SWITZERLAND

Hello all!

So this past weekend, four friends and I went on a little trip to Basel, Switzerland. It is right on the border where Switzerland, Germany and France all come together. It is about an hour and a half away from Strasbourg and the Rhine runs right through the city...needless to say, Basel is amazing! It is larger than Strasbourg and has a more modern feel to it, but still has an old world charm throughout the streets. I really really loved the city and could see myself going back there.

We went on a Saturday, which is a great day to go because there are plenty of markets with fresh veggies, people playing music all around, and lots of great people watching!

One thing I loved about the city were all of the "water founatins"...I was under the impression that they weren't used for drinking water, but they seemed to be everywhere! Here are a couple!:

The one of the dragon is by far the coolest....

Like most of this part of Europe, Basel was breathtaking. It also could be that the weather here has been so nice these past couple weeks, that everything and everyone just seems to be having a great time in the sun. Normally it is never this warm and sunny during the end of September, but when we went to Basel it was in the 70s and sunny! Could you ask for more?? Here are some pictures of the view from the Rhine, and from the hills that are around the city...It was also really cool to be back in a city with hills!

^^This is this really neat ferry that goes across the Rhine and is connected from one side of the bank to the other by a zipline type thing with colorful flags on it....?? Swizterland ??

^^Once again, why is everything here so pretty??

The cathedral of Basel is called Munster (yes like the cheese) and is on top of one of the hills, and has an amazing view of the river from it!...Here it is!


I really would like to go back to Switzerland at some point, but I'm not realy sure if I will make it back there on this trip!

I have some more exciting things coming up this weekend, including a selfguided vinyard bike tour with a couple of friends, so I will be sure to post pictures and tell you all about the amazing wine I will soon discover!

HAPPY OCTOBER!

(okay so before I start this I just need to tell you that my English is not quite as super as it used to be, and after spending the whole day speaking mostly French at school and here with the family, I might have some crazy crazy grammar mistakes of spelling ones...but I call it the "french charm"...)

Gah! Has it really been almost 10 days since my last post? Time goes by so fast here, it is insane.

^^Time goes by fast when having fun.

So I am in the middle of my second full week of school, and so far so good. Tuesday's are killer because Monday nights are popular nights to go out, and then I have class straight from 8am to 1pm and then from 3 to 4, and then possibly yoga from 8 to 915...Yikes.


The more I stay here, the more I love this city. There is something about the mix of the old and new worlds, the flow of traffic, the small streets, and not to mention the pasteries. My host mother loves to cook, and the other night I had a choice of 3 tarts to choose from for dessert, after our huge meal and cheese. SO! In order to not explode while here, I have been doing yoga twice a week (hopefully bumping it up to 3 next) and walking everywhere.

^^beautiful!

There is a tram stop just next to my house, but I often find myself just walking along the tracks for multiple reasons. One being the cheese and pain-au-chocolates--second being me trying to save money, but for the most part I just enjoying walking around the city and getting a feel for the heart and soul of what Strasbourg has to offer. Every morning on the way to school it seems as though I find a new market open, an art exposition to look at, a book sale, fresh sunflowers, cheese (again), etc.

Here are some pictures from the past week or so:

^^a fun shot of me and Haley at the chateau (details to come...)


Last weekend we went on an excursion to a chateau in the hills of Alsace (the region of France where Strasbourg is located) and to a concentration camp.

^^the chateau!


^^more chateau...
Both trips were moving in their own way, and allowed us to really get a feel of the history of the people of Alsace. This region of France has had their identity and nationality changed from French to German, and German to French throughout all of history. Many people here were forced to fight for German during WWII, or lost their lives...and have struggled to have a real conection to France. Although this has changed over time, and Alsace is truly French, many people say that the older generations of Alsace are a "sad generation" who have had to deal with many issues over the past decades.

But despite all the ups and downs, they have kept with them many of their cultures and customs of the region, and are proud to be from the land of great cheese and wine!

^^typical small town in Alsace

^^(from the left!) Sessi, Haley, me and Marris

...so now it is off to another end to a week of school, and a weekend with travels!...but you will have to stay tuned to find out where to!

Hello!

So my time here in Strasbourg has been great so far! Last week I was attending a language orientation at my university before starting "real school"--which just so happened to have started on Monday!

^Pretty shot of Strasbourg!

Monday, I had 2 hours of French and then an hour of phonology, which is really really interesting, and I'm super excited to take the class. It talks about how you pronounce words and how the body creates sound, and the evolution of sound in different languages.

Here are some pictures of what I see on my walk to school...

^this is the bridge I cross!

...and this the one of the streets I take!...


I think my classes are most likely going to be linguistic classes and one philosophy of art class, that I will take at the university and not in the international student section. I'm hoping that since I had philosophy of art freshman year, I will already have the basics (maybe) and can better my understanding of it. It will also be neat to see how teaching philosophy differs between the US and France. At school it is mostly discussion (depending on the prof) and who knows what it will be like...

A funny thing happened while trying to go to philosophy class...I sat in the room for a good 20 minutes, filled out papers and such--only to find out it was a masters level class on the history of jerusalem. ha. c'est la france...

Sunday was a beautiful day, and my friend and I climbed to the top of the cathedral. The view was amazing and although I nearly had a panic attack from walking down the stairs (this adventure only reconfirmed my fear of heights).

Here are some pictures from the top:


^beautiful.


I still just can't get over how pretty the city is. A large part of me is really sad that I will only be here until December, it seems so close, and I have so much I want to do and see...oh well. This just means I will have to come back to Strasbourg at another time.

^This is a picture of the cathedral, and the building in the front is one of the oldest in Strasbourg!

..and here is the main door!


The weather has started to get colder and colder, and I have had to bust out my "fall" jacket...something I'm not to used to in Texas, but it makes me feel like I'm in Oregon again!

More to come soon!

Hello All!

Sorry for the lack of update, but things have been quite busy since my arrival on Thursday. I am settled into my new room here in Strasbourg, but not quite into my “new life”…but I have a feeling it won’t take too long and that it will be well worth the wait. I am going to do this blog in two parts…

PART 1: BYE BYE AUSTRIA

Austria was a great trip, and while I was there I got to see some of my favorite people, like Kristen and Laura! Kristen and I had quite an adventure all throughout Graz, Arnfels, and finally up to Linz (where Alex’s family lives). Here are some pictures from Arnfels, where Kristen spent her AFS year abroad when she was 16. Such a pretty place and right on the Slovenian boarder!

Their beautiful garden!

Grapes...to smell or not to smell?
Kristen and the giant bean stalk!

In Linz we stayed with Melanie, Alex’s sister, at her new apartment and spend a lot of time watching NCIS! Kristen and I were both pooped, and a little stressed with all that was to come, so having a couple of days to rest, eat good food, and drink good wine sounded like heaven. We got in late the first night, but the second night we had an Austrian grill party at Alex’s parents place. It was a lot of fun, and his family is super hilarious and a joy to be around. Here are some pictures from out time together:

Kurt and Andrea

Austrian grilling

…I must say, I will miss Austrian life a lot, but I am really loving being in a country where I can communicate with the people. Speaking of which! Here comes part two…

PART TWO: THE STRASBOURG BEGINNING

I’ll start off by talking a little bit about where I live and with whom I’m living. I live right in the center of town, just a few blocks away from the cathedral and the Place de Kleber (the center of the shopping, etc.) I am also just a block away from a tram station, so that will be super--once I figure out how it all works….One would think it would be easy, but in Strasbourg the streets change names every few blocks, and like to make crazy twists and turns.

My host family is really really nice. They are a couple in their 50s with four children all out of the house. Their youngest daughter is 22 and will be here for a month before she leaves to go to law school in Paris. There will be another student living here, Charlotte, from France who will be starting her first year at the university. She is the neighbor of my host mother’s sister in the north of France, so that will be fun. Her room is in on the same part of the apartment as mine, so it won’t seem so lonesome! The place is huge for a city apartment, and there is a beautiful terrace (photo below) that overlooks the bells of the cathedral. The parents are really fun, and love to have conversations--I am glad that I lucked out!

The terrace!

The view!
more...

Speaking of luck, this morning (Friday) was the first day of orientation and I decided to give myself 30 minutes to walk from my place to where we were supposed to meet…My host mom said 20 would be enough, but my French walking legs are just now starting to form…I attempted to study the map and figure out who to cross the river, turn left, etc. But with 10 minutes until I had to be there, I realized I had no clue where I was. I was completely turned around. BUT—all of a sudden I heard a voice yell “Claire!” To my surprise it was Nicole (a student also from Lewis and Clark) who happened to be driving with her host mom to the meeting, and spotted me on the street and pulled over to give me a ride! I’m not quite sure what gave it away…the look of panic, red hair flopping around in confusion…but, I learned today that I do have some luck to me after all!

Needless to say, I made it to orientation with 3 minutes to spare! There were about 15 of us total this morning. 5 from Lewis and Clark, 9 from Kalamazoo College, and a girl from Bryn Marr College. We talked a little bit about school and our first impressions of France and then went on a walking tour of the university and a bit of downtown. After we went to a local microbrewery and I had my first French beer! It was pretty good, if I do say so.

After, I walked back to the apartment (without getting lost!) and had dinner with the parents. We eat around 8/8:30, so that too will have to be something I become accustomed to…

Tomorrow we are taking a boat tour of the city, and then will talk more about school, etc.

Our orientation for the university (not with the Lewis and Clark study abroad program) begins on Monday…we take a test and they place us into two groups according to our level of French. It will be the 15 of us, plus a few students from Boston University and Georgetown.

I’ll keep you posted on how things go!

The next day…

Here are some pictures from the boat tour, as well as from my house!

More pictures to come! Today we had out boat tour and then a brief meeting about what to expect when school starts. I pretty much get to shop for classes after next week, and I’ll know by the end of September I will know which I’ll be taking. After the meeting, Liz (fellow LC student) and I went to go buy cell phones! I am now connected with the French world!!

More to come later, and if you made it through this whole update…I hope you enjoyed it! Since I don’t have internet on my laptop, I have a feeling most of my blogs will be more like weekly updates or what not....so Mom and Dad, if you think I’m ignoring you I promise I’m not :)