European Crossroads

Settling Back to Normal Life

2012-03-01T06:55:00.000+01:00

After returning to the U.S. in December 2011, I found myself a little scattered in my mind. The food tasted different, yet I wouldn't imagine trading my American greasy food with the French cuisine, I decided not to look at my photos in the hope I would forget Strasbourg quickly so as to fit back into my ordinary routine, alas, was I wrong or what.

Just until recently, when I visited Washington, D.C., I finally let go Strasbourg and now I think I might dig out my photos and enjoy the moments and memories of France.

Stay tuned, I shall keep you posted on what is going on with my interesting life.

This is It

2011-12-17T03:48:00.000+01:00

So I am up getting ready to head to home! What a strange feeling. Much like before I left, when it never quite hit me that I was really going to Europe, right now it really doesn't feel like I'm going home. Instead it feels like I am embarking on yet another exciting weekend trip. I guess all will feel new, so it will be its own adventure.

This semester has been incredible. It has been full of opportunities to see more of Europe than I thought possible while still taking a full load of courses. I visited somewhere between 7 and 9 countries, depending on your personal counting system. I spoke a lot of French, bits of German, and even a few words of Hungarian.

I certainly learned a lot, and most of it had nothing to do with a classroom. I learned that you can, in fact, still catch a train if 3 minutes before it leaves you haven't even made it to the train station. I learned that spoken language makes things easier, but it's not a necessity. I learned that a hostel is a hostel, really no matter where it is. I learned that you can easily travel to distant lands for 4-5 days with only a half-full backpack. I learned that contrary to my prior beliefs, a car isn't a necessity, and can be a hindrance. Most importantly, I learned a lot about my self and about those I had the privilege of traveling with.

So this is it, goodbye everyone! I will see a lot of you in Morgantown, but nothing will ever be quite like this experience, that's for sure!

Much Smaller

2011-12-16T16:58:00.000+01:00

So I lied, this will be the real last "catching up" blog.

I was thinking about all I have had the chance to do, and one quote from my cousin Bela came to mind. As we were leaving, he asked us "So have you had this thought that perhaps everything in Europe is Smaller than in the US?" Why yes Bela, now that you mention it, I have.

What an interesting thought, in my opinion. Just look around, especially at the roads, the houses, the cars, even the people! Everything is just plain smaller. At first, it kinda made it seem a bit claustrophobic, but at this point it's completely normal. That makes me nervous to return home, everything will be gigantic!

One of the "small Europe" characteristics I have really noticed is that there is never just one house, everyone lives in a community. A very close community at that. Bela lived on the edge of a Budapest suburb, and had open fields in front of his house, and yet he had neighbors 15 ft on either side of him. The don't seem to mind living close to other people, maybe because they ran out of room! It will be weird to return home, or especially to return to WV where your "neighbors" are defined as any house you can see from yours. Everything will seem huge!

An Intimate History of Humanity

2011-12-16T07:51:00.000+01:00

My secondary book was An Intimate History of Humanity by Theodore Zeldin. Overall, I did rather enjoy the book. His survey of humanity is a very interesting idea, and the stories he portrays really help to paint the portrait he is trying to paint. For anyone interested in psychology, the book would be fascinating! I have a laymans interest in psychology, so I did like it.

However, perhaps the parts of the book applicable to travel could be used, rather than the entire book. I enjoyed it, but Zeldin does offer some lengthy analysis of his stories, leading to a rather long book. The good thing is each chapter is not dependent upon the last, so it would be possible to offer excerpts of this book in future classes.

So overall, it was a good and applicable book, and I would recommend you keep using it- just in excerpt form instead.

Book Review

2011-12-16T00:24:00.000+01:00

For my supplemental book, I read a book of haiku's by Matso Basho and I enjoyed it. The haiku's were sometimes hard to understand but always entertaining. Some were sad and some were funny. Overall, the book was interesting because the main character gave up everything he had to travel and learned a lot about Japan and himself along the way.

Christmas How it Should Be

2011-12-15T17:42:00.000+01:00

The last of the catching up series!

So we have all visited at least the Christmas Market in Strasbourg and Heidelberg, and I visited them in a few other cities as well. I just have to say, I absolutely love this part of German culture! It's like Christmas without the department store craziness that takes over back home! No one is freaking out, fighting over deals, or ridiculously stressed out at these markets, which is a nice change from back home. It seems that they really see Christmas as a time for family bonding and fun! Not to mention food, these markets have the best food, and for cheap! Bratwurst, crepes, fried potato cakes, all kinds of deliciously unhealthy food!

This is probably one of the things I will really miss. It definitely made Christmas shopping a whole lot easier this year! I liked how each city was different, yet also they all had the same types of vendors and the same types of food, just different ways of presenting them. The whole atmosphere was fun, all the food was great, and it was just a general good time. Macy's could never top that!

Old versus the New

2011-12-15T10:39:00.002+01:00

For my supplemental reading I was assigned The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux. It follows a man across Europe and into Asia. The majority of his setting takes place in train carts, and records who meets and all of the interactions he has. It embodied the idea that the destination was not the goal, it's the journey. Theroux meets many people who have tiny effects on his life, and it is interesting to see those.

When I heard that Theroux came back to take this journey again after long years after I was intrigued. I typically love the new things rather than the old, because it is fresh and clean and usually has a more relatable vibe. It would be interesting to see a newer perspective on his journey, but I always have to remind myself that Classics are world renowned for a reason.

Book Review

2011-12-15T04:06:00.000+01:00

I chose to read The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain. I’m not a fan of reading, honestly. I know it’s sad, but everything’s on video now and it’s so much easier. Nonetheless, this book was entertaining as all Mark Twain books. Was it my favorite? No way. Would I read it again? Probably not. The cool thing about this book however is that I could relate to many things he talked about. The awesome thing about Europe is that it doesn’t really change. People always go to the same monuments and tourist attractions. It was weird to read about place from a book in the 1800’s then be able to relate. There were many things Twain said in the book that I disagreed with in his choices of art, but those are all personal opinion.

Time to Say Goodbye

2011-12-15T03:51:00.001+01:00

So, tonight we had our Mexican night. One of our final shebang’s before leaving. Besides the awesome food and little taste of home, it sort of made me sad. We sat around the table and reminisced about all of the fun we’ve had while in Europe and told all of our funny stories from the semester. Listening to everyone’s stories made me realize how much I’m going to actually miss this place. The past few nights, I’ve sat around with different people and laughed until I cried. I’m so happy with the friends I’ve made (even though I only made friends at school during the last week). I’m going to miss my Georgia girls so much!!! I’m also going to miss the West Virginia group. Even though we go to school together, the chances of us seeing each other often is rare. It won’t be the same. I know we’ll all stay in touch through Facebook and the Strasbourg group page… well we better! And I can’t wait to come and visit everyone!

Also, I’d like to congratulate our group for avoiding arrests and being taken! Well done team, well done.

How was France? Which one?

2011-12-13T20:07:00.000+01:00

Add another to the "Zak is catching up" series. I kept a personal blog this semester, and it seems that entries only ever made it to that one! Anyway, this is a synthesis of a few of those other blogs.

I know everyone will ask me "How was France?" very soon upon my arrival back home. The problem is, I have no idea how to respond to that question. My initial response would be "Which one?" because there are so many differnet sides of France. I feel like it will take an hour for me to answer anyone's questions, and by then they will all have lost interst!

It was such a cool experience going so many places in France, because they were so different yet so similar. In Saint-Malo, Nice, Lyon, Paris, and here in Strasbourg they all speak French. There are differences in accents of course, but it is all French. In Saint-Malo and Paris, they seemed to understand my French better than in Strasbourg or Nice. Perhaps this is because both have close proximity to another language, German here in Strasbourg and Italian in Nice. The people were by far the warmest in Nice and Saint-Malo, interestingly enough. In Strasbourg and Paris, people did not want to get in our way by offering their advice, yet in Saint-Malo and Brittany people seemed genuinely interested in making us happy and comfortable.

I really did like France, no matter where I went, at least after I got used to the French attitude. I often forget how geographically small France is compared to the US, but when I do it makes the fact that there are so many different cultures even more interesting. So close to each other, all speaking the same language, yet the cultures have many distinctions! I am going to make it a point to visit new provinces during my return to France, whenever that may be!

Three airplanes and Two layovers then Country Roads Take Me Home!

2011-12-12T11:32:00.000+01:00

I will miss all of you crazy people and all of the experiences we have had together. We met as complete strangers and yet I have traveled more miles with you all than I have most people back home. We have so many jokes that I know when I get home I will slip up and say one to someone and it will be awkward. I will miss seeing you all everyday! I really hope we all keep in touch and still hang out. Everyone have a safe trip home!

Now onto Little Tour of France. This book would be very interesting for someone who is currently not in Europe so they have a better feel of the architecture and places of France. It was kind of a hard read for me. I guess I was really looking for a story of someone traveling who I could relate with.

The Loose, Frank Evaluation

2011-12-12T03:44:00.002+01:00

Thoughts on The Great Railway Bazaar are numerous. I chose the book solely for the sound of the exotic, as perhaps Faulker chose Egypt. However, it didn’t really satisfy my craving for reading about far-off travels and being surrounded by strange cultures. At first, I felt a little distance between the author and his destinations, though I suppose that is the nature of train travel. Theroux spent barely any time in any location, and his experiences were largely described through train passengers and those at the stations.

As such, I think the book gave me a deeper enjoyment of trains. They’re fascinating, aren’t they? Theroux’s distance from his destinations was a quick judgment, and I think I’d take it back, just like a traveler would take back first judgments of a new culture after spending any considerable amount of time there. I had misinterpreted the man’s journey as a journey to see places, not as a journey for the sake of a train ride. I sometimes forget that saying about destinations and journeying, and about how sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. Surely you know the one.

I liked the book. I’ll probably read the “sequel” to it, and perhaps even read this one again for pleasure and without any need to use it for something. It still conjures the fantastic destinations in my mind when he mentions a place, so it never lost that exotic quality. The mode of transportation itself is like a daydream to me, as before this semester, I’d never considered a train as anything more than a tourist sightseeing outing. My frank appraisal of the book is positive, overall.

last post!

2011-12-12T00:41:00.001+01:00

For my supplementary text I read Voss by Patrick White. Even though I didn’t find it completely relatable, I thought it was a good book and appropriate for the class. I liked the perspective that it gave of being a “foreigner” in another country. Being in Voss’s mind through half of the book was certainly an interesting perspective and gave good insight to being an “adventurer”. He also had some very stereotypical German quirks that I feel like we could smile about. I also liked the story line of the expedition and how the team dealt with situations and with each other. However, I felt that the love story was drawn out and kind of painful to follow. That half of the book with Lauren at home was kind of irrelevant to our study abroad.

Overall, I’d say keep the book. I don’t have an alternative suggestion. It’s a good fiction option from the list.

Thanks, everyone, for a fantastic 3.5 months. It would not have been the same without you!

-Maria

Winter Wrap Up

2011-12-11T23:33:00.001+01:00

4 December 2011

I haven't had a lot to say about academics this semester, because well, my classes are few and far between. As it comes down to the last two weeks, however, I realize that it's going to come at me all at once. Three major finals, a presentation this week, a three day seminar. Which, sure, doesn't sound like a lot, but after the slow semester that I had, it's a bit overwhelming.

It's funny when you realize you have all of this free time with no immediate work that needs to be turned in, but then when it's time to do the work, it comes at you head on. I'm not too incredibly stressed out, I just know it will be a tough week that I will be glad when it is over. That's the difference between the French system and the American system, with French work, there are only a few grades that determine your final grade. And in the American system you are given frequent work to measure your progress in the class. I'm undecided which system I like, both have their flaws and their advantages, and both you just have to get used to.

These next two weeks will be a strange feeling, when we're all getting to the end of our stay, packing our things, doing last minute Christmas shopping for friends and family, and finishing up on classes. It will be a surreal feeling when I land back in Atlanta.

-Jessica Fitzgerald

See ya, Strasbourg

2011-12-11T23:15:00.003+01:00

It’s weird to find myself writing a “goodbye” blog. While some days it seems like I’ve been forever, other days I feel like I was just arriving. I realize saying this is probably the oldest cliché one hears when talking about time, but it’s certainly a cliché for a reason. It strange to think that, in a week from now (God willing everything goes to plan) I will probably be in my parent’s car, thousands of miles from where I am now. I will be in a different country, where almost no one speaks French, where food and road signs and culture is totally different. It’s my native culture, but I realize it will be slightly alien to me for a slight while.

While I find myself incredibly exciting to go home, I’ve come to realize that I’m not quite ready to leave. Well, I’m ready to leave Strasbourg. But I’m not ready to leave Europe. Who knows when I’ll be back again? And when I am, will I get the chance to do and see as much as I right now? I would assume not. And there are things about this place that I don’t want to forget here, but easily could. What if I forget how good spekuloos tastes? What if I forget exactly how beautiful the Christmas markets are? And then there are the little things I’m sure I’ll forget—for instance, the names of tram stops. I use them all the time and they’re a necessary part of my life, so the idea that in a year I’ll probably have forgotten what they’re called is strange to me. Memory is a funny thing, and soon enough, that’s all that this will be.

I think that this, more than anything is why I’m not ready to leave. I’m not ready for this to become just a memory that slowly fades away over time. I want to somehow stay here, yet be at home as well. And yet obviously that can’t happen. And yes, I can hope to come back, but it won’t be this experience again. For better and for worse, I did enjoy this experience. And the bad parts of it helped me grow as a person just as much as the good parts did.

But even though I am saying goodbye to everything I’ve known for the past 3 months, I have the internal growth from this experience that will help me go forth into the next stage of my life, whatever that may be. I've seen things I've always dreamed of seeing, I've made positive growth as a person, and I've made new friends. So with the knowledge of what this trip has given me, leaving doesn’t seem so hard anymore.

Sentimental Heart

2011-12-11T23:01:00.005+01:00

- 29 November 2011 -

There's a lot to be said about studying abroad. There are adaptations to be made and ways to get prepared. A big fear for most is being homesick, not having a support system behind them and being lonely. That is something that has not been the biggest issue here. Living in a chateau with thirty five other people, you're never alone. And they're all going through the exact same thing that you are. And you even have the "Chateau Mom & Dad" Jim and Jan.

So when there is a particularly hard week, maybe your friends will get together one night and cook a group meal. It is close to the end of our time here and last week we held a "Southern Night" wherein we each pitched in to make a dish. We had fried chicken, cornbread, beans, potato salad, blackberry cobbler, mac & cheese, and a hole table full of other things. It was a good night for those of us who had started to feel homesick. But to be honest, it just made me a bit more sentimental than anything.

I don't really get southern food back home, that's not a regular thing for me. And to see a group of college students come together to make a truly impeccable meal, that has some sort of sentimental value to them is just plain awesome. and
Being that I'm from GSU and that we only make up 6 out 15 people in this group, that means that when I go back to Atlanta, there are 9 people currently in my life that I won't see everyday, or even every week. Nor are we even that close to just meet up on the weekends. I'm torn, Strasbourg is starting to feel old because i've gotten comfortable and now i'm ready for a change. (Which I admit is a problem of mine). I'm excited to go home and have Atlanta feel new again (and meet my baby nephew), but i'm a little bit heartbroken to leave the friends that I've made here (here being the Chateau). A few weeks ago I was ready to leave Strasbourg, but i'm at that point where I could maybe stay, so long as I could keep the people I have with me. I'm not typically a sentimental person, but nights like these make you feel like there is a family with you everywhere.

-Jessica Fitzgerald

Supplementary Text "Frank" Appraisal

2011-12-11T22:25:00.000+01:00

To tell you the truth Prof. Gregory, Mark Twain, "The Innocents Abroad", as rather boring. He takes one whole chapter and explains every single detail of where they went, what they did and most of it has no sense of humor. Unlike "The Art of Travel" by Alain de Botton, his experiences are short and to the point, and above all a lot of humor.

Mark Twain is very critical in his experiences, and pulls his readers to the negativity of his works, which made me lose flavor of reading his book, even though I read it as a requirement.

The Art of Travel has so many little stories, one can read not necessary in succession of the other, and this made reading this book so different from "The Innocents Abroad".

Since as travelers we do not have a lot of time to seat and remember everything we read on our journeys, maybe in the future you may want to introduce more like "The Art of Travel." Every time I read this book, it did not matter if I had finished a chapter or not, I would pick up easily whenever I returned to my reading, and if I did not like the particular story, I would chose another one that would enlighten my reading. Eventually I would return to the earlier story at a later date, not be be disconnected in my reading.

Well at least this is my frank appraisal on my supplementary text, hope it helps some.

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas. - Caroline

Aurevior!

Thoughts on Voss

2011-12-11T20:31:00.002+01:00

If I’m going to be totally honest, I wasn’t the greatest fan of the book Voss. This could be attributed to that fact that I’m not the world’s greatest fan of the style of writing that Patrick White uses in his novel. I didn’t like how certain parts of the book took extreme amounts of time to for the characters to observe, contemplate, and philosophize about the world around them or the interactions they were having with each other. While this can be good, I felt like the amount used in Voss caused it to drag somewhat.

This being said, I was invested in the storyline and interested in how the relationship between Voss and Laura would be played out. I remember hoping that Voss would quickly come back from his expedition so Laura and he could reunite. I also felt that as a “travel” book, Voss worked out well, considering Voss’s expedition. I also found some quotes within it that stuck with me, so I was pleased with that. Overall, while I liked the general story line, I wasn’t an overall fan of the book, due to how much I disliked the style. However, that’s just my personal preference, so I feel that Voss works well for this class.

Are We Really THAT Interesting?

2011-12-11T20:06:00.000+01:00

Another round of catching up- all of these blogs that never quite made it to publication. . .

Anyway, this one is a reflection on our EM classes. For the most part they centered around one thing - culture. Not just that, they all centered around the question "How is France's culture different from the culture of you home country?"

For the first few weeks, this made classes extremely interesting, it was wonderful to learn about all kinds of new places. The wonderful aspect of the Erasmus program is that our classes were filled with students from all over Europe, and even all over the world! So for the first couple of classes, it was great to have a chance to learn about them while at the same time venting to them about the French.

However, this soon became a bit tiresome. While in my opinion every culture represented was very interesting, it seemed that in everyone else's opinion the only culture worth discussing was America's. Now I love talking about America, but it really does get old. I didn't come abroad to tell everyone else about how strange we are with our 3-car-per-family and super-extra-large-fountain-drink customs, I came to embrace new cultures!

Being abroad it is inevitable to be an ambassador of your homeland, but I had no idea people were so thirsty to talk about America, and quite frankly I am sick of comparing America and France! Clearly they are different, but that doesn't mean that one is better than the other! Embracing differences as a tool for a French class is fun for a short while, but after a few weeks I just wanted to learn French without having to talk about America all the time!

And now on the eve of our return to the US, I imagine the role will be reversed and I will be met by a bunch of people thirsty to hear about how strange Europeans are. . . Can't they just read a book??

On to the next one (New and Improved)

2011-12-11T19:57:00.001+01:00

I would have never thought ten years ago, that ten years later, I would be studying abroad in another country. Little Miss Reeva, away from everything she loves for a long period of time? Of course not. I’m pretty sure that’s what people were thinking and me too at the fine age of 10.

Ten years later, I’m a totally different person. Good or bad it is definitely true. Being in France, forced me to emerge myself in another culture, which has changed my perspective on life. Even the things that I thought was so important on the day that I boarded the plane to Europe are just minimal to my life now. Now that I realize the people, the activities, and the trips don’t compare to what is on the other side of the world. I’m am blessed to have experienced such a thing. It is hard to explain without being so broad and vague but studying abroad is a life changing experience.

As I pack up my things to head back to America, I catch myself wondering how I will adjust back in my everyday life. This is not to say that I didn’t stand out in Europe because I did but I’ll be different back at home too because of my four month experience. I’ve actually already noticed it wearing off on my friends back at home and in the conversations I have with them, I can tell this change might be difficult. My passion to help people has dramatically increased, my goals have intensified, and my values have changed. From the weird stares from the Africans in Europe, to the strange “mixed girl” questions, to even not being able to communicate, I’ll miss this place but I’m ready to go home. For awhile, at least. I can’t say that I won’t be back someday but its time I spend the holidays with my family. I’ve never missed them so much but I’m sure I’ll miss the friends I’ve made here too. So long, Strasbourg. It has been a good one.
(I’ll always question why a girl physically like me is considered mixed, even if the Africans say a thousands times because of my hair and skin color)

Open to something new

2011-12-11T18:47:00.001+01:00

In A Little Tour of France by Henry James, he begins this book with a bold statement. The book is about him traveling around different provinces in France. He ends the book on his travel to Paris, France.

When I told everyone that I would be in France for awhile, the first question that everyone asked was the distance between my new home and Paris. No one seemed to care that I would be staying in Strasbourg, the Christmas capital of Europe. Everyone seemed to ask about Paris.

Since I have been over here, I have been to Paris twice. Both times, I didn’t fall in love like most people said I would. I expected the place to be the best thing my eyes have seen but it wasn’t. For many reasons, I am happy to say I like Strasbourg more. Of course, I could navigate Paris a little easier but I believe the downsides outweigh the good things. However, I have been to beautiful places in France. A trip down to the beach, was one of the best trips I have taken. I can’t say that it is my top city because I liked a lot of the cities for different reasons but Nice and Monaco are definitely some of my favorite places.

After visiting Paris and other cities in France, I can now agree with James when he said “France might be Paris, but Paris was by no means France”. When I first read the statement, I didn’t completely understand what he meant. I had already visited Paris for a long 4 day weekend, but I couldn’t relate because I had not visited other places in France. Of course, I haven’t visited all of France but Strasbourg, Colmar, Nice and Monaco have shown me that France has a lot more to offer than just Paris. I guess only people who have experienced other things can make that bold statement, but since I am one of the few I stand by it. Nevertheless, I am still open to exploring other regions in France so that I can completely relate to James’ statement.
　
　

Lurker of Chalice

2011-12-11T15:06:00.002+01:00

Partick White tells the story of Voss, in his aptly titled Voss. It is the tedious love/adventure tale about a German who sets out to cross the Australian Outback in search of the unknown. With a shoddy, mismatched group, he embarks on his ill-advised adventure organized and supported by the wealthy Sydney resident Edmund Bonner. The counterpart to the story of Voss' journey is Laura Trevelyan, Voss' lost love and Bonner's niece.

Where do I begin when appraising Patrick White's Voss? I should probably start off with the positives. It is certainly a work of genius, but is not for the impatient. It is bold and adventurous, and scathing in its impact on the reader, through rigorous character development and descriptive language. The novel is what most would refer to as "dense", taking on an arduous form that I could only closely relate to the writing style of a Victorian novelist such as Dickens.

What I personally found most intriguing about this work of White was how much I ended up hating Voss by the end of the novel. He was self arrogant, narcissistic to no end, and painfully long winded. At first I was comparing myself to the man, but by the end, I truly had no clue how any woman could possibly wait around for a man as self serving and absent as Voss. Not only that, but it was incredibly hard to identify with the man on a personal level, and that it was I look for the most in any protagonist. Upon further reading up on Patrick White, it is very possible that Voss could have been somewhat of a autobiographical character, which made me develop even more disdain for the author.

Most reviews of Voss praise it for the way in which the story gradually unfolds into something eventually spectacular. However, the book not only failed to grab me initially, but I spent my entire reading experience waiting for something to happen which never actually came to fruition. I was pretty much bored throughout the entire novel, as a result. Ultimately the book was as dry as the Australian Outback itself.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the Art of Travel much more than I did the renowned Voss. I guess it was just too dated for my liking, riddled with tedium. For the older reader, Voss could garner greater appreciate, but for the undergraduate student, Voss was simply obsolete in subject matter and could not properly hold my interest.

-Tyler Collins

Catching Up

2011-12-10T23:01:00.000+01:00

So this is the blog I meant for last week, but somehow last week turned into this week without my permission, so here it is. . .

We are certainly in Europe in "the off season." Why do I say that? Well, it seems to me that every place we visit is covered in scaffolding! Paris, London, Basel, Strasbourg, Heidelberg, Brussels, EVERYWHERE was covered in the eyesores of renovation!

In a way, it is really interesting to be over here in the not-so-touristy season, in fact I rather prefer it. It is much less crowded, and we get to see things from a different perspective with it being fall/winter. However, I find it very hard to believe that every historical monument needs restoring at the same time! I have a large collection of pictures of scaffolding on major historical buildings, monuments, or whatever! It's all under construction!

I guess they won't restore themselves, and I guess it makes for a good story! Really, I think the benefits of being here in the off season outweigh anything else. It has been really nice not to be fighting with hundreds of other tourists everywhere we went! Seeing everything in its not-so-pretty state reminded me that we are really here in unique circumstances, and might have even been a quite reminder that "touring" shouldn't have been our main purpose here.

2011-12-10T22:59:00.000+01:00

My supplementary book was Mark Twain's "Innocent's Abroad". I found this book to actually be pretty dense, sometimes it was a little tough to follow the descriptions that Twain presented about certain things, such as his peers or his destinations. However, the descriptions that I was able to follow easily I found them to be pretty witty. He incorporated humor into his book and it did keep me entranced with the book, despite the weight of it. I also found his descriptions of the places that he went to were wonderful as well. He depicted scenes of grandeur as well as squalor in very vivid colors. It made me want to experience all of these places myself. All in all I would recommend this book for future students.
In summation of my trip here, It was an experience of a lifetime. Yes, I know that is just the typical, regurgitated description of a trip abroad. Nonetheless, it is an accurate one. I have never been abroad before in my life and the fact that I was able to cover so many places I have only seen in magazines, books and the internet it was amazing to see them first hand and say "I've been there". I can now be able to say that I have done something that no one in my family has ever done before. I am a truly a lucky person. I know that the majority of my friends and family will think so as well. My best friend Colleen said something that I had never thought of before. She told me that she has always thought that I have been the most independent and bravest person that she has ever met in her life. And considering I have known her for the better part of 15 years, I would say that is quite the achievement. That statement made me think, I have never thought of myself as independent or brave at all. However, now looking back over the past three and a half months I would say yes, I have grown to be an exceptionally brave and independent person. I have had to go through some tough times in order to get to this status, but I am here. And although, I have never missed home as much as I have during this time, it was all worth it; because if I had never come to France away from everything that was near and dear to me then I would never have grown into the person that I am today.

Homeward Bound

2011-12-09T23:03:00.003+01:00

So I go Home in a week? Yes I suppose this is true. I can't believe it has flown by so fast. It seemed like just yesterday I was running to catch the plane or train to get here. Everything was so new. I think today's class was very interesting. It was cool to see the quotes everyone picked and their remarks.

This trip has been full of surprises from the start, even before arriving. I had mindset coming in and somewhat of a plan. For the most part, both of those have changed. Everyone's said this over and over, but I have truly learned alot about myself. For about a four month period I was certain of my career. I wanted to work for the government and be a diplomat or an ambassador. After being here, this is certainly not the case. There were a number of positives as well, but this totally is changing my plan.

Also I have changed; I am certainly not the same Sharrell Barnes who arrived here.

I am the same in respects that I will always have the same background and things of that of nature; but outlook is certainly different. I am so proud of myself, not to toot my own horn. But I never thought I'd be here. I didn' t know just what I was capable of. I can tell the change in just how differently I act in situations, and my response.

I have met a number of wonderful people. Some of the people I really believe will become life long friends. I have been challenged and I have been inspired. This will certainly be a memory for the rest of my life. The frustrations and aggervations may fade, but I will remember the important things that effected me.

My hope is that everyone has had a life changing experience just like I have. I can't say that if I had the opportunity I would do a few things differently, but I'll keep that in mind for next time around. I can't wait to apply what I have learned here to my life in the states. This is only the beginning, can't wait to see what's next.

BEWARE! The end is nigh.

2011-12-09T13:12:00.000+01:00

It's difficult to imagine that it's already been over three months since I was met by Willi at the Gare de Strasbourg in the waning summer heat. As classes come to an end and the finals beat me about the heat, I reflect quietly on the time I've spent in France. I've seen history, dreamed of the future and become lost in the present. I will miss the friends I've made here. I will remember fondly stepping onto the tram upon returning from my trip to Paris and thinking, "Ohmy! I'm home."

As I look back, I see that I could have done some things differently. But at the same time, I value every moment that I've had here. It's sad to grow so fond of a place and then have to be ripped from it. That said, another band of merry GSU students will soon be on their way to take the place of my cohort. I can only wish them the same awe-inspiring experience that I've had.

The Inflexibles

2011-12-08T10:49:00.000+01:00

I have a new word for the people in Strasbourg: the inflexibles. It seems that they don't want to alter the smallest things, really small things. My example is my first French final. First of all, I didn't know that I was going to have to take the final. I walked into class and she just starts going a mile a minute, in French, talking about that being the only option. So another Guy and I went to "Kahina's" office and sitting there was the other girl that wears the glasses. She gives us some blank booklets and another paper with our assignment. Keep in mind, I am from the U.S and we do things quite differently. First of all, no matter how many times we have taken a certain type of test, like scantron,essay, etc., the professors make it a point to give us clear directions. She just gave it to me like I was supposed to know what to do. So, thinking that the professor was supposed to write his/ her comments on the first page, I turn and start on the second, or really the third page. While I am half way done with my 200 word response, she stops me and tells me, " you started on the wrong page." I wish some one was there to see her face! She was so distraught. So she says something along the lines of answering the second question on the first page, where I should have started. I completely ignored her and continued on, I did not want any body to be confused about what I was doing. To make a long story short, I handed in my paper. She looked at it, and made a sigh. You didn't start on the first page, she said. " You had time to rewrite. I was hungry and was short and I asked " Is that a big problem?" She said no, but it looked like she was really bothered by me not starting on the right page. Why can't you just open the booklet and start reading where I started writing. Its that simple. Just make a little movement, I'm not asking you to move a mountain.

On my way!

2011-12-08T10:29:00.001+01:00

"I'm going home, to a place where I belong. Where your love has always been enough for me. ..." And whatever else the song says but I'm happy I made it here...in this airport. It is much more brighter this time around. The last time I was in this airport, it was 10pm and I had just missed the last bus to Strasbourg. So guess what, I had to spend the night. I tried to check into the Sher....(however you spell it)...ton hotel and it was booked for the night. This airport has no carpeted floors and there was a half naked man, pants unzipped and "draws" showing, with some type of hip condition, walking around the airport. This time, my bags are checked in I am sitting in the USO office taking advantage of their free wifi and soft drinks. This is the first time I've drank gingerale in a long while, I don't really care for it unless I'm sick, Sharrell Barnes, or its FREE. If any of you are military dependents, when you get here take advantage of this..its great. My flight leaves in about four hours but I am content to just be here, on time. I had three scares so far. The first one was on this morning when my ride was a little late. I was ringing Jim and Jan's doorbell like crazy. Just to make sure they weren't parked on the other side, I walked over, but there was no one there. I was so scared that I walked to the Path. Tears started running down my face, and I said.." I wanna go home". I'm such a baby. As soon I turned around, a saw the lights of some french car come down the path. My second scare was when I scanned my passport to look up my ticket and there was no data. But I went to the check-in line and the clerk handled it there. Finally my last scare. I went to go pay for my second check-in bag. Now, previously, I was told that I would have to pay 40 euro and that was good, because the website said 50. When got the desk where all of those things were handled, the lady tells me that I have to pay 127Euro. I looked at her a little sideways and I boldly asked "why?". I was not about to swipe that card until she gave me an explanation. She explained and I said " Why?". I just didn't understand, she was speaking a foreign language. Then I asked a question that kind of guided her to the correct price. " How did the price go from 40 to 127, and website said for flights going into the U.S, the extra bag is 50." So she asked for the little sticky notes they give you when they give your boarding pass. She said, "Oh, Atlanta!" " I think its 40"..I let out a sigh and said " Thank you Jesus!" Instead of being in this office writing one my final blogs, I would have been on the phone, trying to get some money in my account, just so I wont over draft. By the way, in the USO office, you can make free calls to the U.S. Anyway, that is my journey so far and I'm pretty sure I'll be writing again during my 20 hour layover in Poland. Life is funny.

I don't know what I wanna be when I grow up...

2011-12-06T13:13:00.000+01:00

The past week I have been enjoying copious amounts of time to myself just lounging around the Chateau. Well, actually the computer lab since there is now a gigantic lack of wifi anywhere close to my room. It is quite a crying shame. The point in this is that I haven't gone anywhere, no random travels to distant places. No spending money I do not have on things that I do not need. These past few days I have been preoccupying my time by thinking about the future. Trying to get an apartment set up for the upcoming new year. Trying to figure out what my budget is looking like for the near future, which is pretty much next to nothing. Money has never been a big deal to me. I know things will straighten itself out eventually, and I can only try to work towards that little by little. This will be especially difficult with the amount of debt I have built up this semester while studying abroad. Living ain't cheap is what my dad always tells me, he just never said living in France will run ya into the ground. That part I was not prepared for. However, I have always been very independent and I realize that money is always a priority, but to me it's just paper. I can manage mine pretty easily, despite what my mother thinks.
It has been a pretty enlightening past few days, figuring out what my near future holds. The one thing I know for sure is that I will be so stressed that my hair will probably be falling out by the end of the semester. Some things that I am not sure about is whether or not I will be have enough hours to graduate like I intend too this upcoming semester or if I will fall short of a few of my major requirements. If my advisor would ever get back to me on this subject then I think I could put my mind at ease. Another thing is of course, my financial situation but I have already talked about that. Something that has been weighing on my mind the most lately is if I am even prepared to graduate next semester. This time I don't mean hourly wise. But am I seriously prepared to take on the real world? I seriously have my doubts. I have a great resume that I have built up over the years, however where will that take me. What kind of jobs can I look forward too. These are the sort of things that I have to look forward too in the next few months, loads of uncertainty. Hopefully I can get myself set up with an internship or two in order to further build my resume. Then if all works out then I can move on to law school, at least I know that if I manage to make it through that then I will have set myself up for the future. See, the thing is, I have a hazy plan laid out in my head, but who knows if everything will work out the way I hope to God that they do. I guess that is just the funny thing about the future, you never know what it will hold. You don't know if it's "gonna run ya into the ground." Or if it is going to let you land on your feet. When I drop out of the sky that is college, I guess that's when I'll finally find out.

I know three words in English: "I love you."

2011-12-05T13:11:00.002+01:00

These were the words from an 80+ year old Dutch woman that was in the car with me en route to my cousin’s mother’s 80th birthday party on Saturday.

This weekend I had the incredible opportunity to visit my mother’s side of the family in the Netherlands. I spent the weekend with my second cousin and his wife in Echt, a very small village close to Roermond and Maastricht (the two cities where my grandparents grew up).

The whole weekend was sort of surreal. I’ve heard my grandmother talk about Roermond and her childhood. It felt so special to be there, to walk the same streets, see her childhood home, and to visit the town hall where she and my grandfather were married. I was also lucky to meet the rest of my extended family, including one of my great aunts and many more second cousins and their children. They’re all names that I’ve heard before and it was incredible to finally meet them. I recognized a lot of family similarities in personality and appearance. We’re sort of an atypical looking Dutch family. The very dark hair and eyes are common for us.

I felt incredibly welcomed and just like a part of the family that’s been living there all along. Everyone was so sweet and interested in how I’ve been and how my family is doing. I wouldn’t hesitate to return or to invite any one of them to my home in the US.

I also really loved spending the weekend in a European home. Just to be in a home in general, was a nice change from these past several months. There is so much space for so few people! Anyways, I didn’t notice any significant differences between a Dutch home and my own. I felt very comfortable, there was an endless supply of brewed (!!!!) coffee, and lovely people.

Overall, I feel this was exactly what I needed. This was the first family I’ve seen in nearly 7 months and it’s really been a great reminder of why I’m looking forward to going back home.

-Maria

There and Back Again

2011-12-05T12:52:00.000+01:00

So, I forgot to blog last week. This means this post will be a SUPER POST.

The past two weeks have been great! I had my boyfriend visit for thanksgiving and this weekend I had one of my best friends come down from Estonia, she is also studying abroad. Of course these visits were both wonderful but something happened to me that I am quite thankful for. I really like Strasbourg again. There was a couple of weeks were I was very over Strasbourg and I think I just had some kind of homesickness that made me ready to leave. However, showing both of these people around I saw the city from a fresh prospective again and it made me remember who I felt when I first saw these fairy tale looking places of downtown. Of course the Christmas Markets helped me love Strasbourg again. Everyone is so merry, there are fresh smells everywhere and you hear Christmas songs being played or sung everywhere.

While I am very excited about returning home I am also very sad. I live in a pretty large city, which is something I had always wanted to experience. I am in a pretty short traveling distance to so many countries and many new things. I have made many friends with who I have had so many laughs with and I will never forget. Time passes by so fast. Will I be out of the loop with everything in America or with my friends? Will I get that reverse culture shock (probably)? I know I will feel like Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit when he finally goes home and doesn't see it as the same home he left and thus he travels more.

I want to make a list of things I have to do before I leave Strasbourg.

I have such mixed feeling right now. However I can look forward to a wonderful mexican meal, delicious Grandmother food, hugs and kisses when I return home.

Anyway enough of what I will miss and what I look forward to. I am still in Strasbourg and I am going to have a great time left. Christmas markets with some of the best food in the world, Speculoos Crepe, here I come!

The End of the Semester

2011-12-04T21:08:00.001+01:00

The semester is coming to an end which means that it is almost time for finals to begin. I am nervous because the French system bases 50% of the total grade on the final exam and the other 50% on participation and other miscellaneous grades. If I were in the United States at this time I would be freaking out about finals and drinking large amounts of coffee but I am somehow keeping it together here. Maybe it is because most of my teachers have been laid back when it comes to the previous assignments I have done. With this being said, they expect students to do each assignment thoroughly and correctly so we have to be self-motivated to do well in these courses.

One of the best parts of my French classes is being able to do group projects with other students from around the world. Most of my previous grades have been through group assignments and everyone assigns themselves parts so you are never stuck with doing something that is overwhelming or boring. Going to an international school has been one of the best experiences because I have made friends with students from France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, and others. This is one thing that I wish the US did more of.

- Rachel Cooper

Drugs in France

2011-12-04T21:02:00.000+01:00

    As each passing week goes by, I find it more and more difficult to find a topic for my blog entry. It doesn't help that I'm pretty now done traveling (and the most exciting place I've recently traveled to was within Alsace, and just for a Christmas Market). However, I finally realized that there is an observation I can make due to my experiences in the past week: being sick in America vs. being sick in France.

    Having spent most of the last week sounding and feeling like I was on my deathbed, I can easily say that I prefer to be sick in America. In America, we prescribe antibiotics like candy. And if you don't want to go that route, you can have a friend drive over to the closest supermarket or CVS and buy you whatever drug goodies you desire--ibuprofen, tylenol, mucinex, etc.

    France is not exactly like this. Even before the trip, we were told to load up on any possible medications we might need while we were here. But nearing our last couple of weeks, most of medication I originally brought with me is gone. Instead, I'm left coveting the small mixture of what I have left, what people have given me, and maybe a couple of my roommate's ibuprofen (sorry Maria! There's still plenty left, I promise).

     France (and Europe to a greater extent) in general seems to be much more suspicious of drugs to cure illnesses than we are. In order to get any medication, instead of popping by a grocery store, you have to go to a pharmacy (which, in my experience, is not as strong as American medication.) And even there, they might not give you what you need unless you have a prescription from a doctor. This is fine until you feel too terrible to get out of bed. From what I've heard, natural remedies are what they seem to prefer, and are much more careful with their dose when they do buy from a pharmacy.

     Their view on medication versus ours seems to mimic our cultures in many ways. While the French are clearly not opposed to the globalized society (just look at their larger than life shopping malls), they still like their small village, hand-made, family owned culture. Wine from the local winery will always beat out wine you can buy at a store. Us, on the other hand, are much less opposed to embracing something produced in a factory in China, which might be why swallowing plenty of ibuprofen in one day isn't that big of a deal to us. So I do see why the French make their medications a little less accessible.

     While I've come to prefer French culture over American culture in several areas, I'm afraid this is not one of them. When I'm sick, I want my drugs easily accessible. Sorry, France. America won this round.

Everyday the choices you make, say what you are and who your heart beats for.…It’s an open door. It is your life!

2011-12-04T20:33:00.001+01:00

     I used to listen to this song by Francesca Battistelli called It’s your life for motivation. I first heard it on Jon and Kate Plus 8 but never really realized what I was singing until months later. Now that I am here in France, I find this song popping back up in my head again. Back at home, I would listen to this song when I would get stressed, sad, or even wanted inspiration. After realizing what it is talking about it, it has good truth to it and I’m glad I can apply to my life. I’m not sure what she is referring to but it’s a good song for my life. I’m happy to say it is one of my theme songs.
When I was presented with the option to come to college or even come to France, I had to make a decision. I had to decide if this is what I wanted to do, would I completely benefit, and most importantly would I prosper. These questions ran through my head for months on end but I think I soon realized that, yes going to WVU and studying abroad was the best way to go. She says “ This is the moment, it’s on the line. What way are you gonna fall?” Of course, I could have backed out. I could have stayed at home with my parents and chose something else to do other than continue my education but I made a choice to better myself. I made this choice not only for me but for the people who look up to me so that I could make that difference.

     I go back to the song when it says “It’s your life whatcha gonna do? The world is watching you. Everyday the choices you make say what you are and who your heart beats for”. This is in parallel to my life. I think about my family and friends everyday, since I have so much time on my hands in France and I think that they are what is important to me. I have goals in life, which are some people’s fairytales. I live for the day that I can say, yes this where I came from but look at me now. I never had it hard growing up. I like to say that I don’t qualify in some of the stereotypes but this does not mean that my day doesn’t get rough sometimes. I plan to make my friends, family, and associates proud. I still have a few more days left and I plan to see, breathe, hear, and feel all I can.

     The trip is coming to an end and its almost time to go back to America. I don’t know how I quite feel about it but I’ll cross that bridge when it is time. Less than two weeks left, I might as well make the most of it. After all it, it is “my life and an open door”.

Close to the Finishing Line

2011-12-04T19:42:00.000+01:00

Two weeks to end of our program in France, wow, time flies fast, especially when you are having fun, enjoying new places and thinking of the experience brought about by this program.

It was just like yesterday, when I was stuck at the airport in Atlanta for five days, finally I made to Strasbourg, never thought I would overcome the jet lug, finally I did, never thought I would get used to walking from the Chateau to the bus-stop, I did, never thought I would get used to going to Ecole de Management, I did, so what is left? To pack and go home, start a new semester and move on! To surprise myself, I started packing two weeks ago, in preparation to finally saying goodbye to my temporary home here at the Chateau, I thought it would be the most difficult thing to do, but alas, I am ready to go home. One never knows how they love their home until they leave, I have been missing even those things I took for granted, I have enjoyed my stay here at the Chateau, but I am not sorry it is all coming to an end.

The experience was worth every penny I paid towards the program, the friends I made are worth my meeting them and hopefully I shall continue to communicate with those who made my experience of France worth living for. Notably I will go with fond memories of the "busy like a bee" Gaby at the Reception, Colleta, the kindest kitchen stuff in the world, Stephanie, will live in my memories forever, she was so good to me, and of course Jim and Jan, I will miss you, and hope to stay in touch, for all others, it was nice meeting y'll!

As for Prof. Gregory, you remind me so much of a character I read in one of my novels and you shall for ever live in my mind as that character and of course I enjoyed your teachings and the humor you put in the subject.

Tyler Collins, always remember, you have a friend in me and when I move to the D.C. area, I shall call upon you to show me around. - Caroline

C'est la Vie the world goes on!

Since when, is it "okay"?

2011-12-04T19:40:00.003+01:00

　A couple of weeks ago, Liz, Sharrell, and I traveled to Barcelona for a 4 day weekend on the beach. This was our last overnight trip in France and we were going to make the best of it. Liz was lucky enough to be meeting her boyfriend, who flew over from WVU to spend Thanksgiving with her, and we planned to have a good time. When we purchased the train tickets, I averaged the total transportation cost to be around 100 dollars roundtrip (with our rail passes of course) but somehow the total came to be 24 euros roundtrip. (This is a little less than 50 dollars.) After walking out of the train station, overjoyed that we were going to another beach I thought to myself that this was going to be a great weekend. Boy was it stressful.

Here was our schedule for a 15 hour train ride from Strasbourg to Barcelona:
1. Leave Strasbourg, France at noon on Thursday and arrive in Paris, France by 2 pm.
2. Leave Paris, France at 9 pm and arrive to the boarder of France and Spain by 7 am
3. Switch trains and arrive in Barcelona by 11 am Friday morning.
4. Take the Barcelona metro bus to our hotel on the outskirts of the city center to check in
5. Have a gosh darn good time.
Although it looks simple, I think everything that could go wrong went wrong, at least on the way down there.

     So first of all, we had a make up class on Thursday for a Monday class that was supposed to be over during the first weekend in November and only met 5 times during the semester. But of course, the French education system is a little strange and the teacher scheduled a class for Thursday.
First problem,

       Anyhow, like the good do-bee I am, I went to that 8 am class and left early because I was not missing our Barcelona trip. And if you think, I’m bad let me just say that some people actually most people didn’t even go so don’t go pointing fingers at me. We boarded the TGV train to Paris and arrived their safely. Because we already have been to Paris and we were just there because that is the departure station for Barcelona trains, we decided to go to the movies. We saw Twilight, the movie. I liked the movie and yes it was in English with French subtitles.
The evening came fast and our train to Barcelona was here. We boarded the train and made ourselves comfortable. By 11 pm, our train had stopped. Long story short, we stopped for 6 hours. (This time at least.) I remember being waken up by the train ticket collector because he yelled something in French to everyone in my car. Of course, I had no idea what he said so I went back to bed. Hours passed by and I started to get impatient. Sharrell asked a random lady what happened and of course she apparently did not speak English. (Lies if you ask me) But, another guy sitting behind Sharrell answered for her and said “train over body” with hand motions. I started to scream. I closed my eyes and just said no, this isn’t true. From that moment on for at least a few hours, I cried uncontrollably. You would have thought I had known the person but I didn’t. I couldn’t get the picture out of my mind. I understood why the TGV person yelled and the lady in front of me looked around with eyes full of shock. Liz being Liz, had to hear it from someone else, which she did and it came out to be that a person committed suicide. We learned later on that suicides happen often with trains. It is apparently a European thing.
     Second problem
     The train began moving again and hours later we stopped again. I’m not sure why because I didn’t understand the intercom people. By this time, we had been on this train for over 15 hours. I got frustrated and went on a hunt for a person who worked on the train. My hunt was unsuccessful because of course they were all no where to be found. Strange I know.
     Third problem,
     A lady came to me later on and wanted to know where we were headed. She worked for the train company and was supposedly going to help us. We learned that because we 6 hours late this train was no longer heading to the boarder between France and Spain. Perfect right? Tell me about it. Oh and to make matters worst, I never saw that lady again. Minutes later, we moved and stopped again, for a long time. Sharrell went on a hunt to find someone to find out what the intercom man was saying, where people were going, and what were we supposed to do. Her hunt was successful and she even convinced the train worker to get another person who spoke English to translate everything in English and Spanish because most people didn’t understand what was being said on the speakers. We learned that we were stopping again because a train in front of us derailed. So in the midst of waiting, they fed us. It was legit survival food, the kind of stuff they feed you out in the woods. Everyone on the train got off and walked around what looked like to be an abandoned station. We sat in large circles and bonded like it was family time but in reality we were all complete strangers.
     Finally, after getting help and just sticking with people who were going to cities near Barcelona. We made it to the Barcelona train station. We ended up stopping for a total of 3 times for unforeseen reasons, which caused this 15 hour ride to turn into a 24 hour train ride. However, our nightmare was not over! The metro bus we were supposed to take stopped running because it was so late in the day. What was supposed to be a 40 minute bus ride turned into over 2 hour bus ride. Gratefully, I knew some Spanish was able to communicate and when I would forget words Liz would take over. This worked out. We ended up taking 3 different buses, getting off buses in strange environments, circling our hotel, not being able to get off where we wanted to, walking through the bushes of a major interstate, having grass and leaves throughout our clothing, singing gospel songs hoping that God could hear us and lead the way, pre-paid phones expiring, hotel receptionist not knowing where we were, running down taxis, and paying way too much for a literally 3 minute taxi ride. After wasting a full day on public transportation, we arrived at our hotel. Honestly, I didn’t think we were going to make it there but we did and had a wonderful weekend in Barcelona.
　
    Getting back to Strasbourg wasn’t that much of a challenge and we made it back safely. I still do not like Paris that much. I’ll also never understand why everyone thinks they are the next top musician or the poorest of the poor and expect people to give them money, but that’s another bog’s discussion on a different day. I suppose I’ll never understand the things I question. So as Sharrell told me 1000 times that weekend, I might as well stop talking about it. since when is it okay to have everything in one language. Okay, I take full blame for still not knowing much French. But, for everything to be in French and there being 21 official languages in the EU something doesn’t seem right. The people need to learn how to use multiple languages on these modes of transportation since there are so many official languages and we are going into different countries., since when is it okay for this to be the thing to do in Europe. I don’t understand. This is more than selfish. It is just rude! We have places to go and things to do, which is why we are taking the trains so do not be the one to interrupt this process. If you need help, take yourself to the hospital. People get paid (Hopefully, I’m one of these people.) lots of money, just helping depressed people. Stop thinking about yourself and get help! Okay I’m sorry. That got personal but it hurt me that it was another life gone and interrupted so many others life. Believe it or not, I care so much about people and I’m extra sensitive. So please for everyone who is reading this, if you ever feeling down call on me. I’m always willing to just listen because I really do care.since when is it okay to just schedule a make up class when you please? Of course it was nice to not have class that Monday earlier in the semester but the world doesn’t evolve around this one class and we didn‘t ask for it to be cancelled. We have lives and by lives I mean planned trips, jobs, and other commitments. We can’t just show up on a non scheduled day because you cancelled it for no reason.

Antithesis

2011-12-04T10:40:00.004+01:00

So this is it. It is time for this adventure to end and another to begin. I feel distanced and almost jaded with the entire experience, at this point. I'm not at all sure what to expect when I return home, nor what exactly I will take with me from my time in Europe. I had a wonderful time, learned many things about myself, others, and the world around me. I just wish I had more time to let the fact that I'm leaving in less than two weeks to sink in.

At the moment, I'm sick and facing a looming amount of classwork that one shouldn't have to deal with in their final weeks in a foreign country. I have a powerpoint presentation for Dr. Valhas (have no idea if I spelled that correctly) to complete, a video presentation for an independent study french class, and three finals to worry about. I'm not going to complain, and I have had course loads that have surpassed this in the past, but for some reason, I don't feel nearly as up to it as I usually do. I think all of it comes down to the fact that I will soon be dropped back into reality. I won't be living in a castle, having a free buffet breakfast every morning, nor will I only have class two or three times a week. I will have to get a job again. I will disembark on the arduous process of law school applications, as well as getting surgery during the same time period. I'm up to it. I just need to prepare myself, so that I may land on my feet rather than my face when I return home.

I still need to figure out how I'm getting to the airport for my flight next Saturday. Hopefully, someone from the chateau will be able to drive me, but if not, I'll probably have to spend 60 euro on a taxi. I don't even want to think about these extra costs I'll incur simply for leaving this country. I'll also have to spend upwards to 300 dollars on checked bags at the airport, something that I'm looking ecstatically looking forward to. I just wish I had more time to sit and contemplate this experience, to completely soak it in before I leave. Perhaps I'll have more time to do this next week.

I guess that's it. This is where I say goodbye. I will never forget those with whom I've spent time during my stay in France, even though I might never see several of these people again. However, whether they know it or not, every single person here has left some sort of positive impression on me; I will most certainly carry their influence for the rest of my life, shaping my existence for the better. Goodbye all.

Not Gonna be a Debbie Downer

2011-11-30T00:00:00.000+01:00

This weekend we got to enjoy what a beautiful place that Heidelberg, Germany is. I was lucky enough to be able to share this experience with my boyfriend. He came all the way to Europe to spend Thanksgiving with me, as well as getting to do some traveling himself. I was thrilled to be able to share with him some of the experiences that I get as a study abroad student. Also, I got to show him what goes on during my days in Europe. This is when I realized how boring my daily life here is, it is just how it would be back home in West Virginia, except in France. And before, I hear anyone nag at me about "You're in France, you're not living it up to your fullest potential", here is my reply, France has been here for thousands of years. I'm sure it will be here for thousands of more years. I will take more opportunities when I have more cash. So give it a rest.
Heidelberg, on the other hand, was a wonderful change in that monotony. I had plans to take my boyfriend to Stuttgart or Paris, but didn't count on how expensive both plans were going to be, so I just showed him around the Chateau park, and Strasbourg itself. Heidelberg was a gorgeous little city that sits around the Neckar river. It also hold Castle Schloss, a gigantic ruin of an old castle. Me and my boyfriend walked around the city going through the various Christmas markets. The best part of going through the Christmas markets there was the food. Bratwursts, steak sandwiches, roasted almonds, gummies, Gluhwien, and beer were the highlight of the trip for us. However, you had to pay cash for everything there. This city is not a fan of plastic. And in the city with the longest shopping street in Germany, you would think that there would be more ATMs, but that was not the case. It took forever to find a bank or ATM in that damn city. We also noticed a large quantity of English speaking people there due to the large army base located in Heidelberg. The Castle Schloss was another wonderful aspect of the city. It had a perfect view of the city and the river. I love castles because they hold so much history and culture all rolled into one building. I always have some interest in seeing castles because of what details they contain.
Unfortunately Heidelberg was the end of my boyfriends stay. Only three more weeks left of the semester though. After Heidelberg we went to Frankfurt for his flight the next morning. However, we woke up an hour and a half before his flight, causing him to almost miss it. Talk about a tense time. It worked out ok though and the rushed goodbye to each other kept me from breaking down in tears in the middle of the Frankfurt airport. I am very happy and THANKFUL that I got to share a little slice of my new European life with someone from home.

Do Work!

2011-11-29T22:54:00.002+01:00

This semester has ran away. I don't know where it went. Now it is time to get down to business. I'm two papers in, and showing no sign of slowing down. It's so weird that all of this has caught up with us. It's not like I'm opposed to work, but I have come to the conclusion the french education isn't for me. The only part I would like is the price, that would be swell.

I never thought I'd be excited to go back to WVU to do work. I can't wait to have a syllabus with actual things on it. I can be organized again. I feel like I have been running around in circles all semester. I can just plan things, and know when things are due. I also will know how to do what is due, when it is due. Some would think this blog is a sick joke(especially my close friends if they read it), but I am so serious.

I am just hopping that paper for international business went well. I did more than enough research, but I'm still nervous. Now let's just get through these next two exams. I just feel like I'm not quite prepared. This semester I was sitting there taking it all in, but I don't have it now. Shew time to start praying here we do.

A Colorful Week

2011-11-29T22:01:00.003+01:00

Last week was surely a colorful one. When I first heard of the soon arrival of 22 additional students, I was not pleased. It wasn't that I didn't want to meet new people, it's just there's like a million people here already. The last thing I wanted to do was have to share that kitchen with more people. So I was on the anti- DeVry wagon.

Little did I know that was the one of my best weeks in Europe. They were so much fun. I was glad they were here for the holiday. I was longing for home that week. It made me sad that I was missing out on spending time with my family and friends. And of course I missed out on that GOOD food. Not saying that the culinary food wasn't good, it was, but it wasn't like home.

I know a little people didn't like them. Everyone isn't for everybody, but I'd hate to miss out on wondeful people. They made me feel like I was at home, and I was around my family. We could sing songs, play dominos, or just take time to just spend time.

My favorite part about it was the motivtional speech Reeva and received. Two of the women sat us down and told us they were proud of us. They filled us in on their lives. I almost teared up, I felt it in my soul. It made me feel so inspired. Such a great experience it was, and I am so greateful for it.

I need me some more Heidelberg!

2011-11-27T20:03:00.000+01:00

Heidelberg is on my top list of the best places I have visited since coming to Europe. Small, clean town not too crowded even though our tour guide informed us that there are 140,000 Heidelbergers, on top the three million visitors per year, was vibrant with life! The cobblestone roads and narrow pathways were very clean, something I have not been used to seeing in Europe, and the vendors in the Christmas markets were very friendly and surprisingly, they spoke English as a matter of fact. Other than the knickknacks in the markets, I did not feel like a stranger at all. Sherell, Macy, Tyler C and myself decided to have lunch at the Subway, I was in line when the person behind me asked me where we were from, to my surprise he was from the State of Washington, and he too was visiting Heidelberg, the employees at the Subway spoke English too, we really felt like we were home, then later we went to Starbucks, now seriously, for a minute I forgot I was in Europe.

Finally we took the cable car and up we went to the ruins of the 15th Century Castle. Sadly we were not in the company of a tour guide, so we could not see the actual rooms of the castle, but we visited the museum and read quite a bit on the history of pharmaceutical engineering. Looking at the many gadgets that the pharmacists of a long time ago used to use in creation of medicament's, it is unbelievable how far this industry has come. Looking just at the structure of the castle, the blocks of stones that were used to build it, I concur with the tour guide's information that Heidelberg was completely burned down during the war, the only remaining thing was the castle.

If I was asked where in Europe I would like to return for a personal trip, definitely without a doubt, it would be Heidelberg. The street adjacent to the river by itself is enough attraction to just stand and watch the boats moving slowly on the waters, and the bridge across the river gives one a whole view of the city of Heidelberg, even though the tour guide said the houses and apartments across the river "the sunshine place" are very expensive, I would wish to live on that side of Heidelberg, if ever I decided to come back to Heidelberg.

All in all our visit was very enjoyable and very fulfilling. - Caroline

What's up with us?

2011-11-27T19:48:00.002+01:00

It’s becoming more difficult for me to think of blog entry topics! (It's a real shame that I don’t want to lump my peers into one homogeneous group and chastise/ complain about them.)

I suppose it is worth mentioning that we had our last group excursion yesterday, to Heidelberg, Germany. This was our first “cultural” excursion in quite some time and therefore it felt kind of random/ unusual. On the bright side, it was a nice change of pace from independent travel, institutional visits, and university happenings. However, I felt quite tired. I don’t think I was physically tired, just tired of travelling. I didn’t think I would get to that point, but it happened. It just felt almost like a chore to get on the bus and participate with the plans for the day. I was fully aware of how difficult I was making the day for myself and did my best to get around that funk. In the end, I really enjoyed the day. I think I learned a lot. I got to experience my first German Christmas market, visit (but not really visit) a castle, and learn more about the German language. It was certainly an interesting day.

Overall, I think that if we're growing, we're changing.. people don't stay the same..
I guess what I'm try to say is that it's been quite an experience so far. I've learned a lot about myself and about others throughout all my travels. Even if I'm feeling tired, I know it's important to make every minute matter, and to reflect on everything that I've been experiencing.

Peace.
-Maria

Heidelberg

2011-11-27T18:32:00.000+01:00

      Yesterday we went on our final group excursion to Heidelberg, Germany. It was a very cute town but I could never see myself living there because it was incredibly touristy. The parts that I enjoyed were the delicious food at the Christmas markets as well as the giant, half-destroyed castle that is sitting on the hill. What I didn't enjoy was being sick and surrounded by hundreds of Asian tourists.
      The Christmas markets did remind me that I will be back in the United States by the time Christmas arrives. While I would not mind staying in Europe and spending Christmas here, I am looking forward to seeing my family again. Spending Thanksgiving here was a lot of fun but it was the first time during this entire trip that I missed home. When I arrive in the US, it will be 21 December and my family will already be running around crazy trying to get everything ready for Christmas Ever and Christmas Day. There will be a lot of unnecessary cleaning and cooking but I am hoping to opt out with jet-lag as my excuse.
      The first few weeks in Strasbourg I talked to my friends almost everyday and we talked about what we would do when I got back. Now that it is getting close to me returning, it seems like we have started the pattern over again but it is more exciting because I know it won't be very long. Of course I will miss all the people I met here but I see it as an excuse to come back.
-Rachel Cooper

On exotic places

2011-11-27T17:49:00.002+01:00

This weekend, our group explored Heidelberg, a cute German town that provided a castle ruin for us to (semi) explore. Besides this castle, we got to see a traditional Christmas market, which was also full of cuteness. I got to try some German sausage for an extremely cheap price.

Having gone to so many places though, Heidelberg was fun, but stands out as nothing extraordinarily special. I think it might be because I’ve traveled so much and done so many things—I’m quite traveled out. Heidelberg would have impressed me had I gone as soon as I arrived. Now though, I can enjoy it, but I can also file it under, “nothing special.”

I always used to wonder why Europeans were less enthusiastic about traveling around their continent. In a movie called, “In Bruges,” an Irish character talks about the cute medieval town Bruges, saying, “Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't. ”

Although I am definitely not as cynical or as rude as that character, I now understand why many European choose not to explore their own continent—to them, it’s much less exotic than it is to us. I remember a some French girls once asking me why American don’t travel as much around our country—while one answer is that it’s kinda big, a better one is that it’s all a little boring to us. We’re used to it and crave something way more exotic. Who knows? Maybe when I go back, everything will seem much more exciting to me than it did before.

Доля

2011-11-27T11:44:00.006+01:00

I have 21 days left in Strasbourg, in France, in Europe, this side of the Prime Meridian. 21 days left to find myself, to act as an observer, to be removed from my former surroundings, my real life. I was in the midst of a rather convoluted conundrum last night, contemplating whether or not I want to go to law school, and further, whether or not I really want to become a lawyer. I was initially discouraged when I came upon a lengthy article on one of the world news sites that I frequent entailing a detailed list of reasons why someone should not go to law school. Amongst these were: There are too many lawyers in the world right now. Not only that, but they are most likely smarter than you. You will accumulate a monstrous amount of debt, which a fifth of law students never actually pay off. Law school is one of the most stressful experiences possible. Why would you waste three years of your life pursuing a goal the may or may not (most likely not) come to fruition, while simultaneously spending upwards to $100,000 on this venture.

I pondered these rationales long and hard, and then I went down to the bar. I needed someone to talk to, and who better than the eternal optimist, David: Someone who has been more than influential on my frame of mind in these months in Strasbourg. We discussed these inquiries for a few hours, and by the time the bar closed, I felt like I was on top of the world. These people, making these excuses, attempting to deter me from my aspirations, setting frivolous limitations on themselves; I will not may them any mind. For it is me and me alone who is able to will my future. I am the captain of my ship, if you will, and my conscious and effort will ultimately determine my fate; Not those who adopt these various pessimistic attitudes towards life and their careers. These people will never be successful. How can they? They spend their entire lives putting their eggs into two baskets, while ignoring the third basket entirely. They refuse to accept that their concept of rationality and further, their perception of reality is entirely based upon habit-formed ideals heavily ingrained in their conscious through years of lazy self-programming. I will think laterally, rather than focusing on human limitations, these artificial constructs that have held so many back.

Heidelberg was a spectacular little city. The Christmas markets were absolutely wondeful, and though I could not afford to buy food, I was lucky enough to have spent my time with three girls who generously shared their Christmas inspired foodstuffs with me. I was quite content. I would like to return to Heidelberg someday and explore it further. The castle was honestly, less than interesting. We were not able to enter the castle because we didn't have a tour guide, something that CEPA neglected to research. However, the train that we took up the hill to the castle made things worthwhile. Never before have I had the opportunity to ride a train moving up a hill at probably a fifty to sixty degree angle. They should turn that thing into a roller coaster.

Thanksgiving dinner was also entirely memorable. I am not one to get excited over this particular holiday, or holidays in general, but that Thanksgiving dinner, as one eloquent student from Devry put it, was "off the hook". The turkey was not dry at all, a realization that assaulted my senses oh so pleasantly. The potatoes, gravy, and squash soup were also delectable. I once again must commend the culinary students for making even a picky eater such as myself enjoy foods that have never graced my palate.

Today, I will spend my time in the computer lab, pouring my thoughts over this paper on Voss and the Art of travel.

I bid you adieu.

-Tyler Collins

Still not ready

2011-11-27T04:55:00.000+01:00

As the semester goes on, I find it more difficult to find topics to write about. Perhaps this is because my traveling has diminished considering all of the cities I had on my bucket list have been visited and because I feel as though I have gotten into the groove of things here in Strasbourg. I no longer feel as though I am a tourist in this town or even lost in this city. I suppose I finally feel as though I am simply living my life here in Strasbourg rather than being the girl that is trying to find the right tram stop to get to the mall. Being here for as long as I have, I can see myself living away from home and setting up in Europe. I have really liked it here in France... more so in Paris and London. I fell in love with both cities and have turned my childish images of each city into cities with job opportunities awaiting me after I graduate. My life after graduation is another question entirely but I am glad to say that this trip has as least directed me and reaffirmed me in my belief of pursuing political science. Knowing this piece of information maybe the only thing I have to go on when I graduate. I have liked my time in Europe and now that I have school and friends, I am not ready to see the end of this semester.

Bah humbug

2011-11-25T13:13:00.003+01:00

Holidays have never been very important in my family. Most of my birthdays after about 5 or 6 consisted of my mom and I going to Red Lobster. Sure, Christmas was usually spent with family around a fully-adorned dinner table, but I have to say that there was never really a magical feeling associated with the fall and winter season. Maybe if I had a younger brother or sister and was given the command to keep the secrets of Santa from them, I would be someone more enthusiastic about the approaching Yuletide season, but alas, to me it's just another time on the calendar.

My mom and I have not talked since about a month before I left for France. No letter. No phone. No email. Nothing. My dad, I think, died recently from cancer... but he was an absentee parent, so whatever. All of my grandparents and great aunts/uncles are long dead. My friends in Atlanta are all consumed in their PhD programs or holiday party hoping with their partners. "But you're in France! Cheer up!" Nathan screams at me on Facebook. It's easy for him to say that when his two beagles are curled up at his side. I don't know where I'm going to live in a month when I get home, Christmas will probably be spent alone and let's not even talk about NYE.

I mean, I know it sounds like I'm sad, but I'm not. Or at least not desperately sad. Yeah, it's kind of depressing to see all these people running around with smiles on their faces, getting letters from loved ones on a daily basis... but alas, my mom was convinced that I was never going to find love growing up (thanks for the encouragement, mom!), so she taught me to be pretty self-reliant. I can cook (kinda), do laundry, sew on a popped button, pay my bills and fix things around the house. I don't really need someone, but damn, it would be nice to feel like people cared about me. That's probably the worst thing about the holidays... all these Hallmark, Walmart, BestBuy symbols of holiday affection flying around... demonstrating, in quite a quantitative fashion, just how much other people are loved. I know I'm an asshole, but even trolls under the bridge need a little lovin' once in a while.

Oh well. At least I've got my music. And in a month, I'll have my dog back from the evil clutches of my ex (if she's not been eaten yet). I guess that's all I really need. Home isn't Atlanta. Home isn't Strasbourg. Home is wherever you are.

¿ Art ?

2011-11-25T12:44:00.002+01:00

I have a photo album on my Facebook page called "¿ Art ?" The double question marks denote the dilemma which was posed recently to our class. What is art?

My fluffy answer is, "Art is the observation, duplication or representation of reality." What does this mean? Everything is art. While dictionaries and art history textbooks may lay down some concrete, finite answer to the question, I am tempted to argue that given the subjective nature of art and the infinite processes of the human mind, any thing at any time could be considered art.

What makes a photo of a cathedral taken by a tourist a "picture" and a photo taken by a student or master at the same time, from the same angle, with the same lighting "art"? It's a strictly subjective and personal delineation. From la Jaconde to Warhol's stack of crates, art can manifest itself in any number of forms with any of a number of purposes. It would be both foolish and arrogant to make a list and scream that only X, Y and Z should be considered art. Highly-paid and pretentious art critics aside, all of existence can be considered art... Much like the trite expression, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," so can the same be said for art. Now that's not to say that all art is sacred or above reproach or critique, but we should strife to search for, find and appreciate the beauty... and the meaning in everything around us.

Looking at life in 3D

2011-11-25T12:15:00.002+01:00

Last weekend, a friend of mine stayed over night at Pourtalès with me. The following morning, we decided to hit the Piste des Forts and take some pictures of the foliage before trees became bare. We made our way down the main trail, snapping photos of the "tunnel" of trees, the still green fields and elegantly lit leaves on the ground. We took one of the unpaved side trails that jutted out into the forest and captured some great shots around the various étangs. We eventually rejoined the main piste and made our way north to the little waterfall for a few for clicks. We'd now been out for about 2 hours and decided it was time to head back into town for lunch.

As we meandered our way back towards Robertsau on the piste, an old man astride a Vélohop stopped by us. Noticing the high-priced camera in my friend's hand, he demanded (in French), "Can I ask you a question?!"

My friend and I looked at each other in bewildered amusement and said, "Sure, why not?"

"When you take a picture with your camera there, and then print it into a photo, it's in 2D. But when you look at this same scene right here, right now, everything is in 3D! Why do you have to have a special machine to make 3D pictures?"

Puzzled, we scratched our heads. We postulated to him various theories. The concept of depth perception. The fact that our eyes are offset by a few inches creates 3D. None of these seems satisfactory to the old man.

"Why must you have complex machines for 3D pictures?! Why can your brain do it automatically?!" He seemed almost angry in his inquiry. We bantered back and forth for 5 minutes, yet nothing we said seemed to make the man happy.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off. I answered, "Because the human brain is the most complex, advanced computer ever created."

"That's right! Have a good day!" the man answered, and he peddled off on his way.

Overcoming what we already know

2011-11-25T11:29:00.002+01:00

"Nothing has been more difficult than to be curious about an object or a person, without being obstructed by preconceived ideas." (Zeldin p. 193)

The human mind will never cease to amaze me. No matter how often one says, "I'm going to look at this with an open mind," he's going to approach something with his memories and knowledge. There's no "Delete" button for the human brain. Whenever we look at something, hear something, smell something, we automatically, subconsciously oftentimes, compare and contrast it with things we already know. There's no escaping the years of thoughts and ideas that have been fermenting in our minds. Sure, we can try to challenge what we know and thus take in new knowledge with a new observation or experience... but the human mind is a stubborn thing, and it's often difficult to overturn old mindsets.

For example, I am fascinated by history. Growing up, I had very set ideas about things like American history, the Norman invasion of England and the Dark Ages. Much of this was based on books that I had read or shows that I had seen... but a lot of my "knowledge" was based on my active imagination that went well beyond the facts that I had read. As I got older and began to read authoritative literature on the subjects, I was overwhelmed by how much I DIDN'T know... and by how wrong much of what I knew was. It took a long time for me to get my brain to accept that all those things I thought were fact were actually complete trash. Even today when I learn about something about which I already know a lot, and I discover something new or different, my mind doesn't want to change. Fortunately, after being wrong a LOT in my life, I've learned to take such wrongness in stride.

When in Rome...

2011-11-25T11:10:00.002+01:00

Ok. I will readily acknowledge that I am an arrogant jerk that needs his ass kicked... but I really need to vent a little.

Friends at Pourtalès. You're in France. You're in a different country, on a different continent. You've spent hours in a metal tube traveling to a distant land... and you know? The rules of changed. The kind of social and public behavior that's ignored, accepted or even encouraged in Atlanta or Morgantown are NOT the norm here. You need to learn to adapt. This is a very important skill to have because one day you're going to be in the real work where your paycheck determines the kind of house and car you have, and walking around with your head in the clouds completely oblivious to the world around you will NOT play out well for you in the long-run.

When you're in a restaurant, on a bus, in a shopping mall or elsewhere, and everyone around you is looking at you completely aghast, that should be a sign that something isn't right. When someone corrects you about something you've proposed or something you're doing, it's not necessarily at attack that needs reporting; maybe they're just trying to help you fit in. When you come to the EU, you're in a confederation of 500+ million people with their own traditions, customs, social norms and mores... Sitting and saying, "This is how I'm going to do it!" is just not cool. I would imagine if someone came to your homeland and did something totally counter to what you find acceptable, you'd be upset. How do you think the people around you feel when you make a spectacle of our group in Brussels, Frankfurt or downtown Strasbourg?

Yes, you're young. You're old. You're not hurting anyone. You're having fun. Whatever. Learn to adapt. There's absolutely no reason you can't have fun or sit at a lunchtable without completely embarrassing everyone around you. This is a study abroad program. Hence you're supposed to be learning. Not just what you get in the classroom, but what you get in life. Expecting 500+ million Europeans to accomodate our group of 16 really isn't realistic... or proper.

Take a look around you. See the environment you're in. And evolve.

I'm going to be a monk... a very non-religious monk.

2011-11-25T10:38:00.002+01:00

Ok. I'll admit it. I'm a little bit of a slut.

I'm not going to venture into all the sordid details, but I will admit that since having arrived in Strasbourg, I've been going on a lot of dates. You see, my significant other dropped me like a hot potato the day before my flight to France. This is a guy that I had been with for 14 months, and in whom I had dumped a lot of emotional and strategic investment. I mean, I changed my plans to leave Atlanta for grad school so I could stay with him in the area. I disassociated myself from several friends of him he did not approve. I spent countless hours in my car with my pup her in crate in the backseat commuting to spend weekends with him. And, most pathetically, I gained 40 lbs in always going out to eat with him (damn Vietnamese never gain weight no matter how many hamburgers you throw down their throats). Anyway, I had given my all for this person... and halfway down GA-316 on the way to Atlanta, he told me he didn't love me anymore. Ouch.

You see, I'm a co-dependent person. I like running errands as a couple. I like sitting around the dining table with a green tea and playing footsie. I like cleaning up the kitchen after a fish sauce-laden dinner. I like falling asleep next to someone (other than my pup). Yes, I've got issues, but I'm okay with that.

So anyway, boom. I land in France. Surrounded by people I don't know, incommunicado with my mom, without my pup and emotionally cracked from a break-up. Not wanting to spend the next 3,5 months curled up in the fœtal position in my bed, I struck out and tried to meet new people. I went on dates. Had dinner. Walked along the l'Ill. Met for a beer. Laughed. Frowned. Exchanged numbers. What was I looking for? I don't know. My brain said, "You're leaving in a few months. Don't get all crazy." My heart said, "If you spend more one night alone, you might as well defenestrate yourself, loser." So I sought companionship. I sought deep conversations and daydreams of the future.

Ô France, what an emotional beast you are!

Sadly, I discovered that most of the guys here are focused more on the chase than anything else. They'd say sweet things. Promise to meet up again. And then. Nothing. Silence. Dating is a tough game... and the French, despite their "cheese-eating surrender monkey" reputation that some hold, don't take prisoners when it comes to affairs of the heart. And I can confidently say, I've been shot through the heart... repeatedly.

So yeah, the irrational part of me wants to throw away all my things, buy a ticket to Laos and go be a Buddhist monk in some cloud-shrouded monastery in the mountains along the Mekong. Of course, I'm smart enough to realize that such a drastic move would not make me any less codependent... and the shock of being without a smartphone would likely throw me into a bout of depression that would make Edgar Allen Poe looks like Richard Simmons, but there are days when the pain is just so unbearable that I don't want to even acknowledge anyone else's existence, let alone contemplate chasing after the ghost of love.

I really hope my dog remembers me, because I'll need some cuddling on December 18th.

Alain de Button actually has something decent to say

2011-11-25T10:16:00.003+01:00

"Which explains the curious phenomenon whereby valuable elements may be easier to experience in art and in anticipation than in reality." (p. 15)

How true this rings! How often have I found myself in with a shiny new electronic gizmo in my hands, yet to be unpackaged, with daydreams of the laser beams and miraculous first aid treatments to come... only to discover a few days later that my expensive toy was best designed to act as a paperweight? There is something peculiar with how the human mind can so contort the idea of something that when it is actualized, it becomes a disappointment. Why and how is that the human mind is able to work outside the perceptions we currently experience and 'create' an idea which may or may not be based on the current reality before us? Or the rational reality that logic tells us is fact?

In the months leading up to coming to Strasbourg, I had numerous fanciful ideas floating about my head. The people I would meet. The trips I would take. The places I would visit and conversations I would have. Of course, I had already spoken with previous program participants and reviewed the program website, but my mind elected to create a fanciful idea of meetings with MEPs, interviews with European bureaucrats, dinners with VIPs... Apparently, someone slipped something into my water because I've spent more than my fair share of time sleeping on the couches of friends and waiting at bus stops in frigid weather for the last ride to Robertsau. I was able to imagine a fanciful high-profile life, despite all evidence to the contrary... and the dealt with the reality that followed. I mean, I'm not saying that I'm disappointed, but it would have been nice to sit around a table with Nick Farage just one and tell him to shut the f*ck up.

Jumping Jupiter, I'm in trouble!

2011-11-25T10:13:00.003+01:00

I just discovered that the Blogger client I use on my computer to make blogposts has NOT been publishing my stories on here. I AM SCREWED! Interestingly, Gregory hasn't said anything about my lack of contributions, so either he's blissfully unaware, or he's already got an "F" marked in the gradebook...

It's redemption time, Batman!

It's Bittersweet.

2011-11-24T13:42:00.002+01:00

I'm happy that I am in France. Really, I am. I love everything that I am doing here, even if sometimes it feels slow. I like to move and I like to be challenged, but I'm getting comfortable here in France and I'm feeling the itch to move again.

But this post isn't about moving. This blog is about events that I am missing and how I've dealt with them in the past and how I'm dealing with them now.

Moving every year, you get use to missing out on things back home, with your family, and with your friends. Your best canine dies, a friend gets married, and your brother has a baby.

I knew all of this when I was planning to come to Strasbourg, that my brother would be having a baby at the end of November, while I would be away. I accepted this, and acted as though I didn't care, like it's no big deal. And here we are, Tuesday, my sister-in-law had a little baby boy named Ryder and I wasn't there. I received pictures and tweets, and emails, and texts, but it just wasn't the same.

I'm glad that I'm in France, really, I am. But this is a week that I'm wishing I were back home.

So in reaction to this, I wanted to do something, I dyed my hair. I now have those natural colors of blue, pink, and purple.

I've fallen back in love with Paris

2011-11-24T13:33:00.002+01:00

Maybe it helped that it wasn't 90º, or that my French is better, or that I am a different person than I was one summer ago or three summers ago. Or better yet, that it's the Christmas season.

Typically, I don't swoon over romanticism, most of it I think is just too much. But there are a few things in life that I am a sucker for.

1. Christmas Time - I can't be any happier than when there are twinkling lights down the streets, Christmas music playing in my ears, tastes of nutmeg and cinnamon in my food.

2. Big Cities - It has twinkling lights all year long.

3. Winter - or at least, the end of fall (November-December). When that first chill comes into town, and you have to bundle up and light the fire and sip on some cider... once again, this is mostly turning into the Holiday Season. (I just can't help myself, it makes me head over heels).

So I'm happy to say that Paris was full of this. It had Christmas lights down the boulevards, a Christmas market down the Champs Elysee, beautiful buildings lit up at night, parks stretching far and wide in the middle. It was a sight to see, and I'm in love all over again.

So this is all to say, I was able to go to Paris this past weekend, during the (don't hate me for quoting Christmas carols) most wonderful time of year. It is like a movie for me.

It's about that time

2011-11-23T18:21:00.000+01:00

Well, it has been an interesting stay in Strasbourg, France. Looking back, before I even came here, I see how worried I was. Everything concerning this trip had nothing to do with me actually being here, it was trying to keep me in Georgia, but I'm here and it's almost time to go. I've been so ready to go home lately, but as I walk around the Chateau I realize that this experience is almost over and that there is a slight chance that I just might miss this place. And contrary to my own belief when I first arrived, I will miss the people. Please believe I my people will know about some people here. I talk about Juli's animated/unanimated facial expression, Reeva's sassiness, Sharrell's craziness, Tyler's wits, Caroline's bluntness, and yes Erry's( I don't know how to spell your name) laugh. It has truely been a growing experience for me and since this new crown has come with this new testosterone (spell check) I have some more growing to do. I always say that you must never pass judgement on any one because you will miss out on some of the best people in the world. I have met some awesome people here at the Chateau, at the EM, at the church I attend, I mean every where. I proud of that. So..I guess this is me being a little mushy, but I will truely miss everyone, and I do mean everyone, even if you've worked my nerves a couple of times. I will miss you. I can't say enough, this was an awesome experience and I feel that something else will make it even more special before I leave. I don't know what, but its a feeling. My experience is not over yet.

Paris

2011-11-23T18:03:00.000+01:00

I am so very sorry that I could not come up with a creative name for this blog, but as of now with a week and a half left to go, I'm running low on fumes. Anyway, for the past couple of week, I have been extremely, extremely homesick. However, the trip to Paris curbed that hunger just a little bit. Before going, I asked the group that went prior to me about the city, about how much money to bring, and about what to do when I got there. Unfortunately, most of it was negative. The city is dirty, there's too many people, it's too expensive..... I so glad that they were wrong. Maybe just maybe they were on the rough side of town but I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. Our first day there, Jessica, Rachel and myself, we decided to go on a walking tour. Of coarse we needed help with navigating the metro system so we went to the most obvious place: information. It was the same ol' same ol' "Parlez vous anglais?" Head knod " No". SN: people in Paris are more serious, in my opinion about not speaking english.
Just to be a little random, I'll skip to the fun parts about the trip. On our first train ride to the hotel, there was a man on the train playing the acordian, how french. In Atlanta people get on the train argue, curse out loud, try to sale " Alkaline" water and tell you the government is putting tracking devices in our babies. In Paris, its much more cultured, even if they do ask you for money later. In addition to that lovely exposure to real music, when our tour guide Jessica Fitzgerald, took us to the centre de pomp......there was a lady whom, I guess decided that she wanted to be like the real talented people and try out her toy violin. With no form and not a finger placed on a string, she began to move the bow back and forth, creating her own tune that was not pleasant at all. However, it was great comedy; she seriously was hoping for someone to pay her for her performance. I also noticed, that in Paris there are a lot of black people or at least more than what we have seen in "this" part of strasbourg. I truely enjoyed Paris; it was dream come true for me and I do plan on bringing my family back soon. It was not too dirty in fact, it reminded me of Atlanta, but only in small ways.

Let's All Just Grab a Spoon of Speculoos

2011-11-21T23:08:00.004+01:00

This past week we've reached our boiling point. We've gotten to our limits. After 81 days being in Strasbourg with the same people, we're all a bit tired of it. Tensions were high this week in the Chateau and an explosion was inevitable.

And I'm ready to bolt.

When all of the Chateau Crises came about, my first thought was "when can I get out? Can I get a hotel in Strasbourg?"

Unfortunately, this is not the best solution. This sort of thing always happens. We get tired of the same game over and over again and we take it out on each other and never think that we're the problem.

I reached my wits end 3 weeks ago. Apparently, my tolerance is much less than most. I wasn't having it during my week, I let it all out, but then I got over it. And really, all of my cares and worries. So, when I realized that this was the week that everyone was going to hate everything I wanted to bolt and not get stuck in the middle of it all. (Of course, this is myself thinking, "hmm this has nothing to do with me, I don't need to be confronted about anything"). - And secret between you and me, I honestly think things have been blown way out of proportion.

But there we were, confrontation and I in the same room. When I regularly try to avoid, this time there was no way out, and when it comes at me I can't help but try to reason. This never works out, because you can't reason with collisions. Rather, I got sucked in and really, everyone did. It was everyones problem and everyones fault. With only one solution - fix it or else.

It didn't feel productive, no one felt accomplished. And honestly, it just felt like an ambush where we can do nothing right. Fine, there are things that needed to be addressed, sure, whatever. I guess this addressed issues would never be taken well, no matter how important they were; we (or just I) would feel like it's all our fault. Not to take into account that sometimes with 1000 people sharing things, shit happens and there's no reason to let it overwhelm you.

Maybe that's my problem, maybe not, I just want to ignore the problem when it doesn't seem worth stressing over. My philosophy...we all just need to eat more Speculoos.

Missing Something?

2011-11-20T23:38:00.001+01:00

I have less than a month to go in France, and it’s a strange feeling. I’ve definitely adjusted and gotten used to my life here, and sometimes it feels like I’ve been here for longer than 2 and half months. Yet in that same vein, it sometimes feels as though I just got here.

While I’m excited to go back home and see everyone, I’m not ready to leave yet. I feel mildly incomplete, like I’ve missed doing something. And I’m not sure what this “something” is. After all, I’ve traveled as much as my personal funds have allowed me to travel. I’ve gone to French school, interacted and met the locals, and explored various institutions. I’ve even picked up some mannerisms of the locals (such as counting on my fingers a different way). I’ve been able to experience so much more than the average person ever gets to experience. And I know that I’ve learned things about myself that I would have never learned if it had not been for this trip. I even have the crazy stories that I know my friends will demand from me whenever I get back.

On paper, it looks as though I should not be feeling like there is an aspect of my trip that was “incomplete.” Perhaps it is simply that I still have a month left—much can still be done in a month. I hope that this is true. I guess I’ll find out if it is or not when I leave.

Real World: Strasbourg

2011-11-20T23:24:00.000+01:00

This weekend Jessica, Macy and I went to Paris and I feel like I experienced French culture for the first time. I didn’t realize how different Alsatian culture was from “regular” French culture. You can see it in the architecture, statues, art, and people of Paris. There is beauty everywhere and a deep history that I feel I barely scratched the surface of. I hate to say it, but I did fall in love with the city.

I feel like going to Paris gave me a new perspective of how life can be which was good to have at this moment because I am getting to the point where I am looking into different job options. I could definitely live in Paris if I made enough money because I feel like, despite the expenses and hustle, that the beauty of everything would give me constant inspiration. I am so glad that I went and I am excited to go to London and experience what another type of life will be like there.

Also, I am going to use this blog to out myself and my participation of the kitchen mess. You see, I have a disorder: a sleeping disorder. I have a disorder where I sleepwalk in the night and cook lavish meals and eat all the food without remembering. The problem with this is that I don’t clean my dishes. I am solely the one responsible. I am “nasty”.
-Rachel Cooper

looking back

2011-11-20T19:43:00.002+01:00

Today makes it officially 4 weeks until I return to Morgantown. It’s surreal to me. It’s still summer there in my mind. I don’t really know why, but this 4 week mark feels significant.

Looking back, remembering how neurotic I was before I left home, distancing myself from people that I cared about, and going through obsessive preparation behaviors (like searching for the “perfect” suitcase), I still can’t decipher whether or not that was a reasonable reaction to leaving the country for a 7 month block. I remember that I just kept telling myself, "People do this all the time. There are people that spend years at war. You chose this, don't be a baby about it!" I would like to think that I’ve grown a lot through this past year. I know I was a pain to deal with those weeks prior to leaving (sorry, parents!), but I really want to know, if I was going to do this again, would I behave any different about it? If I were to go back to the beginning of May, would I change anything about my attitude or behavior?

Right now I just have to focus on doing my best in my graduate level business school classes that I’m taking (for some odd reason), as well as my other classes. I’ve got one more day trip planned for Paris and a weekend in NL to visit my Dutch family. Otherwise, all of my time will be spent in Strasbourg. I will definitely try to make the most of it. I have many things to look forward to and am extremely grateful for all that I’ve done this year.

-Maria

Danse Danse Danse Elle me Danse!

2011-11-20T12:27:00.000+01:00

This last week was interesting. It was composed of nerves, anger, laughter, adventure, anxiety and happiness. It was quite the week of emotions but this is what traveling and living abroad is.

I think many people, myself included, are homesick at times and staying in one place and not constantly doing something can make you remember your homesickness. This has all crept up on everyone and people react to it differently. It may be lashing out on people via academic blogs or just being in a funk for a day, being in a funk for a day was me about a week ago.

I will be the first to admit that I am a worry wort as some might say. I worry about making it to places on time and always need to double check things. So, I had to travel alone to Basel airport and fly to Barcelona to meet up with my petit ami. This involved a train, bus, airplane and a metro. Of course it all worked out in the end but I would be lying if I didn't say I was not full of anxiety a lot of the time. However, it also gave me confidence in the end. I feel great now and traveling just gives you the learning experience that you cannot acquire just sitting at home. It has been said before but seriously the old quote "It isn't about the destination but the journey to the destination", or however it is worded, is a very true saying.

Now I am filled with happiness because I have someone from home with me for a week and I am combining these two different world I live in. It is already a taste of how different it will be to go home and be 'out of the loop' with what is going on at home and having new friends, some of which live far away, that I am in the loop with but never saw back home.

So, all these emotions you encounter you learn how to deal with these things and it makes you a more well rounded person, at least I would like to think. We have one more month and while I hope that the anger and homesick emotions do die down I hope that we all still make the best of our fortunate situation and don't let anyone bring us down. -Here comes the corny but necessary statement- We have all learned so much if we know it or not.

-Tyler Underwood

Excuse me, what'd you say?

2011-11-19T21:28:00.001+01:00

I'm by no means an insecure person. I know I don't look like a supermodel, and I've accepted it. I've accepted the fact that I'm a short person and will probably never be tall. I'm a walking train wreck before noon. I'm mean anytime after noon. I'm one of the most confusing people you could ever meet. I'm an obnoxious girl, with an even more obnoxious laugh. I'm probably too honest and I'm way too loud. But I've learned to accept all of this. One thing I haven't accepted yet is my incredibly strong southern accent.
I've been constantly teased about this accent for as long as I can remember. Throughout the years, I've accepted the "if you can't beat them, join them" idea. I make fun of my own accent sometimes, but for the most part I can't even tell that I have an accent. I'm not really sure where I picked up this accent. None of my family members have accents, and only friends I've recently met have them. People never believe that I'm from West Virginia when they hear me talk. I always get asked if I'm from Tennessee, South Carolina, or Alabama.
I guess I haven't really had trouble speaking English until I came to a foreign country, in which they don't even speak English. I speak no French, but I've attempted to learn the basics, like asking do they speak English. However, when I ask, no one understands a thing I say. After minutes of confusion between myself and whomever I'm talking they finally will realize what I said. But, then they can't understand my English! What's a girl to do? I've tried to tone down my accent, but it's impossible. Maybe I should carry around pen and paper with me or just learn how to get around without having to ask for help. Nonetheless, I have a month to figure this out!
- Erryonna

Surreptitious Misanthropy Voraciously Consuming Rationality Thus Invoking Dormant Sociopathic Desires

2011-11-18T12:21:00.003+01:00

This morning I awoke in a daze. It was almost as if I was lucid dreaming. I was not sure where I was, and became confronted with numerous confounding questions. I turned on some music to make sure that I was still in possession of a fraction of my sanity or mental capacity. This is when things got strange. I played "The Message" by Nas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws3Ks0FGxYM) in order to get my neurons firing, but something was fundamentally different to me about the music. His voice was more matter-of-fact than normal and the beat didn't quite seem to syncopate, as was typical. I was profoundly confused, so I cross referenced this version with another only to find that both sounded the same. It was me that was off, not the music. At this point, I began to ponder what had caused this substantial change in my perception of the music. Is it the infected cut on the top of my head that refuses to heal, or has my paranoia increased exponentially, voraciously consuming my rationality? Did I wake up mid sleep cycle? I am deeply confused, and even now, I feel different.

This week was all anticipation. Apprehension about my exams, presentations and my trip to Amsterdam, eating at my conscience, culminating into a violent torrent of confusion and scattered thoughts, like children separated from their parents during a particularly brutal natural disaster . I had more difficulty sleeping than normal, and my head would not stop itching. God I am a narcissistic bastard! Such first-world problems! Did you know that Congress declared pizza a vegetable this week? Good stuff. I don't want to go home.

I'm going to miss Strasbourg, however. I love city center, the Cathedral, Le Petite France. It was all so new to me upon my arrival, and still is. I feel that there is still so much to discover, so many new friends to make, so many failed embarrassing french conversations to cry myself to sleep contemplating. I even have a to do list that I need to finish. I still want to climb the spire of the Notre Dame , and eat at a fancy Alsatian restaurant. I have one month left.

In several hours, I'll be on a train to the Dam. My next school-related excursion is Heidelberg. I am pretty pumped. David informed me of an ancient book store at which I can purchase leather bound books. I would like to at least pick up a few new books to read, as I have been slacking with my literature of late.

I will start on Gregory's paper next week. Is it wrong that I preferred "The Art of Travel" over "Voss", a book renowned for its abstruse concepts and eloquent discourse? I am ashamed of my archaic perspicacious capacities. Well, not really. My favorite book is still "The Outsiders", and I have finished hundreds of books since I read that in the third grade. My god! I appreciate literature on a third grade level!

-Tyler Collins

In My Defense...

2011-11-16T11:49:00.006+01:00

I cannot help but be defensive when Ruskin aggressively (at least, this is how I read it) states that people move to quickly, they don't appreciate the tree right in front of them. Ruskin is an artist, as my mom explained, we need people like Ruskin to be artists, to sit and draw the details of a tree. I am not an artist. Not an artist, in the typical sense, I like to write, I like to create, but I create in the manner of who I am, someone moved by reason and logic. I do not find reason to sit and stare at a tree for hours on end, it doesn't seem like time well spent (And I am always feeling pressed for time.)

To continue, realize that this rant is coming from a defensive nature. As i've said, I want to see the world, the whole world and to do that, you don't sit and study one thing at a time. You see as much as possible, see everything that you can and take it all in as a whole. This is the way I like it, I like to see everything, my focuses are wide not deep. For me, if you take too long in one place, you'll never see the next. While I am seeing more curiosities in the world, Ruskin is focusing on what details I am not seeing. So, maybe I'll always be this modern traveler, an non-appreciator for detail. He criticizes the different personalities, can he not accept that people are different. I can appreciate small picture people, but the world also needs big picture people, like me.

I want to yell and scream and say what's the point? All in reaction to Ruskin's close mindedness of differences and say while i'm seeing the whole world he hasn't left the lawn of which his drawings come from. But I don't yell, I don't scream, I don't throw a fit. I accept that Ruskin will never understand me, and I will never understand him.

-Jessica Fitzgerald

A Fall Break out of France

2011-11-16T11:49:00.001+01:00

Within the span of 8 days I traveled to four different countries over Fall break.

That's just the kind of life that we are able to have living in Europe. When you have a fall break, rather than going to the lake or to Florida or the mountains we are able to hop from country to country. From the multiple cities that I was able to visit, I realized that the small things are the ones that make life the best.

You know, like the constant cobblestone alleys, and the sounds of church bells ringing, and the outdoor markets and bustling streets.These things just make me fall in love. These things are what I see as sublime.

I cannot agree with de Botton or Wordsworth: that cities cloud your mind, that to see beauty you have to get out. I can sit on a bench in a city and think of thousands of different things from what I would think on a boat in the middle of the caspian sea. I love the city, and I love nature. But I feel connected with a moving city, with people who have inhabited it and I see the sublime.

In the grand spectrum, I am seeing it all. I am seeing large cities and landscapes that stretch across for hundreds of kilometers. I ride a train through a city and pass through a mountain and arrive in a new setting. It's a marvelous thing.

-Jessica Fitzgerald

Lethargy

2011-11-16T04:08:00.001+01:00

"A danger of travel is that we may see things at the wrong time, before we had an opportunity to build up the necessary receptivity so that new information is as useless and fugitive as necklace beads without a connecting chain."

- Alain de Botton

This past weekend, I realized my lethargy in Frankfurt. I could not seize the opportunity for receptivity, though I tried ever so hard. I originally thought it could be that I'm exhausted (perhaps mentally and physically) from so much traveling already that the anticlimax of a day in Frankfurt really threw me on brakes, but really I guess I'm getting to tired to prepare myself for a day of travel. Or maybe that I had no clue what to do or see in Frankfurt. A German told me to shop, but I really just wanted to eat sausage and I'd already done that.

So, I guess I'll never come back to Frankfurt unless it's for the airport, but I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt. I really did find the central bank and money museum to be interesting. Also, we were lucky enough to be there when there was a festival going on (Japanese) so there were stands everywhere for good food. Because it's Germany, one stand had sausages. And that's all I needed. I'm done with those H&M's everywhere. I can't wait to go back to the sticks where they don't have them.

...I hope we had the time of our life.

2011-11-15T13:53:00.001+01:00

      For as long as I can remember, I was always encouraged to study abroad. To spend time in another place where I could learn to adapt to a new culture, a new language, and new traditions. Now that I am here taking advantage of this opportunity and everything is coming to an end, I’m not sure if it is quite time to say goodbye just yet. Of course, I think, rather we admit it or not, we are experiencing a severe or mild case of the h-word (homesickness). We are all thinking about next week‘s holiday, one of the most important days in American culture. So we all would like to go home for that day to be with the ones we love.

      Obviously, the honeymoon, happy go lucky season is over. But, we’re still spending more time traveling than we do in a classroom and sadly still only bonding with each other. I’m guilty of this too but we are still looking for that one thing that will make the feeling of homesickness go away. We only want to hang out with ourselves or rather our clicks. We want to eat the same food, pasta. We want to travel everywhere, together. We still act the same wanting only to hang out with the same people. These things all remind us of our home and it was good at the beginning but it is time we try something different. It is like we are married to our American lifestyle and threw away the key. It is natural but in everyone’s reason to study abroad no one mentioned to me to do the same thing we did in America over here in France. Now, I’m not a psychologist just yet but studying these actions and mine too, makes me realize that I’m not sure if we “had the time of our life” or rather “saw what our minds hoped to experience”, which means that this all could be a waste if we don’t expand.

       During one of my earlier blogs, I hoped to break out of my shell, talk to new people, eat new foods, and simply try new things. I think I am still in the process of reaching some of my goals but I can honestly say I have run into some road blocks along the way. It is getting tough. I am realizing that not everyone wanted to break away from home and everything that I didn’t want is happening. Everyone isn’t willing to give this new life a chance so instead we are moving farther and farther apart. I guess it should have been expected, since everyone was so happy at the beginning and it had to come to an end eventually but I didn’t think it would end like this. We have 32 days left. 32 days, a little over a month to fix this issue. I want to leave here feeling accomplished, that I survived. I survived studying abroad in France, where the mindset, goals, and values are almost polar opposites of us Americans. After all when we return to our daily lives back in the states and we look back, I’m sure none of us want to think, I coulda, woulda, shoulda, had the time of my life.

Don't Push Cause I'm Close to the Edge...

2011-11-15T00:57:00.004+01:00

It's amazing how music can immediately express how one is feeling. What's so funny is I don't particularly enjoy this selection, but it describes the day oh so well. I just have to reference the chrous. In the words of the Grandmaster Flash:

"Don't push me 'cuz I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head
Uh huh ha ha ha It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how
I keep from goin' under "

What a day, it's crazy how things get real, real fast. It's certainly a combination of things, but wow I can say I'm baffled. I can't say I'm speechless, but it's like an alternate reality. I feel like today I strolling around in a dream world.

I believe Maria described it best, "The Wall Effect."

We were in love, on a honeymoon,mesmerized by everything.

We did a dance, and slowly drifted away from that shore.

Home seems sweet,andat the moment we're not trying explore.

All of a sudden crash, there it is. A huge wall, and things begin to fall.

This has been a strange version of a blog, but it's real.

More lyrics from one of my favorite artists, Ms. Badu:

"The world is turnin'Oh what a dayWhat a day what a day..

Peace and blessings manifest with every lesson learn

,If your knowledge were your wealth then it would be well earned."

What was the purpose?

2011-11-14T22:34:00.001+01:00

Demographics has us as students! 18, 19, 20, or even 50 years old. What then is the result of being in college without wishing to learn outside the box. It just simply beats me to see students, did I just say students, or maybe travelers, maybe I am wrong, not travelers, clicks, is it groups of clicks, maybe not, maybe favorites, maybe not, what is the experience we are learning from this program, talking only to those you know, maybe not, hunging out with those you belong to, maybe not, talking behind each others backs, perhaps! learning something from our experiences here, maybe not, so what was the purpose?

It beats me to think that we could spend so much money to come out here and leave with no experience, if any. What a shame this brings to my whole being, that we all embarked on a journey to make a little difference in our lives, if any, so close to leaving France and what can each one of us say we have borrowed from each other? Nothing, maybe, Gossip, probably, disrespect, most likely, negative attitudes, maybe, profanity, perhaps, but remember, college will soon come and go, then what? Everybody was once 18, so what? The world is round, believe it or not, it is. The ol' wise saying "a habit is a disease", have we picked any?

Christmas in the Outback

2011-11-14T21:10:00.001+01:00

At the beginning of Voss’s journey into the wilderness, he and his team enter the Christmas season. Most of his companions on this journey were intent on taking the day off and celebrating in what small ways that they could. So they took the time off, ate one of their sheep and read the Christmas service.

I really liked this part of the novel and felt that this scene reflected what many of us here at the Chateau are feeling. We are also a mixed, displaced group of people wanting to keep some familiarity. Just last week we held a mid-November Halloween party. Pumpkins were found and carved, we were very kindly brought some Halloween candy, and we celebrated. Next week we will be having a Thanksgiving dinner together, probably still unconventional, yet comforting.

This is a very amusing concept to me. Being a group such as ourselves in a place like France has shown so many cultural contrasts. I love our loyalty to home at times like these ones.

-Maria

My Final Grade is WHAT!??!

2011-11-14T17:48:00.002+01:00

This coming week has been one I have been dreading. After weeks of relaxing and taking a "laisse faire" approach to school, it has finally caught up with me. Most of my classes have decided to bombard the next two weeks with assignments, projects, and tests that cease to exist during the first part of the semester. As the assignments begin to pile, I begin to realize that this one assignment, project or test will practically determine my grade in the class. I have never had a class before where a single task counts as much as ninety percent of the grade in the course. Naturally, I'm terrified. This system is very different from the American grading system I am used to. I'm used to having attendance not only count as part of my grade but also as extra credit in some classes. Daily assignments and quizzes cushion the majority of the test grades and tests are given every eight weeks or six weeks or so. Ecole de management only has one task that determines your FINAL grade. Different and difficult needless to say.

Florence

2011-11-14T14:09:00.000+01:00

The past weekend (about 8-9 days ago) several other students and I travelled to Florence for a couple nights. This was my first time going to Italy. This was one country that never really sparked my interest like other European countries. I’m not really sure what the reason for this lack of interest is. I have Italian heritage and I certainly love the food. Anyways, it just ended up being one of those “why not go?” situations like St. Malo earlier in the semester, and like I was with that trip, I was equally pleased with this one.

I was pleasantly surprised by how charming the city and the people were. Our group had arrived around 10:30 pm in the train station and had to find the hostel quickly because we were expected at a certain time. We had walked in circles for a bit because we were sent in the wrong direction when we asked a shop owner for help. It wasn’t long before someone who looked like they were waiting for a bus offered help and we were soon in the right direction. It was at that time that we decided to call the hostel to say that we were going to be late. During the call, the hostel owner asked where we were and she came out to find us on the street! She was a hysterical little Italian woman who was happy to find us. She was very welcoming and friendly. Before even checking us in, she gave us maps and briefed us on where to go and where not to go for food and for sightseeing, and was just overall overly genial. In just those first hours of being in Florence, I felt like the city, if not the country, was always smiling and content.

Otherwise, it ended up being a typical “travelling outside of Strasbourg” type of weekend, and that’s certainly something that I appreciate. The only other quirk of the trip would have been buying mandatory reservations for seats on Italian trains and then having to sit on the floor because those seats did not exist. However, at any point, I think all of us on the trip were just happy to be going from point A to point B.

-Maria

And We Thought the South Was Slow . . .

2011-11-13T16:45:00.002+01:00

Last weekend, as well as this one, I had the privilege of staying at the Chateau for a whole weekend. Don’t get me wrong, I love being able to travel all the time, but I certainly needed a break. It was a good chance to rest, and absorb a sacred part of the French culture- the weekend.

Of course we have been in France for a while now, so I have seen French folks doing their weekend thing, but I hadn’t really had the chance to participate much. I love it! None of them have anywhere to be or anything to do, its great! They just enjoy themselves all weekend long!

At first I though perhaps it would be boring, but really it isn’t! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not what I want to do every weekend, but periodically it is really good to de-stress for a few days. We live life at such a fast pace that we miss things, which is really a shame! Even when we are relaxing, we tend to still be busy. Here, we have no choice, especially on Sunday since everything is closed!

So after two weekends of relaxing, I feel reenergized and ready for more traveling! However, I may have to bring a little bit of this pace of life back home with me in December.

Double Double Toil and Trouble...

2011-11-13T12:59:00.000+01:00

This past week was alright. We had the mid-November Halloween party and made a few excursions of which we all know. I enjoyed the Karlsruhe trip because it was interesting to hear how different and yet similar Germany's court system was. Especially because our system has been basically the same but Germany's has changed several times.

On another note I am very impressed with Europe and the EU. Just to think that 60 years ago it was mass chaos and now they have many countries working together and making progress. It is just interesting to think about if you can get people to work together and forgive the past so quickly what else could be done?

Very short thoughts this week.
-tyler underwood

Which Seat Should I Take?

2011-11-13T12:48:00.000+01:00

I have had this blog ready but I have kept forgetting to submit it. So here it goes!

So, my journey to Florence, Italy was fun. We met a lively/cute Italian woman who gave us our hostel, perhaps with bedbugs, and explored the Renaissance city. It was of course beautiful and obviously had wonderful food where if you stayed for more than several days you would gain 40 pounds. Train rides were rough and I could talk for another several paragraphs about how cool looking the city is however, I want to talk about a comparison I found out.

Italians are like Americans in the aspect that they are very friendly imminently. The French seem very cold but they just take longer to break and become friends with. Our Cross-Cultural Management teacher informed us that it is hard to become good friends with a french person because it takes years. She said that they cherish their friendships and will stay friends forever unlike in the U.S. where we switch friends and forget about others as we grow. I thought this was interesting since we usually think of french people as sometimes cold.

Very Superstitious

2011-11-13T02:32:00.000+01:00

I've recently been struck with a spell of bad luck and can't seem to get away from it. I caught a terrible cold which took about two weeks to get over and drained my energy for the following weeks. I then purchased a 99 euro train ticket to visit a family friend, only to find out the last minute that he would be busy and I had to cancel my trip. To add to the misery, the ticket was non-refundable. The trouble didn't stop there... I helped plan a group trip to Florence that I was ecstatic for! I packed all of my things, but forgot my RailPass. I tried to hurry back to the Chateau to grab the pass, but it was too late and I missed the trip. It's not over though. Tension within the Chateau has made for an awkward time, and I found myself in the middle of most of it. When it rains it pours, right?
So I instantly thought I must've broke some sort of French superstition. But, after looking up some of them I realized I haven't done anything to bring me bad luck. I hadn't put a loaf of bread on the table upside down; had a black cat cross my path; hadn't lit three cigarettes with the same match; or invited 13 people around the same table. By the way, I googled all of these weird superstitions.
So maybe I need to pray to the karma gods to send me some good karma this way. Or do some French superstitions for good luck? What the hell? Maybe I'll even go to church! Who knows?! But, this bad luck needs to go away now!

Europe is old

2011-11-12T21:12:00.000+01:00

This past weekend me and a few of my fellow classmates went to Florence, Italy. After we finally made it off of our 3rd train of the day and gripped ourselves for the trek to the hostel, we walked out of the train station and into Florence.I found myself to be preparing for the fact of being in another different country, in a place where I've never been before. However, I was not hit with the sudden feeling of awe and wonder when I began walking around. Not like I have been before when we went on our journey's to Paris and Monaco and Nice. I just attributed this lack of wonder over the fact that I was exhausted over waking up early in the morning and just got done traveling by train for 10 hours.
When we made it to the hostel, with the help of the above and beyond friendly owner of the hostel, a little old Italian lady by the name of Marta, we settled in and washed off a bit, so we could go out a little that night and find some food. I thoroughly enjoy Italian pizza after this trip. The next day we set out and began to explore all that Florence has to offer, which when it comes down to it, isn't a whole lot. Sorry to say it, but I was pretty bored during this trip. Despite being with great company, and being a new culture and place. I was just not as thrilled as I used to be when I first came to Europe. When Tyler Underwood mentioned that it must be because the novelty of being here as kind of worn off, I realized that this must be it. I'm just tired of going, going, going. The busy-ness of it all has made me tired of of it. The foreignness of being on a different continent has drifted away from my mindset.
While I was reading Twain's "Innocents Abroad", it seemed that he has the same kind of situation, except for him it was quite the opposite. When he talks about his trip to Tangiers, he talks about how extravagant everything is because of its extreme newness to him. He has never been to such a bewildering place that is completely devoid of all that he is used too. And he never realized this until he reached this destination. Despite the fact that he too was traveling in Europe and everything there was brand new to him, the places there still reminded Twain of home. The novelty of being there wore off for him too.
So now, my situation is that in my time left here, am I going to find some place that is totally different from anything I'm use too? Probably not, because I'm running out of time and money, however I know that someday I will have to find a place like that. And I'm pretty content in searching everywhere I can in order to find that foreignness. May it be Tangiers, Siberia, or Japan. I'll find it someday.

Generic Blog Entry Mark II

2011-11-12T14:59:00.004+01:00

Damnit, I'm going to be productive today! I've had my coffee and I'm ready to go. I even made a do to list, detailing my cornucopia of prospective work, including writing this blog entry, making an outline for a french video project, creating an EU powerpoint presentation, and writing a ecology essay for another french class. Today, I will do all of these things and more. In fact, I am surprised to announce that I made a friend from the EM, and we will be going bar hopping tonight. I even wrote several new riffs and did laundry this morning. On top of that, I almost always write my blog on Sunday, and today is Saturday. What the hell is wrong with me? Oh, what fun! Frabjous day, kaloo kalay!

It isn't often that I make friends, but when I do, I choose Dos Equis...er, I consider them to be very special people. I am quite selective when picking people to hang out with, as there are very few people who I "mesh" with well. Anders is from Denmark. He is very intelligent, and has a particularly demented sense of humor. I always seem to make friends with deviants. Oh well.

Our excursion to Frankfort was an interesting one, comprised of sausage eating, museum visits, and a bank robbery or two. Ok, I was joking about the last part, but we did visit a bank, as well as the German Stock Exchange. The art exhibits at the Frankfurt Modern Art Museum were surprisingly decent. I absolutely do not consider myself a fan of what most consider to be "modern art", but there were several cool pieces. In particular, I enjoyed the various paintings by Herbert Brandl, John Chamberlain's junky patchwork sculptures, and Andreas Slominki's rather surrealist paintings/photographs. I'm an impressionist kind of guy, but I have to say that this was one of the better modern art exhibits I have seen. It was free, also.

The Halloween party was enjoyable. That is, until the Sangria ran out. Overall, the food was very good, and I must commend the Canadians for their valiant efforts.

Amsterdam in less than seven days...I'm literally counting the moments. I'm going to get on my other homework now. Peace.

-Tyler C.

German Federal Constitutional Court

2011-11-11T23:04:00.000+01:00

If I was a European, I would be living in the library searching history books and bringing myself up to speed in understanding the EU system, from an outsiders view, maybe it would be a good thing for all Europe to be integrated, but until you visit and study EU integration, one has no idea what the Europeans have been through, since 1950 to the present moment. I am really grateful to this program, because what I have learned and continue to learn about the EU as a whole, is not even yet written in books. Listening the the Clerk of the German Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, was entertaining, educating and above all confusing.

Now let me put myself in the shoes of an ordinary EU citizen, who has not been to college, how is it possible for the citizens to understand all what has been evolving in the EU? I am not surprised that the EP voter turnout is so low, I just came to the conclusion why it so after reading a speech article in my Federalism Class. According to the then foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, during his speech at Humboldt University in Berlin, in May 2000, "the nation-states are realities that cannot simply be erased, and the more globalization and Europeanization create superstructures and anonymous actors far removed from the citizens, the more the people will cling to the nation-states that give them comfort and security." Perhaps the generation that will understand the EU evolution will be tomorrow's generation, yes, I am taking four EU classes, reading a lot of material and still I am getting confused every time we visit an institution like the German Federal Constitutional Court.

I want to believe the EU citizens are even more confused, because they have to live the EU dream. Even though I would wish for the EU to be fully federated and fully integrated, one Europe for all, I would still wish for more schooling so that each and every citizen of the EU can understand the gigantic EU and its benefits to the citizens. With freedom of movement, there are many challenges to be faced, e,g, security, justice and defense, yet we have not even talked about a possible political integration.

This Train or That Train, regardless we’re ALL taking a train

2011-11-09T22:08:00.002+01:00

It was 24 hours before our train was scheduled to depart and 9 of us decided to head out to Italy for the weekend. Now before you judge us, we might have procrastinated but it is not totally our fault. We had planned to go to Italy another weekend but there was a miscommunication with other planned excursions so we had to change our

Italy

trip. We had an excursion in Kehl, Germany that Friday morning but the rest of weekend we had free. We didn’t have any train tickets or reservations only our country train passes (which you need reservations for) and up to 12 hours before our train left we didn’t have a hostel reservation either.

Anyhow, we decided to head out immediately after our trip to Kehl. After taking 4 trains, 8 of us made it to Florence, Italy. We lost one on the way because of a personal reasoning. Needless to say, we were a little unprepared but all of us went with the flow. The group split up and regrouped the entire train ride down to Florence but everything worked out fine. After we regrouped for the last time in the Florence train station we never split up again for the entire time we were in Florence. I actually wanted to go to other places but I changed my mind because I liked the idea that we were all a group. We never do this. It is quite annoying and immature but I loved the fact that we were all able to explore, laugh, and discover a new place together. Maybe it was the group of us who went but regardless I think it made the trip that much better, especially for celebrating a friend’s 20^th birthday.

From the moment, we touched down in Italy the people made us feel so welcomed and went over and beyond to help us. They helped us at the train stations. They directed us to the correct train. Marta, the hostel owner, searched the city looking for us after we couldn’t find hostel. She told us all of the best places to visit. She was the nicest European person I have ever met since I have been over here. Most importantly, she even understood when we told her about the person we lost among the way. It was obvious that she was a mom because she was so helpful and wanted to make sure that everyone was unified. A sense of unity flew throughout the air. I think this is what we all needed after being in France for so long. We no longer had to embarrass ourselves trying to speak another language; people would switch over to English automatically. This was the best part about

Italy

2 of my friends and I decided to head out to Venice the next day and we had the same experience. People were always willing to help. At first, the generosity caught me off guard because another lady kept insisting I take a piece of candy, eat something at the bar, or take a snack from her big purse full of goodies. By the end of the train ride back to the Strasbourg, I was a little happy to see this over generous lady leave because I could sleep. However, I was a little sad because reality was setting in and I would have to go back to France where people have this stuck up attitude and are not so quick to help you. The train ride back was actually one to remember after hoping on full trains without reservations, tickets, or any idea of where it would end up and being given crazy ultimatums by train ticket collectors (pay 100 euros for a first class train reservation, stay the night in Switzerland or Milan and catch the next train to Strasbourg the next day) but I appreciate everything and I’m glad that I made this trip to Italy despite all of the craziness that occurred on the ride back.

Ciao Bella

2011-11-09T21:05:00.002+01:00

Hello beautiful was one of the few phrases I gathered from our weekend in Tuscany. I never thought I'd see it, but Italy was pretty much amazing. It was nice as well to have a large group of us together on a trip. We meet the sweetest little woman upon our arrival, Marta. She even came to retrieve us when were lost. She gave us a good ol' fashion Italian welcome, at least the way I would imagine it.
After the night we spent the day exploring Florence. It was lots of roaming around the city; but of course we indulge in some of the local pleasantries. I'm pretty I had three different gelatos in the same day,and two of these included two flavors. I also had a good amount of pizza as well. Lastly, of course we had to hit up the local markets. Some people go for the gifts or the shopping, but it's safe to say I travel for the food. I just love trying the dishes the local area is most known for.
Some of us even took a quick trip to Venice. It was simply breath taking. I've always wanted to see a gondola. Seeing it and the streets of water made my month.
Getting back on the other had was completely on the opposite side of the scale. It was an adventure all on it's own. I have never felt so many emotions all at once- fear, anxiety, happiness..etc. We hopped trains, and joined in the everyday chase the train Olympics.
I enjoyed the trip. I took a chunk of Italy, (mostly in my belly), and it took chunks out of me in a number of ways.
---Ciao

Time's a Wasting..

2011-11-09T20:06:00.002+01:00

This has been the wackiest 24 hours of my life, well at least the European one. At first my initial idea for this blog was to speak about all the time I seem to be wasting. We discussed in class the difference between the European lifestyle, and the American one.
American's are consistently on the go, moving, moving, moving. I guess in this instance, I am the most American. In my normal everyday life at home I have very little free time. The funny thing about that is I like it that way. At first being here it was so nice to take a break: stroll around the park, eat a six hour meal, or just be "french". But after a while I started to feel like time was rolling and I wasn't going with it.
For example some of these places/ events I'm expected to attend. Some of these things I have, "Art of Travel" Syndrome. This is my own diagnosis of course but I really feel the words of the book here. The same passage comes to mind. I am literally in two places at once. My body is sitting in that seat, staring at the speaker, but my mind isn't there. Maybe I'm over thinking it, but I just don't see how these things are applying to me. I just sit there and attempt to look interested. I just feel like I'm wasting so much time.
And today just added to that, with this french course. I feel so bad for our professor, hope he's ok. But even in the beginning prior to him beginning there still wasting more time. Maybe one day I'll loo back on this one day and some how appreciate it. But right now I will say, I'm over it.

A "Real" Visit

2011-11-08T00:07:00.001+01:00

"Perhaps Juliette's life could have been different if the meetings which have decided its course had been less silent, superficial, or routine, if more thoughts had been exchanged, if humanity had been able to show itself in them (6)." - Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

This quote was one that really stuck with me way back when I first started my second book, but became really something last week when I was in Budapest.

Let us begin with a story. I have a cousin named Bela. He is Hungarian, and around 40 years old. He was born in a small Romanian town outside Oradea, and had what you may call an interesting life. Being born in 1970, Romania was an interesting place to say the least. At an age of around 17, he and his new wife decided to flee. I don't know the whole story, but I do know that they ended up separated at some point and reunited in Austria. The point is that Bela has expereinced some tough stuff growing up in a part of the world that was ironically largely forgotten after it ceased to be the "enemy."

That is an all-too-brief history of Bela, who was the reason we were traveling to Budapest. I am of Hungarian descent, and my family is in contact with Bela, so I decided to let him know I was visiting Budapest. I expected a dinner maybe, but that was it. Was I ever wrong. . .

Bela and family went out of their way to tend to our every need! He drove us around, showed us the sights, told us where was good to eat, and even invited us to his own home for a dinner (which honestly was more of a feast!) This was one of the greatest shows of hospitality I have ever seen!

But, despite all of that, what really stuck with me was how open and honest Bela was. He was willing and eager to talk about anything and everything. One example is this, I mentioned that I could see why my family went from Hungary to West Virginia because the landscape is so similar, to which he responded "yes, but you have to realize that things here were really terrible." I responded with a typical English response, " I imagine." His response really made me think. He simply said, "No, you can't imagine. I was a young man of 18 when the Russians left, you can't have any idea how terrible it was. It is impossible for you to imagine it."

Wow. That honesty with me, merely a distant (very distant) cousin, that was really something to me. Having lived through something like that made him really appreciate everything he had, I mean genuinely appreciate it. It was so refreshing to talk to someone so genuinely thankful.

It got me thinking, I need to make sure to get something meaningful like that out of all of my trips. What use is there in going somewhere and just exchanging pleasantries with everyone, I would get so much more out of it if I bonded with those I was traveling with, or strangers, or whoever. Trips would be that much better if nothing was "silent, superficial, or routine."

My blog from last week

2011-11-07T23:04:00.002+01:00

I am on a train from Amsterdam to Strasbourg and I am ready to be back even though this week has been awesome. This has been my longest trip since I have been to Europe and it has been the most exhausting. We began in Luxembourg, and then went to Brussels, Bruges, and finally Amsterdam. The first part of the week consisted of visiting European Institutions which was very interesting. I feel like I learned a lot more about each one despite having read many articles about each of them. Unfortunately, I feel like that week was one in which some people in our group needed space from others which is why the five days I spent in Bruges and Amsterdam were extra enjoyable.

I went to Bruges with Jessica, Maria, and Genevieve. We walked all over the city and did much more than we expected to do which was nice. However, in Amsterdam, I feel like I didn’t do much at all due to general lethargy and lack of understanding of the public transport system. Jessica and I did go to some museums, good restaurants, and bars which was a lot of fun. Amsterdam would be a lot more interesting if it wasn’t so touristy. The red light district was fun to walk around but there were so many people that it was hard to get around the souvenir shops. I am glad to say that I am over all of the touristy parts of Europe and enjoy trying some of the things I think the locals would do.

-Rachel Cooper

Second Time's the Charm

2011-11-07T21:25:00.002+01:00

This weekend I traveled to Florence, Italy. I had been there once before, when I was 15. My memories of this day-trip to Florence were not pleasant. It involved being over 100 degrees and going on a long, boring tour around the city. Things like the Statue of David were memorable, but what was more memorable was standing in line for David and trying not to faint from heat exhaustion. I remember being so tried that when we were finally given free time (for at the time I was part of a student group), I just sat in a square and watched the mimes, desperate to leave what I was now finding a godforsaken place. For a couple years after this trip, I would think of the heat of Florence whenever I was freezing cold. Just thinking of the heat was enough to make me feel warmer.

With this description of the trip in mind, it seems funny that I would decide to go back there, particularly for the weekend of my birthday. Originally, I wanted nothing to do with going back to Florence—or even anywhere in Europe I have already been. However, I realized that I should give Florence a second chance. After all, if everyone raves about a place, it’s strange that I wouldn’t enjoy it. I’m not some European hipster traveler. If I hear something fantastic about a place, and then go to it, I enjoy it. Florence was the only exception to this rule. I also figured that it was be interesting to see a place through slightly more mature and changed eyes.

I’m quite glad I gave myself the chance to re-explore Florence. I enjoyed it much more the second time around. I realized upon coming back that I had forgotten many parts of the city, and some things I had stored in my memory weren’t necessarily correct. Being in Florence again made me realize the importance of not relying on first impressions when it comes to traveling. While first impressions are helpful, looking more deeply can help you truly discover a place.

Sterile Nails and Thunderbowels

2011-11-06T15:30:00.002+01:00

I've literally been staring at this blank text box for fifteen minutes, so I guess this sentence is the best jumping off point that I can offer. BAM! Inspiration...nope, still not there.

Let's see...my week...this week...hmmmm...

God this going to go badly...

It's cool, Tyler. Just go with the highlights. You can do it.

School has been going well. I just finished my Intercultural Business Negotiations class this week, with the submission of a fifteen page paper based on a half page article having to do with the acquisition of a Spanish company by the subsidiary of a slightly larger French company. Fun, right?

I missed the excursion to the Euro Institut due to a strange allergic reaction to the Chateau's laundry detergent, so um, yeah, there's that.

I guess the bottom line is, I'm just bored. I can't plug my amplifier in to the wall due to wattage conflicts, I'm down to my last set of guitar strings, I've finished all of my books, and I haven't been inspired for quite some time. You might say to yourself, "Who the hell cares?" Well, you know what? I do, and it's driving me absolutely insane. I haven't been nearly as musically productive as I typically am, and it is slowly eating at my soul. A slow kill in the cold.

I did, however, stay up rather late last night writing a new song on guitar, hoping that my rusty strings didn't snap. It is initially a fast piece which will be accompanied by blistering drums, stopping suddenly and developing into arpeggiated finger picking which molds itself into a drudging melodic breakdown of sorts; Much like my experience in Europe thus far. After this, I ran into some trouble. When I write music, I prefer the melody and rhythm to tell a story. I want the emotional content of the song to far out way it's technical complexity. The lyrical and instrumental processes are left completely separate until the very end, which is when I finally choose which lyrics to apply to particular songs, based entirely on the mood and pace of the melody. In this case, I believe that this tune should serve as a memoir of my time in Europe: My thoughts, feelings, triumphs, defeats and ultimate exodus. At this point in the song, I am trying desperately to apply a riff, one that is both rich in emotional content and bold in its demand of picking hand skill, that I had written almost four months ago, into this new song. There is a reason I had never put the riff into a song, however. It switches from eleven to four and, being not only an odd time signature, but also a rather technical melody, it has yet to find a home.

Following this problem-section are several more riffs which I desperately want to be in the song, but which lack the essential pertinence to the mood and key of the music. I'm frustrated, but I know these are the makings of a decent song. As I've learned, song writing is much like love: It happens when you least expect it. Therefore, I know that with a little bit more playing time, I will find the glue which will subsequently hold this piece together.

I read an interesting article in Popular Science this week, detailing "The Worlds Spookiest Weapons". This list contains weapons that only the truly insane could conceptualize. From armaments that are installed on the fins of dolphins to bombs that literally alter the sexual preference of a human being, this article contains just about every batshit crazy idea that the U.S. government has ever considered adopting. Speaking of bats, prior to "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" in 1945, were you aware that America began working on a project called "Operation X-Ray", in which thousands of bats would be strapped with incendiary devices and dropped over Japan? Theoretically, the bats would roost in the wooden and paper structures of Japanese buildings and detonate with the push of a button. Luckily, as we all know, the U.S. went with a much more logical approach with the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki... Their rationale behind the abandonment of this idea: It would take over a year to strap these bats with enough explosive devices to do any real damage. Even better, the idea was first thought up by a dental surgeon from Pennsylvania. This gives me even more career options than I ever thought imaginable! Maybe I could draw up the blueprints for a bomb that will give thousands of people horrible breath, or make them sweat profusely! I could be a billionaire! Oh wait, these are all conceptions previously considered and put into development by the U.S. government. Damn, this article covers just about everything. I would strongly consider reading it.

I'm done. Hopefully next week will more interesting.

Italian Odyssey

2011-11-06T11:00:00.003+01:00

Before school started to get too hectic, as a group, we decided to plan a trip to Italy. Unfortunately, we made this decision twenty four hours before we were supposed to leave. Thursday night, I was scrambling around the computer lab trying to find hostels along with train times in order to make it into Italy all in one piece, on time, and under budget. Deciding to go to Italy the day before we hat to leave, seemed to be an impossible and misguided task. Trail and tribulation were the only things that followed us on that Friday. From the beginning, we knew getting to Italy would be an odyssey of sorts. Our first indication was that we had to leave a man behind. As we boarded the train to Basel sans one, we debated and discussed the consecutive trains that would take us to our destination. With different Railpasses that the group possessed, we had to split up the group once more and go different routes. Now, the group, sans three, had to manage the ways of the trains and times which was not always easy, as we found out when we boarded the wrong train and the correct train was only minutes away from departing. Wrong trains, unmade reservation, and a long day eventually led us to our destination... Florence. This trip finally changed my perspective about traveling Europe. All the weekend travels I had taken thus far were planned weeks in advance with all reservations taken care of days if not weeks before. Therefore, I found traveling Europe just as difficult as getting around in the United States. This trip, that was decided in less than twenty four hours from our departure time, allowed me to travel and reach my destination safely and rather swiftly. Although, traveling at a moments notice was more hectic than my other travel, it was not more complicated or troublesome. The Railpass I purchased to travel across Europe gives me unlimited mobility with, of course, the occasional fee. But i am glad to say this pass along with the train time table restored my faith in the well known rumor that traveling in Euorpe has been mad fairly easy... with the occasional hectic process.

The Danger of Fast, Budget Travel

2011-11-05T03:54:00.000+01:00

Going to Italy was something I’d never really considered. I guess it seemed like a place I’d have to visit someday, so I assumed it would happen of its own accord and without too much help. That’s pretty much how it happened. However, due to time constraints and the distance of travel required, it would be a tight fit.

The first night in Florence was enough to get some pizza and water, after about four train rides through Alsace, beautiful Switzerland, and then through the pitch black Italian scenery. We needed our rest for the first day out on the town. Luckily, our exceedingly helpful hostel owner had circled everything we could conceivably see in Florence in one day. There were circles everywhere, and a few dots for the restaurants based on a price range we had outlined in a roundabout fashion.

Obviously, with one day, we saw the outsides of a whole lot of things, but I wish I’d been able to go inside a few of the museums. Also, I wish I’d remember what I’d seen, other than the Duomo. Ahh, the little regrets that will pull a person back to a city. That little taste of Firenze has succeeded in forcing me to desire another trip to Italy. At least a month, I feel, with enough time to see and enjoy, and to eat as much pasta as possible.

Just in Time

2011-11-03T12:10:00.000+01:00

Agenda for October 22- October 31, 2011:

Sunday: Leave for Verdun from the castle and stay 1 night in Luxembourg
Monday: explore Luxembourg, visit important organizations, and travel to Belgium where we will stay 2 nights in brussels because we are visiting other important organizations
Wednesday- after going to SHAPE in Mons, leave for Scotland and stay for 2 nights in Edinburgh
Friday-Leave for England and stay 3 nights in London
Monday-Fly home and go through Swizterland

So Wednesday night came and it was time for Liz and I to say our goodbyes and head out to the UK. Secretly, I was scared because it was just us but I knew I had to be fearfree because we were too small of a group for either of us to be down. We arrived to Scotland around 10 pm and began to find out hostel. We saw our bus and hopped on. The bus driver was really helpful. He told us where to get off and made us feel welcomed. Also, in Brussels we met a guy who just so happened to be flying to Scotland on the same flight as us so we all sat on the bus together. The bus dropped us off and we said our goodbyes to that stranger we met in Brussels. We originally couldn't find our hostel but after asking a few questions to waiter in a restaurant he assured us that we were right down the street and we were! Long story really short, I didn't enjoy our hostel. It wasn't dirty but it was in a weird location and strange very strange people LIVED there and even more strange people worked there. It wasn't as bad as the Paris hostel but it would definitely not be my first choice hostel.

While laying in bed that night, I realized that I was not alone. Liz felt the same way. We both, just wanted to go somewhere to the Chateau, another hostel, another hotel, London, the states, it didn't matter. Anywhere but there. I felt comfortable because for the first time we understood each other. I think in that very instant I made another close friend. It actually became a big strange because for the rest of the trip, I would complete her sentences and she would know my appetite.(This is a huge accomplishment) This enhanced the quality of our trip. The rest of our trip was good, expensive but totally worth it. We went to all the tourist locations and continued to stick together. I never really expected this but I appreciate it now. I have a new friend just in time when the honeymoon stages of studying abroad ends.

Identity, Value, and Goals

2011-11-03T11:42:00.001+01:00

The weekend of October 15 and 16 was our second weekend of travelling on our own. 8 of us decided to head south to Nice, France. After arriving at different times throughout the weekend, we all decided to meet up on Saturday morning for a group adventure. We wanted to go to Monaco. It was a beautiful sight to see. Nice was beautiful as well. In the streets, of Nice strangers did not come up to you selling you items and you didnt have to worry about holding your bags close to your body.Of course, we saw homeless people and disabled individuals but it was not as numerous and risky as Paris.

As previously mentioned in "the city of [What] love?" blog, Paris had everything dirty and nice a big city in the states would advertise. With these few things being said about Nice and Monaco, I enjoyed it much better than paris. The water was sky blue and the further you looked out the prettier the water became. The rocks that led to the water set the mood. I think all of us were expecting sand but it was good to be at a beach with rocks instead of sand. It was a perfect location for couples and families. I couldn't actually find a boardwalk on the beach but the shops, casinoes, and restaurants reminded me that we were still in France and I was not back in the states. I suppose topless people was another reminder but I would rather not discuss that view.

Overall, I really enjoyed Nice but after a few conversations with a few friends and thinking in the shower, I have come to the conclusion that standards and expectations change everytime we travel. For example back in America, going to the club means dressing to impress and secretly try to reveal yourself. While abroad, we dress up for class and clubs but a different kind of dress up. It somewhat looks like the same thing we wear to class is the same thing we wear to the club, professional and classy. It is strange that in America you are almost frowned upon for not having skin shown or not wearing the new Victoria Secret sweatpants and uggs to class. I actually remember my first time going out my freshman year at WVU and in life and people laughed at me because I didn't have on sexy dress or a short skirt. I didn't understand the point of being uncomfortable or having to worry that I would drop something and my thighs would show. I guess no one really told me about the clubbing life.These different standards came into place in Nice and Paris and I suspect it will always occur. To me, where I sleep at night is just as important and if not more than the place of interest. I would like to see the sights as well but my healthy and safety are more important. At home, I feel the same way when it comes to sleeping and eating. I hope my identity doesn't change too much since I am not at home.

East Side Gallery

2011-11-02T19:36:00.000+01:00

During Fall Break, I was lucky enough to explore places that I had never been before. One of these places happened to be Berlin, Germany. While I got to experience many fun things while I was in Berlin, the most thought-inducing experience was viewing the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is the longest part of the Berlin Wall that is still standing. On the East Side of the wall, artists have been commissioned to paint pictures on different parts of the wall. The pictures varied in their subject matter. Some were dark and shocking, remembering the days of communism, while others sang messages of peace and freedom. Many of the pictures provoked discussion from the small group I was with about the specific meaning behind some of the pictures.

Despite numerous signs next to the gallery telling people not to deface the pictures with graffiti, graffiti was everywhere on the gallery. While much of this graffiti was dumb, there were a couple bits of graffiti that provoked discussion, just like all of the paintings did. Despite being someone’s illicit scribbles on a piece of artwork, I found it interesting that some things that were not officially artwork could also provoke discussion.

Perhaps because putting artwork on something once was (and arguably still is) such a powerful symbol to people makes not only the artwork, but the graffiti easier to impact and touch people. While putting provocative artwork in a museum is sure to set off a reaction, putting artwork in a much more “real” setting makes the message much more accessible to all people. The messages the various artists are trying to convey are open for viewing to anyone who wants to walk by the wall. Not only that, but someone who just knows a small bit about the history of the Berlin Wall can deduce the powerful messages artists were trying to communicate.

For me, I enjoy looking at art in museums. But often, my thoughts don’t go beyond, “Wow, that’s really pretty,” or, “Oooh, that’s cool looking.” While these pieces I’m viewing often have a message to convey, often, extensive background information is needed to “understand” what the artist is going for. While I have had some art history classes, and even have a close relative as an art history professor, a good portion of my reactions to art in museums are not particularly intense.

Maybe my love of the Wall artwork shows me to be simplistic when it comes to talking about art. The reason that I enjoyed it so much is that it was not only visually stunning, but had a message that I clearly (and easily) felt. After all, I’m the type of person who rarely likes reading poetry because I find it difficult to interpret. I like things to be straightforward.

Yet, when someone is trying to use art to tell you about resisting tyranny and the importance of freedom, you cannot have a sly message that might go over some heads. If you don’t want history to repeat itself, you need to make what you’re saying powerful and obvious. And because of this, I view the East Side Gallery to be one of the most important collections of art I have ever gotten a chance to view.

Back to the Homeland

2011-11-02T16:50:00.000+01:00

I just returned from Budapest, Hungary and this was an amazing trip. I had always wanted to go to Hungary because I am 1/8 Hungarian and I have always heard stories about my great Hungarian grandfather. After going on a 14 hour bus ride, which actually wasn't that bad, Zak, Julie and I arrived in Budapest. If you couldn't tell by his last name Zak also has Hungarian roots and actually has distant family who lives in Budapest and his cousin picked us up from the bus station. This already says a lot about Hungarian people and how friendly they are. Zak had never really met this cousin aside from an old picture of his cousin holding him as a small child and this man was willing to pick him and his two friends up and show us the greatest of hospitality even though he was busy with work and his family, which included a beautiful two month old daughter.

This cousin, Bela, had to work but he left us with his son Norbert to show us around. We all went to a very good restaurant that was very different for Europe. It was an all you can eat buffet with free refills!! This was what I had been waiting for! After our meal experience we toured around and saw a bit of this beautiful city.

The Next morning Bela picked us up and we met Norbert and his girlfriend at Parliament. This building is the most beautiful building I have seen in Europe so far. It is the second biggest Parliament in Europe and wow is it wonderful. At first we thought that we could not be able to enter because all of the tickets had been sold for the day but Norbert called his step-dad who was a somewhat important guard at the Parliament and he let us in. Inside was just as beautiful as the outside. Giant staircases, ornate rugs, stain glass windows and the best, the crown of the Hungarian King lay in the middle under a glass box still being guarded by two guards who stand perfectly still and only move to circle the crown every 30 minutes.

After our Parliament adventure we went to The Balasko's home and had one of the most delicious meals I have ever had. Before we ate we had to try Palinka which is what I like to call Hungarian moonshine. It was a hard liquor with plum, honey, vanilla and I am sure other things mixed in. After we drank a few drinks of Palinka and had to eat a piece of the Palinka soaked plum we had dinner. 1st course was a chicken noodle like soup. The 2nd course was chicken, pork, a fish casserole, potatoes and a cheesy rice. For dessert we had a cherry, orange, pistachio, pomegranate, delicious layer cake with creme. We finished with a healthy 'taste' of wine.

The next morning we ate at the buffet place again and bought a few souvenirs then prepaired for our 14 hour bus ride back to Strasbourg. This trip was wonderful and I loved Hungary!

It was hard not to notice that the people of Hungary are more open and friendly with you than in France and that their food had more use of spices. These are the main culture differences I noticed. I liked this and I hope to go back soon.
-Tyler Underwood

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

2011-11-02T14:55:00.003+01:00

Hi Everybody. I have been enjoying your chronicles lately recounting recent and distant travels (even stay-cations are 'distant' to inward lands). Meanwhile I am reading with enthusiasm the new travel book by Paul Theroux, "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star," which chronicles the author's return after 33 years to the same famous journey he took and the classic travel book he wrote, "The Great Railway Bazaar," which a few of you have been reading. Here are a few lines from the opening chapter, which I thought you might find of interest...

"You think of travelers as bold, but our guilty secret is that travel is one of the laziest ways on earth of passing the time. Travel is not merely the business of being bone-idle, but also an elaborate bumming evasion, allowing us to call attention to ourselves with our conspicuous absence while we intrude upon other people's privacy - being actively offensive as fugitive freeloaders. The traveler is the greediest kind of romantic voyeur, and in some well-hidden part of the traveler's personality is an unpickable knot of vanity, presumption and mythomania bordering on the pathological. This is why a traveler's worst nightmare is not the secret police or the witch doctors or malaria, but rather the prospects of meeting another traveler."

"Often on a trip, I seem to be alive in a hallucinatory vision of difference, the highly coloured unreality of foreignness, where I am vividly aware (as in most dreams) that I don't belong; yet I am floating, an idle anonymous visitor among busy people, an utter stranger. When you're strange, as the song goes, no one remembers your name."

"The best of travel seems to exist outside of time, as though the years of travel are not deducted from your life. Travel also holds the magical possibility of reinvention: that you might find a place you love, to begin a new life and never go home. In a distant place no one knows you - nearly always a plus. And you can pretend, in travel, to be different from the person you are, unattached, enigmatic, younger, richer or poorer, anyone you choose to be, the rebirth that many travelers experience if they go far enough."

Budapest

2011-11-01T23:16:00.002+01:00

This past weekend, I went to Budapest by bus. That's right, by bus. Thanks to the fact that one of the people I was traveling with had distant relatives in Budapest, we were shown around the city by locals, and we enjoyed the best of the local cuisine.

In particular, I found dinner with the Balasko's to be the most insightful. It's one thing to dine at a traditional restaurant, but entirely different to be in the home of total Hungarians. The three of us from WVU ate with this complex family, but could still see what was probably absolute tradition. There was the man of the house and his son from his first marriage (who had brought his girlfriend of six years), the man's new wife and two-month-old daughter, and the man's mother-in-law. Later on, a friend from Italy made a guest appearance, but didn't join us at the table.

Upon arrival, we were told to make ourselves at home, but not in so many words: "Do not be like that-smile!" We were told he mother-in-law spoke no English, and I never learned her name. She stayed in the kitchen, behind a closed door, and cooked, cleaned, arranged dishes, and wore an adorable headscarf. According to the son, she did this for a hobby, and to help the wife with her new baby. When we tried to compliment her on her cooking, even the phrase "Very good!" with a thumbs-up had to be translated for her. And she did deserve the compliment.

The meal was fantastic. It started off with two little glasses of Polinka (a traditional Hungarian drink made from plums) that had been bought off a local farmer, and flavored by the wife with plums, vanilla, honey, and cinnamon. The first course after this was a chicken noodle soup. I was fortunate enough to end up with the gizzard, obviously, but it was actually good. Then, we were given Slovenian beer, and the table was laden with three meat courses, rice, and potatoes. For dessert, there was a dish not unlike trifle, but with cherries from their yard, and pomegranate seeds on top, finished off with Hungarian sweet merlot. So yes, a delicious dinner that left us full for two days.

The chance to go to Hungary and spend an evening in someone's home is completely invaluable. On top of that, the places we were able to see, and the things we were able to learn about the city were a good balance between the things a tourist should see, and the opportunity to see them as a local would. I think this trip to Budapest was a greatly eye-opening experience as we had a man familiar with the culture before and after the Iron Curtain's effects to tell us about how the city has changed, and how much better it is.

One thing about Hungarians, apparently, is that they aren't afraid to be completely open once you know them. This helped us see the man's experience more clearly, and to understand the culture a little better than we would, had we spent these two nights in Budapest on our own. It's important when taking short trips to foreign places to immerse oneself in the culture as much as possible to make the most of the trip, and having the Balasko's there with us showed us just enough of Hungary to make us want to come back again and again. I can't wait to see it again, and learn more, and see more. Who knows, maybe this little jaunt has helped me become a better traveler. We'll see.

ich bin ein berliner

2011-11-01T20:42:00.000+01:00

I’ve just spent the last week travelling outside of France for educational purposes and for a general “vacation” from France for holidays from classes. A few other students and I chose to travel to Bruges and Berlin for our free days. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from either of these cities, but in hindsight, I’m really glad that I went to both.

What struck me most about the two cities was how different they were from each other in atmosphere. Bruges was adorable, immediately inviting, lively, and had a very medieval, old-timey feeling to it. Berlin on the other hand, was seemingly desolate for being the second largest city in Europe and had very little that would have made it immediately recognizable as a European city itself. However, Berlin quickly grew on me. The history from the Cold War was visually everywhere. Most of the buildings looked as if they had been built in the last 50 or so years and, of course, there’s still the wall. Besides the wall, I could not find any distinguishable differences between former East/West Berlin. Although, I wasn’t really sure of what I should have been looking for. The development of both sides seemed to be on par with each other. Anyways, it really fascinated me to be so close to such recent history. This is the farthest east that I’ve been in Europe and I certainly felt it to be one of the most different (from my point of view) places I’ve been.

Funny story- there was an “Occupy Berlin” protest the Saturday we were there (in solidarity with Occupy Wall St. I assume). There is probably a slightly more appropriate name for a protest in Berlin than one that involves occupation.

-Maria

Staycation

2011-10-31T23:20:00.002+01:00

As everyone were dicussing their future plans for travel; I sat back and thought about returning to Strasbourg. At first I felt a little lame laying around the chateau, but who would've thought it turned out to be a really good. Grant it it was different, but it was good. In fact I would goes as far to say it was an excellent stay-cation. What does this mean? It's exactly as it sounds, the combo of a staying and being on vacation.
I have done things in this week that I haven't done in years. I got to partake in an afternoon of rollerblading, and bicycling around Robertsau. It was like a flashback, but I still had it. Also it so good to be able and relax, take in the sites, and just have a good time.
Today was the cherry on top, it has been crazy since we stepped out the door. There were a number of things: singing teens, strong smells,bats, a busted lip, and a hunting in the woods. I may not have ventured in extra countries this week, but I'll take my staycation.

Colors of the Wind

2011-10-31T23:15:00.000+01:00

As I have not read far enough into Twain's book "The Innocent's Abroad" to really come up with a philosophical subject to reflect on in my blog, I'll stick with de Botton until I can really dive into Twain's book to really come up with a nugget.
There was a part of "The Art of Travel" that I believe has stuck with me more than anything else that the author had to offer up. It was his chapter on beauty, which toured with the character John Ruskin, to places such as Amsterdam, Barbados and so forth. I have also talked about this particular matter to some of my classmates and asked their opinion on it. In a nutshell this portion of the book has Ruskin complaining about how people, while traveling, do not often take the time to wonder about and explore the beauty that each new place holds. That travelers are more like passerby's, stopping to catch a glimpse of something in order to say that they've "been there, done that". I have found myself in utter agreement with this section because I know that I, myself, have not really stopped to smell the roses or notice the brilliant shades of pink, red, white plus the wilted bits of color that these flowers show the world. It is in this concept that Ruskin believes that people do not pay attention to what is around them, and that they ought to more often. I know I do not really pay close attention to everything that surrounds me, but I believe that I gain enough visual depictions that I can later recall in my memory when I want to think about my time in Paris, London, or Nice. Even with the oodles and oodles of pictures that are taken at each destination, even that is stated in the book that these still life images do not really capture the essence of the objects being shown. It kind of reminds me of Pocahontas when she's doing her little spiel to John Smith saying that (and I quote) "But I know every rock and tree and creature, Has a life, has a spirit, has a name...". Yes, I know that this is kind of a lame tangent, but that is what I think that this part of de Botton's book was trying to pin down, that we need to stop at the place we are currently at and really examine the creatures and objects that surround us and really think about what's going on there. The shapes and contours and colors that make something what it is. That we need to pay attention to the "colors of the wind".

An interesting Day

2011-10-31T22:22:00.000+01:00

Today, after finishing a quiz for an online class, there was a knock at my door. She wanted me to escort her to Kehl; she wanted to go grocery shopping. When reached the tram stop for Bus 21, we began to sing Tupac's "California Love". All of a sudden, about 7 french girls ambushed us with lots of ridiculous laughter. Do you sing? They were talking to Sharrell. Can you sing? She yes and the ball start rolling. Can you sing for us please? Please?! Are you English? American? Are you from New York? America is Beautiful!! You're Beautiful!! The American boys are Beautiful!! While all of this was happening to Sharrell two came to me asked me if they were taking the right bus for a certain stop. I took them to the map, tried to help them as much as I could and returned to the madness that was happening to Sharrell. I think at one point Sharrell asked me for help because these girls were out of control! You would thought us, or at least Sharrell to be famous. Can you sing us a song? Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sharrell asked them to sing and they told her that they couldn't. Apparently, they love Rhianna..( I think its spelled wrong.) Finally Sharrell asked if they knew Destiny's Child. Yeah!!! " Say my name say my name....hmhmmm..mmm ..llalaal." They didn't know the rest of the words. It was hilarious. When the bus came, we stood in the middle where the floor turns along with the bus. All of a sudden we were hit by this horrible spell!!! And we were stuck in traffic. All in all it was an awesome day. I didn't stay at the Chateau. That was definately a plus.