surreal

This whole experience has been so surreal. At various times throughout my semester abroad, I've found myself looking around and thinking to myself, "Who am I? This is not real life. This is not real." But it was, and it is, and it's almost all the past tense, was. That is freaking me out right now.

Last night I had a great night out with my friends. Some of us went to dinner to an Alsatian restaurant my friend Anna loves (she set up the dinner as a last-night-dinner-going-away type thing) and then we went out together afterwards. The dinner was amazing and so much fun and the food was amazing (the french just have a way with their ducks... I haven't had a bad duck in France lol) but the setting was bittersweet. Most of us were in the midst of exams, but some were done, some were leaving and some had already left. Anyways, after dinner, we ended up meeting at Rafiot, a boat club. It was alright, but it was so packed it was hard to move and was more like being in a mosh pit than a dance club. So we didn't stay very long. I left with Anna to walk her home and hang out for a little bit while she packed the rest of her things to leave this morning (she left at 8 this morning). We talked about our experiences and how we've changed and how we're both excited but also nervous to go home. Because we've changed. Our friends have changed. Our families have probably changed. Things won't be exactly the same when we get home, but we're not sure how they'll be different. But even more than that, last night it hit me that I've made friends here, friends that don't go to BC, friends that I may never see again. And while Anna goes to school at Princeton, which isn't far from Boston and totally do-able by car or train, she and I may never be in the same city again. We want to visit each other at school and it would be so fun to see each other's lives in the US, but last night was when it started sinking in that I'm leaving this place and when I come back, my experience will be completely different. I won't be a student (probably) and most of the people I've met here probably won't be here (with exceptions of course). All these conflicting thoughts also make it harder to study, which is a major problem because I have my last and most terrifying exam on Saturday.

Oh well. As they say, "you don't remember the tests you took, but you do remember the nights you didn't study." And I only have a few of those nights left... I guess I'm also a little curious to see if others notice that I've changed. Because I know I have, but I'm not sure if those inward changes will manifest themselves outwardly. I think I kind of hope so. Because I like how I've changed, I think I've grown in a good way. I've learned to take chances, have confidence, read a map, get myself home at 3 am, interact with people I don't understand, downplay my "american-ness," like beer, pick a good wine, survive in foreign countries, eat mushrooms and onions and try to eat ground meat (didn't take).

In conclusion, I am definitely making it back to Strasbourg and Europe, I've left too many place unexplored and there's too many things on my European to-do list that are still undone. Some might have to wait till I make my millions, but they will happen one day and I feel so grateful that I was able to have this experience. It wasn't real life, it was a storybook life, with all the ups and downs in a story (but a little lack of climax... unless you count my adventures as many mini climaxes) and all the necessary characters and settings: castles, princesses, best friends, great food, memories to last a lifetime (maybe longer) and all those philosophical things like growth, self-realization, etc. I guess there was a lack of a white knight slaying a dragon and rescuing me, but hey, who needs boys, right? I'll save myself and ride off into the sunset on my own white horse (or easyjet airplane) ;)

bises, love to all~

ps. I will eventually post Berlin update, I have it written down, I just haven't been in the mood lately.

update

back in strasbourg after visiting Courtney in Berlin!

Coming attractions:
1. update on Berlin
2. pics from Berlin

Things that have to happen first:
1. nap
2. laundry
3. handwash laundry

Other things going on:
1. LAST final next sat
2. Family comes next sat!
3. Joanie comes next Sunday!
4. leaving for Switzerland and Italy next Monday
5. returning to the US in 22 days!!

alright, will post more after i sleep and get some coffee or something...

Bitte, Danke, das ist gut: learning German!

Well, its been awhile, sorry about that, I had an exam on Wednesday and I've had a headache basically since then. But now its getting better :) so, I figured I should take advantage of my procrastination and do something useful: BLOG! haha so I went to Heidelberg with my friend Anna from Princeton on Saturday and it was awesome! We started the day nice and early (at 6:30 - UGH) so we could catch a cab at 7:20 to get to Kehl (just over the border in Germany) for our 8:04 train ride to Offenburg, where we switch, take a train to Karlsruhe, switch again and then go to Heidelberg. It wasn't bad tho, the connections were easy, all the trains were on time so it wasn't hard or stressful.

So, yeah, we got to Heidelberg and went to the tourism office for free maps and help. They told us to take the tram to Bismarkplatz and then walk along Hauptstraße, which is the main walking street in Heidelberg with lots of shops and restaurants and cafés and stuff like that. It was really cute. We meandered around there and then stopped for a cup of coffee and a pastry at a café. We ran into the Ritter house, the oldest house in Budapest and the heiliggeistkirche, the church (= kirche) while wandering. Then we headed to the castle (schloss in German), up a really steep path to a castle that's partially in ruins and partially still put together. It was really cool and had great views of Heidelberg. The gardens were also really cool because you could wander around and poke around the ruins.

After that we went to the student prison and the Heidelberg university museum. The student prison was really funny because it was like 5 rooms and it was used from the 1700s until 1914 because the students were outside legal jurisdiction, so there was a university prison keeper person who distributed justice to students for crimes like pig chasing, drunken debauchery and causing ruckus in the streets. It was also a right of passage for the students to get put in prison, if they didn't get arrested at least once at school, they were known as losers lol. The other cool part was that the whole inside of the prison was graffiti-ed, with lots of self-portraits from the students and the dates they were there, and of course various other drawings. The museum of the Heidelberg university was in the same building so we went through that, but it was less interesting (especially since it was all in German and I speak approximated 12 words of German), so we just sped through it.

From there we went on a search for weinerschnitzel and eventually found it at a place where Anna could get jagerschnitzel. So we both got our schnitzels and spaetzle - I love spaetzle lol its a type of egg noodle, but it doesn't really look like a noodle... it looks kind of like... well, this: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfZRHfIp2dl1kEhWr4zQ8ajWE34rG-Lk3OfKae2kM085qed_13x64plyMff9zg44WWudukrkiyWo_98Xy6mmKdZN849WQGp7K1t9qyASKbFBKAr38ytW-Pt7DsUqICf49RTJPN7Qxrkiz/s400/spaetzle.jpg lunch was delicious, I'm a fan of weinerschnitzel lol. We finished our lunch and then from there we decided to go explore philosopher's way, which is a path on the other side of the river that's supposed to have great views.

So we paid, left the restaurant and headed towards the bridge. We crossed the bridge and then had to climb this really windy path up to the philosopher's path. It did have really nice views though! And then we decided to look for these ruins I read about in my book. We found the first of them, after hiking (legit hiking while I was in converse and jeans and Anna was in leggings and boots without traction lol) for like 2 hours. We found the ruins of an 11th century benedictine monastery. The watchtower was still in really good shape, I'm not sure if it had been redone or not, but we could get in it and climb to the top! so we took lots of pics there :) and the monastery was cool too, but it was definitely "ruins" all the walls had caved in and there was only one doorway left, but you could still tell what was what, we could see the alter, so we could make out the church. There were other rooms that I'm assuming were where the monks lived and cooked and studied. It was really cool. We wanted to keep going and find the 9th century basilica and the thing the Nazis built, but it was getting later and we didn't want to get stuck on the mountain at night. So, we decided to just head down and get celebratory beers.

We got down, and found a café where we got our beers and they were good, although I expected Germany to have good beer :) but it did really impress me on the gastronomy front. Anyways, it started getting chilly and we were getting a little short on time, so we went to go find a place for dinner. Anna wanted to get a certain dessert, I forget what its called, but its like a pancake cut up with powdered sugar, cinnamon and applesauce. We found a place that had it, so she got that and a salad for dinner and I got goulash and a salad. It was exactly what I wanted too, lately I've been craving soup and salad combos (probably because they don't do that here haha and I miss both soup and salad, so when they come together its heaven!)

So yeah, we had dinner, and then decided to walk back to Bismarkplatz to get the tram to go to the train station for our 9:45 train. We had a few connections again, Heidelberg --> Mannheim --> Offenburg --> Strasbourg. We ended up getting to Stras around 12 and took a cab home. Oh home sweet home after a day of exploring :) But a GREAT day of exploring! Heidelberg: check! :D

Now, off to see Courtney in Berlin for a few days! Maybe I'll learn a few more German words!

Gutentag! <3

PS. Calendar check: leaving today for Berlin, getting back Saturday. A week of "studying," my las econ final and my family comes (!!!) next sat (5/29), Joanie comes the next day (5/30), a week and a half of traveling in Switzerland and Italy, then HOME on 6/13. CANNOT BELIEVE IT. It's gone so fast and its almost over! And I'm SO excited to see my family and SO excited to get home, but I

Ma Famille!

This is my french family - sorry it took me 5 months to get a pic (I'm awkward asking for pictures, and they asked for a pic with me so it was really easy) Anyways, from left to right: Jean-Michel, Raphaël, Marie-Claude, Nicolas, me!

ps. Heidelberg pics and update coming... hopefully soon... and then BERLIN WITH COURTNEY!!! :)

Printemps

Pics from Strasbourg in the springtime are up on both facebook and photobucket :) enjoy!

Also, I'm going to Heidelberg tomorrow! Update to follow (obvi)

*bises~

lists.

I love lists.

Reasons I love lists:
- everything can have its own list
- it helps keep me organized
- I love checking things off my lists (yep, got those groceries, finished that hw, went for a run, etc.)
- there is something so calming about making lists
- I love compartmentalizing everything (probably has to do with the organization thing)
- its one of my "things" - I'm known for my OCD lists (thanks, Mom, got it from you), and so its a fixture in my life (and since I'm a creature of habit, I like fixtures in my life)

[reasons I love] Strasbourg in the spring:
- all the flowers bloomed at the same time, so the city was a riot of color all at once
- now the flowers are falling, but they haven't all fallen yet, so there's green mixed with the colors
- I don't have to wear my down parka anymore
- I even went out in a dress without a coat!
- I'm so close to the end here and I'm realizing and appreciating the things I'm going to miss
+ the pace, as inconvenient as it is that things close from 12-2 every day, its kind of nice that people take time off of work to eat, talk, come home, relax, etc.
+ fresh french bread. 'nuff said.
+ wine being cheaper than water
+ my host family
+ the clubs and how guys actually dance here (although dancing like a french person is difficult and not that fun)
+ the cheese
+ riding my bike
+ speaking French everywhere (almost)
+ TRAVELING
+ drinking age: 18

- Then again, there are things that I really won't miss:
+ people looking at me and knowing that I'm American
+ the stereotypes associated with American girls
+ the inefficiency with everything

- And then there are the things that I just can't get here that I am so excited for when I get home:
+ baby carrots
+ japanese rice
+ spicy salsa
+ my car
+ gyms
+ the mountains
+ the radio
+ TV in English
+ everyone speaking my language
+ my blackberry
+ Walmart
+ seeing my family and friends!
+ whole grain bread
+ Herbal Essences

- And then, there are the things I've learned or how I've changed:
+ I can more objectively view each culture (I think)
+ I can appreciate aspects of each culture and I think I'm getting at comparing them without saying one is better than the other, they're just different
+ my French has gotten a lot better
+ I'm much more confident in foreign places
+ I don't mind doing my own thing
+ I can also adapt to go with the flow of what others want (I hope)
+ I'm more aware of a lot of things (like cultural differences, people around me and how they act towards me, etc)
+ With every new place I live in, aka Boston and France, I realize that I could live there (France would take a lot more getting used to), but home to me is Colorado. I could come to love a lot of places, but the place I feel most myself and most at home always seems to be Colorado, and it took leaving to realize that. Not that I regret leaving for school or for France at all, I'm glad I did, because I think I've learned a lot about myself the past few months, and tons over the past three years. That's a whole other list that I do not need nor want to get into.

Groceries I need to buy:
- apples
- crackers
- dark chocolate
- carrots

just looked at my calendar. My family comes in 4 weeks from yesterday, I leave for the US in 6 weeks from today, I'll be a senior in 4 months, and it's May. When did April end? Where has the past 4 months gone?

ps. pics from springtime here will go up soon :)

It's GRΣΣK to me!

Last day of vaca! Sunday 4/11

Erin and I decided the night before that we would sleep till 9 or 930ish and then get up and peace out of the hotel. Except that something woke us both up at 7:30 and I mumbled "we have another hour and a half" but I had my retainer in, so E heard "I wish we had another hour and a half" so I went back to sleep, to look up 20 minutes later to a showered and dress Erin telling me to wake up. Lol good start to the morning. So I looked at her, looked at the time and then went back to sleep. She looked at the time, got back in pjs and went back to bed. We both got up an hour later at the right time haha. Then we both dressed quickly and packed up to check out. We went by the bfast room and snagged some food the last 10 minutes it was open. I think we actually stole bfast because I'm not sure it was included in our room, but oh well, the hostel wasn't worth 20euro each, so we got our money's worth with the bfast :)

So we checked out, left our bags there and headed to the museum we tried to go to yesterday, the Archeological museum. It was pretty cool, it chronicled the different peoples who had lived in Greece and specifically the Thess area from prehistory until present day. It was a little bit wasted on us, though, because we were absolutely exhausted from the night train, not really sleeping the day before and just being busy for the previous 10 days. Thus, we decided we needed an iced coffee. Greeks love their iced coffees apparently, and I love them for loving that, because I haven't found iced coffee ANYwhere else! So we got our coffees and people watched a bit. I guess I could describe the Greeks at this point: guidos. They seemed straight out of Jersey Shore, the MTV series. I mean, all the guys had greasy, slicked back hair, orange fake tans, too-tight shirts and big beefy upper bodies supported by scrawny legs (my favorite was when I saw one of those guys walking a teeny tiny little dog on a teeny tiny little leash haha). The women were all wearing jeans that were too tight, high heels and too much make up, often times with fake blonde hair. It was not what we were expecting from Greece (although, to be fair, we were expecting paradise, aka the islands, and we were in Northern Greece which might be more industrial).

After our coffees, we wandered around a little more, just kind of wandering on streets that we hadn't wandered before (most of them) we decided to grab a late lunch and so we started looking for restaurants. Most places were only serving coffee at this time, but we found a really neat little place tucked into a side street. It was all in Greek and the waitress barely spoke English, but she was really nice so we decided to sit and eat there. All over the inside were pages of the Shell Silverstein story the Giving Tree, which was another reason we decided to stay - it was just a neat little place! And it seemed much more authentic than the places along the boardwalk. We got the "salad with vegetables" and "chicken, it is delicious" not knowing what either came with, how it was cooked, or anything. The salad was amazing, though, it was just a lettuce salad with cucumbers, tomatoes and feta cheese, balsamic and olive oil, but it was really good! The waitress laughed at us at how quickly we finished and assured us that the chicken will be "perfect" Which it was, it was hunks of white meat chicken and bell peppers marinated in something and then grilled. We finished that just as quickly, sopping up all the sauce with the bread she brought us. And then when the check came, that was the best part - the bread was free (a first) and the total for our meal was only 11euro!! that's less than we each had to pay for every other meal! So, for anyone going to Thess soon, go find this place! (not that I could tell you where it was... lol)

After that delish meal, we wandered slowly back to the hotel and Erin got some ice cream along the way lol. At this point we were majorly struggling and I was getting cranky (sorry, E) because we were both just exhausted. We got our things from the hotel and went to the train station to meet the girl I'd be staying with that night, Laura. She's from Germany, studied in France and is now teaching in Thess, and she was great, she was a really nice host and even made me dinner! Oh, Erin found her on a network website called couchsurfers.com, where people volunteer to host travelers for free to save money on traveling! It's a really cool thing. So Erin went and got on her train and I went home with Laura. She said she was really tired and I was too, so we just watched Sex and the City for a few hours and then went to bed.

I got up a few hours later (at like 5 ugh) to catch my cab to go to the airport. My cab driver was hilarious, if you've seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, he was just like the dad. He kept telling me how all english words come from greek words, don't worry, he's writing a book about it haha. For example: "mother comes from "mum" which is the sound a baby makes when it wants food, so "mother" comes from "mum" which means food. and disaster comes from the word for "difficulty" and "stars" (astro), life/live comes from via, etc etc. I don't remember most of the examples he gave but those were a few, and they were just funny lol

So I got to the airport safe and sound thanks to my lovely cab driver, got on the plane, landed in Stuttgart, got my bag, found the metro, took that to the train station, waited around for my train and then took that to Strasbourg, where I got in around 2:00. Then I came home and crashed for about the next week (in between writing and editing my 19 page history paper, of course! haha)

And so, that is the end of my Grand Adventure. I'll blog more about my recent rediscovery of Strasbourg in the springtime (its absolutely beautiful) and then coming up, I have trips lined up for Colmar (just a day trip), Berlin (to see Courtney!!!!) and hopefully Heidelburg, the castle and maybe Nancy.

Only a month left until my family comes, but I plan to make the most of it! so stay tuned haha :) love love~