les bateaux mouches, which are long tour boats with windows all around. My host mom said they open the top in the summer, but it's too cold right now. Downtown Strasbourg is surrounded by the River Ill so the boats take you all around. We went from La Petite France (which I learned was named after a venereal disease...) all the way around to the counsel of Europe and the European Parliament.
Afterwards we walked through the mall rivetoile and then went to see a movie, Largo Winch. It's a sort of James Bond action movie. I was kind of worried because I didn't understand what was going on for a while, then I realized I probably wouldn't have understood the movie in English either, it's just one of those kinds of movies... But I learned that you can by a membership at the cinema for 20€ a month and see unlimited movies, so I'll probably do that and go on Sundays since nothing else is open on Sundays.
I was pretty tired once I finally got home so I had dinner with my host mom, read and watched a little TV and then fell asleep.
Today was another free day. The group from L&C going to Nancy arrived at the train station and had about 3 hours before their train left so I met up with them at a café and showed them around downtown a bit. We went inside the cathedral which was huge and beautiful! I want to go see the astronomical clock they have inside sometime. Then we walked back and I helped them get their bags on the train and take off. It was really nice to see some friends in that group and I'm excited to go on excursions with them this semester.
I walked home along the river. The streets are up high and I usually walk along the river on the street level and look down but I decided to take a stairway down and walk by the water. It was really nice, though a bit colder. They have benches in the grass along the water; when it warms up I'll go have a sandwich and read a book sometime. The swans swam up to me hoping for some food but I had nothing. Then I noticed this weird growling sound they were making... I had no idea swans sounded so scary!
I'm tired again tonight so not much more to say. My host mom is out at dinner so I'm feeding myself. Tomorrow we get our test results and choose our classes!
Well, off to see what's in the fridge, maybe I'll just eat cheese. Delicieux!
Afterwards we walked through the mall rivetoile and then went to see a movie, Largo Winch. It's a sort of James Bond action movie. I was kind of worried because I didn't understand what was going on for a while, then I realized I probably wouldn't have understood the movie in English either, it's just one of those kinds of movies... But I learned that you can by a membership at the cinema for 20€ a month and see unlimited movies, so I'll probably do that and go on Sundays since nothing else is open on Sundays.
I was pretty tired once I finally got home so I had dinner with my host mom, read and watched a little TV and then fell asleep.
Today was another free day. The group from L&C going to Nancy arrived at the train station and had about 3 hours before their train left so I met up with them at a café and showed them around downtown a bit. We went inside the cathedral which was huge and beautiful! I want to go see the astronomical clock they have inside sometime. Then we walked back and I helped them get their bags on the train and take off. It was really nice to see some friends in that group and I'm excited to go on excursions with them this semester.
I walked home along the river. The streets are up high and I usually walk along the river on the street level and look down but I decided to take a stairway down and walk by the water. It was really nice, though a bit colder. They have benches in the grass along the water; when it warms up I'll go have a sandwich and read a book sometime. The swans swam up to me hoping for some food but I had nothing. Then I noticed this weird growling sound they were making... I had no idea swans sounded so scary!
I'm tired again tonight so not much more to say. My host mom is out at dinner so I'm feeding myself. Tomorrow we get our test results and choose our classes!
Well, off to see what's in the fridge, maybe I'll just eat cheese. Delicieux!
mercredi 21 janvier 2009
L'Investiture (inauguration)
I've gotten a couple days behind! Sorry about that...
Monday we took our placement test, not much to say about that. On Friday we'll find out our language groups and choose our classes. Afterwards we opened a bank account and Friday we get our bank cards so I can't stop charging things to my credit card.
I was tired but the rest of the group wanted to walk around a bit more so I went with them and I'm glad I did. The walking and some food perked me up a bit. The rest of the group went to get phones and we walked around the center of town trying to find a movie theater, which we did and might go back to sometime.
After our feet got too tired we went our separate ways back to our homes. I took a nap and woke up for dinner. Rice and chicken with some kind of yummy sauce. No cheese course this time though :( After dinner the group wanted to go out so most of us arranged to meet at Le Trou.
Le Trou means "the hole" and that's basically what it is. You walk down this little road that looks like an alley way, open the door to Le Trou and walk down some stairs and you're in a little cavern. It reminded me of where the Beatles played their first concerts, in the Cavern, though much smaller. I don't think the whole band let alone their fans would fit in Le Trou. So we just hung out and had some drinks, talked and got to know eachother better. It was definitely an experience for the first bar I've ever been to! I really like the people on this trip and I'm glad I get to spend time with some people that I probably wouldn't get to know very well at Lewis & Clark.
The next day Samantha came over and we made some lunch, just some potato thing I found in the freezer and we added red peppers an cheese. It was pretty tasty! At 2 we had an academic meeting at Beth's and she just told us how choosing courses would work, etc. and we talked about our experience so far. She's great and we're so lucky to have someone to help us work through all the stinky details and strange experiences that come with living abroad. Then we left to get ready for the inauguration. We were walking back towards my apartment to drop off some stuff and go over to Sam's and we saw two students from Lewis & Clark who are going on the Nancy trip! Most of the Nancy group is arriving on Thursday but they did self-travel and were here early so we invited to come to the Dubliner's to watch the inauguration with us.
So we talked to them and started heading back towards downtown to try to find the Dubliner's, an Irish bar that was showing the inauguration. We got there a little later than we expected to but luckily nothing super important had happened.
The inauguration was quite and experience. Pretty much everyone in the bar was Americain or spoke English I'm guessing. My friend, Maia, and I kept making comments to eachother which annoyed some people who were watching intently, but we had fun... There's a lot of comments I could make, but I'll save that for some other time. Let's just say I really didn't like the looooong prayer (except for how he said MelEa and SAsha) but I did like Aretha Franklin :)
After it was all over we went outside to decide what to do next. Some people wanted to go home but I was feeling homesick for America and wanted to keep hanging out with LC kids. Maia, Evan, Whitney, Alla, and I went around the corner to a French bar to get some drinks and some food for me. (Maia and Alla are on the Strasbourg program with me and Evan and Whitney are the people from the Nancy group that arrived early). At the bar we all got a beer and I ordered a tartine aux quatres fromages, which is just basically a piece of bread piled high with four different kinds of cheese. It was delicious!
We all just hung out and talked for a while and then headed back outside to decide what to do next. Alla wanted to go home for dinner so Evan, Whitney, Maia and I went to Evan and Whitney's hostel to hang out for a while.
I've never been in a hostel before, it was pretty interesting. Evan's room had eight beds in it, but he was the only one staying there. We all just hung out and listened to music for a long time until Maia and I decided we were getting tired and should probably start walking back home.
So all in all I'm having lots of fun here, seeing new things, meeting new people, and experiencing things I wouldn't be able to back home, but walking home last night I was just so homesick. I miss Lewis & Clark, and my family, and my friends a lot. I want to get as much as I can out of this experience while I'm here but I'll be so glad to come home and see everyone again! I'll be writing postcards soon!
I love you all and hope to hear some news from America :)
Monday we took our placement test, not much to say about that. On Friday we'll find out our language groups and choose our classes. Afterwards we opened a bank account and Friday we get our bank cards so I can't stop charging things to my credit card.
I was tired but the rest of the group wanted to walk around a bit more so I went with them and I'm glad I did. The walking and some food perked me up a bit. The rest of the group went to get phones and we walked around the center of town trying to find a movie theater, which we did and might go back to sometime.
After our feet got too tired we went our separate ways back to our homes. I took a nap and woke up for dinner. Rice and chicken with some kind of yummy sauce. No cheese course this time though :( After dinner the group wanted to go out so most of us arranged to meet at Le Trou.
Le Trou means "the hole" and that's basically what it is. You walk down this little road that looks like an alley way, open the door to Le Trou and walk down some stairs and you're in a little cavern. It reminded me of where the Beatles played their first concerts, in the Cavern, though much smaller. I don't think the whole band let alone their fans would fit in Le Trou. So we just hung out and had some drinks, talked and got to know eachother better. It was definitely an experience for the first bar I've ever been to! I really like the people on this trip and I'm glad I get to spend time with some people that I probably wouldn't get to know very well at Lewis & Clark.
The next day Samantha came over and we made some lunch, just some potato thing I found in the freezer and we added red peppers an cheese. It was pretty tasty! At 2 we had an academic meeting at Beth's and she just told us how choosing courses would work, etc. and we talked about our experience so far. She's great and we're so lucky to have someone to help us work through all the stinky details and strange experiences that come with living abroad. Then we left to get ready for the inauguration. We were walking back towards my apartment to drop off some stuff and go over to Sam's and we saw two students from Lewis & Clark who are going on the Nancy trip! Most of the Nancy group is arriving on Thursday but they did self-travel and were here early so we invited to come to the Dubliner's to watch the inauguration with us.
So we talked to them and started heading back towards downtown to try to find the Dubliner's, an Irish bar that was showing the inauguration. We got there a little later than we expected to but luckily nothing super important had happened.
The inauguration was quite and experience. Pretty much everyone in the bar was Americain or spoke English I'm guessing. My friend, Maia, and I kept making comments to eachother which annoyed some people who were watching intently, but we had fun... There's a lot of comments I could make, but I'll save that for some other time. Let's just say I really didn't like the looooong prayer (except for how he said MelEa and SAsha) but I did like Aretha Franklin :)
After it was all over we went outside to decide what to do next. Some people wanted to go home but I was feeling homesick for America and wanted to keep hanging out with LC kids. Maia, Evan, Whitney, Alla, and I went around the corner to a French bar to get some drinks and some food for me. (Maia and Alla are on the Strasbourg program with me and Evan and Whitney are the people from the Nancy group that arrived early). At the bar we all got a beer and I ordered a tartine aux quatres fromages, which is just basically a piece of bread piled high with four different kinds of cheese. It was delicious!
We all just hung out and talked for a while and then headed back outside to decide what to do next. Alla wanted to go home for dinner so Evan, Whitney, Maia and I went to Evan and Whitney's hostel to hang out for a while.
I've never been in a hostel before, it was pretty interesting. Evan's room had eight beds in it, but he was the only one staying there. We all just hung out and listened to music for a long time until Maia and I decided we were getting tired and should probably start walking back home.
So all in all I'm having lots of fun here, seeing new things, meeting new people, and experiencing things I wouldn't be able to back home, but walking home last night I was just so homesick. I miss Lewis & Clark, and my family, and my friends a lot. I want to get as much as I can out of this experience while I'm here but I'll be so glad to come home and see everyone again! I'll be writing postcards soon!
I love you all and hope to hear some news from America :)
dimanche 18 janvier 2009
Free Day
Yesterday we had the day off from orientation activities, but Beth asked us to try to get to the University from our homes so that we would arrive at the language placement test on time. Samantha usually comes to my apartment (since we live so close) and we go from there, but I wanted to see her place so we met there and then tried to get to the University from her place.
Instead of walking back towards my apartment and going the route we knew, we decided to take a short cut... bad idea...
It seems like some streets should logically connect to other streets that should seem perpendicular to them, but somehow it just doesn't work that way... So we ended up wandering all around until we decided to pull out the map and find our way back. We eventually met a few other girls from our group at the Pangloss (the building where our test is this morning). Pretty much nothing is open on Sundays in France and we were hungry so we decided to hit up the Macdo (McDonald's) across the street. I got a Royal Bacon with Frites (fries) and a beer. Yum! ... sorta... The beer was super watery and tasted like beer flavored water, but not too bad I guess.
After we were done at Macdo we just wandered around for hours. We went to la Petite France and saw the touristy things and then wandered around downtown near the chapel. We tried to find coffee but it was pretty difficult, the only things open were restaurants. Around 4 our feet started hurting and we were all tired so we headed to our respective homes.
I got back and Helene said my internet worked so I was happy about that! I told her I was going to take a little nap and fell asleep around 4:30... then I woke up this morning at 6:30am again, and realized I had slept for 14 hours!
Well it was nice to get some rest. I have a language placement exam in an hour so wish me luck!
Instead of walking back towards my apartment and going the route we knew, we decided to take a short cut... bad idea...
It seems like some streets should logically connect to other streets that should seem perpendicular to them, but somehow it just doesn't work that way... So we ended up wandering all around until we decided to pull out the map and find our way back. We eventually met a few other girls from our group at the Pangloss (the building where our test is this morning). Pretty much nothing is open on Sundays in France and we were hungry so we decided to hit up the Macdo (McDonald's) across the street. I got a Royal Bacon with Frites (fries) and a beer. Yum! ... sorta... The beer was super watery and tasted like beer flavored water, but not too bad I guess.
After we were done at Macdo we just wandered around for hours. We went to la Petite France and saw the touristy things and then wandered around downtown near the chapel. We tried to find coffee but it was pretty difficult, the only things open were restaurants. Around 4 our feet started hurting and we were all tired so we headed to our respective homes.
I got back and Helene said my internet worked so I was happy about that! I told her I was going to take a little nap and fell asleep around 4:30... then I woke up this morning at 6:30am again, and realized I had slept for 14 hours!
Well it was nice to get some rest. I have a language placement exam in an hour so wish me luck!
samedi 17 janvier 2009
17.1.09 Orientation
I wrote this last night on my computer, but I don't have the internet working yet so I have to retype it here on my host-mom's computer:
(excuse any typing errors, french keyboards take a little while to get used to)
17.1.09
Last night I slept pretty well; I woke up a few times because it was really hot; but I just threw the blanket off of me and I was fine after that. :) This morning I woke up at 7:30! Very strange for me, as all of you who know me well will admit...
After that I spent some time catching up on Facebook.
For bfreakfast I had muesli, a type of French ceral that's like chocolate granola, very dense but delicious! Afterwards my friend Samantha stopped by so we could qalk to orientation together. We had a ma^and instructions frm my host-mom but we still got a little lost... The streets in France aren't in grids or anything logical so even reading a ma^can get confusing, but we stood there looking like confused tourists holding a giant map in front of us and a nice old French man came to our rescue, and after talking to him for a while and not riguring it out, two more people came over and helped. Our gorup leader, Bethany Zehr, livess on rue de Zurich. The meeting was at her apartment tand the people helping us said rue de Zurich is the most confusing street in all of Strasbourg! Lucky us.
Fortunately we figured it out and made it to the meeting on time. There we ded some get to know each other activities. There are 8 students from Lewis & Clark and 2 students from other Universities (De Pauw and Bryn Mawr). So 10 students: 9 girls and 1 boy. Lucky him!
We went through a huge packet; filled out some forms and then took a break for lunch, sandwiches. Even simple meat and cheese sandwiches are delicious in France! We had turkey and some sort of delicious white cheese on a baguette.
Then it was time for the galette des rois, a sort of pastry filled with almond paste. It's the traditional food for epiphany and they eat it all throughout January. Inside is a fève (a small plastic toy or figurine) and whoever gets it is the roi (king) or reine (queen). The youngest child goes under the table so they can't see the galette and they say who gets which piece. Sean (the only boy) had to go under the table because he's the youngest and we were all laughing because the table was so small!
After everyone had a piece and he came back out from under the table we dug in. He found the first fève and qas declared the roi! He got a crown and since we had another galette there was one more toy to find... and it was in my piece! So I was the reine and was crowned as well.
After all the excitement of rois and reines we started our petit walking tour of Strasbourg. We started off going to the Université to see where we will take our language placement tests on Monday and the bank where we will open our accounts. The buildings are not very attractive at all and our leader, Emily, said no one really likes school or takes it very seriously... I'm really going to miss the beautiful Lewis & Clark campus! It's so lovely in the spring! I hope things look better here once the winter greyness disappears.
Then we headed downtown! We learned how to ride the tram and stopped to watch the swans on the River Ill, and I had a moment of freaking out when I thought I lost my camera... it was just in my pocket, silly me!
We got back on the tram and arrived at the centre de ville (downtown). Quite a shock because around the Université there was NO ONE, then the second we stepped off the tram in downtown it was swarming with people! Very loud and busy! But lots of shops that I'm excited to go check out :) We saw the famous cathedral of Strasbourg then split up to go home or back to Beth's or wherever we like. A few of us went to get phones so we could contact each other if we needed to, then we went to Monoprix, which is like Target. I got conditioner and face wash (very exciting). After all of that we were exhausted and our feet hurt se we headed back home.
Luckily my friend Samantha lives near me se we walked together. On the map it looked far away and I was kind of dreading the whole walk home, but it really wasn't very far, and I recognized the school cafeteria on the way back and felt so good to finally be figuring out where things are.
When I got back we had poulet (chicken) for dinner with some sort of vegetable that looks like onions, but isn't... and wine, bien sûr! Then a course of delicious cheeses again. I could get used to this; :) Hélène and Wolfgang went for a cigarette break so I checked up on facebook while I waited for them to come back for dessert. We had a galette des ois but we were all so full that we only ate half of it, and the fève wasn't in that half so we'll have to see who is our next roi or reine another time.
Afterwards Hélène and I talked about books and music and she shared a lot of CD's with me. Her daughter is studying English literature in Montréal so I told her about the books I read in my francophone literature class from Québec.
The rest of my evening was spent on facebook. My computer still won't connect to the internet so I borrowed Hélène's, but she had to call her daughter on Skype so I'm typing this journal on Word and will post it as soon as I can connect, which will hopefully be tomorrow. Hélène has a friend that knows about computers that we're going to call.
Tomorrow is a free day so hopefully I can get some rest and check out the jardin botanique (botanical garden) next to my apartment.
____________________________________________
18.1.09
This morning I woke up at 6 am.... ridicule!!!! Well not much to do here right now so I retyped that blog I wrote last night. Sam, Jessamy, Allison, and I are meeting at the University at noon. Not sure what else we'll do... maybe I can get some more sleep!
Au revoir!
(excuse any typing errors, french keyboards take a little while to get used to)
17.1.09
Last night I slept pretty well; I woke up a few times because it was really hot; but I just threw the blanket off of me and I was fine after that. :) This morning I woke up at 7:30! Very strange for me, as all of you who know me well will admit...
After that I spent some time catching up on Facebook.
For bfreakfast I had muesli, a type of French ceral that's like chocolate granola, very dense but delicious! Afterwards my friend Samantha stopped by so we could qalk to orientation together. We had a ma^and instructions frm my host-mom but we still got a little lost... The streets in France aren't in grids or anything logical so even reading a ma^can get confusing, but we stood there looking like confused tourists holding a giant map in front of us and a nice old French man came to our rescue, and after talking to him for a while and not riguring it out, two more people came over and helped. Our gorup leader, Bethany Zehr, livess on rue de Zurich. The meeting was at her apartment tand the people helping us said rue de Zurich is the most confusing street in all of Strasbourg! Lucky us.
Fortunately we figured it out and made it to the meeting on time. There we ded some get to know each other activities. There are 8 students from Lewis & Clark and 2 students from other Universities (De Pauw and Bryn Mawr). So 10 students: 9 girls and 1 boy. Lucky him!
We went through a huge packet; filled out some forms and then took a break for lunch, sandwiches. Even simple meat and cheese sandwiches are delicious in France! We had turkey and some sort of delicious white cheese on a baguette.
Then it was time for the galette des rois, a sort of pastry filled with almond paste. It's the traditional food for epiphany and they eat it all throughout January. Inside is a fève (a small plastic toy or figurine) and whoever gets it is the roi (king) or reine (queen). The youngest child goes under the table so they can't see the galette and they say who gets which piece. Sean (the only boy) had to go under the table because he's the youngest and we were all laughing because the table was so small!
After everyone had a piece and he came back out from under the table we dug in. He found the first fève and qas declared the roi! He got a crown and since we had another galette there was one more toy to find... and it was in my piece! So I was the reine and was crowned as well.
After all the excitement of rois and reines we started our petit walking tour of Strasbourg. We started off going to the Université to see where we will take our language placement tests on Monday and the bank where we will open our accounts. The buildings are not very attractive at all and our leader, Emily, said no one really likes school or takes it very seriously... I'm really going to miss the beautiful Lewis & Clark campus! It's so lovely in the spring! I hope things look better here once the winter greyness disappears.
Then we headed downtown! We learned how to ride the tram and stopped to watch the swans on the River Ill, and I had a moment of freaking out when I thought I lost my camera... it was just in my pocket, silly me!
We got back on the tram and arrived at the centre de ville (downtown). Quite a shock because around the Université there was NO ONE, then the second we stepped off the tram in downtown it was swarming with people! Very loud and busy! But lots of shops that I'm excited to go check out :) We saw the famous cathedral of Strasbourg then split up to go home or back to Beth's or wherever we like. A few of us went to get phones so we could contact each other if we needed to, then we went to Monoprix, which is like Target. I got conditioner and face wash (very exciting). After all of that we were exhausted and our feet hurt se we headed back home.
Luckily my friend Samantha lives near me se we walked together. On the map it looked far away and I was kind of dreading the whole walk home, but it really wasn't very far, and I recognized the school cafeteria on the way back and felt so good to finally be figuring out where things are.
When I got back we had poulet (chicken) for dinner with some sort of vegetable that looks like onions, but isn't... and wine, bien sûr! Then a course of delicious cheeses again. I could get used to this; :) Hélène and Wolfgang went for a cigarette break so I checked up on facebook while I waited for them to come back for dessert. We had a galette des ois but we were all so full that we only ate half of it, and the fève wasn't in that half so we'll have to see who is our next roi or reine another time.
Afterwards Hélène and I talked about books and music and she shared a lot of CD's with me. Her daughter is studying English literature in Montréal so I told her about the books I read in my francophone literature class from Québec.
The rest of my evening was spent on facebook. My computer still won't connect to the internet so I borrowed Hélène's, but she had to call her daughter on Skype so I'm typing this journal on Word and will post it as soon as I can connect, which will hopefully be tomorrow. Hélène has a friend that knows about computers that we're going to call.
Tomorrow is a free day so hopefully I can get some rest and check out the jardin botanique (botanical garden) next to my apartment.
____________________________________________
18.1.09
This morning I woke up at 6 am.... ridicule!!!! Well not much to do here right now so I retyped that blog I wrote last night. Sam, Jessamy, Allison, and I are meeting at the University at noon. Not sure what else we'll do... maybe I can get some more sleep!
Au revoir!
vendredi 16 janvier 2009
Premier Jour
Bonjour! I arrived in Strasbourg, France yesterday around 4:30 local time. C'est magnifique! My host mom was not home which was nice because it gave me some time to relax and unpack. I put on a CD that I (luckily, since my computer can't be plugged in yet) had decided to bring at the last minute and moved into my room. The apartment is beautiful! I'll put up some pictures on facebook soon (and maybe here if I can). I have a large room with my own balcony! When my host-mom, Hélène, arrived with her boyfriend, Wolfgang (she was picking him up from the airport, he's from Berlin) we had a delicious dinner of ham and potatoes with delicious red wine. Just when I thought I was full, she brought out the cheese! And she taught me how to eat it with bread the proper French way :) Dinner conversation was interesting because I speak english and french, Hélène speaks french and german, and Wolfgang speaks english and german! After the cheese, when I thought I was REALLY stuffed, she brought out desert! And it was so delicious I couldn't refuse; eclaires in chocolate sauce! mmm
After that not much happened except her letting me borrow her laptop until I can get an adapter. Then I visited with people back home, took a shower and went to sleep.
My host mom is up and moving around in the kitchen so I'm going to go get some petit déjeuner (breakfast). Next time I'll tell about the craziness of french keyboards and bathrooms :)
A bientôt!
After that not much happened except her letting me borrow her laptop until I can get an adapter. Then I visited with people back home, took a shower and went to sleep.
My host mom is up and moving around in the kitchen so I'm going to go get some petit déjeuner (breakfast). Next time I'll tell about the craziness of french keyboards and bathrooms :)
A bientôt!
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