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 :)