Un weekend fou.

Yet another crazy weekend!

I guess I’ll start on Friday. I woke up bright and early in order to catch our bus to Nancy. As soon as I stepped outside, I was reminded of Seattle as it was pouring rain. Happy Thanksgiving indeed. We arrived in Nancy around 10:30 am and were greeted by even more rain. After a brief introduction to the city, we were given time to look around the Musee des Beaux Arts near the main square. By far the coolest part of the museum was a small room that looked fairly inconspicuous until you entered. When you enter (only one at a time), you walk into a room covered in mirrors. Each wall, the ceiling, and even the back of the door are all covered in mirrors. The floor is actually a pool of water and you stand on a small platform. Then there are lights that could easily just be fancy Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling, but the mirrors make it look like there are thousands of lights surrounding you. It was really incredible and vaguely trippy. By noon, we were starving and ready for our feast. Beth and Ron, our two directors, led us to a small restaurant where we joined the other Lewis & Clark students studying in Nancy. Our Thanksgiving meal was wonderful, complete with salad, potatoes, yams, turkey, chestnut stuffing, and pumpkin pie. Plenty of wine as well… it may be an American tradition, but we are still in France after all. I ate far too much and had a great time with everyone here. After lunch, Laura and Clio, two of the LC Nancy students took us to the Artist’s Café where we got tea and sat in a turkey-induced stupor until it was time to go home. When we returned to Strasbourg, everyone went to their respective homes and I spent a relaxed night catching up on some TV shows from home.

Saturday I slept in and finally rolled out of bed to meet Sarah and Clif downtown. It was officially the first day of the Christmas Market here and let me tell you, Christmas in Strasbourg is a big deal. It’s the oldest and biggest Christmas Market in France and one of my professors likes to refer to it as “Disneyland”. I can see what she was getting at… walking through the market is completely overwhelming. The German tourists come out in full force and you can barely move through the hoards of people. Every stand is lit up with lights and decorated as a small wood cabin. There are tons of food vendors that sell vin chaud (hot wine) and other traditionally Alsatian/German food, whereas the other stands sell tchockies or handmade gifts. Personally, the vin chaud wasn’t as amazing as I was hoping it would be, but I’m a big fan of the overpriced roasted chestnuts. I can’t see myself getting that many gifts for people, just as a lot of it is useless trinkets, but I think I’ll be stocking up on Alsatian cookies and candy. Merry Christmas, have some French candy… After the market, we met up with Mike and stopped in at Chez Christian for some hot chocolate. Later that night, I grabbed a bite to eat at a vendor and we met up again to see a choir/organ concert at the Cathedral. It sadly wasn’t the warm Christmas concert I was hoping for (I think Northwest Girlchoir has spoiled me for the rest of my life), but it was good regardless. We left early to grab drinks and meet up with the rest of the group. I have discovered my new favorite beer: Delirium. It comes from Belgium and I’m going to have to hunt it down when I get to Portland. The rest of the night was a wonderfully blurry time filled with taking silly pictures, good friends, and dancing at a club on a barge in Petit France. Jill and I managed to find our way back home after walking across all of downtown Strasbourg late at night. What a good night.

Sunday morning I managed to get out of bed in time to meet for a trip to the Maginot Line with the Institute where we study. As usual, I slept on the bus and when I woke up we were out in the middle of the Vosges next to a French fortification from World War Two to keep out the Germans. Crazy how that happens here. Anyway, we were given the option of getting the tour in either French or English and I, stupidly, opted for the French tour. I really wish I could tell you all what the Maginot Line did exactly, but unfortunately I have no idea what our tour guide said. He had the thickest Alsatian/mountain accent I have heard since being here. Even my professor Isabelle who was born in Alsace couldn’t understand what he was saying. The next two hours were spent wandering around the underground fortifications and laughing at how confused we were. It wasn’t exactly a cheery place, though. I can’t imagine having to live there… soldiers were three to a bed and one hundred to a shower. Many got serious depression from lack of exposure to the sun. Still interesting, though. After the tour, we piled onto the bus again and drove to a local village where we had some tarte flambée and wine. When I finally got home I had some work to do for classes, which has recently become a foreign concept. Homework? Studying? What? I’m sorry, je ne comprends pas.

Only three days until I take off for Scotland! Hurrah! Now I just need to figure out the French bank system in order to withdraw Pounds... huh.

Nancy's rainy main square...

Crazy cool light exhibit.

Sun in November? What is this?

Chez Christian... amazing hot chocolate.

Christmas market madness.

A group of us at a bar. From left to right -- Stephanie, Mike K., Corey, Sarah, Matt, et moi.

Maginot Line -- not the cheeriest place.

A plus tard!

How is it almost December?!

Joyeux Thanksgiving! It’s just another rainy day over here, but tomorrow we’re taking a day trip to Nancy to see the other LC kids and to have a big Thanksgiving lunch. I’m definitely sad I won’t be in Seattle this weekend, but at least I’ll be with good friends over here.

Life in Strasbourg is back to normal, or at least as normal as it ever was. I’ve stayed here for the past two weekends and I’ve somehow developed a social life here. My friends from Kalamazoo here are still amazing and I’ve even managed to make some international friends at school. Kaé, Tomomi, and Maiko are all from Japan and Carolina is from Guatemala. I know them through our language block and they’re all really cool. As much as I adore my American friends here, I’m excited to have more diversity in my social life.

Speaking of diversity, last Thursday night I attended a wine and cheese soirée put on by the Institute of French Studies where I study. There were surprisingly few Americans, which gave me a chance to branch out and talk to some other international students, not to mention my two rather tipsy professors. When the soirée ended, I went out to a bar with a group of Canadians, a New Zealander, and an Australian. After that I went and met up with Kaé, Tomomi, and Maiko at a dance club. I wish I could have taken advantage of my first French dance club, but I was a little too sober and surrounded by chic French girls. So I opted to catch the last tram home at 12:15, but I was still pretty proud of myself for such a diverse night.

The wine and cheese night also involved what was maybe one of the best interactions I’ve had in Strasbourg yet. At one point, a fairly drunk Turkish guy started talking to a group of us and trying to guess our nationalities. After loudly declaring that he can’t speak French at all and incorrectly guessing that the Japanese girls were Chinese, he looked at me:
Turkish guy: Spain!
Me: Nope. The United States.
Turkish guy: You are American? I don’t like America! Your politics are not good. You ignore everyone else! All Americans think they’re the center of the universe! But I am surprised you are American, you don’t seem like that. I mean, you are just standing there and you just seem normal. You must be from, like, Seattle or something!
Me: Uh, yeah… I am from Seattle!
At this point everyone sort of laughed out of disbelief. It’s not as funny when I write it down, but it was just such a strange, random coincidence. One of his friends, a Polish woman, kept apologizing for him, but I thought it was hilarious.

It’s weird being from the States over here because you either get a really positive or really negative reaction. People are either thrilled to meet an American (I once got a rousing “I love the United States!” from a tipsy French girl) or want to tell me everything that we’ve done wrong as a country. Most of the time I agree with them, but that doesn’t always make it easier to tolerate. It’s hard to hear people constantly bash your country, especially if they have problems with the society as well as the politics. I know we have issues, but everyone does. Just living in France has shown me that. Anyway, I’ve actually ended up having a little bit of pride towards the US, which feels very strange. I’m sure that will all go away once I return to the States and have reverse culture shock. Not really looking forward to that.

Other than that, life has been pretty low-key. I’ve been shopping a lot, mostly in an attempt to stock up on sweaters. It is cold here and all I can say is that I will have an impressive collection of sweaters and scarves when I return. Retail therapy works wonders, who knew? I also have discovered what may be one of my favorite places in Strasbourg – Chez Christian. It is a little restaurant near the Cathedral that is incredibly girly, complete with fuchsia and maroon walls, and serves amazing hot chocolate. I have daydreams about spending hours there just drinking hot chocolate and reading.

Next weekend, I’m flying to Scotland to visit Merit, who goes to school at St. Andrews. It’s kind of insane, I know, to fly up to Scotland for the weekend, but… well, why not? Stay tuned…

La Turquie et La Grèce!!

I don’t really know where to start. I guess I should apologize for this insanely long post. It was a crazy whirlwind of a week… I guess I’ll pick up where I left off last Sunday.

After writing and sleeping for a few hours, we woke up and went to dinner with some of the other students from the Greece program who were also in Istanbul. After dinner we went to a hookah bar next-door where we sat on pillows outside and were able to people-watch. We were all ready for a low-key night so eventually Carolyn, Maddie, and I went back to the hostel, watched Music & Lyrics (a horrible movie by the way), and went to bed.

Monday morning we woke up, grabbed breakfast at the hostel, and walked to Topkapi Palace, which was the official and primary Istanbul residence of the Ottoman Sultans from 1465 to 1853. The best part of the palace was the definitely elaborate Harem where the Sultan’s concubines lived, though there were several rooms filled with jewels from the Sultans that were also pretty amazing.
As we were leaving the palace, the sky looked stormy so we decided to go home. We stopped at a local restaurant for lunch and then some of us (me) took naps. When I woke up, Clariece and I decided to grab tea down the street. We chose a restaurant that was playing the Amélie soundtrack, which made me feel very at home. We went back to the hostel and decided to go to Taksim, a neighborhood across the city, for Turkey’s independence celebration that night. We sadly missed the fireworks as we were meeting Charles, another student from the Greece program, and his friend from home. Nevertheless, a group of us set out trying to find Taksim. We took the tram to what we previously thought was Asia, but turns out is actually just another part of Europe. We got off a stop too early and ended up walking up and down several hills. It was nice to see some other neighborhoods in Istanbul that weren’t as touristy, but it was pretty strange at times as there were literally no women outside. It was definitely an adventure. Finally we got to the correct tram stop, walked up another hill, and found Taksim. Taksim seems to be one of the bigger shopping areas. There were tons of people just wandering around and definitely not as many tourists. It was pretty overwhelming, actually. We found Taksim Square at the end of the street, which was mostly dead after the celebration earlier. At some point we realized we hadn’t had dinner so Chris, Clairece and I decided to stop in a restaurant on one of the side streets. Finally after such a long night, we took the tram back and went to bed.

Tuesday we had a lazy morning and then walked to the ferry terminal to buy tickets for Wednesday’s travel. The walk was along a nice trail on the waterfront and was actually quite beautiful. We took a taxi back up to the Grand Bazaar, where we got a cheap lunch of lahmacun. It’s like cheese-less Turkish pizza with more meat. Yum. Tuesday was definitely the day for shopping so several of us wandered around the Bazaar finding random presents for people. I successfully haggled with several vendors, something I’m quite proud of. The Turkish vendors continued to be hilarious with their obscure cultural references. At least two vendors called me “Spice Girl” and several others commented on my looks. I know they’re just doing business, but a girl could get used to so many random compliments, hehe.
After the Grand Bazaar, Clariece, Chris and I decided to find the Egyptian Spice Bazaar. We ended up probably taking the worst path possible and walking through what seemed like Istanbul’s textile district. Each street was impossibly crowded. Every once and a while, a car would try to get through the throng and take five minutes to go one block. It was definitely a sensory overload, but also great to see some of real life in Istanbul. After asking at least five people for directions, we found the Spice Bazaar and were greeted with heaps of spices on tables and in bins. It was wonderful just to see and smell. The Spice Bazaar itself was a lot smaller than the Grand Bazaar so after a while we took the tram back to our hostel, where we met Maddie and Carolyn at the hookah bar. Maddie, Clariece, and I had made plans to go to the Turkish bath that night so we set out on our own little adventure.
The Turkish bath deserves a paragraph of its own. It was incredible. We walked in and were greeted by friendly Turks who ushered us into a changing room. We each changed into only a towel, then were moved to a sauna/bath room where we removed out towels (it was a single-sex room) and had hot water to pour on ourselves. So the three of us sat and talked long enough for all of the dead skin to appear, which I guess is the point. Eventually an older woman came in and gestured for me to follow her. Normally I think I would be a lot more self-conscious, but she was extremely professional and I barely felt uncomfortable. She took me into a smaller room and had me lay on a marble table. She then scrubbed off all of the dead skin, washed it off, and applied the most amazing body wash that felt like pure velvet. The most incredible aspect of the entire experience was that she sang most of the time and her voice was incredibly beautiful. Most of her songs were in Turkish and incredibly relaxing. Every time I felt myself tense, she would start singing again and I would feel calm again. When she was finished, she led me back to the lobby where I was served hot apple tea and met up with Maddie and Clariece. It was such a wonderful experience. Just a side note, Turkish apple tea is amazing. I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance to taste it. All clean and soft, the three of us went back and met up with Chris. We went to a restaurant nearby and then packed up for our early-morning voyage the next day.

Wednesday morning we were up in time to catch a 7 a.m. ferry from Istanbul to Banderma with most of the other Greece students. From there we hopped a four-hour bus through the middle-of-nowhere Turkey to Ayvalik, a port city across the water from Lesvos, Greece. The original plan was to take the ferry on Thursday, but we actually managed to get onto the Wednesday ferry and arrived in Lesvos one day early, after more than 12 hours in transit. So most of the Greece program ended up back at Hotel Votsala, the amazing hotel that the program was at for the past month, and they even made us a dinner. Clariece showed me around and I was thrilled to see where they had been living for a month. We were all exhausted after the long day of travel, so Maddie, Chris, Clariece and I settled in and watched Pirates of the Caribbean III and drank some rum in celebration. Not a bad Halloween, if I say so myself.

Thursday was my first official day in Greece! I woke up early and sat on Maddie’s balcony with a gorgeous view of the sea. All of the students insisted that it was chilly there, but compared to dreary Strasbourg, this was a tropical paradise. Not bad for November. We got breakfast and then took a bus into Mytilini, the biggest town on the island. Greece is a lot different than Turkey, but still really great. Life seems to be even slower than in France, if that’s possible. Also, the islands seem to have some special sort of light surrounding it. The air just seems clearer and there’s so much color everywhere. It’s gorgeous. Clariece and Chris showed me their usual haunts, such as the House of Tea where we got tasty hot cocoa and a local gyro place. The three of us took the bus back to Hotel Votsala, where we broke open some local wine. Eventually we met up with some of the other students at a nearby taverna and I had my first real Greek dining experience. Greek food? Amazing. Delicious. It’s also easy to eat way too much. Way too full to do much else, Clariece and I went back and talked for several hours before going to bed.

Friday morning we packed up all of our stuff and left Hotel Votsala. We took what was possibly the craziest taxi ride I’ve ever been on to the airport. Our taxi driver took what seemed like the smallest winding streets through Mytilini that probably exist. After that, I wasn’t really worried about the possibly sketchy flight to Crete… until I saw the plane. Our flight from Mitilini, Lesvos to Heraklion, Crete was aboard the smallest plane I’ve ever been on. There were seventeen passengers, one stewardess, and two pilots. If you know me at all, you know that I’m not the biggest fan of flying, especially in small planes. Well, this was definitely a test. Maddie was amazing and let me hold her hand for take-off and some of landing. Luckily the flight was only about an hour, but still. It was terrifying. Hopefully I won’t have to repeat that experience for a while.
We arrived in Heraklion, Crete having no idea where we were staying. A woman at the airport information desk gave us the name of us a local youth hostel and off we went. We checked in, dropped our stuff off, and went out to explore Heraklion. I’ve really enjoyed this trip because everywhere I’ve gone has been different. For instance, Heraklion is still really different from Mitilini, though they’re both in Greece. Heraklion seems much more touristy, despite it being the off-season. We found a small market while wandering, got some coffee, and then gyros (my new favorite food) and beer. I’ve made it my duty to try the different kinds of beer in each country. In Turkey it was Efes and here it is either Alfa or Mythos. So far none of them have really compared to German or Alsatian beer, but I’m probably biased.

Saturday was our last full day in Crete so we got up bright and early to catch the bus to Knossos, the ceremonial and political center of the Minoan civilization back in the day. I suppose it’s only fitting that as I was with three people on an Ancient Studies program I should go to at least one archaeological site in Greece. I enjoyed it, though I really had no idea what I was looking at. All the significance was definitely lost on me, which is probably too bad. The scenery around the site was gorgeous, though, and at least I could fully appreciate that. After Knossos, we decided to go to the Crete Aquarium. I know, I know, going to an aquarium when you’re in Greece. It sounds lame, but it was actually really fun and each of us loves aquariums. It ended up being at least 20 kilometers away by bus, which made getting there an adventure in itself. We goofed around there for a while and then made our way back to Heraklion. Chris, Clariece, and I tried to find a local bazaar, but weren’t successful. We then parted ways and I had my first few moments alone in what seemed like forever. I love my friends, but I almost wish I could have explored more on my own. Just those few minutes walking through some side streets alone were wonderful. That night we wandered around in search of a restaurant to eat at and instead found Rianna, another student on the Greece program, and her boyfriend Mitch. We all went out for way-too-expensive drinks (Tequila Sunrise is my new favorite) at a fancy bar and the four of us ate gyros for dinner. After another drink at another bar and talking for several hours, I was ready to go back to our hostel and pack.

Sunday morning was rather uneventful. We checked out of the hostel and, as everything else in Greece is closed on Sunday mornings, we ate at the local Starbucks. I sadly said goodbye to Maddie, Clariece, and Chris and took a taxi to the airport. I had several uneventful flights to Frankfurt and caught the Lufthansa bus back to Strasbourg.

Now it’s back to life as usual. This week we have midterms and yesterday I gave a thoroughly embarrassing presentation on rugby in France. I’ve started planning even more trips now that I have two months of free weekends ahead of me. Back to my normal self, I’d say.

And now, pictures!
The view from the top of the Orient Hostel in Istanbul.

Clariece at a very Portland-esque cafe... in Istanbul.

Hagia Sophia. Amazing.
The Imperial Gate of the Hagia Sophia... and me next to it, for perspective.

Obligatory tourist shot from the Palace.

Blue Mosque lit up on their independance day. I wish I spoke Turkish.

Outside the Grand Bazaar.

Lovely friends! Clariece, Chris, Carolyn, and Maddie.

Heaps of spices at the Spice Bazaar.

View from Maddie's room at Hotel Votsala (Lesbos, Greece).

Mytilini, Lesbos.
More Mytilini.
Knossos on Crete.

More Knossos.

And that's about it for now! I'm off to plan a trip to Scotland. Au revoir...

I'm in TURKEY. WHAT.

What an eventful few days!

Friday morning I brilliantly managed to sleep through my alarm and missed my bus, therefore missing my flight. Smart, right? Anyway, I panicked for a few hours and finally managed to change the tickets for a flight early Saturday morning out of Frankfurt. So I hopped on the Lufthansa bus to Frankfurt in the afternoon and spent the night at a Holiday Inn by Frankfurt International Airport. A French girl on the bus thought I was Russian, which made me happy. Whenever someone thinks that my French accent is something besides American, I consider it a big accomplishment. When I arrived at the hotel, my room hadn’t been cleaned yet and they ended up upgrading me to a nicer room with a king bed and a bathtub. Woohoo! I was pretty happy about it. Also, as I was waiting in line, an entire professional German football (soccer) team walked past me. That pretty much made my entire day. They were all amazingly attractive, athletic, men in their early to late twenties. Uh, hi. Ich heisse Melanie?

I woke up yesterday at 4 a.m., having set at least five alarms just in case. My flight left at 7:25 a.m. and everything went fairly smoothly, except for a very rough patch of turbulence on our ascent that had me literally shaking. I arrived at Istanbul’s airport, bought a tourist visa, and managed to get a taxi to our hostel. Once I got the hostel, I found Maddie, Clariece, and Chris just chilling in our room. It’s really good to see them. They’ve already been here for a few days, but were amazingly nice and waited to do all the super touristy stuff with me. Aww. We went out to lunch, which for me consisted of lamb shish and Turkish coffee. Turns out Turkish coffee is pretty much espresso with lots of sugar. I’m a fan. After lunch we went to the Grand Bazaar, which is just completely overwhelming. The Turkish vendors are both funny and unrelenting. They also come up with completely bizarre cultural references, such as exclaiming “Angelina Jolie!” or “Charlie’s Angels!” I didn’t buy anything, but I’m sure we’ll go back for another opportunity for me to spend all my money. After we got back, Clariece and I went for coffee in our neighborhood. The place was about as Portland/Seattle-esque as I think Istanbul could get… turns out the owner was from Canada, which explains a lot. One of the Turkish baristas/waiters gave us his whole life history and told us about school here. It was pretty cute. Men here seem a lot more forward, but I think they’re just trying to get business and actually much more formal than American guys.

Last night we met up with Carolyn and grabbed a bite to eat at a nearby place. After that we took the tram over to Asia (how cool is that?) and found a really cool hookah bar. Hookah is a really big part of the culture and nightlife here. Anyway, this hookah bar was actually just sort of a tent thing with rows and rows of beanbag chairs. You sit down and someone brings you apple tea, hookah, and then vendors walk around with various types of food to purchase. It was a lot of fun and really relaxing. We eventually left and went back to our hostel’s bar, where I had some of the popular beer here – Efes. I think France and Germany have turned me into a beer snob… anyway, had some good conversations and eventually went to sleep.

As a side note, I should say that we’ve been saying that we’re Canadian and we get a very happy response every time. It definitely seems like the thing to do… especially with the recent political turmoil here. I mean, it’s not that far away from the truth. I’m only three hours from the border at home…

This morning we slept in, got brunch at the hostel, and leisurely got ready for a touristy day. Our first stop was the Hagia Sophia. It was formerly a basilica, then a mosque, and now a museum. It was stunning… easily one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen. It had so much natural light through the windows and so many different colors, which was definitely a contrast from the dark cathedrals of France. I loved that there were both Christian mosaics of Jesus and the usual cast of characters and Islamic scripts everywhere. So cool. After being completely awestruck by the Hagia Sophia, we made our way to the Blue Mosque… literally right across the street. It’s still used as a mosque today so we had to take off our shoes and make sure we were conservatively dressed before we went in. Finally, I’ve found a use for all of my French scarves! It was beautiful, but not as breathtaking as the Hagia Sophia (a tough act to follow). The exterior of the Blue Mosque is gorgeous, though. From there we went to the Basilica Cistern, an underground reservoir from the Roman Empire. It felt like descending into Moria (from Lord of the Rings… yes, I’m a nerd). There were a lot of epic columns and creepy reflections in the water. They set up a small café in a corner of the cistern, where we grabbed some tea and coffee. I’ve had coffee in a Roman cistern. What a crazy world. We were going to go to a palace after, but I think we’ll go tomorrow instead. For now I’m just taking a few hours to rest before another crazy night.

So, in short, I think I’m in love with this city. Granted, I’ve only really seen the touristy areas, but I will definitely come back. One of the things I love the most is the call to prayer from the minarets. It’s amazing to walk through the city and just hear the music echo around.

Okay, that was my past three days. I’m sure there’s much more to come. Until later…

The craziness continues...

After weeks of apprehension, I finally got up the courage to walk into a local coiffure this morning and ask for a haircut. This was terrifying on a number of different levels, as I had no idea where to go, if I needed a reservation, or how to describe what I wanted. So! After being rejected by the coiffure across the street for not having an appointment, I tried a coiffure closer to school. Luckily they had time for me so I sat down and looked through a hairstyle magazine. I eventually found a style that I liked and managed to ask for it with some adjustments. My hairdresser combed through my hair and asked me what products I use on my hair. I had no idea. We eventually established that they were drugstore products, which apparently are unacceptable. She said that my hair was too damaged from coloring it (yeah I know that, thanks) and that I should be using a hair mask every shampoo. This is a great example of how French women swear by their creams and masks. It is also a great example of how I am just too lazy to use most of them. Finally she washed my hair and started cutting it, though every once and a while she would scold me again about the abysmal state of my hair. As she cut my hair, she attempted to have a conversation with me about the state of education in the US and in France. Meanwhile, I was so overwhelmed by the whole process that I forgot most of my French. She evenutally finished and somehow coaxed me into buying a (relatively cheap) nourishing shampoo, which will hopefully help in the dry months to come. Even though my first experience with French women and their infamous beauty regimes was frightening, my hair does look a lot nicer now, if I do say so myself.

Last weekend, my adventures continued as I traveled to Paris and to visit my parents and Amelia. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. The transportation workers of France, as it turns out, decided to go on strike last Thursday and Friday. So last Friday I woke up at six a.m., walked to the train station (the trams weren’t running), and discovered that my 8:15 a.m. train was cancelled. The first train of the morning was at 11:15 a.m. After freaking out, I went to a café downtown, got a cup of coffee and read for an hour. After that café, I went to another one. Eventually I meandered back to the train station and waited in line with the other passengers from the four trains that had already been canceled. I managed to get a “seat” in the aisle, which was still better than those who had to stand for two hours. Meanwhile, I met a cute guy from Strasbourg in a seat near me who jokingly said, “Welcome to France!” as we were all cursing the strike. I’m still annoyed that I didn’t get his number, or give him mine. I arrived in Paris in one piece, surprisingly, took the metro to the correct stop, and promptly got lost in a shopping district. After an hour of dragging my luggage around the confusing streets, I arrived at my hotel and saw my parents, who had to deal with my horrible mood. The day got better after that, though. We went to Starbucks (love of my life), I took a nap, and we went to a yummy restaurant. Getting to the restaurant is another story… finally I got back to the hotel and found Sex & the City in French on TV. It was a good end to a crazy day.

Saturday morning I met up with Amelia, my lovely roommate from Lewis & Clark who is studying with another program in Paris for the semester, and several of her friends. We went out to brunch at a diner called Breakfast in America. It sounds obnoxious, but it was actually pretty cute and it was nice to have some real breakfast food for once! After that I wandered back to my hotel and then to a nearby mall, where I bought a cute black shirt. I then met up with my parents for some more shopping and wandering around. The neighborhood around their hotel was pretty adorable and filled with drunken Englishmen getting ready for the England vs. South Africa rugby final that night. Later I met up with Amelia at Notre-Dame and we explored a little. We went to Shakespeare & Co., a famous bookstore on the Seine, wandered around the Latin Quarter, and got drinks at a café. It was really good to catch up, since I hadn’t seen her since June. We eventually met up with my parents and the four of us went to another good restaurant that was quite yummy. Amelia and I left to go meet her friends at a bar, Sister May, and after several hours I went back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep.

Sunday was pretty quiet. My parents left early to head back to Seattle and I met Amelia for brunch at Ladurée (adorable, yummy, and expensive – a dangerous combination). From there we walked to the garden outside the Louvre and got coffee in one of the cafes. If you couldn’t already tell, drinking and eating are a big part of life here. I’m not exactly complaining. We said goodbye and I made my way back to the hotel and then to the train station. I got a seat on the train and was able to appreciate it much more this time.

So I’m back in Strasbourg, but only for two more days. I have a ton of things to do before I leave for Turkey, but the weather here has suddenly turned very cold. Apparently it’s snowing already in Munich and it feels like snow is a possibility here, even though it’s rare. I can barely bring myself to do anything besides curl up in my (warm) bed and read. Mike said I'm just being wimpy about the weather, but I can't help it if my friends here are from Michigan and I am from Washington. Two different winter climates, thanks.

Wish me luck in my travels to Turkey and Greece for our Toussaints break! I’m not sure if I’ve ever traveled this unprepared before, as I don’t know the language and barely know my itinerary, but that’s what a semester abroad is about, right? Sometimes I just have to let go of my organized, vaguely obsessive Cohen ways, though it may seem impossible (or improbable). Here’s the itinerary I know thus far:

10/26 → Bus from Strasbourg to Frankfurt. Plane from Frankfurt to Istanbul.
10/26 – 10/30 → Istanbul, Turkey.
10/30 – 10/31 → Leave Istanbul and go to Avylik, Turkey. Spend a day in Avylik.
11/1 → Meet the LC Greece group and take a ferry to Lesvos. Stay the night there.
11/2 → Fly from Lesvos to Crete!
11/2 – 11/3 → Chill in Crete.
11/4 → Take a plane from Crete to Athens, Athens to Frankfurt. Bus from Frankfurt to Strasbourg. I arrive at 11:30 pm and I have class at 8:30 am the next morning. It should be fun.

Well, it will certainly be an adventure and that’s what I’m here for. Here are a few pictures:

La Seine doing what it does best and being gorgeous.

Parents et moi at a restaurant.

Amelia and I at the bar Saturday night.

Until next time.

Mon voyage en Allemagne!

Well, I’ll start out this entry with the sad news of the week: England beat France in rugby. I sort of knew that they had a fluke win against the All Blacks, but it was still disappointing. Tant pis, I’ll just have to find another ridiculous French pastime to get obsessed with.

In happier news, I went to Munich last weekend! Three of my good friends from school, Mary, Dakota, and Alice, are all studying German there for the entire year. So when I got restless a few weeks ago, it seemed only natural that I’d visit them and I’m so happy I did! I woke up at 5:45 am on Friday morning and barely caught my 6:54 train. Several hours later, I arrived in Munich! After a giddy reunion, we dropped off my stuff at Mary’s room, and went downtown where we ate some amazing tomato soup and caught up. After lunch, Mary and Dakota gave me a tour of Munich. It’s a gorgeous city. It’s amazing how (relatively) close Strasbourg and Munich are and how different the architecture is. Strasbourg has one huge Cathedral, but Munich has several smaller, phenomenal churches downtown. That night I met several of the other students studying with them and we went to two bars, one near the student city and one in downtown Munich.

Saturday morning, Mary and I slept in a bit. Around lunchtime, we met up with Dakota and the three of us went to the English Gardens, one of the largest public parks in Europe. It had a very different feeling than the carefully trimmed Orangerie of Strasbourg that I’m used to, but still very nice. We had some coffee at one of the many Beer Gardens within the park. I was sort of amazed to see so many locals with steins of beer at 1 pm, but I suppose that’s just a part of German culture. On the way back, we bought some bread and cheese and had a picnic in Studentenstadt, the area that all the students live in. After a somewhat lazy afternoon, we went to a local restaurant/bar and I had my first maß (big stein of beer). I must say, I’m a big fan of German food and beer, though I don’t know how anyone manages to stay skinny there. A few hours later, we took the subway downtown and met up with Hayden, one of Mary’s friends and two of his friends. We went to Skyline, a rather posh bar/dance club. It was pretty slow at first, but ended up being really fun. I’m always a fan of dancing. I ended up dancing with a Swiss guy named Marco, who went away when I told him I was from the US. Next time I’ll say I’m Canadian.

Yesterday, we lazed around in the morning and went downtown for pizza. We went back, sat around for a while, and then it was time to go to the train station. I arrived in Strasbourg last night around 9 pm and it was really refreshing to be surrounded with a language that I (kind of) know. Then I ran into Sarah and Mike on the tram on their way back from Baden-Baden, which was a fun surprise. All in all, I’m really happy that my first adventure outside of France went so well. I hadn’t even realized how much I’d missed Mary, Dakota and Alice until I saw them and felt very at home in the middle of a foreign country. I hadn’t actually seen Mary for more than a few hours since December, so it was phenomenal just to catch up and see the city I’d heard so much about (she went there for two years of high school). It was a very good trip.

Now I’m back in Strasbourg, chez moi, and just trying to make it through the week. With any luck, I’ll be going to Paris this weekend to see my parents and Amelia, though the transportation workers are holding a strike this Thursday. I really hope it doesn’t carry over into Friday, but there’s always a possibility. The French people really love their strikes… a month ago that would have really bothered me, but now I just sort of find it amusing. Maybe that means I’m finally adjusting? That’s probably a good sign.

So here are some random pictures from Munich. I don't know the names of a lot of the buildings, as most of them were in complicated German. They're pretty, though.

Town Hall steeple in downtown Munich.

Mary and I in front of the Munich National Theater.

I forget what this building was, but there was a concert on the steps. Pretty cool.

Trying not to laugh inside a church.

Dakota and I at Manhattan, drinking good German beer.

Walking in the English Garden.

Mary being adorable in the beer garden.

Being silly.

Dakota, Mary, Justin (another student on their program, and Alice. What a good weekend.

Until next time, salut!

An absurdly long post to make up for my absence.

In the past few days I have purchased tickets to Munich, Paris, Turkey, and Greece. Oh, my poor bank account. I told my host sister about going to Turkey and she looked at me like I was crazy, "Why are you going there? Honestly, there is nothing to see in Turkey." I disagree. There are wonderful friends and amazing sights in Turkey. Why wouldn't I go there? It is a once and a lifetime opportunity, like I would pass that up. French people are so elitist. Liking your own culture is one thing, but not being able to at least appreciate another culture is just sad.

Speaking of other cultures, I have found a new love: Rugby. It is like a brutal combination of soccer and American football, except with no pads and it never stops. What a good sport. France has been hosting the Rugby World Cup for the past month or so and last Saturday they beat the All Blacks, the hardcore New Zealand team, in a surprise victory to get to the semi-finals. It was a really good game and I happened to be walking to a bar when they won. Seriously, people went nuts. Every bar was full of people screaming and cheering. Practically every car was honking in celebration. Passengers were leaning out of windows and even sunroofs as they drove past. One driver had a french flag that he was waving as he drove... and these were just the quarter-finals! Next weekend France plays England, which is always a fun rivalry. With any luck they'll make it to the final game! Allez France!

Last weekend my parents also visited! It was crazy having them here in Strasbourg. My host mom recommended a good restaurant for Tarte Flambée, an Alsatian specialty, so we went there with Mike and Sarah. Other than that I can’t say I was the best host, mostly because I was sick and completely exhausted, but I think they had a good time. I’ll get to see them again in two weeks in Paris! Definitely looking forward to that.

Also, we had our first excursion last Friday. It was... intense? The first stop of the day was Struthof, the only concentration camp on French soil during WWII. I guess in retrospect I'm glad I went, but it was very upsetting. Not the best start to the day. The next stop was Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg, a chateau that was built back in the day and then burnt down by the Swiss. Then the Germans came at the beginning of the twentieth century and rebuilt it to look like an ancient chateau. The only problem is that they didn't really know what an ancient chateau would look like so it was sort of... tacky. I think I'm spoiled, having been to Mont Saint-Michel. Finally, we ate in Kaysersberg, an Alsatian town very similar to Ribeauvillé. Not really a thrilling place, but I guess it's quaint or something.

In other news, my classes are finally sorted out. Lewis & Clark is sort of ridiculous and requires me to take six electives, all in french, in addition to my ten hours of language per week. The good news is that each elective is only one hour of class per week and has fairly little homework. The bad news is that each class has one cumulative exam at the end of the semester and that’s your grade. Oh god. So anyway, here’s a brief list of what I’m taking :

Phonétique
One of my better classes, surprisingly. It’s actually really interesting to think about the phonetics of french and the professor is pretty funny. The last class was all about the rhythm of the language and how the syllables are grouped together equally in a phrase. She also talked about french being one of the only languages that places emphasis on the last syllable of a phrase. Definitely a cool class.

Littérature du XXème siècle
I’m not a big fan of literature classes, but Lewis & Clark adores them and so I’m in this class. The class covers the important french literature in the first half of the twentieth century, which has the potential to be interesting. The last three classes have been focused on poetry, however, which pretty much the opposite of interesting to me. Hopefully it’ll get better. I’m looking forward to the lecture on Albert Camus.

Philosophie en France
For some reason, and don’t ask me why, philosophy is better en francais. I’ve never liked it in english, but I love this class. The professor is this hilarious guy, who looks like how I would picture a french devil – round body, vaguely pointy head, and really devilish grin. My favorite class thus far was all about Sartre and existentialism. Existentialism really confused me in english, but it just seems to make sense in french. It’s almost like it’s more appropriate here in its original context.

Société français
A completely absurd required course on french society. It’s pretty painful and almost completely useless, as we’ve been learning about the media and sports in France. I feel like if you’re living in France for more than a few weeks, you figure out most of this stuff for yourself. Ah well… the professor is an amusing middle-aged woman who seems very disgusted with the current state of french society, hehe.

Histoire de l’art
This class would have potential, were the professor not completely timid and neurotic. It’s actually pretty painful and I am becoming increasingly pessimistic about it. One of these days I’ll need to take a real art history course.

Littérature thématique
Oh boy, another literature class! We’re studying short stories this semester, which I guess is fairly intriguing. The professor is a woman in her late twenties and brings a lot of energy to the class. The class isn’t bad, but it isn’t incredible either. I think I just have high standards.

Now that we have school, it’s even easier to just go to school and then hide in my room for the rest of the time. Most of the time when I get home, I really don’t have the energy to go back out. I’ve found, however, that when I force myself to get out of the apartment I generally have a better time. For instance, tonight Sarah, Clif, and I discovered Le Kafteur, a local « théâtre d’humour » (literally : humor theater) and saw a Québécois group perform. It was brilliant and completey hilarious. Most of it was physical comedy so comprehension wasn’t really an issue. We’re definitely going back there for their next few shows. Sarah and I have decided to try to go to something cultural once per week so next week it’s the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra. The best part of all this is that we have "Culture Cards", which give us great discounts on everything from museums to movies.

Again, here are some random pictures from the last few weeks:
At the Orangerie, an amazing park here close to the European Parliament.

Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg. I don't know how to pronounce that.

The Chateau again, but this time with pretty Alsatian landscape.

Les parents at a cafe near the Cathedral.

The Cathedral in the daylight. It's big.

Okay, enough of my ramblings for now. Sorry for the crazy long post. A bientot.