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...
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
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.
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, December 23, 2007
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!
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!
Friday, December 21, 2007
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...
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...
Monday, December 17, 2007
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.
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.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
I can't believe I haven't started crying about having to leave yet. I only have six days left in Strasbourg, three of which will be taken up by finals. It feels really strange. There's so much I still want to do, so much still to see and explore... Four months feels like a long time until the end when you realize it's all gone by in a flash. I've been pretty mopey the last few days at the prospect of leaving. I love life here.
Last Tuesday was the Institute's annual Christmas party and it was amazing. International language students are insane. Our language group did a dance/skit to Foux de Fa Fa, a Flight of the Conchords parody of French culture. All the girls wore black and white, with headbands and neck scarves. All the guys wore striped shirts and berets. We stole the show. After we performed, people were yelling "Encore! Encore!" and we did it again. It was so much fun and so silly. When all the performances were over, we ate food from around the world (mostly France, though) and drank vin chaud. From there we went out to Bar Exil, where I drank too much and realized just how much I love life here.
Wednesday morning we visited the European Parliament, which was pretty cool. We saw them in session and got a brief tour. Definitely a great oppurtunity. Then Thursday was the last day of class, which was just sad. I'm going to miss all of my international friends and Isabelle, our wonderful professor. Last night our entire group had a holiday dinner to celebrate the end of the semester. Have I mentioned how much I'm going to miss this group of fantastic people? I am. We gave flowers to Beth and all exchanged secret santa gifts. I gave Clif a bottle of Bailey's and gummy bears, Ciel gave me a super cute Alsatian mug. It's perfect because now I'll be able to think of Alsace whenever I drink tea back at LC.
This morning I got up earlier than I had intended and went down to Petit France. Even though it's the famous part of Strasbourg, I really hadn't been down there (sober, at least) since our boat tour. I took some pictures and also went to the Museum of Contemporary and Modern Art, which was a little bizarre, but nice. Now it's time to start studying so, naturally, I am downtown at an internet cafe. These next few weeks should be a bit hectic, as I'll be travelling a lot, but I'll try to post from internet cafes around Europe. Or at least have a final farewell post when I get back to the States.
Here's my plan for the next few weeks. I'm going to be travelling with Clariece, Chris, and Mike at various points...
Dec. 15 - 22 -- last days in Strasbourg
Dec. 22 - 25 -- train to Paris
Dec. 25 - 29 -- train to Amsterdam
Dec. 29 - Jan. 2 -- bus to Prague
Jan. 2 - 4 -- train to Vienna
Jan. 4 - 6 -- Fly back home, final goodbye in Strasbourg
Jan. 7 -- Return to Seattle... cry a lot (dramatic much?)
Most of the girls in our class before performing Foux de Fa Fa... from left to right:
top row -- Isabelle (professor), Elizabeth, Ciel, Alison, me, Katherine, Kae (Japan), Hanna (Belorus)
bottom row -- Kelly, Maiko (Japan), Carolina (Guatemala), Aurelie (professor)
European Parliament building... it's pretty cool.
Walking to class one morning... For some reason they cut all of the leaves off of the trees here during the winter so the roads are sort of ugly, but it's become sort of endearing to me.
Okay, time to go study for real. Or take a nap... that sounds like more fun. Does anyone want to take my psychology classes next semester so I can stay here a while longer?
Last Tuesday was the Institute's annual Christmas party and it was amazing. International language students are insane. Our language group did a dance/skit to Foux de Fa Fa, a Flight of the Conchords parody of French culture. All the girls wore black and white, with headbands and neck scarves. All the guys wore striped shirts and berets. We stole the show. After we performed, people were yelling "Encore! Encore!" and we did it again. It was so much fun and so silly. When all the performances were over, we ate food from around the world (mostly France, though) and drank vin chaud. From there we went out to Bar Exil, where I drank too much and realized just how much I love life here.
Wednesday morning we visited the European Parliament, which was pretty cool. We saw them in session and got a brief tour. Definitely a great oppurtunity. Then Thursday was the last day of class, which was just sad. I'm going to miss all of my international friends and Isabelle, our wonderful professor. Last night our entire group had a holiday dinner to celebrate the end of the semester. Have I mentioned how much I'm going to miss this group of fantastic people? I am. We gave flowers to Beth and all exchanged secret santa gifts. I gave Clif a bottle of Bailey's and gummy bears, Ciel gave me a super cute Alsatian mug. It's perfect because now I'll be able to think of Alsace whenever I drink tea back at LC.
This morning I got up earlier than I had intended and went down to Petit France. Even though it's the famous part of Strasbourg, I really hadn't been down there (sober, at least) since our boat tour. I took some pictures and also went to the Museum of Contemporary and Modern Art, which was a little bizarre, but nice. Now it's time to start studying so, naturally, I am downtown at an internet cafe. These next few weeks should be a bit hectic, as I'll be travelling a lot, but I'll try to post from internet cafes around Europe. Or at least have a final farewell post when I get back to the States.
Here's my plan for the next few weeks. I'm going to be travelling with Clariece, Chris, and Mike at various points...
Dec. 15 - 22 -- last days in Strasbourg
Dec. 22 - 25 -- train to Paris
Dec. 25 - 29 -- train to Amsterdam
Dec. 29 - Jan. 2 -- bus to Prague
Jan. 2 - 4 -- train to Vienna
Jan. 4 - 6 -- Fly back home, final goodbye in Strasbourg
Jan. 7 -- Return to Seattle... cry a lot (dramatic much?)
Most of the girls in our class before performing Foux de Fa Fa... from left to right:top row -- Isabelle (professor), Elizabeth, Ciel, Alison, me, Katherine, Kae (Japan), Hanna (Belorus)
bottom row -- Kelly, Maiko (Japan), Carolina (Guatemala), Aurelie (professor)
European Parliament building... it's pretty cool.Walking to class one morning... For some reason they cut all of the leaves off of the trees here during the winter so the roads are sort of ugly, but it's become sort of endearing to me.Okay, time to go study for real. Or take a nap... that sounds like more fun. Does anyone want to take my psychology classes next semester so I can stay here a while longer?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Un petit voyage en Ecosse.
This is the last time I can that say that I’m back in Strasbourg after yet another weekend trip. That’s pretty sad. Anyway, I went to Scotland for a few days to visit Merit. She and several other friends from high school are at St. Andrews, not on exchange but actually getting their undergrad degrees. I didn't get to see as much as Edinburgh as I would have liked, but that's okay. I still have plenty of years ahead of me to go back. So, I’ll start at the beginning, as usual:
Thursday morning I woke up and told my host mom I was leaving for the weekend. I don’t actually see her that often lately, as I tend to stay in my room and she isn’t here for dinner that often. So I told her as I walked out the door that, “Oh by the way… I’m going to Scotland!” She scolded me for missing my classes and I shrugged it off. Classes here are a joke, especially after I aced all of my midterms without studying. Then it was off to the airport! I hopped a plane to Charles de Gaulle, then another one to Edinburgh. Once in Scotland, I somehow managed to make it to the train station and then met Merit when I got off the train in Leuchars, a small town near St. Andrews. It was a long day, but it was really good to see Merit! I was exhausted so we got takeaway from a nearby Indian restaurant (still not as good as Bengal Tiger, dad) and Simon, Merit’s boyfriend, came over. As the night wound down, we got a drink at a local pub and watched an episode or two of Sex & the City before bed.
Friday morning, Merit showed me around the town and its three main streets (no joke). Adorable town, but I don’t think I could stay somewhere that small for four years. She gave me a mini-tour of the historic buildings, the ruins of the castle, and cathedral. The cathedral ruins still have a tower standing so we climbed up the vaguely dangerous stairs and I got to see the whole town spread out before us. It was gorgeous. St. Andrews is so different from Lewis & Clark or even the Université de Strasbourg just because it obviously has so much more history. Pretty incredible. After our thoroughly touristy day, we went to Starbucks and had a really good conversation about life. That night, we got fish and chips with Andrew, Betsy, and Simon. All of us, excluding Simon, were in the same UPrep class so it was like a mini high school reunion. The fish and chips could easily cause a heart attack at age 25… which of course means they were delicious. After dinner we decided to head out to a pub, where Simon and Andrew tried to teach me how to play darts. It was really fun, though I can go to every country in the world and there’s no denying that I will still have horrible hand-eye coordination. I also had some good Scottish beer that was on par with German and Alsatian beer. Eventually Merit, Andrew and I head back to Andrew’s flat to watch a hilarious British TV show called “Peep Show”. Finally Merit and I returned to her flat and promptly fell asleep.
Saturday was surprisingly relaxing. Merit had work all day until five and I was left to wander by myself (and perfectly happy to do so). I went to Starbucks, bought a gingerbread latte, grabbed a comfy chair in the corner, and sat down with my book. Surrounded by stressed out university students and jazzy Christmas music in the background, I felt more at home than I have for a long time. People criticize me for going to Starbucks abroad, but it’s a wonderful feeling for me to feel so at home so far away from the Northwest every once and a while. Anyway, I read and wrote in my journal for several hours until I realized that I was close to finishing my book. I met with Merit for her lunch break, went to purchase another book, and made my way over to the café where Andrew works. After sitting there for another hour or so and finishing one of the books, I went back to meet Merit. We went grocery shopping at the infamous Tesco and then ended up going back to Andrew’s bar. He made us some yummy drinks and after a while we said goodbye. Merit and I went back to cook dinner for Simon and us. I must say, it was really nice to be able to cook. I’m definitely looking forward to that next semester. Simon had to go do some work after dinner so Merit and I decided to have a girl night. We watched some more Sex & the City, drank wine, and ate far too many brownies. It was wonderful… sometimes you just need those nights.
Sunday was fairly low-key as well. I met up with Alice, another friend from U-Prep who is now a freshman at St. Andrews, for lunch at a small café nearby. It was really nice to see her and catch up before I left Scotland. I spent the rest of the day shopping and reading with Merit. I quickly realized shopping, however, is not worth it in the UK. Pounds make everything seem cheap… until you do the math and realize that the 20 pound shirt you’re holding is actually 40 dollars. Crap. We made dinner again and around eight, we walked over to the bus stop and sadly said our goodbyes. Then it was onto the train, onto another bus in Edinburgh and I finally arrived at the Edinburgh airport at 10:30 pm.
It seems like it all went fairly smoothly, right? Well, here’s where the fun part begins. My flight didn’t leave until 6:10 am the next morning. Ugh. So I settled down in an airport café and read my book. And read some more. And checked my email. And read some more. I didn’t actually sleep, as I was too nervous that I would sleep through my plane. I did, however, consume a lot of caffeine. Some people pull all-nighters easily, but I am sadly not one of those people. Around 4 am, people started to groggily line up to check in. I managed to check in, get through security, and then waited for the plane until 5:45 am when they started boarding. The minute I got onto the plane, I shut my eyes… except the flight was only an hour or so and I grumpily got up to brave the nightmare that is Charles de Gaulle airport. An overpriced espresso later and I was waiting at the gate for another two hours. I managed to arrive back in Strasbourg around 2:30 pm and then the trams weren’t functioning properly. It was clearly not the best day so I opted to skip my remaining classes. I spent the rest of the night recovering and passed out early. And that’s the end of yet another crazy European adventure. The moral of the story is that I hate Charles de Gaulle airport more than life itself.
Now that I’m back in Strasbourg, the past two days have actually been really nice. I only have two weeks left and I am quickly realizing how sad I’m going to be to leave. That always happens, I suppose. Still, every minute seems valuable all of a sudden. I’m trying to walk more places and take unexpected routes to soak up as much of Strasbourg as possible. This may not be the smartest option possible, as I have a ton of finals quickly approaching, but I know I’d regret it if I spent all my time studying (not likely anyway). Instead, I am discovering new stores like Le Serpent Vert, an organic store that feels much more like the Northwest than I would have ever expected to find in France, and I am enjoying leisurely conversations at Chez Christian, Café Brant, and Café Broglie over chocolat chaud and café au lait with good friends. It will definitely be hard to say goodbye to all of this and return to the pressures of real life.
The front of St. Andrews Castle.
Merit and moi!
St. Andrews beach... very cheery at this time of the year.
More castle...
The ruins of the Cathedral, which were really cool. We climbed the tower to the right.
St. Andrews is pretty.
Thursday morning I woke up and told my host mom I was leaving for the weekend. I don’t actually see her that often lately, as I tend to stay in my room and she isn’t here for dinner that often. So I told her as I walked out the door that, “Oh by the way… I’m going to Scotland!” She scolded me for missing my classes and I shrugged it off. Classes here are a joke, especially after I aced all of my midterms without studying. Then it was off to the airport! I hopped a plane to Charles de Gaulle, then another one to Edinburgh. Once in Scotland, I somehow managed to make it to the train station and then met Merit when I got off the train in Leuchars, a small town near St. Andrews. It was a long day, but it was really good to see Merit! I was exhausted so we got takeaway from a nearby Indian restaurant (still not as good as Bengal Tiger, dad) and Simon, Merit’s boyfriend, came over. As the night wound down, we got a drink at a local pub and watched an episode or two of Sex & the City before bed.
Friday morning, Merit showed me around the town and its three main streets (no joke). Adorable town, but I don’t think I could stay somewhere that small for four years. She gave me a mini-tour of the historic buildings, the ruins of the castle, and cathedral. The cathedral ruins still have a tower standing so we climbed up the vaguely dangerous stairs and I got to see the whole town spread out before us. It was gorgeous. St. Andrews is so different from Lewis & Clark or even the Université de Strasbourg just because it obviously has so much more history. Pretty incredible. After our thoroughly touristy day, we went to Starbucks and had a really good conversation about life. That night, we got fish and chips with Andrew, Betsy, and Simon. All of us, excluding Simon, were in the same UPrep class so it was like a mini high school reunion. The fish and chips could easily cause a heart attack at age 25… which of course means they were delicious. After dinner we decided to head out to a pub, where Simon and Andrew tried to teach me how to play darts. It was really fun, though I can go to every country in the world and there’s no denying that I will still have horrible hand-eye coordination. I also had some good Scottish beer that was on par with German and Alsatian beer. Eventually Merit, Andrew and I head back to Andrew’s flat to watch a hilarious British TV show called “Peep Show”. Finally Merit and I returned to her flat and promptly fell asleep.
Saturday was surprisingly relaxing. Merit had work all day until five and I was left to wander by myself (and perfectly happy to do so). I went to Starbucks, bought a gingerbread latte, grabbed a comfy chair in the corner, and sat down with my book. Surrounded by stressed out university students and jazzy Christmas music in the background, I felt more at home than I have for a long time. People criticize me for going to Starbucks abroad, but it’s a wonderful feeling for me to feel so at home so far away from the Northwest every once and a while. Anyway, I read and wrote in my journal for several hours until I realized that I was close to finishing my book. I met with Merit for her lunch break, went to purchase another book, and made my way over to the café where Andrew works. After sitting there for another hour or so and finishing one of the books, I went back to meet Merit. We went grocery shopping at the infamous Tesco and then ended up going back to Andrew’s bar. He made us some yummy drinks and after a while we said goodbye. Merit and I went back to cook dinner for Simon and us. I must say, it was really nice to be able to cook. I’m definitely looking forward to that next semester. Simon had to go do some work after dinner so Merit and I decided to have a girl night. We watched some more Sex & the City, drank wine, and ate far too many brownies. It was wonderful… sometimes you just need those nights.
Sunday was fairly low-key as well. I met up with Alice, another friend from U-Prep who is now a freshman at St. Andrews, for lunch at a small café nearby. It was really nice to see her and catch up before I left Scotland. I spent the rest of the day shopping and reading with Merit. I quickly realized shopping, however, is not worth it in the UK. Pounds make everything seem cheap… until you do the math and realize that the 20 pound shirt you’re holding is actually 40 dollars. Crap. We made dinner again and around eight, we walked over to the bus stop and sadly said our goodbyes. Then it was onto the train, onto another bus in Edinburgh and I finally arrived at the Edinburgh airport at 10:30 pm.
It seems like it all went fairly smoothly, right? Well, here’s where the fun part begins. My flight didn’t leave until 6:10 am the next morning. Ugh. So I settled down in an airport café and read my book. And read some more. And checked my email. And read some more. I didn’t actually sleep, as I was too nervous that I would sleep through my plane. I did, however, consume a lot of caffeine. Some people pull all-nighters easily, but I am sadly not one of those people. Around 4 am, people started to groggily line up to check in. I managed to check in, get through security, and then waited for the plane until 5:45 am when they started boarding. The minute I got onto the plane, I shut my eyes… except the flight was only an hour or so and I grumpily got up to brave the nightmare that is Charles de Gaulle airport. An overpriced espresso later and I was waiting at the gate for another two hours. I managed to arrive back in Strasbourg around 2:30 pm and then the trams weren’t functioning properly. It was clearly not the best day so I opted to skip my remaining classes. I spent the rest of the night recovering and passed out early. And that’s the end of yet another crazy European adventure. The moral of the story is that I hate Charles de Gaulle airport more than life itself.
Now that I’m back in Strasbourg, the past two days have actually been really nice. I only have two weeks left and I am quickly realizing how sad I’m going to be to leave. That always happens, I suppose. Still, every minute seems valuable all of a sudden. I’m trying to walk more places and take unexpected routes to soak up as much of Strasbourg as possible. This may not be the smartest option possible, as I have a ton of finals quickly approaching, but I know I’d regret it if I spent all my time studying (not likely anyway). Instead, I am discovering new stores like Le Serpent Vert, an organic store that feels much more like the Northwest than I would have ever expected to find in France, and I am enjoying leisurely conversations at Chez Christian, Café Brant, and Café Broglie over chocolat chaud and café au lait with good friends. It will definitely be hard to say goodbye to all of this and return to the pressures of real life.
The front of St. Andrews Castle.
Merit and moi!
St. Andrews beach... very cheery at this time of the year.
More castle...
The ruins of the Cathedral, which were really cool. We climbed the tower to the right.
St. Andrews is pretty.
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