Well, I’m back in the States in good old Seattle and can’t say I’m feeling the effects of culture shock that much. To be honest, I think I had a bit of culture shock traveling through Amsterdam, Prague, and Vienna just as they were so different from my life in France. So maybe my travels cushioned my fall.

Anyway, I figure I’ll start where I left off: Clariece and I were just exploring Prague and taking in the sights. After getting girly drinks at a nearby bar (tequila sunrise has quickly become my new favorite drink, besides beer of course), we decided to go to a concert that we had seen advertisements for earlier in the day. The concert featured a saxophone quartet playing classical and jazz arrangements. Normally I’m not the biggest fan of saxophones, but this was really incredible and held in the gorgeous Mirror Chapel, complete with amazing acoustics. I had no idea saxophones could even make the kind of beautiful sounds we heard. The concert ranged from Bach to several selections from Carmen and ended with Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin. I love that such high-quality music is just the cultural norm in Europe. When the concert ended, we went back to the hostel and waited for Mike to arrive. He did, luckily, but only after a confusing mix up with the hotel. When everything had calmed down, he showed us pictures of his trip to London and Seville, we talked about various adventures in our journeys thus far, and eventually went to bed.

Monday morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and set out to explore Prague. First we stopped at the bus station so Clariece and I could purchase tickets to to Vienna. Let me just say that I love Czech Kroners -- the bus ticket cost the equivalent 12 Euros. Amazing. In high spirits after such a cheap discovery, we took the metro into the center of town and walked around. We wandered into Wenceslas Square, where they were setting up for New Year´s Eve celebrations and listened to a Czech group rehearsing what sounded like an odd combination of folk music and hip-hop. From there we meandered to the Opera house and found another square. Prague is really incredible in that really, wherever you go, you just happen to run into another building with breathtaking architecture sitting modestly below intricate spires and monuments. In the second square we happened upon, one of us noticed that there was an exhibition on Mucha and Dali... quite possibly my two favorite artists. So wonderful! Seeing Mucha’s work in such vivid detail made me indescribably happy. I’m such a nerd.

From the exhibition, we decided to go buy "supplies" (read: alcohol) for the night's activities. We even bought a somewhat nice bottle of champagne to ring in the New Year. We walked back to the hotel and hung out for a while, until it was time to pop the champagne and start the festivities. Around 9 or so, we left our hotel and went downtown, where we ate the Czech version of gyros (not at all like Greek gyros) and I sampled some of the local beer. We still had a ton of time until midnight so we decided to go to a bar and get some more drinks. Finally it was approaching midnight so we went to stake our claim on a spot on the Charles Bridge. After rubbing a statue for good luck in the coming year, we actually ended up standing pretty much on the center of the bridge. Somehow we ran into three (fairly tipsy) French guys from Nantes, of all places. The six of us happily chatted and somehow started talking to a Russian girl and two German girls as well. The Russian girl gave us sparklers and we all had a fun time just hanging out and twirling around with the sparklers until midnight. There wasn't a countdown, which was slightly disappointing, but a barge we hadn't previously noticed straight ahead of us on the river suddenly started setting off fireworks. So, there we were: nine international strangers celebrating New Year's Eve on a medieval bridge and watching an impressive fireworks show right in front of us. Once they stopped, there was a flurry of "Happy New Year!" wishes in various different languages and many cheek-kisses in typical French style. Mike, Clariece, and I decided to head back early after that so we would actually be awake for the next day's activities. It was probably the best New Year’s Eve celebration I’ve ever had.

The next day we woke up it was snowing! Happy 2008 indeed! It melted fairly quickly, but it was pretty magical, if that’s not too cliché. We first went to the Prague Castle and St. Vitus’s Cathedral. St. Vitus’s was actually one of the coolest cathedrals I’ve been in because it has a stained glass window by Alfons Mucha. It is completely unlike any stained glass I’ve ever seen, as it still retains his Art Nouveau style. After exploring, we ate a tasty and surprisingly cheap meal near the Castle and set back down to the Jewish Quarter. There are several famous synagogues in the area, but most had a very high visitor’s price… too expensive for broke college students. So, we saw the oldest synagogue in Europe and then walked from there back to the touristy area. That night we just hung out and got ready to head to our respective destinations.

On Wednesday 2nd, Clariece and I said goodbye to Mike and hopped a bus from Prague to Vienna. They played “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” on the ride, which was hilarious after all of the stories I’ve heard from the Greece program (not to mention having visited Greece myself). We got off the bus and managed to get lost in Vienna, though only for a little while. Eventually we found our hostel, which turned out to be amazing! It’s a very highly rated hostel, complete with Internet and laundry facilities. Best of all, there’s a bar with great Austrian beer and amazingly cute British bartenders. Yum. Clariece and I went to a nearby Turkish restaurant, ate kebabs, drank apple tea, and reminisced about our travels. When we got back to the hostel, we caught up online and did a load of much-needed laundry. It’s incredible how just one clean pair of socks can feel after days of wearing the same ones. After a beer and figuring out our plan for the next day, we went to bed.

The next morning we set out to tour Vienna. My host sister (the good one) had previously told me that Vienna was “simply gorgeous and worth seeing”. Seeing as she had also told me months ago that going to Turkey “wasn’t worth it” and that there were only “poor people” there, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Now I realize that a city with Charlotte’s blessing is simply a city that could belong in France. Vienna is certainly gorgeous, but incredibly Western European. Filled with impressively huge monuments and museums, it was easy to overlook the gorgeous details and become overwhelmed. Also, it was cold! We stopped in for Viennese coffee and then a “hearty” Austrian lunch later in the day. We had another low-key night and met a really nice Californian girl in our hostel who had been studying in Australia for three years. That’s one of the things I love about hostels – you meet the coolest people from all over.

Friday was another cold day in Vienna. Clariece and I went downtown, got some coffee, and wandered around for a while. Before I took the bus to the airport, we grabbed lunch at the same Turkish restaurant and contemplated what the next few months hold in store for us. Then it was time to sadly say goodbye. Clariece is now in Madrid, studying Spanish and living with a host family. I am completely jealous, but also really excited for her. Definitely living vicariously through her blog posts now and waiting for this summer when we’re going to live together in Portland. Good good.

Anyway, when I was planning my travels, I had realized that I wanted to go back to Strasbourg for at least a day or so. The only problem was that I wasn’t too keen on going back to the Crazy Host Family, nor did they probably want to host me for another two days. So, being the amazing person that she is, Sarah let me stay in her apartment for two nights. We met downtown Friday night and happily caught up on each other’s travels. After dropping off my stuff, we went to a bar and then got kebabs on the way home.

Saturday morning we slept in. Sarah and the rest of the Kalamazoo kids still needed to write their ICRPs, a large research paper for K College, and pack, something that I had managed to do several weeks earlier out of necessity. So we lazed around until we went downtown to Chez Christian for one last cup of hot chocolate. I met Mike after that to help him go shoe shopping, only for the two of us to realize that most French shoes for guys are too ridiculous and expensive to actually buy. After stopping by my favorite internet café, I meandered back to Sarah’s, where I finished my book. We got dinner at a nearby pizzeria and then went to Au Diable Bleu, one of our favorite bars in Strasbourg, to meet up with everyone. It was a night that I think really defines my bar experiences in Strasbourg: just sitting around and drinking good beer with good friends. I definitely took advantage of my last night, though, and bought every drink that I wanted, even a fancy (and delicious!) mojito for 6 Euro. It was worth every centime. Saturday night was the first of my real goodbyes and I got pretty misty-eyed as I walked away from the bar.

Sunday morning I savored my last few hours in Strasbourg. Sarah, her brother, and myself, climbed the Cathedrale around noon to get a look at the city. It was a national holiday on the 6th, not to mention the first Sunday of the month, so most of the bells in the city were ringing throughout the morning. As we walked up the winding staircase, I could hear the choir in the Cathedrale singing. That is, before I got out of breath. There are a lot of stairs to get to the top of that thing! It was worth it, though. When I got to the top, it was almost like I could see the semester in front of me. It was great closure, just to see the city that I had wandered and gotten to know in for the past four months. I took a few minutes to relive certain memories and take in the city. Definitely a bittersweet ending, but an ending nonetheless. We met Mike for one last meal of tarte flambée afterwards, discussing how heinously bad it is for your health and talking about future travel plans. I might try to go visit them in Kalamazoo at some point over the next semester. We all took the tram back together and then it was time to say goodbye. I cannot stress how important my friends were to me throughout the semester. I was so lucky to meet such amazing people just by chance, so far away from home. I can’t imagine my experience in Strasbourg without them.

Late Sunday afternoon I stopped by my host family’s house, where my second suitcase had been waiting for me for two weeks. I politely promised my host mother that I would write, though I seriously doubt I ever will. I don’t think I’ll exactly be missed. I somehow managed to drag two suitcases, a tote bag, and my backpack up to the bus stop, though I got quite a few weird looks. In typical Cohen fashion, I arrived at the bus stop an hour early. Maybe it was the fact that I had been holding in all of my emotions or maybe it was just because the incredibly sweet German bus driver let me on a good 45 minutes early, but the minute I sat on the Lufthansa bus, I promptly began to cry. I nodded in and out of sleep as we drove out of Strasbourg and into Germany, wondering when I would see the city again. I stayed the night in Frankfurt, made it on time to the airport, and spent 10 hours restlessly sitting in my seat. And I guess that’s the end of my journey.

Being home is very comfortable. I love having a familiar bed to sleep in and knowing how to work the shower. I’ve been sick on and off with Sarah’s cold, which I probably gave to the entire flight. Take that, United Sates. With the exception of a particularly nasty onset of jet lag, the transition has gone smoothly thus far. It’s been nice to be able to simply lounge around, though I’m ready for school to start.

So, that seems to be the end of it. Thank you for reading and sticking with me through these crazy four months, whoever you may be. I hope my ramblings weren’t too strange, but then again, it’s my blog. I’m pretty weird to begin with. I’m not sure if I’ll write again in the future. Maybe I’ll post the occasional entry when I feel like reminiscing, but until then, I hope you all have a happy 2008. It certainly looks like it’ll be a good year.


Clariece and I in Prague. We're adorable.

New Year's Eve! Mike and Clariece surrounded by vaguely drunk French guys. Quelle folie!

The crew out on my last night in Strasbourg at Au Diable Bleu. From left to right: Corey, Matt, Sarah, Mike, Jill, Dorothy, and Clif.

Not the best picture, but Sarah and I on the top of the Cathedral.

Au revoir, Strasbourg.

Bonne annee!

Hey all, in Vienna now. I have a strong urge to sit down and write a long blog post describing in great detail how incredible Prague was, but I don't have the time (or money). Needless to say, New Year's Eve was brilliant. Our few days in the Czech Republic were some of the best thus far. Mike left to go back to Strasbourg and Clariece and I now find ourselves in Austria of all places. We have one full day here and then on Friday I fly back to Strasbourg and Clariece starts the trek down to Spain. I have a day and a half in Strasbourg to say goodbye to all the Kalamazoo kids and then it's off to Frankfurt. Then Portland, then Seattle. It's certainly been a crazy ride. Can't say I'm ready for it to be over...

Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know that we're still here and going strong. A longer post will come soon.

Česká republika!

Wow, we're just jumping all over Europe, aren't we? I would say jet-setting, but that makes it sound like we're flying instead of taking 15-hour busses and staying at nice hotels instead of hostels. Actually, life here in Prague is pretty nice thus far. I had a lot of difficulty finding a hostel or cheap hotel here, so we ended up at a nice(r) hotel than I think either Clariece or I are used to. Both of us are hoping to make up for the price difference with the (relatively) inexpensive food and drinks here.

So, back to the beginning. Clariece and I made our way to the EuroLines bus station in Amsterdam and hopped on the bus to Praha. It was fine, actually, despite the initial apprehension. The bus left at 10:30 PM and arrived in Prague around noon, an hour earlier than promised. Both of us passed out around 12, maybe earlier, and woke up with only a few hours left to sit and listen to music. My iPod didn't even run out of batteries. It was a good deal, especially considering that was our housing for the night as well.

After sort of getting lost trying to find our hotel, a nice Czech woman helped us and we spent the rest of the day relaxing. I finished The God of Small Things, which I bought in Paris at an English bookstore. I've been reading more than ever on this trip and have had to go in search of numerous English bookstores in each of the cities I've visited.

Today we woke up fairly early and set out to explore Prague. Turns out it's a beautiful city with architecture that was heavily influenced by the Art Nouveau movement. What a coincidence -- that's my favorite movement! We even found an entire store dedicated to Alfons Mucha, my favorite artist. So I am, as my parents would say, in pig heaven. I might have to buy a poster or two. Otherwise, we wandered with no set goal in mind. We made it up to the castle district, where there just happened to be a ski competition in the middle of a square. The Tour de Ski, in fact. What? No wonder it was so hard to find a hotel! Clariece and I wandered around, laughing at the absurdity of it all, until the crowd became to immense and we meandered back to a cafe to eat lunch.

Anyway, my friend Mike from Kalamazoo will hopefully be joining us tonight and then hang out with us for New Year's. I'm sure we'll see some of the more touristy sights over the next few days and have a fun New Year's celebration. Despite having an amazing time here, the end is definitely in sight and I'm kind of glad. Clariece is going to Spain for sure next semester, which is amazing and awesome, and I'm ready to start real life again. We're sort of in limbo, but it's certainly a pleasant and cultured limbo so I can't really complain...

Amsterdam: What lovely architecture!

Well, it's our last day in Amsterdam and the past few days have been pretty low-key. We spent Christmas Eve in Paris with Amelia and Rachel. It was really nice, actually. We drank nice wine and champagne, ate lots of cheese, and had pasta carbonara as a main course. It was the Quaint European Christmas I'd wanted since all this began. Parfait.

Christmas morning, Clariece, Chris, and I got up early and got to Gare du Nord in order to catch our train to Amsterdam. I already miss the familiar chatter of french around me, but that's another story. We arrived here around one and spent the majority of the day wandering around and orienting ourselves to the city. The layout of the city is actually pretty weird. Whereas Strasbourg feels sort of like a circle or loop, Amsterdam feels more like a grid. It's bizarre, but quite pretty. Many of the buildings are so old that they seem to be leaning inward or outward on each other. With the combination of the canals surrounding almost every block, it certainly is a unique place.

Maybe it's because I've been in a predominately Catholic country for the past four months, but Amsterdam still shocked me with its liberalness. I hadn't realized just how active and accepted the gay community is here or thought about the social implications of coffeeshops on every corner. Anyway, it's certainly different and makes me curious about the real culture here behind the advertisements for the best coffeeshop or Red Light District escort services.

Yesterday I found a small restaurant that felt incredibly like a Seattle cafe. I had a soy chai and pumpkin soup, which made me more excited to be back in the Northwest. Today I went to the Anne Frank House by myself, which was about as depressing as one would expect. I'm glad I braved the giant line, though, and actually went. It was worth it.

Tonight Clariece and I catch a 15-hour overnight bus to Prague, where we will spend New Year's and hang out with Mike from Kalamazoo. I have to admit that I'm more excited about Prague than any of our other destintations thus far. Hope everyone's enjoying their holidays.

Sunday à Paris...

For the third time this semester, I now find myself in Paris. We arrived yesterday around noon and found our awkardly-built hostel. I'm almost positive there are no 90-degree angles in the entire building so all the hallways are sort of winding or sloping. It's fine, though, and perfect for broke college students. Yesterday we saw Notre Dame and then met Amelia and her friend Rachel for drinks. Turns out their apartment that they're renting for Christmas break is litterally across the street from our hostel. They can see our hostel door from their window. What a crazy coincidence! After that, Clariece, Chris and I went to the Eiffel Tower and then met up with Amelia and Rachel for dinner.

Today Clariece and Chris wanted to do a bunch of touristy stuff and I decided to stay behind. Being a tourist is fun, but I am still recovering from finals and have recently seen many things here already. Amelia and I went out to coffee and then Rachel joined us for shopping, more coffee, and lunch. It's been really great to see Amelia. She's been in Paris this semester and even though Paris and Strasbourg are completely different, they're both still incredibly French. I think we'll be able to help each other through the transition back to American life, just because we'll sort of understand where the other person is coming from... Anyway, after shopping I guess I just wandered for a while. I have never gotten that sense of wonder and amazement from this city, but it's quite pretty all the same and I enjoy wandering around looking into the boutiques around town. I went to the Shakespeare Book Company, an internationally-known english bookstore, and browsed for at least an hour. Then I went to a café on the Seine and read for a while.

And now I'm here at an internet café. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and it feels strange not to be in Seattle. Amelia and Rachel invited us over for dinner tomorrow night so hopefully we'll have at least one good meal and be in the company of good friends. Then Christmas morning we hop a train to Amsterdam. I love travelling, but I think by the end of all this I'll be ready to go home and have a somewhat normal life...

A few pictures from my last days in Strasbourg:

At Au Diable Bleu, one of our favorite bars. Jill, Matt, Sarah, and myself.

The famous part of Strasbourg I never actually see.

Me, being silly and taking a picture of myself. I'm just that cool.

A bientôt!

Au revoir, Strasbourg...

I still can't believe that this is coming to an end. Finals have been over for two days now and I have spent much of that time running errands, packing, and saying goodbye to the city that has been my home for four months. It's definitely bittersweet... I don't think that I would have been happy here another semester and I'm looking forward to going back to LC, but at the same time this has been a life-changing experience.

I guess the most exciting news is that Clariece and Chris are here. They've steadily made their way up from Greece and I almost can't believe that they're in Strasbourg. I picked them up yesterday at the train station and we'll be travelling together in Paris and Amsterdam.

Last night I went out to drinks at Le Mosquito with Isabelle (one of my professors), Tomomi, Maiko, and Didier. I'll really miss experiences like that -- sitting in a bar for hours, speaking French, and sharing our respective cultures. And, of course, the occasional joke about how ridiculous Americans are. When I mentioned that I still have six months until I can drink in the States, Isabelle's friend pushed the pitcher of sangria towards me and said, "Drink up!" After an almost-tearful goodbye and promises to keep in touch, I went over to Les Freres Berthoms to introduce Clariece and Chris to the Kalamazoo kids. It was fun, though we all got tired fairly early and took the tram home. It's way too cold here to be walking around. Even with a shirt, a sweater, a jacket, leggings, jeans, and gloves you still can't stand outside for more than 5 minutes without shiverring.

Okay, well the time's almost up here so I guess my next entry will be from Paris. A bientot...

La folie continue...

It occurred to me that I haven’t written about the latest craziness chez Rigaud in a while. Well, dear readers, let me tell you that a lot has gone on and none of it is what one might call “normal”. Firstly, Mme has three sons: Tim, Antoine, and Julian. Tim is the 20-year-old who lives with us, Antoine seems fairly normal, and Julian is the oldest, with two twin 7-year-old boys. Now, I don’t know all the details, but from what I can discern from conversation is that Julian has recently been through a divorce, is completely irresponsible, and has little to no respect for my host mother. He lived with us for about a week, barely spoke, smoked a lot of cigarettes, and went through several bottles of wine. Remember those 7-year-old twin boys? Well, they stay with us about once a week. The only problem is that Julian just drops them off at the apartment without warning, leaving whoever is around to argue about who will stay home and watch them.
One of the most recent debacles was about Grand Theft Auto. Yes, the extremely violent video game that apparently has been translated into French. Well, it turns out that the twin boys’ great-grandfather, my host-grandfather who is fairly old and crazy, offered to buy them a video game. So Tim, my host brother who smokes pot in his room and is supposedly going to find a job working with local French hip-hop groups, offers to go with them to the store and buy them a video game. Tim, in his infinite wisdom, buys them Grand Theft Auto. Of course what he didn’t realize was that 7-year-old boys can’t keep their mouths shut. So fast-forward to dinner with two twin boys, two awkward Americans, two angst-ridden teen girls, and a super-Catholic host mother and somehow the boys mention that they got a video game for ages 16 and over. And then Tim walks in… and all chaos breaks loose. Mme promptly announces she’s the only responsible one in the family (vaguely true) and that she’s going to return the video game to the store. The kitchen goes mad. Tim says Mme shouldn’t return it, that the game is harmless. Charlotte says that they’re seven and it’s ridiculous that he even bought it in the first place. The boys say their dad is fine with the purchase and finally Mme yells, “Because your dad is crazy! He is not responsible at all!” Eventually, Rachael and I sneak out of the kitchen dying of laughter. Just another night chez Rigaud.
It got me to thinking, though, about the French ways to discipline children. From what I have seen over the past few months, my situation is not unique. I mean, it’s probably crazier than most, but many people yell here. That was one of the biggest adjustments, I think, was just the amount of yelling you here walking around. Mothers will literally yell at their children on the street if they accidentally fall down or take a few steps in the wrong direction. Now, I am not a mother, nor am I a rocket scientist, but I am observant. I can tell when something is completely ineffective. When it’s so frequent, yelling seems to have little to no positive effect. It rarely stops someone from doing something, instead it just makes them either want to rebel some more or fosters a grudge towards the parents. In my mind, this explains a lot of French behavior in general, but that’s probably a stretch.
Enough rambling about that, I suppose. Time to go to bed in order to wake up early for my 8:30 a.m. oral exam tomorrow. I can’t wait. Bonne nuit.