Where Chocolate is Sweeter and the Dead Walk the Streets

Salut! The last few days have been filled with both monotonous classes and fun adventures. Thursday was made up entirely of the former and Friday was half and half. Friday was our last day of stage class. We were tested in the last half of the morning and the afternoon, which was usually 'conference' classes (examples of courses that are offered at the university) was a two hour long test in French. The funny thing is, none of us knew for sure that we were being tested on the material from the conference classes until Thursday evening, after all the classes were over with. Luckily, most of us had been taking notes so it wasn't horrible.
Friday night was lots of fun though. Everyone on the program, including our friends from Lewis and Clark, went out to a pub called Jimmy's near the cathedral down town. It was great to hang out with everyone without the pretense of having class together. While there, I got a glass of the special beer for the evening (or the 'bière du moment') which was really good! It was called fruits rouge and tasted more like a fruity champagne than a beer. I was quite happy with my selection. Though I did try one of my friends' darker beers that was also tasty. Pretty sure that's what I'll get next week.

A few of the many people
dressed as the dead

On Saturday afternoon, MacKenzie and I walked around town, bought lunch at a market and dessert at a pâtisserie (there is one on almost every street so there's no excuse for eating mediocre desserts). After lunch, we headed down town to catch a movie in the cinema and to our surprise, came across hundreds of zombies. Yes, that's exactly what I said. Zombies. We were just as taken aback as you are (well, maybe a little more since we didn't have a witty blog title to lead us in) but we later found out that they were advertising the beginning of the fantasy film festival in Strasbourg. Just before our movie started, all of the zombies formed a parade, screaming and moaning and some looking quite disturbing. We had to leave before everyone had passed, but I was able to catch a few pictures. This would be so much fun to do in the US! Maybe I have a new calling...
Watching a movie in French without subtitles is... challenging. At least it was an American movie (The Switch) so it was at least predictable (sorry Hollywood). In the beginning, my mind was freaking out with not being able to understand exactly what words were being said, but after a while it calmed down and listened to the big picture. I actually started to understand more of what was being said. Crazy right? And it may just be me, but I feel like I'm understanding more of what my host mom is saying too. Mom, Dad: I'm going to be going to the movies a lot. It's for my education. And don't worry, I get a student discount! ;)

A man-made river with
foot bridges at one end
of the park

Today was spent reading my latest fantasy addiction, A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, and walking through the park. It was such a beautiful day today I couldn't just sit inside. One thing I realized is that all cities need nice parks for people to go to and decompress. Nature is so important, and we often go living our fast-paced and hyper-digitalized lives not noticing how ungrounded and burnt out we are. At least, that's what I found is true for me while I was in park. Letting my feet guide me around, I found out how huge the park really is. There are so many different forms of water there too: small lakes, rivers with bridges, waterfalls, puddles etc. I have found my second favorite place (close second to any pâtisserie in the country).

There were row boats for rental off the
shore of the larger lake/pond. Very romantic.

Well, I think I've typed enough for three entries. If you made it through this entire blog, dear reader, than you a) have quite a bit of time on your hands, or b) are a dedicated fan and should receive a gold star for the day. I actually thought about finding a star image to post, but I think I'll set a quest to find one in Strasbourg and take a picture post as an award. New goal for the week! À plus!