THE LAST UPDATE FROM STRASBOURG

Hello Everyone!! The charger to my computer died so I can't post anymore pictures...but it doesn't matter because I'll be home in 4 more days!!!

Update 11-18-2010

Hello Everyone.

My parents came to visit me this past weekend. Last Wednesday, I flew to Paris, where my mom met me. We stayed with my cousins who live there. On Friday, we were Paris tourists. I will post some pictures below so you will be able to see some of the places that we went...which include the Eiffel Tower, the Bastille, Notre Dame Cathedral, Champs-Elysées (the famous shopping street in Paris) and l'Arc de Triomphe. Then my dad came on Saturday, and we all flew to Strasbourg, where I showed them around the city. We stayed at a hotel across from the big Cathedral in Strasbourg so instead of sleeping in, we heard church bells all morning. I had such a great time; needless to say I was so sad to see them go! Finals are coming up in about 3 weeks so I am in the process of studying for those.

For Halloween, I was traveling back from Toulouse so I spent Halloween in a train station. Actually, it wasn't that bad because it was cool to see people walking around in their costumes. On my way back from Toulouse, I took a night train that had mini beds in it. However, I didn't sleep much because the lady underneath me snored the whole night! However, a friend of mine and her group had a mini Halloween party. I didn't know what to go as, so I just put a sign on my shirt that said "On-strike." (It's funny because of the recent strikes happening in France).

(For some reasons, the pictures uploaded to the side but I don't know how to change them).


A view of Paris from the second level of the Eiffel Tower.


Me in front of the Eiffel Tower. We went early in the morning, so there wasn't a lot of people there yet which means no one extra was in my picture!



Me and my mom a couple blocks away from the Eiffel Tower.


It was so cool that we could see the Eiffel Tower from my cousin's apartment.



Me in front of the Bastille monument.

Me with my parents at the Paris airport.


My little bed on the train where the lady was snoring so loudly!!

Me being "on-strike" for Halloween.



Me at night in front of the Cathedral in Strasbourg.

Me in front of the Louis Vuitton store on the Champs Elysées.

See you soon!

Paige

Update 10-26-2010

Bonjour tout le monde (Hello everyone)! Right now I am in Toulouse (in the south of France) with staying with my aunt, uncle and cousins during my fall break. I am happy to be able to be here around family and have break from Strasbourg. Although, I do have to work on a paper that is due the Monday I return to Strasbourg, which I am not super happy about.

I saw a French movie a couple days ago. I like how French movies are made, although if you are someone that likes the whole movie to be action-packed, you probably won't like them as much. The movie I saw was called "Des Dieus et Des Hommes" (Of Gods and Men). I didn't understand everything that happened in the movie, for obvious reasons. I didn't find out until the end that it was based on a true story...the assassination of the monks of Tibhirine who were eventually killed by the Algerian army in 1996.

Somewhere cool I got to go was in a wine cellar in Strasbourg which is underneath a hospital. The group that I am here with got to go on a tour in the wine cellar, as well as taste some traditional Alsace wine afterward. In this cellar, there is a barrel of wine from 1472, which is one of the oldest wine's still existing in the world, which we got the opportunity to smell. It has only been drunken out of three times. Apparently, I am lucky to have been able to go because it is only open to the public one day a year, in December.

Also, after my last post, my brother, Cameron, provided me with some more information about Strasbourg's recent history.

"In recent history of Strasbourg,

After the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 the territory of Alsace-Lorraine (where Strasbourg is) was ceded to Germany from France.

After WW1 it was given back to France and heavily fortified.

WW2 Germans capture it until 45 when the US liberates the entire country."

Thanks, Cameron.

Anyway, see below for some more pictures.


A bouquet of flowers taken in a restaurant, with the French flag colors, bleu, blanc, rouge.


A wine cellar of my host family's friend's house. It is just a room in the basement with a dirt floor, ideal for storing wine. It reminded me of the Edgar Allan Poe story, The Cask of Amontillado. (This is not of the wine cellar I went to where I got to taste the wine because on that day, I forgot to bring my camera!)

A view of the Alsace countryside. It was very beautiful.


A protest I saw in "Place Kleber." I'm not really sure why they were demonstrating.

The statue of Kleber in "Place Kleber."


A protest of young people in Strasbourg over the retirement age being raised from 60 to 62. Behind the protesters, you can see a tram that had to go slower because of these protesters.


My cousins, aunt, uncle and I at my aunt's friend's house.


I took this picture towards the end of my train ride from Strasbourg to Toulouse. I was supposed to take the night train and have a bed to sleep in, but because of the strikes, the night trains were canceled and I had to take a day train. Unfortunately, I was not the only person whose train schedule got messed around with so in the beginning of the ride, some people didn't have any seats, until other people got off at their stops.



A front view of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Thanks for reading!!!

Paige

Update 10-09-2010

Believe it or not, I have already been here for 6 weeks! The time is going by fast. I have been in school for a couple weeks now...but am still not sure about one of the classes I'm taking. Within the next week or so, I will decide if I want to drop it or continue on. At first, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get enough credits to be able to graduate at the end of next semester but it looks like everything is going to work out. This weekend, I was supposed to go on a group excursion to Marburg, Germany but I didn't sign up in time for it so wasn't able to go. I was a little frustrated at myself for that. In two weeks is my fall break (it begins 22 October) and I am very excited about it because I will be taking an overnight train to Toulouse and to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins. It will be nice to be around some family soon! Anyway, below are some more pictures so you can see what I've been up to.


I got to go apple picking for the first time in my life. It was awesome because as we picked the apples, we got to try them as well.


I went to the park near where I live. I had a good time watching these ducks and swans.


A house nearby where I live. I just love the design of the houses.


The last person to leave the house has to let the cat, Bambou, outside. I guess he gets lonely or something because he tried to follow me all the way to my bus stop.

The is Sylvia and I. She stayed with us for a couple of days as she was looking for an apartment and this day we went to get some coffee at a cafe.


This the the group of students I am here with. Look at me on the right, with my eyes closed....

This is a statue in Strasbourg which captures the feelings about the city of Strasbourg between France and Germany, since it changed between the two so many times and there was bloodshed involved.

Let me know how you all are doing!!

Sincerely,

Paige

Update 9-24-2010

I think I have finally settled on what courses I will be taking this semester. The intensive French language course is kind of overwhelming because we meet for 14 hours a week. On top of that, I am taking Beginner's German, some French culture classes, Ethnology in Latin America and The Global Conversation (this last one is the only one in English because it is an online course for people in the BCA program all of the world...should be interesting). Tomorrow, we are going to the Vosges Mountains to hike! I am excited about this and hopefully will have some cool pictures. I also went to a medieval castle about an hour away from Strasbourg. That was pretty cool.


From the top of the castle in Frankenstein, France.


I thought these trees looked cool like this.


A play at the castle; as you can see they were court jesters. At the end of the performance, they dumped a bag of pots and pans with sticks on the ground so that the kids could have drums. I don't have any words to describe the sound. haha


A mini concert in Strasbourg. It was cool, the played lots of songs we knew including "Hit the Road Jack".

A park nearby where I live. People made the sculptures the day before I took the picture. Pretty awesome.

See you later,

Paige

Update 9-14-2010

Today I have been super frustrated! I am trying to get together all the classes that I want to get credit for this semester. If you were thinking, "But I thought classes already began?" then you are right! When I got to my first class on Monday, they told us what our schedule would be for the semester. Since I am a foreign student, I am taking some intensive language training classes which is overwhelming because we meet for so many hours per week! I took for granted the TCU class picking system, where we know what our schedule will be a semester in advance. Also, we have advisers to help us stay on track. After I was frustrated today, I began to be angry about small things like why there wasn't street signs at every intersection and why is it getting cold already. I am less frustrated now, but I can't wait until this week is over and things are a little more settled down. It's really not as bad as I'm making it seem; I'm doing fine.


I was so surprised to find a Tex-Mex restaurant here, I had to take a picture. One of these days I'm going to eat here.


This is the cat I wrote about in the last blog, Bambou. And this is my bed. And the Snoopy Daniel got me.
I went to a circus. It was cool because I was literally right in front of the stage. I don't remember the last time I went to a circus or if I've even ever been to one.



Creme broule. Yes, they lit it on fire to crust the top. It was so good!


Stanislaski Square in Nancy, in the French province of Lorraine.

Me in front of a town where we went to an Alsace museum. The town was beautiful from this distance. The museum was about Strasbourg changing from being German and French over the centuries.

See you soon!

Paige

Update 9-10-2010

Bonjour!

I have been wanting to update everyone on me being in Strasbourg but just haven't made the time. When I first got here, I was really homesick and kept thinking to myself, "What am I doing here??" I came to find out that just about everyone who came on the trip through BCA was feeling the same way. In the beginning, I had so much trouble understanding French...especially the accents and the words. I can see that I am improving already. Each night, I try to do a little bit of French grammar. I live with a host family: a mom, Isabelle, and her 8 year old daughter, Manon. They are very nice and patient with me! There is also a cat (which if you know anything about me, you know I love cats) who follows me around when no one is home. So far, I have gotten lost for about an hour and a half. It was the second day I was here and I had to take the bus home. I didn't know what the house looked like so I just kept walking around and eventually I recognized a trashcan outside the door! The city is beautiful with lots of flowers. I begin school this coming Monday, September 13 so I am kind of nervous about that. Below I will post some pictures so you can see what I have been up to!


The European parliament is based in Strasbourg. We went to see the president of Mali speak. He is sitting down in the front with the reddish/pinkish outfit on. After I took this picture, a lady came by to say it wasn't allowed.

Strasbourg is in the French province of Alsace. This is historic Alsatian dress.

This is the oldest building in Alsace (the brown one on the left). It has a German look; Strasbourg has passed between being German and French several times over the centuries.

A pepsi and a croque monsieur, which is kind of like a grilled cheese sandwich. There was also ham in it. Some of the other ladies and I were at a cafe near our school.

The Strasbourg Cathedral, which is the second tallest in France. It is magnificent inside!


I would love to receive emails from you to let me know what is going on in your life; it helps me be less homesick! Talk to you later.

Paige