Classes, family, and wacky adventures.

After some significant angst about classes and culture shock, I have gotten back on my feet. Thus far, my schedule for the rest of the semester actually looks pretty amazing. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are all fairly intense, but Thursdays only have four hours of class and then Fridays are completely free. Yes, that’s right, I have a semester of three day weekends ahead of me in Europe. I am so, so, so happy.

Anyway, I haven’t really talked that much about my host family, but they’re so crazy that I really should tell all you wonderful readers about them. So! I live with a divorced woman, Mme. Rigaud, who until this point has remained a little distant and cold. I suppose that’s just very French. Mme. Rigaud has six children, but only the three youngest live with us. Timothy, 20, is her youngest son and I’m still not entirely sure if he actually lives here or what he does, besides work at a bar. He never eats meals with us or says more than “Salut!” to me, but is normally around in the afternoons. For those of you wondering, and I know who you are, he is not cute. Not at all. It’s very sad. Tragic, even.

And then there are The Twins, who are 18 and deserve a paragraph of their own. Upon my arrival, Beth told me that there is a Good Twin and an Evil Twin. I thought this was a joke and boy was I wrong. The Good Twin is Charlotte, who I’ve actually started talking to recently. The Evil Twin is Bérangère, who is moody and yells a lot. At the end of high school, the French have a huge test called the Bac that they need to pass in order to go to university. If you don’t pass it, you essentially don’t pass high school. Anyway, last year Charlotte received her Bac and Bérangère didn’t. That’s where a lot of the craziness comes in, as Charlotte is currently starting law school and there’s a good possibility that Bérangère will have to repeat her last year of high school. I actually feel bad for Bérangère, as she is obviously not the Good Twin, but she doesn’t exactly make life easier for herself by shouting, “I hate this family! You blame me for everything! Why is everything always my fault?!” at dinner and storming off to her room. Ah, teenage angst.

As for the latest wacky European adventure, last Saturday four of us decided to go to Ribeauvillé, a local Alsatian village on the wine route. We thought it would be a pleasant day trip, but little did we know that the train station was actually four kilometers away from the village. So that’s how I ended up walking along the side of a French highway to a town in middle of nowhere and back. The village itself was pretty cute, except for the masses of crazy German tourists, but we didn’t stay very long. Ah well, at least it’s a pretty good story.

This weekend should be pretty low-key. I feel a little guilty about not traveling, but staying warm in bed is almost irresistible now that the rain has started. I must say, one of the things I miss the most about LC is just sitting in Odell on rainy days, drinking hot cocoa, and listening to indie music with friends. I suppose there will be plenty of time to do that next semester.

Time to go to class. Au revoir.

PS. If there’s something specific you would like me to write about, please let me know. I really have no idea what’s interesting and what’s not so feedback is always appreciated. :)

A weekend in Paris and more.

Our two-week stage finished last Friday and so the group went to Paris for a long weekend to celebrate! It was a great trip, though thoroughly exhausting. I’m getting to know some of the Kalamazoo kids a lot better and I feel much more comfortable with them. I really love our group and that’s definitely worth a lot.

So! Paris:
Saturday morning we took the new TGV directly to Paris from Strasbourg. Everyone settled into our hotel in the early afternoon and wandered around that afternoon. We ended up visiting Notre Dame and watched a band play in one of the side streets. After that, the entire group ate at an Indian restaurant (Bengal Tiger in Seattle is better) and then went to see La Lecon by Ionesco in a small theater in the Latin Quarter. Oddly enough, I saw La Cantatrice Chauve in the exact same theater during my high school trip to Paris. Funny how things work out.

Sunday morning we were off to the Musée D’Orsay, one of my personal favorites. We didn’t have a guided tour this time, unlike in high school, which made my second to the museum much more enjoyable. I didn’t get to see everything, but I loved wandering into random exhibits and exploring. My favorites were the Art Nouveau collection and a photography exhibit exploring “La Main” (The Hand).
After that we ate a great lunch at the Musée’s restaurant and took some touristy pictures before leaving. France is hosting the Rugby World Cup and so there was a ferris wheel set up by the Place de la Concorde in its honor. Naturally, six of us decided that we needed to go on it. I’m pretty sure this was my first time on a ferris wheel and what a place for it! The sun was shining, we were in the middle of Paris, and I had a great 360-degree view. It was pretty spectacular. From there we walked to the Louvre, though we didn’t get to spend much time there. I don’t actually like the Louvre as much so that’s okay.
That evening we had dinner at a nearby café and then took a much-needed nap. Eventually we all got back some energy and took the metro over to the Eiffel Tower. It was pretty incredible, actually, to be there at night. We hung out underneath the Tower until we got too cold and made the journey back.

Monday morning we set off to the Palais Garnier aka the Paris Opéra for a guided tour. I wasn’t very excited about it, but it ended up being really cool and I could understand everything our tour guide was saying in French. It was fun to see Box No. 5 where the Phantom supposedly sits, though I didn’t realize that this was the Opera from Phantom of the Opera until halfway through the tour. Oops.
After the Opera, four of us set off to go shopping. Honestly, you can’t visit Paris and not go shopping. We eventually found a mall my mom told me about, which was huge and confusing. I didn’t buy anything, but found some prospective purchases for back in Strasbourg. Jill and Stephanie had already gone back on the metro, but for some reason Sarah and I decided to walk back to the hotel from the mall. It ended up being a really nice walk past the Louvre, the Seine, and Notre Dame back to the Latin Quarter.
That night we went to a mind-blowing restaurant located near our hotel. Seriously, this was one of the best meals of my life, though that might have also been the wine talking. I love all of the French food, though I think I should start walking more rather than using the tram every day.

Yesterday we had most of the day free until our train left at 4:30 so I decided to make the journey to Montmartre, something I’ve wanted to do for many years. A group of us went to Sacré-Coeur, which was stunning. The view was gorgeous. I could have just stayed there for hours looking out over the city. Then we went inside the church and the nuns were singing during a service. It definitely made me miss Italy, hearing the religious choral music in such a resonant church, but it was also gorgeous music and I loved listening. I just miss singing.
We then wandered to a small Salvador Dali museum. I adore Dali’s work and the museum was completely worth it. I really want to know even more about him now. His work is incredible, though I can’t even begin to comprehend most of it.
Finally, we walked down the hill to the Moulin Rouge. It was sort of unreal seeing it after so many years. I definitely thought about Cressa while we were there taking pictures, as the two of us spent countless hours in high school obsessing over the movie. From there it was back to the hotel and then to the train station to hop on the TGV.

So that was my weekend, more or less. A few of us are thinking about adventuring somewhere around Alsace this weekend, but we haven’t made any plans yet. Also, plans are starting to shape up for my free week at the end of October. I’m probably going to go to Turkey (Istanbul and Kusadasi) and then Crete with some of the LC kids in Greece. I’m excited.

Before I go, here are a few pictures from the past few weeks. I have to figure out a better way to post pictures.

The Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg had a light show the first weekend we were here.

Some of the group at Irish Times, a local bar. From left to right - Mike K, Mike Z, Corey, Shannon's sister, Shannon, Stephanie, Jill, and Sarah.

I live towards the end of this street.

Jill, Sarah, and I on the terrace at Musée D'Orsay.

La Tour Eiffel from the ferris wheel. Pretty cool.

The end of our first week.

A 57-year-old german man called me a walking dictionary today. I'm not entirely sure how I know so many random french words, but apparently I do. C'est bizarre.

So I've been here for a week and am finally starting to get settled. It's surprisingly cold here, which has been hard to adjust to. Even the residents of Strasbourg have been complaining. As September is not usually this cold, the residents here generally don't turn the heat on until October. I guess they adhere pretty strictly to this since nothing, including our classrooms, is heated.

Anyway, our two week stage has been pretty miserable, but that was to be expected. The classes are really easy for me and thus, incredibly boring. Still, I am making friends with other students, though mostly Americans, and am attempting to enjoy the time when I'm not in class. We eat lunch most days at Resto-U's, which are university restaurants around the city with cheap food. Not the best dining in the world, but great for students on a budget.

For our "socio-cultural" class, we have to do a small research project on Strasbourg's cathedral. This afternoon we ended up "researching" downtown. After a half-hour of interviewing total strangers, something I would be too shy to do in english but somehow managed in french, we all went to a nearby cafe for coffee. I can definitely see myself making a habit of an afternoon latte and croissant in the coming months. I'll probably be a coffee snob once I get back to the States.

On a completely different note, the women here are incredible. They are skinny, gorgeous, and impossibly graceful. The other day it started pouring down rain randomly and I found myself without an umbrella. We were walking downtown and by the time I had purchased what I needed at Monoprix, I was literally dripping. I didn't think it was that strange, but when I boarded the tram, every woman was perfectly dry and elegant. I have since learned that umbrellas here are not taboo, as in Seattle or Portland, but are used with even the slightest drizzle. I am now starting to get into the habit of using mine, as I don't want to risk another hair disaster amongst such chic women.

I have much more to write about, but I'm tired and ready to go to bed. This weekend will hopefully give me some time to catch up and breathe a little.

Bonne nuit.

Well, I've been here since Friday and Mme Rigaud continues to be very nice and welcoming, though you can definitely tell she's a mother of six and very french. She's just very matter-of-fact, but tells me that my french is good. Dinner with her son and her son's friend Friday night was pretty hilarious. The topics ranged from The Simpsons, Desperate Houswives (which Mme says is very à la mode in France right now), and the drinking age in the US. Good times.

There's another student living with us this semester too, Rachel from Eastern Mennonite University. She seems nice, but fairly quiet. There's also another girl from Cornell on the Syracuse program, Rebecca, who will stay with us until Monday, when her host family returns from their vacation. It's been good to get to know her and hopefully we'll see each other after she leaves the house. Mme. hosted a dinner party last night with some of her friends, who all have students with them, so there were around six American students there. Everyone is either from BCE or Syracuse, other American programs here in Strasbourg, which is kind of cool because the L&C program is really small.

Speaking of the L&C program, yesterday I met the rest of the students in the group. Most are from Kalamazoo, but there is one girl from Bryn Mawr, Ciel. It seems like I might not actually see the Kalamazoo kids a lot, except for our trips. We’ll see.

We walked around the city and it's so amazingly wonderful. Everything is overwhelming and the buildings are amazing. French people are so elitist, I love it. You're not supposed to smile at anyone in the street or people think you're either flirting or dumb. I need to get used to the "I'm-too-cool-to-look-at-you" walk, but I think it'll grow on me with time. The cathedral here looks magnificent and ancient and I sort of can't wait to explore all the little shops.

As for the next few weeks, we're going to have a two-week stage, which literally means internship. What it really is, however, is intensive french. We have a language placement exam Monday, which will place us in language groups in which we have french all day, every day for two weeks. Beth says it will be rather miserable for the first week, but it is intended to immerse us. On the positive side, we have a group trip to Paris at the end of it with the Nancy students to look forward to. I'm also hoping to meet students in my language groups.

So, everything's going great so far. My french is actually better than I thought it would be and I am starting to enjoy speaking it. We've been walking a lot and I'm just going to have to suck it up and accept that my feet will hurt for the next four months straight. Still, I might attempt the tram soon, which would reduce my travel time to and from school each day. Thank god for public transportation that actually works. Seattle could learn a thing or two from Europe.

Okay, that's it for now.