Abroad recap

Here are the first e-mails I sent out to update everyone one my status... More to come soon!

August 28

I've been travelling for eight days now and am in Czech, my last country before we drive to Strasbourg and I meet my host family. My group and I arrived in Berlin on the 20th where we meet a few more people from our group and all 43 students and 5 supervisors and professors had a traditional German dinner together. I spent 3 days in Berlin touring almost every monument and historical land mark there is in Berlin. I am really enjoying learning all this history hands on vs. in the class room. I am taking a real interest in history and am thinking I might take up a few more history courses this semester. We have had lectures in parks and museums and I am pretty sure classes couldn't get much better than that. We went to Wroclaw Poland for 3 days after and once again toured and had lectures on eastern European history. I am amazed at how little I comprehended WWII and the Soviet regime before this trip. I've been in Prague for 2 days and love it. I am enjoying travelling like a student and eating the cheapest food I can find. I have had a presentation and a quiz so far and I have another quiz in 2 days.


September 1

I am in Strasbourg and officially started my stay here. I've stayed with my host parent (Madame Rosette) for 2 nights now. She is approximately in her 70's and has 4 daughters, no sons. I have my own room on the 3rd floor, with a window that overlooks her garden. It is really nice. There are two other exchange students living with her one from China and a girl who I don't know where but she is Muslim. The first Sunday she took me to a park with 3 of her daughters and 8 grandchildren! They are all really cute and some more sweet than others. One little girl said I spoke badly. I probably only said 4 sentences the whole 4 hours at the park. My host mom took me on a walk and talked with me. It has been extremely difficult but it's only been 3 days and I already feel a little more comfortable. Later she walked me to my school, which is less than ten minutes away. We saw the Council of Europe, and visited downtown. From June to August there is a light show in the main square outside the church. So last night was the last show and Rosette took me to see it. Classical music played and lights were synchronized on the face of the church to the music. It was very beautiful. I have a tour of the city with my group tomorrow and class officially starts on Wednesday.


September 6

Another e-mail from abroad! Just a quick e-mail to tell everyone that I love Strasbourg so far. I speak only French at my host mom's house and then in French class and when I go to stores and cafes. I wish I would have taken an intensive French course before I got here because if I was just a little better I could take classes in French. I am 90% sure I am staying all year so next semester I will take intensive French courses. I really love all my classes and am in too many. I am having trouble choosing which one to drop. I am taking French III, Economic policies of the European Union, Human Rights and Freedom in Europe, Europe Russia and the Eastern Borderlands, and Art in Romanticism. I am going to see how next week goes and then decide.I have already met a lot of people here. For some terrible reason when I go out I always meet Americans. I've decided that that is because Americans make eye contact and smile at one another and it isn't a French thing to do. However a few things I am going to do to practice speaking more are join a recreation sports club and my professor was telling us that we could meet with French University students who want to practice English. So I could speak in French and they speak in English. My host mom told me that my French has gotten much better and I have also gotten to know the two other students staying with me from Indonesia and China.


Wednesday, September 17

I still love it in Strasbourg! The two girls who were living with me moved out yesterday morning. I was pretty sad actually because it was nice to have someone around who I could talk to in French and about college student stuff. Last night was the first dinner with just my host mom and me. The food isn?t bad; it is nice to have real cooked meals. However the meals are pretty average. Last night I had thawed and cooked egg rolls with lettuce and apple sauce for desert. My host mom doesn?t think I eat enough but I am always full after breakfast and dinner. We speak only French in the house which I really appreciate because after my French class in the morning, the rest of my day is in English. Next semester I am going to do another option where you take 8 hours a week in intense French classes. It is going to be pretty hard because the students in that program have taken at least four semesters of college French. I decided to drop Economic Policies of the European Union and European Religious Conflict. I am taking Russia and the Eastern Borderlands, French 3, European Human Rights, Art in Romanticism and Policy Seminar of Contemporary Europe.Last Saturday I went to Nancy, France with a few friends. It is a beautiful city nic named ?the city in gold.? Unfortunately it rained all day so we tried to walk around but ended up going to a Museum and then sitting in a café for the afternoon. It was really interesting to go to the museum after my Art classes because I can see and understand so much more.This past Sunday I went on a class field trip around the Alsace region along ?rout du vin? (route of wine). We went to see Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg then we toured a town named Colenberg where we had a really good 3 course lunch (Salad, Chicken in a cream Riesling sauce, and rhubarb tart). We also had a tasting of Alsace wines. We tasted Muscat, Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer.I am going to Cannes and Nice this weekend (hopefully to see sun). It is already very chilly and I?ve caught a cold. I am planning to go to England, Scotland, and Ireland for my fall break. I have talked with James and I am planning to meet up with him. After I make my travel plans for fall break and my budget allows it, I hope to go to Spain and the Netherlands.