Bitter-Sweet

A portion of my knit shop!

Bonjour à tous! Some good news, my exams are finished! They went much more smoothly than I expected. The test I was dreading the most was the speaking exam. It's okay if I'm given a prompt and asked to write a 150-200 word essay, but tell me to speak in French under pressure? You might as well be telling me to state the Gettysburg Address with 7 sticks of gum in my mouth.
We were given a random question and a few minutes to brainstorm ideas to speak about. Each of us then went into a different classroom and talked at a professor for 15 minutes. As soon as I walked into the classroom and saw my pronunciation teacher sitting at the desk, my stomach dropped. Not only did I have to speak French to a native speaker, I had to speak to one who specializes in how it's spoken! At the end, she said I did fairly well so I was happy.

The last few evenings have been spent out on the town with everyone; it's almost been nostalgic since our friends from Lewis and Clark left this weekend and we won't see them when we're back in January finishing our ICRP. But still lots of fun. We had a Christmas/farewell dinner earlier in the week where we ate foie gras appetizers and gave out Secret Santa gifts. There was a noticeable difference between it and our first dinner. We were talking and laughing with each other so much more. A game of telephone even went around the table at one point. We all have gotten to know each other so much better!

Christmas markets at
the foot of the cathedral

As for Strasbourg, things have seemed to calm down in this past week. The Christmas markets are not as crowded as before (one could probably walk through them at a steady pace with minimal stopping due to bottlenecks) and the continual snow gives traveling a forced casualness about it. I've been enjoying walking around the city on my own lately. It's so beautiful and festive. And it makes the trip even more fun that I know my way around quite well at this point. I was talking with one of the women that I work with at the knit shop today about how much I'm going to miss Strasbourg. I've fallen in love with it. Her solution was that I need to return someday. That pretty much has become a must. Maybe I'll be able to work at the shop again for a bit... Who knows!

Tonight my host mom invited me to join her, her niece and some friends for a tarte flambe outing. I'm excited to have been asked to go along, but also nervous since that means that I'm going to have to use that good 'ol French to the max.
I leave Monday to meet my family in Paris!! À plus!

Exams... Not Fun in Any Language

Yes my friends, it is once again that time of year when the minds of young, strappin' individuals are striped of their ability to process properly by being crammed full of a plethora of facts known as "what you learned this semester". But what's that? It's a BONUS ROUND! So we get to take them in French! So far I'm still alive.

Booths in the Place
de la Cathedrale

The way that it works here, at the international area of the university, is that we have one week (this week) where we take the exams for the "option" classes that we chose outside of the French language class schedule and next week we have the language tests. This allows us to rest in a continuous state of semi-stressed existence until we explode, or more commonly, stop trying to predict the French way of running things.
Today was quite fun because after classes and ICRP meetings were out of the way, almost all the people on my program went to a pub/microbrewery called Au Brasseur and hung out for a couple hours. It's fun to go into these types of places as a group of 18 or so and try to figure out how to have tables situated as close to each other as possible. We are always arranged in different groups too, so the conversations never get old.

Place Kleber

On the way home from Au Brasseur I stopped at the university's international program Christmas party and watched some of my classmates sing, dance and put on skits. It was fun to see everyone out side of the class atmosphere, we're all such great, fun-loving people when we don't have to use one specific tense or grammatical form to communicate with each other. A group of the professors even did a number! They sang out of key wearing colorful wigs and boas. It was fantastically fun (and might be even more so when brought up in class tomorrow...).
Chris had come with me to the Christmas party but he left a little earlier to get home and have some dinner (our host mom was out of the house this evening). It was lucky that he headed back because when he walked in, the kitchen was full of smoke because our host mom had forgotten that she had left one of the burners on after leaving.

A Christmas booth display

Nothing bad happened (other than the sausage not being quite as edible any more) so we called it a success. The other course for dinner was sauerkraut with bits of ham and some kind of dumpling-like stuff. Anyway, it's Alsatian (I've found that practically anything in France that has German origins is "Alsatian") and really good. I first had some of it at my favorite marché de Noël in Place Broglie for lunch between classes this week. I plan on eating much more at the marchés in the future. À plus!

Uhhhg, Immigration!

Because we are here on a year-long visa, almost everyone on my program had to get up at 6am today to find an office and get our chests x-rayed. Then we had to walk downtown to another office so an actual doctor could look at our results and tell us that we were fine and TB free. All while it was below freezing outside and way too early for most of us to function. The whole experience wasn't difficult, even though it was mostly in French, it was just a tad bit frustrating since we are all leaving in about a month (the Lewis and Clark students leave in two weeks), making the visit practically pointless. It was definitely an eye-opener to what countries require foreign visitors or immigrants to do in order to stay there. We had to give up our entire mornings (missing "crucial" hours of class, exams are coming up!) and pay 55€ for a mandatory doctor's visit. Any day where I'm asked if I'm pregnant, more than once, is not considered a good day in my book. 
Luckily, I was able to make up for feeling fat and grumpy by walking around the marchés de Noël and buying a pretzel covered in cheese and bits of ham (a Strasbourg specialty!). While eating, I meandered around the little booths set up in the square and admired all the candy and beautifully hand made toys and gifts. There was a lovely pair of earrings at one of the shops that looked like a black and white flower made of some sort of shell or coral... I may never know which. But I got them anyway. :) I've finished my Christmas shopping for everyone else, so why not myself?
Yesterday ended up being a fairly good day as well. As I was leaving the house in the morning, I couldn't figure out if I was setting the alarm system up correctly or not... it kept beeping at me and flashing funny lights. By the time I was closing and locking the door behind me for the second time, Chris (my friend who I moved in with) was walking up the front steps and helped me out. Perfect timing!
Classes were... classes and we came back home for dinner. Once again, my host mom and I ended up talking about plants and a day-by-day calendar of flowers that she has next to the dinner table for a while after we finished eating. There was one of the plants that we couldn't remember the common name of so she pulled out one of her books and we searched it out together. She also gave me a book of plants to read through in my room! So much fun.
Right now, I'm off to enjoy the weekend free of doctors and classes but full of shopping in Christmas markets and baking with my host mom! À plus!

SNOW!

Salut! My mood has made a complete 180 since my last post. Thanks to all for your concerns and well wishes! Getting responses to my posts (especially encouraging ones) makes me feel so loved! ^_^

Place de  Zurich in the snow!

Yesterday I moved in with a new host mom and love it. Her home is an actual house in Strasbourg, not an apartment, and she is a botanist! When she realized that I study biology and she told me that she works with plants, we talked for almost 15 minutes about plants, our favorites and where we've studied them. I think we bored my friend Chris (whom I now live with) a little bit. I haven't gotten a chance to unpack my suitcases yet, but that is planned for this weekend. My outfits for the next few days will be chosen by the use of one of my favorite methods: close eyes, reach in suitcase, ohp! you're wearing that randomly bejeweled teeshirt (which you forgot you even packed) today! It adds a little excitement to the start of the mornings.

The Christmas tree in Place Kléber

This morning I was able to shower before class! It hadn't work for us to do that at the last house because the bath was right next to our host mom's bedroom. But no more! It was great; I was able to wash my hair and wear it down and curly for the entire day. I hadn't done that it way too long. I'm not sure how well you, fair reader, know about curly hair. It has a mind of it's own. And the best way that I have found to tame such mutiny is by the use of water and potent conditioning. Hats are a no-no and humidity is like adding gasoline to a fire; if it's already big, you're not getting by unscathed. A good washing at the start of the day works wonders.

Me and my friend Dan
in front of the tree.

As the title of this post may lead you to deduce, it has been snowing in Strasbourg! There is snow falling from the sky and covering the ground and landing on my coat and making me happy. It's a wonderful change from the brown and dying surroundings of late fall to the white wonderland of winter. I heard today that Strasbourg doesn't usually get snow in December, let alone in November (the last time there was snow in November was in the mid-late 80's!). There will be pictures soon. I just have to find the cord that connects my camera to my computer... That will be located as soon as I finish planning my interview questions for my ICRP project meeting tomorrow. Which means I'll find it sometime next week. À plus!

Warning: Complaint Post

A street in Colmar, France.

This last week has been really hard for me. Because of some problems with my host mom, my roommate and I are moving to different host families on Tuesday. Dealing with the situation and trying to figure out the best solution with our program coordinator while worrying about our host mom finding out has taken a toll on me. I'm glad to be moving, but the whole thing is stressful. We are getting nervous for how our host mom will react when she's told about us leaving. Our coordinator is confident that we'll be fine, we just hate awkward confrontations.

With that whole fiasco and the fact that classes are winding up towards exams, I'm wishing I could just be home. Missing Thanksgiving this year almost killed me. Thanksgiving is a big thing in my family; we all get together and share the time and delicious food as a celebration of just that: being together. Being gone has made me realize how much the holiday means to me and has also kicked off a pretty intense bout of seasonal depression. No need to worry about me though, I know how to deal with it. And working at the knit shop forces me to get out on the weekends instead of sitting on my butt watching movies.

Ducks in Colmar on a program excursion.

I have gotten to the point here in Strasbourg where I've started "living" here instead of simply being a visitor. My schedule has set in and the magic of the trip is lost. The hardest part of "living" here is the fact that I have a schedule and things that I have to do, but none of it is specifically what I want to do. At K, I take classes that interest me (biology, theatre, history...) but here, I have to take the classes that are planned into the program. I'm getting sick of EU politics, comparing my culture with France's, and reading random passages in French class that have nothing to do with anything at all. I want to dissect something! I want to spend way too many hours copying notes in Dow (science building). I want to memorize the Latin name of 50 different species and bore my friends with their genetic/evolutionary history. I want my major back!

At least I know it will end. I didn't have a lapse of sanity and transfer to a political science school where I will have to study this and only this for the rest of my life. I only have one more week of classes, and two weeks of exams followed by a week for writing a paper and three weeks of travel (two with my family!). Then I'm homeward bound to see the people I love and work off the extra lbs that Europe has added to my figure. I can see the light!

On a positive note, it snowed yesterday! Lots and lots of beautifully huge flakes, and they've forecast more this weekend! Snow makes the cold 100% worth it. Now, I'm off to brave the cold and the weekend crowds to hang out at the knit shop before working on a presentation for class next week. Wish me luck! À plus!

Humdrum Autumn

Ginkgo and Oak leaves mixing
on the pathways of the park.

Hello to all you adoring fans! I would like to apologize for my lack of cool and interesting activities which leads to few blog posts. The past few weeks here have been filled with monotonous classes and cold, rainy weather. I have still been able to enjoy myself for the most part. Since returning from Italy I have appreciated the ability to communicate so much more, even with my meager French skills. It's similar to the fact that one feels more American when they leave the States; I realize how much French I understand when surrounded by Italian (of which I know very little).

My socks! (and me being lazy
on my bed).

One of my latest accomplishments was knitting a pair of socks last week. The project only took me the week (another sign of how uneventful it was). It's exciting though because I hadn't gotten myself to finish a sock before coming to France. Personally, I think it has to do with working at the knit shop twice a week and with the fact that the other excellent knitter on my program just happens to live in the next room. It was really funny when we found that we have knitting as a mutual passion. We have had continuous projects going our entire stay and have gotten many of the other girls on our program knitting as well. The other international students must think that Americans knit like crazy!
My classes for the most part have been going well. I say "for the most part" because I have lately found myself growing quite bored with them. The language classes are the same most days; we read aloud from our text book, work on exercises and listen to lectures on grammar. I am becoming a huge fan of the 10 week quarters at K. Semesters are so long! It's almost over though. Only three more weeks of classes and one of exams! Then I'm off to Paris to meet my family!! I bought my ticket from Strasbourg to Paris just the other day so it's official, but still hard to believe. And so exciting! À plus!

A Trip to Remember

Salut! I think that I have finally caught up on my sleep from traveling and am now back to classes at the university. The week off really helps make school less repetitive. But we have six more weeks to live through, so we'll see how long that lasts...

The Duomo 

On a different note, I last left off in Florence. What a city! There was a completely different life in Florence than we saw in Pisa. Both are tourist destinations, but Florence had so much more to offer and it's a bigger city in general which resulted in a more lively, and better lit area. There were countless churches filled with beautiful pieces of artwork and sculptures around every corner. Sadly, many of the churches and museums didn't allow picture taking inside. But that's okay! I still took ended up with over 600 photos on my camera by the end of the trip, so I think there was plenty of documentation going on.

Strawberry Gelato!

On Thursday, we (me and my friends Nick and Stevie) got a late start from the hostel (we slept in until 10ish) but spent the entire day wandering around the city. We explored many of the beautiful churches including the Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore (duomo = cathedral). That thing it huge! There is an entire plaza around it that constituted the centre of town. We ate many a gelato in that plaza. That was actually one of the rules we came up with while in Italy; everyday, we must have some gelato (Italian ice cream for those who aren't familiar with this heavenly dessert). Another rule that we devised after eating a delicious lunch of pizza, is that we were only going to eat at restaurants situated in alleyways. Those were the best ground rules of any trip I've been on.
Friday was a wonderful day. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and we spent the entire afternoon in a gigantic garden on the outskirts of Florence! I seriously could not have found better travel buddies if I tried. It was Nick's idea to check out the gardens and he had wanted to go since we received the city map from our hostel. They were fabulous! There were areas of forest with dirt paths and open grassy hills as well as large fountains, all with interesting sculptures scattered throughout.

My new friend

I met a cat while we were there! When I first saw it, it was crossing the path in front of us (don't worry, it was a tortie, not black). It didn't respond when I first started calling to it, but I was persistent and it warmed up to me and slowly made it's way over. I was so happy to have some cat contact! I knelt on the path and got to pet it for a few minutes before some other people came by and my cat continued on it's way. Soon after the day was christened "The Best Day in Florence". And we had only made it half way through our trip.
The afternoon in the gardens continued with hiking through woods, sitting by fountains and laying in the sun and we finished it off with going through a museum that was connected to it for a little while. After leaving we spent the rest of the day looking around, talking to street vendors and hanging out at our favorite night spot, the Dublin Pub. It became our favorite because their TV always had a game of soccer on and they had a dart board in the back. Many a game of darts was lost by yours truly at that very board.
One night we had a very uniquely Italian experience there. It was a night that there were two Italian soccer teams playing against each other on the TV. The pub was filled with Italians watching intently and getting quite worked up over the goals made by their team (or lack there of). It was quite obvious to us foreigners who the members of each fan base were. At some points in time, I was vividly reminded of Americans watching the Super Bowl in the states. The viewers would get worked up over a play and start yelling at the TV. Even though I couldn't understand exactly what they were saying, I knew they were coaching  the players from hundreds of miles away.

Nick, me and Stevie on a terrace
in the Boboli Gardens

Saturday was overcast and chilly so we spent the day in the Uffizi Museum. I went in thinking "Oh, this is a large, popular art museum in Italy. This will be neat." Little did I know how many amazing pieces are actually there. Including the Birth of Venus!! My mind was blown. Sadly, pictures weren't allowed in the museum. But that didn't stop me from taking one of the main hallway!

A main hall in the Uffizi

Sunday was my return day home. And by return day, I mean it. There were a good 12 hours of straight travel in there. So after a bus to Pisa, a plane to Paris, metro, metro, a train to Strasbourg and a bus home, I was down for the count. Not to toot my own horn (but to toot my own horn), I was pretty proud of myself by the end of the day. I was on my own when I navigated the Paris metro to get to the train station and for catching a later train since I had missed the one for which I had a ticket. I even made some small talk with some other English speaking students who I met on the metro. And it was only slightly awkward! Two thumbs up. I will never be intimidated by public transportation again! Take that Chicago L!

Fall is here in Strasbourg!

The next day was spent at home, catching up on sleep and uploading pictures. This week we've been back in classes *grumbe grumble* but the week off has taken the repetitive edge off my schedule. At least for the time being that is. Tomorrow our program has another excursion planned. From what I've heard, we're visiting a church and a museum in another Alsatian town and then going out to dinner. Mmmm, food. À plus!

Catching Up

The theatre where La Lecon
has performed for 53 years.

Wow. So… I’m sorry that I haven’t posted in over two weeks. I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, I promise! Right now I’m in Florence, Italy, but let me start with my visit to Paris (for the second time!) with my program. We had a blast! The way that our program planned out the trip, we had one activity to attend everyday and the rest of the day free for exploring. We also had dinners all together (all 24 of us) at a restaurant where we were served a full three course meal. Those were delicious!

We arrived on Saturday in the late morning and checked into our three star hotel. I shared a room with two of my close friends but it was easy to jump around visiting my class mates throughout the rest of the building. The hotel served a small breakfast of croissants, cereal, yogurt and hard boiled eggs.

A hall of gold in
the opera house.

Our first planned activity was attending the play The Lesson (La Leçon) by Ionisco in a tiny theatre hidden between tourist shops and restaurants on a small side street of Paris. The play was interesting in content but it was preformed quite well. It was great to see since I would never have done that if I was visiting Paris on my own. Before the play we had dinner at an Indian restaurant. Before the meal, we were given a pitcher of this delicious yogurt drink to share per table of six. I don’t think I can explain how good this drink was. It was the consistency of sweetened condensed milk but had the best yogurt taste ever. At first I thought it was a specialty drink that we would only get about a glass of each, but soon they refilled the pitcher and I was overjoyed. It was better than the coconut and French vanilla ice cream we had for dessert.

The building of the opera
house was so ornate.

On Sunday we didn’t have any obligations until the afternoon when we were visiting the Muse d’Orsay. So, that morning I went with my two roommates to mass at the Cathedrale de Notre Dame. The service was wonderful! It was given in French and Latin. It was a special mass because along with the regular rituals, there was a group of Gregorian singers who sang and led the hymns. The entire experience was hauntingly beautiful. Spending the afternoon at the Muse d’Orsay was quite fun. In comparison to the Louvre, I found it to be more enjoyable. Mostly I contribute that to its smaller size and higher concentration (wow, did I really just use that term… a little love note to the bio I miss so much) of sculptures to paintings.  

Monday was fun. It began with a late start at 9am (yey sleeping in!) and after breakfast we took a tour of the Paris Opera House. That place is amazing! As we went through, I tried to imagine what it would be like to see a show there and what it would have been like to have seen a show when it was new. The entire place was gorgeous. There was a gigantic hall/room completely decked out in gold, the stairways were many different shades of marble, and it contained countless busts and sculptures. Because were we part of a tour, we got to go into the house of the theatre! It was a dream come true for a theatre lover like me. I couldn't believe that I was sitting in a seat where audience members had sat and watched operas and the Paris Ballet perform for years and years. So wonderful!

Pisa!

I think this picture
explains itself

Yesterday was a little crazy. Since our program's trip had ended, we all had to check out of the hotel and travel to our respective places for the rest of vacation. My plans are to travel in Italy for a few days. I'm with two guys who are also studying in Strasbourg with me, and we're having a good time. We overcame the challenge of getting to the airport where our plane was taking off (since it's a cheap airline, we have to leave from a small airport 50km out of the city) which consisted of walking, metro-taking, and bus riding. We made all transitions and destinations in good time and soon landed in Pisa. The three of us checked in to our hostel in Pisa and explored the little town that night. 

Pizza!

This morning we checked out of the hostel and went back out to see the town during the day. We visited the Leaning Tower(!) and found an alleyway pizzeria for lunch. I have officially only eaten pizza since I've been here. It's so much better than the greasy, cheese and sauce overloaded bread they try to pass as pizza in the States. And it's the cheapest, most filling thing that I've found to order (even with four or five different toppings).

The Duomo, a famous cathedral
in Florence

From lunch, we headed back to the Pisa airport and caught a bus to Florence. I fell asleep on the bus (a common theme for me in Europe), and we arrived shortly. So here we are! We checked in to our second Italian hostel and went out to wander around Florence. I am very excited to go out and see the city during the day tomorrow. There is a huge open-air tourist market just down the street from our hostel that I hope to strip bare... or at least create a crater sized hole in. À plus!

Strolling Between Countries

Bonjour à tous! Today was a fun, lazy finish to this weekend. It was lazy because I didn't do a lot, and it was fun because what I did do was go to Germany! The weather was beautiful; there was plenty of sun, few clouds, and a subtly cool breeze making it the best day we've had in a while.

The bridge in the Jardin
des Deux Rives.

This afternoon my roommate and I biked to the Jardin des Deux Rives which is seated along the Rhin river that separates France and Germany. We locked up our bikes in France and walked across the bridge, switching countries. It was as simple as that. No one was checking passports or anything.
It was a pretty abrupt change when we got to Germany. We went from hearing French, to German. Even the surrounding houses looked very different. We found a patch of grass in the sun and sat for an hour or so, doing homework, knitting, or enjoying the rays. Hunger overtook us and we decided to walk around look for a restaurant that was open. As we searched, we realized that we were in Germany. People speak German in Germany, not French. Or even English for that matter! Uh oh. I don't know about you, but I don't even know how to say "I can't speak German" in German. We've been use to finding our limits with French and being able to ask (in French) if someone could speak English, but looking for a French speaker seemed a little counterintuitive.

A German street.

Luckily, we found a sandwich shop that was open which had a sigh out front reading "ici, on parle francais" (here we speak French). We could not have been more excited to know that someone could speak the language we've been struggling with everyday. Our food was yummy, and not too different from the sandwiches we've often had for lunch, and we made our way back into France and on our way home. It was funny heading back. The way to the park seemed mostly uphill so we were excited to have an easier way home. Sadly, going down slight declines into the wind isn't as gratifying as one would expect. But we made it home only slightly winded and were able to mirror our lazy mornings.
T'was a good 10.10.10! À plus!

Finding my Place

I cannot get over how wonderful this city is. Who ever said Paris is the "city of love" never lived in Strasbourg; it's small, but the university and history give it so much diversity, you never get bored.
Yesterday was nice because it was Friday, giving me only three hours of class in the morning and the entire afternoon to enjoy. I went out to lunch at a Mediterranean place with a couple friends and we ended up talking for a couple hours about science and history and their connections through the natural human tendency to organize. This led into a conversation about religion and we lost track of ourselves. Friday night was a fun evening out on the town with fun people.

My attempt to show off the flowers
on the webcam in my dark room.

Today was fantastic! I slept in, as should be done on weekends, and went to my favorite knit shop for my ICRP in the afternoon. When I go on Saturdays, I attend a class that changes its theme every week; this week's theme was crochet. So, I learned how to make crocheted flowers that are going to be connected and filled in with other yarn. It was so much fun! There were four other women learning at the shop with me. We were seated around a table in the back of the shop and the teacher walked around answering any questions we had.
As we were working and chatting (some more than others), I realized from my history of spending time in knit shops, that there are the same types of people required in a group to make it fun. They could be looked at kind of like the "stock characters" found in written literature or in plays. My incomplete list of knitting characters is as follows:

• The Knowledgeable One: This person knows a lot about practically any given topic, especially the one at hand, and offers help to others. She can be the teacher, but not necessarily, and shares her wisdom openly. Her facts are often diluted by interesting stories about how she attained her information.
• The Learner: This person asks the most questions and is often a step or two behind the group. Usually sitting next to the Knowledgeable One, she helps keep the pace balanced by slowing her down by asking for help. She is not necessarily slow though, just in need of as much info as possible on each step before moving on.
• The Quiet Wit: This is the character who sits in the corner, observing the group and silently measuring the dynamics. She keeps to herself, listening to and following instructions easily. But at just the right moment, she can say a perfectly calculated comment that sends the entire group into fits of laughter, lightening the mood for those having technical (or lingual) difficulties.

  

  The Strasbourg Cathedral
  in autumn.

By the end of the class, I was very comfortable with crocheting and listening to the French terms. I also got really good at reading the pattern and diagrams. If you ever want me to teach you how to crochet, you will have to deal with mostly French terminology, that's what I know. After class, I bought the hook I had been working with and two balls of beautiful yarn!! Some of my friends surprised me by showing up at the shop and we went out and got crêpes. Mine had Alsatian white asparagus with ham and cheese inside. Mmmmmm! As we headed home through town, there were many street performers playing music (guitar, violin, drums) and one large group was a band dressed up in festive clothing with dancers and the lot. Europeans sure know how to have fun. À plus!

The Day in which I Volunteered to be Tortured

Salut! This post is going to start out with some knitting lingo, just as a heads-up for those of you who will have no idea what I'm talking about, not care, or both (but read it anyway because it's so cool!). Today was my first day in the knit shop "working" on my ICRP. The owner of the shop (known henceforth as 'Madame') had a sheet of English-French knitting abbreviations that she had printed for me to help with my learning and communication. I spent the following hour looking through Rowan magazines (she has them all the way back! At least, I looked through number 7 and she had quite a few older looking ones) and translating patterns. I also did some of my own studying by looking through a book of knitting techniques that had chapters on yarns and needles and stitching. We chatted a bit about knitting: projects I've done, how long I've been knitting/learning French and so on. At one point Madame was trouble-shooting a coworker's project that had too many stitches and I had to sit on my hands to keep from jumping in and trying to help with broken French-knitting. I was invited to come early on Saturday to hang out before the class that I'll sit in on starts. I'm going to learn to crochet!

The entry way in the Council
of Europe building.

This afternoon, us K kids had a field trip to the fancy building across the street from my house known as the Council of Europe. To those who do not know what the Council of Europe does, shame on you! I've known all about it since we had a class on it... last week. In truth, the CoE is a collaborative board with members from 47 countries in Europe (the 27 that are members of the European Union and 20 others) and was created to share and think up ways for strong democracies to thrive in the countries of Europe. It has more recently become, to quote the member of the CoE who spoke to us today, "the European guard-dog from human rights". During our visit, we were able to sit in on a debate and voting on the topic of child abuse in Europe and the start of a session on the Ukrainian governmental system.

Before we sat in on the council, we listened to a member of the staff explain the history of the CoE and some of the reasons for its creation. At one point, she asked for a volunteer to help her demonstrate some of the types of punishment that had been deemed illegal by the council at one point in history. Since no one was offering to go up, I volunteered and Zena took my camera and filmed a bit.
It started out with a skit where I'm Irish and was being accused of a wrongdoing. I denied having anything to do with it, and my torture ensued. ;)
Not much planned for the rest of this week. Just classes as scheduled and whatnot. Hopefully something fun and exciting will happen so I'll have an entertaining post for you all. À plus!

Weekend in Paris

Bonjour! As the title of this post states, I just got back from spending my last couples days in Paris. It was so much fun! I went with a small group of my friends from the States (some of whom are living in another area of France) and we visited many of the most popular tourist spots. I took photos like the ones I've seen in travel magazines and ate food like I'd never eat again!

The train station (gare) from which
we arrived in and departed from Paris.

We arrived in Paris on Friday afternoon and walked around town, between train stations until we were all together and able to head to where we were going to stay for the nights there. The place was wonderful! We had bed space enough for everyone, a small kitchen for preparing food and a dining/living area. But the best part was, there was an American style shower!! That was the first thing on my mind once we got there. So clean... =) After going out and buying groceries, we made dinner and stayed in for the night catching up with each other.

Notre Dame!

Saturday was full of touristy activities. We visited the Cathdrale de Notre Dame, the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe all in one day. Thankfully, we had purchased RER day tickets (the RER is practically equivalent to the Chicago "L" or a metro) so getting around town was a little faster and less demanding on the feet. But it didn't save them completely. When we got back that evening, I had to soak my feet in the bathtub to get them to stop complaining. You'd think that having been a dancer, my feet would have a little more endurance. I think they're out of shape.
Sunday was great as well! We started out the morning eating the leftovers to clean out the fridge and then headed to the RER. Our first stop after stowing our bags at respective train stations was the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise. That's the largest cemetery in Paris where many, many artists are buried. We found Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison and Chopin among others. After a couple hours, we went to a cafe (French!) nearby and ate lunch. Our waiter was very fun; he chatted with us as he walked by and once when we were taking a picture, he tried to show up in the background looking quite silly.

The Louvre. So much more beautiful
than I had imagined it.

The Eiffel Tower was the last place on our list for the beautiful day. Seeing all these places in person was quite amazing, and the Eiffel Tower was no less. There were quite a few people mulling about, but we got in line to go all the way to the top! While waiting in line, we were approached by a French news caster asking if we were Americans and if one of us could answer a few questions. Lauren rose to the occasion and talked to her about being an American in Europe after the travel warnings.
After about an hour in lines and elevators, we made it to the summit! The whole of Paris was spread out around us in its white stone glory. Amazing. We were at the top of the Eiffel Tower!! At this moment, I decided to call my US home and brag about my weekend. How many people can say they've gotten a call from the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France?
While at the top, we all realized that we had trains to catch within the hour. Oops! Running down the streets of Paris from the ET and racing through RER stops, we quickly said our see-you-laters and exchanged kisses (a habit picked up by all while in France). The three of us who were bound for Strasbourg created a strategy while on the RER to our luggage station (our bags were at a station one RER stop away from where our train was leaving).

The view of Paris from the summit
of the Eiffel  Tower.

MacKenzie held purses so that when Liz and I found the lockers, we wouldn't have to wait for them to go through security, and Liz and I booked it through the entire station without and with two backpacks, jackets and a duffel. We found MacKenzie back at the RER stop and had a small chance to catch our breath before it arrived at Gare de l'Est. To make a long story short (too late!), we made it to our train with 5 minutes to spare and found our seats. The ride home was much more low key, I pretended to study while napping most of the way and we chatted a bit with a French student who was sitting across the isle from us. She spoke a little English and we spoke a little French so between the four of us, we had some interesting conversations.
Back in Strasbourg, Liz's host mom was a sweetheart and met her at the station. She offered to take Kenzie and I home too so we all had fun on the drive sharing travel stories and learning how to properly say "Louvre" [LOO-vre]. À plus!

A Little of My Geeky Side

Hey all! Today was awesome! There's nothing like starting off your day with a little success. You know, just to keep in your back pocket, for when you fall off your bike or something.

A rose in the vineyard.

But yes, the rumors are true. I got the ICRP (Integrative Cultural Research Project) that I've been dreaming about! The plan is that I will be going to a French knit shop for an average of four hours a week and experiencing an aspect of everyday French culture in the process. To make this wonderful experience possible, I had to go out and create it. My program coordinator didn't express much confidence in my idea of working at a knit shop when I proposed it at our meetings, mostly since "no one has done that before", so I went out with fairly low expectations. BUT, I found out that showing up is the most important part. I could have called it quits when I agreed to a plan B (working at a market at 6am on Wednesdays), or when I was turned down from the first shop I visited, but no! I went to Elle Tricote ("She Knits") from the directions given to me by the clerk from the first shop and learned my lesson. The worst that could happen was that they could say "No, sorry. And I have no idea who else you could go to. And you smell bad."

The bookbinder who we visited
on Saturday after hiking.

Elle Tricote is perfect. They have gorgeous yarns of all types and shades, some of which I recognize, in a lovely shop. They even have Rowan magazines! And, get this! The lady who knits the sample items that are on display around the shop, her name is Mireille too! It was meant to be. All they'd need is a cat in the back room and a dance studio around the corner and I think I'd have a cardiac arrest. From the half hour I talked with the ladies there, I am planning on going to a class-group meeting like event on Saturday afternoons as well as whenever I have time during the week (but not on Mondays because "no one comes in on Mondays" and I wouldn't be able to practice my speaking as well). The reason I ended up chatting with her for so long is because she started quizzing me on my knowledge of knitting, from types of fibers to company names to the names for how they're wound. I spit out many English terms that simply sounded off refracting off the soft, French hanks and skeins on the shelves; my homework is cutout for me.
Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the shop yet, my mind was elsewhere. But if you like, you can look at the tiny images on their web site: http://www.elletricote.com/ (I'm at the Strasbourg location. And the woman I talked to is the owner; her picture is there).
The rest of my day today was a tad blurred by my extreme giddiness and pride of being one of the first people on my program to go out and find their ICRP. I became 'The One Who Did' and a motivational speaker upon my return to campus. When I emailed our program coordinator and told her about my achievement, she said she was "impressed" and "proud". Does anyone else usually find their ICRP?
Anywho, I think I tooted my own horn enough in this post. Good thing my room is fairly dull so as to not damage my ever expanding ego. But hey, I improved my 'getting-guts-up' time from 30 minutes to 30 seconds in this process. Oh! And the Paris trip is a go.
-A what?
-Ago.
-You already went?
-No, I'm leaving on Friday morning.
-Ohhh.
-À plus!

Alsace: Hundreds of Years in 10cl

Wow. What a weekend. I'm getting tired just thinking about it! Let me catch you up.

On the viewing deck.

Friday was awesome. My entire program skipped their classes for the day and went on our first excursion. Our first stop was an Alsace Memorial museum where we took a guided tour (in French) and had some time to hang out. The museum had a large covered terrace like area in front that had a fantastic view of the surrounding mountains and villages. Because the far end of the deck was lined with a glass barrier, it was almost as if we could simply walk off the edge and fall into the picturesque landscape. The weather was a little brisk because we were at a higher altitude so the light wind passing through added a pinch to the reality of looking at French countryside. It was hard to leave.

A small fraction of
the chateau.

Our next destination was the Château de Haut Koenigsbourg even higher on another mountain. The bus ride was an adventure in itself; the road wound back and forth across one side of the mountain and it often seemed that at any moment the tall, awkward and quickly moving bus would careen off the ledge called a road and never be heard of again. But we made it (unless you never hear from me again, than search the mountains of northern France for a bus of lost and hungry Americans).
Despite the entertaining bus ride, everyone was feeling a little lazy as we got off the bus into the cold, rainy weather at the top. We hadn't seen anything but trees and the lack of trees (depending on what direction the bus was going at that moment) so excitement ensued immediately when we reached the top of the path and saw the castle walls. It was amazing! Just being there and walking around inside felt like a time-warp. And the fog/clouds throughout the courtyard and outer areas made it seem as if just around the corner you'd run into someone dressed in full Renaissance garb. I wouldn't have objected to having some myself; those castles are drafty!

Me, in the grand courtyard.

The guide at the château was really good. He spoke completely in French (of course) but he was fun to listen to because he was very animated and would make comments about people in our group and on our knowledge of history (or lack there of). We had a little extra time after the tour to look around the château on our own and attempt to find hiding places that would allow us to stay. Sadly, we weren't able to find any nooks far enough off the tour path to avoid discovery so we were herded back on the bus towards dinner.

Our last stop for the day was in the little town of Kaysersberg where we ate dinner at Restaurant au Lion d'Or (The Golden Lion). It was a delicious meal of Quiche Lorraine, battered chicken with green beans and tomatoes, and a small chocolate cake with English cream for dessert. All with Pinot Noir wine on the side. To my disappointment (and to the dismay of my reputation as a tourist), I forgot to take out my camera out at dinner. Thought I will vouch for it's deliciousness. The remainder of the day was spent going home, either by bus or bike (yes! I finally rented a bike!).
On Saturday, I spent the afternoon walking through vineyards. Yeah, I know you don't want to hear about such a stereotypically French thing to do, but you'll just have to suffer. When I agreed to go wine tasting with my friend MacKenzie and her host mom, I didn't realize that I signed up to roam the countryside for over 6 hours, but man, I wouldn't have changed a thing. We arrived in a little French town about half an hour outside of Strasbourg and I was very excited. One, because I was spending the entire afternoon with one of my best friends, and two, because this is a little French town we're talking about! And I mean, who wouldn't be excited to have the chance to walk through French vineyards with a French guide who lives down the street?

Me, yet again, with miles
of vineyards in the background

It wasn't until about an hour in that I was told that in order to provide the best sun exposure, grapes are always planted on hills. Oh my goodness.
My legs fell off and had to be reattached. Twice. But it was worth it! The day was wonderful (chilly, and overcast with a little rain in the beginning) and the grapes were so good! Since the hike was literally through the vineyards, it was easy to pull off a few grapes here and there and taste them. Kenzie and I were able to narrow down to our favorite types of grapes and later matched them to the wines we were sampling. The best follow up to a walk through miles of grapes is wine made from them! So far, my favorite all around was the Pinot Gris, made from a green grape with purple tints on the skin. The last wine we tasted was a vendanges tardive. It was served last because of how sweet it is. They are made from grapes harvested very late in the season, allowing their sugar to concentrate and creating a fabulous dessert wine. They can be made from almost any type of grape as long as they are harvested about the time after the first frost. See how much I learned! *grins proudly like a small child*

Gewurztraminer grapes.
One of my favorites!

The people on the hike as well as the gentleman who served the wine seemed to enjoy chatting with us two "mademoiselles americaine". They asked us a lot about where we lived, how we were liking France and such. They also had fun picking our brains on the history of Alsace, which was a lot of picking with little reward. We learned about a doctor from Alsace who traveled to Africa and opened lots of medical centers as well as about a famous race car driver born here who has won some grands titles. The gentleman at the winery spent lot of time explaining the types of wines and how they're made and even translated what he could into English for us. It was a grand time!

Pinot Blanc. Sweet,
but also quite good.

There was one point when our guide asked us if there is wine where we live. Kenzie and I looked at each other and said that yes, there is though it's not at all as good in comparison to the wine here. We also pointed out that technically, we're not allowed to drink it in the US. He gave us the same 'that's-funny-wait-you're-not-kidding-how-surprising-you're-already-an-adult' expression that my host mom and other's have given. We just grin and compliment the wine again.

Today was a lazy day spent cleaning my room and watching Serenity with my friend Alana. A much needed break since the last couple of days were so adventure-full. There's a rumor going around that next weekend there will be a trip to Paris... I'll keep you posted! À plus!

Beauty in Blues

It's hard for me to believe that I left my house three weeks ago, almost to the minute (taking time zones into account). In some ways, it feels like we're been here for months. The city shrinks significantly and becomes more familiar everyday as I learn to navigate the tram, rent a bike, or take wrong turns to the point where two chunks of the city connect by winding back streets. My classes are similar day to day and I've gotten down the response to my host mom's "how was school today?" when I walk past the kitchen every evening.

Rear view of Place d'Athens on campus
(my favorite sky above it)

It also feels like I just got here. Waiting at a tram stop yesterday, a woman who was looking at the map of the tram line behind me turned and asked which one was going in a certain direction. I told her what I thought answered her question to get in response a quizzical look and: "vous etes étranger, non." In other words "you're foreign." I smiled, a little confused, and simply said "oui".
I am. No matter how hard I try to integrate into the society, the culture, their way of living, walking, speaking, there is no way that I can become French. In the small amount of time that I'm staying here anyway. Trying is all I can do but I'll admit, it's getting tough. Everyday I get better at listening and comprehending what is being said to me, but everyday I still get a confused look from my host mom when I start to explain the events of my day or when I have to repeat myself two or three times to order lunch.

Me, in Place d'Athens.
"Hi!"

Don't get me wrong; I'm having a wonderful time. Strasbourg hasn't ceased to astound me in some shape or form when I least expect it. There is one street that I pass on my way to school (named Wimpheling) that, especially in the morning sunlight, is the most beautiful city street to ever exist. And these past few days, the sky has looked absolutely heavenly; filled with my favorite wispy clouds and colored one of the prettiest blues. And the Parc de l'Orangerie never fails to raise my spirits.

Wimpheling, with no justice done to its beauty
what-so-ever.

On our way home from our last class today, my roommate and I rode her bike. Yes, she and I rode her bike.
Don't give me that look!
We were actually quite successful. One of us sat in the seat with our feet dangling while the other peddled and steered. It was so much fun and we were laughing almost the entire way. I'm planning on getting my bike tomorrow so if you're one of those people who's worrying about it (you know who you are), worry no more.
Speaking of tomorrow, we're all skipping our classes and going on the first excursion for our program. I'm so excited! We're going to (pulls out packet) le Château de Haut Koenigsbourg, an Alsace Memorial museum and Kaysersberg (a city with a castle? I don't know. that's what it looks like on the pamphlet). Can't wait! There will be many pictures and narrations soon. À plus!

Smile-lines like Canyons, Paparazzi Frowns

Salut! It has been a busy last few days. But I have no other excuses for leaving my blog in the cold for nearly a week. So, I'll pick up where I left off. Wednesday was a day of class so I won't bore you with those details, but that evening, I had dinner with the host family upstairs who is hosting two of my friends from K. I had to eat with the Dennis' (that's their name) because my host mom was busy that evening and didn't have time to cook. It was nice to meet them and even nicer to visit their apartment because they have a dog! His name is Dix [deese] and he is adorable. What made him even cuter (in a bit of a sad way) was that he was wearing a plastic "cone of shame" to keep him from licking his paws. But it didn't stop his from demanding to be petted, running full-speed around the house or from laying on my feet.
Thursday was full of more classes and a meeting with the K program coordinator about the integrative volunteer project we have to work on this semester (aka the ICRP). All in all, I was pretty frustrated with the meeting because we mostly went over information that we already know about the ICRP, but I can see how having everyone together to hear it first hand may have been necessary. Thursday was also my roommate Zena (who actually doesn't share a room with me any more)'s birthday. We bought a cheap bottle of wine to drink with dinner, and proceeded to get an ear-full from our host mom about it's origin (a mix of all the "leftovers"), the process by which it was made (cheaply), and its "horrible" taste (yeah, but we're students). She told us that she would buy a good bottle of wine for us to try so we would know what good Alsatian white wine tastes like. And holy grape batman! is it so much better. The next night at dinner we each had a French glass of wine (much smaller than the well known American glass, often filled over halfway full) and it was delicious! *makes a check on list*

The Palais de Rhine in the Place de République

On Friday morning, I got up at 6:30am (yes, it's possible for me and yes, I did have to google it to make sure it really existed) to make it to my second option class of the week: pronunciation! It was worth the early morning a hundred times over. The professor is amazing and I think the class will help me more with my speaking than I first thought possible. I also had the time to finish my homework for the weekend while I waited for my 11am class to start. Bonus! The remainder of the day was spent wondering aimlessly around downtown and shopping for clothes way out of my price range.
Saturday was my host mom's birthday so when Zena and I came home for dinner, we brought some flowers with us. It was fun sneaking them into the apartment so she wouldn't see them until she came into the dining room to eat. Our plan succeeded (though we were a mess of giggles and sudden spouts of random French words in the process) and she loved them.

Inside the Palais de Rhine

And now I come to today. This weekend was part of Heritage Week. This is an event every year in Alsace where buildings that are usually only used privately are open to the public. There are tours and special extended visiting hours all for free. So today, a few of my friends and I went around town and visited these really awesome places, some of which can only be seen during heritage week. Yeah, really cool. Our first stop this morning was the Palais de Rhine in the Place de République. After lunch, we walked around the University of Strasbourg's campus and visited the Collection of Paleontology. Best choice ever!! It was a really small exhibit, but this place was so cool. Sadly, my camera died after entering the Palais de Rhine, but my friends got some shots (I might add some on here later). There were fossils dating from plants and trilobites somewhere in the early Cambrian to dinosaur eggs and prints to tools and skulls from Neanderthals. That exhibit made my day. There was definitely some skipping and humming.
Following the event du jour, I walked through the botanical gardens on (or near) campus and had a cup of hot chocolate at Café Brant with my friend Alana. When I got home, I was greeted by my host mom and a ten minute conversation in French about my day and the places I visited. She had never heard of the Paleontology exhibit (I know! So sad.) so I had to summarize and explain. Maybe my French is improving. If not my vocab, at least my confidence in flubbing up in the name of communication. Hear, hear! All for conversing, words for all!

Chocolat chaud

Speaking of improving French... someone has homework. Or does she? Tune in next week to see if our brave heroine gets her éclairs in a row.
-What éclairs?
-Huh, I swear they were sitting right there...
À plus!