ça m’est égal (it doesn’t matter to me)

So the title of this post is pretty random, but it’s just a really great expression I learned in French that is going to be very useful for me (since I’m so indecisive)….

And keeping with the theme of random… here are just some random things I felt like sharing…

*Girls are so fashionable here. When Jackie and I were in Granada, we heard some girls who were staying at our hostel say that they were so happy to be able to wear rain jackets and not pea coats like they had to in Paris. I didn’t really understand until I got here. The women are pretty dressed up at all times of the day, every day of the week. Women typically wear tights with boots and a dress or a skirt. Purple is also a very big color here right now.

*There is such a contradiction here with water conservation. My host parents never told me to limit my showers but most of my other friends are only supposed to take 5 to 10 minute showers. Europeans are also very conscious of turning off any light in their house or in a building that they are not using. However, they wash the sidewalks every single day. A lot of families that live by me have dogs who like to use the sidewalks to do their thing, but I still don’t see a need to wash the sidewalks every single day… even days that it rains! I guess this is just a culture thing since we don’t really do it in the U.S.

*I started my other two classes this week.

-On Monday I had my conference course on the French and France in the 20th century. The class is a lecture of around 100 people and the professor uses poorly organized PowerPoints to present information. Each week we learn about the political climate, music and cinema during the specific decade we are discussing. It’s definitely really interesting and I was really excited that I understood everything she said in our two hour lecture. The conference is meant for students anywhere from very beginners to intermediates. I would be interested to see how many very beginners (or debutants) stay in the class because she speaks pretty quickly and uses a lot of hard vocabulary.

-On Monday I also started my phonetiques class. I have this class for an hour each day every other week. We start out in a lab where we use headphones to repeat phrases our professor says to us. I really don’t like hearing my voice recorded so it’s really bizarre for me, but I think I got over it by the end of the week. Then after half an hour we move into another classroom where she teaches a lesson on rules of pronunciation. It’s a really rushed class but I can already tell it has helped me, especially with figuring out what people are saying to me when they push all of their words together.

*My Grammar class is still easy. In fact, my professor approached me today after our test and asked if I wanted to move up. She told me it was my decision but that this was all a review for me and for most of the other people in the class it wasn’t. She said I could have the weekend to think about it and go try to switch on Monday. The problem is I have to have a class at the same exact time so that the rest of my schedule works. I would like to switch up so I can challenge myself more but I do really really like my class and my professor. My friend Tara and I were just starting to make friends with a few of the guys in our class (two from Italy and one we think is from Russia) who have phonetiques at the same time as us.

*We had fondue last night for the first time in France! It wasn’t very vegetarian friendly, I literally ate bread and cheese for dinner, but it was still a neat experience.

*I’m starting to feel more at home in my homestay. One day this week Jackie came over to go running with me. I asked my host dad before she came over if it was ok and he said yes. I decided to ask my host mom later that night if it would be ok in the future, she’s kind of the decision maker in the house, and she was very grateful I asked and said “of course! Of course!” I’m allowed to have friends over whenever. Also, she said it was totally fine for Emma to stay with me for the weekend she is here!!! She is very understanding of how expensive it is for students to find hotels in Paris.

*My cold is kinda sort of still here but I lost my voice yet again. Each time I get sick, without fail, I lose my voice. This time it isn’t as bad as when I lost my voice my birthday weekend last year. One of my best friends, Dan, was visiting and I literally couldn’t get words out of my mouth. I had to write to him using a notepad! Now, I just kind of sound like a quiet man. Oh well, hopefully it comes back soon!

*I have a list of all of the things I want to see and do in Paris before I leave and I am hoping this weekend will knock off a good number of them. Tonight we are going ice skating in front of the Hotel de Ville and then going to the Louvre! The Louvre is open later on Wednesday and Friday nights and is free for students. It is supposed to be less crowded and a lot of fun. Tomorrow is looking beautiful so we’ll probably head up to Montmartre and the Sacre Couer!

Comme les Français, j’adore le TGV!

This weekend five friends and I went to Strasbourg! It is actually kind of funny because Jackie, Lauren and I planned our trip separately from the other 3 girls who ended up going. It was nice to have a bigger group to do things with though.

I have to start by RAVING about the TGV, or bullet train. The French are so smart when it comes to transportation. This train got us to Strasbourg in just over two hours! The seats were comfortable with personal reading lights, cup holders, a tray, a foot rest and a mini trashcan. I didn’t get to sit by my friends on either trip because we booked our tickets separately but I was thrilled by the train ride the entire way there and back. I’m so excited to take it a few more times while I’m here, especially during the day when I can see the countryside.

Ok, raving done. Strasbourg! It is a quaint city very close to Germany. The German influence is thus very heavy. The tram system was really easy to use which made getting around the city stress free. We stayed in a hotel that cost 18 euro a night, not too shabby. Friday night we got in kind of late and asked the lady at our hotel where we could eat. She told us that most places stop serving food by 10pm, such a change from Paris!

Saturday we started the day by touring the Cathedral. It is one of the tallest Cathedrals I have ever seen! We got to see the demonstration of the astronomical clock. They played a movie beforehand that wasn’t very informative and therefore not really worth it but still amazing how they were able to make the figures move way back in the day (At a nearby museum on Sunday we saw the original rooster that was on the clock, most clocks like this have a rooster on it. The rooster happens to be the oldest automated object in the world. I included a picture!) After the Cathedral we took the canal tour around the historic part of town. Like Paris, part of the city is surrounded by rivers. The tour was very international. You could listen to the narration in ten different languages. We saw all around the city including the European Parliament establishments that are in Strasbourg.

After the tour we ate at a German restaurant (that we ended up back at on Sunday) that was so cute! I got to eat my cheese spaetzle that I was hoping to find since Strasbourg is so close to Germany. I would describe spaetzle as the German mac and cheese. My German friend Anne’s mom made it for us one of the first nights we were in Germany a few summers ago. This wasn’t as good as hers, but still exciting.

Continuing the eating spree… we went to a chocolate museum! The museum was on the outskirts of the city but was easy enough to get to. We saw how chocolate is made as well as how it traveled to Europe. The museum had some creepy automated figures that we spent a lot of time laughing at and posing with. At the end, one of the chocolatiers shows you how they make the molds of chocolate and gives you free samples. Before we left we purchased some chocolate beer. I wouldn’t really recommend it… but it was worth it just to try.

Sunday the weather turned on us a little. Apparently the Alcase region in France has extreme weather, either really cold or really hot. Sunday was pretty cold and rainy. Luckily, we started the day by climbing the tower of the Cathedral. Remember I told you it was one of the tallest I’ve ever seen? Well yes, it was painful. We took frequent breaks up the winding stone staircase. But once we got to the top it was totally worth it! (See pictures.) The rest of the day we spent in museums and buying cookies at a really cool traditional gourmet shop.

The trip was great because it was very stress free. We felt safe in the streets and even felt like we knew them by the end of the weekend. We all traveled together really well. It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Paris, but at the same time made us appreciate the city we are studying in. General observation of Strasbourg: the people are incredibly incredibly nice. Every person we ran into was patient with our French, willing to help us and one lady even offered to take a picture of us jumping on top of the Cathedral. I really enjoyed my weekend and I’m excited to travel more in Paris! We’re going to Bretagne in two weeks.

In other news: I, like everyone else in program, have a cold. It’s really not bad at all and I’m glad I’m getting it now rather than later. My host parents are really caring and are always asking how I’m doing and gave me weird French medicine. It’s funny to hear what they believe will cure a cold. For example, my host dad told me to drink some wine before going to bed… maybe I’ll try it tonight ;-)

The beautiful cathedral of Strasbourg. Check out the detail on those portals.

Stained glass inside the Cathedral. I get really frustrated when I'm in a Cathedral because it's impossible to capture the grandeur of it in a picture... guess you guys will just have to visit it!

The astronomical clock we saw!

One of the buildings of the European Parliament in Strasbourg taken from the boat tour.

The chocolatier at the museum showing us how he makes chocolate cats and trains!

An area of Strasbourg called Petite France. It was so pretty lit up at night.

Taken from the window on the windy staircase going up the Cathedral during one of our many breaks.

The view from the top!

The six girls on the trip.

I had to include our jumping picture. It's fantastic :-)

Palais Rohan. Inside there are three museums.

We visited the Musee des Arts Decoratifs. We saw the apartments in this Palace of different French kings including this Napoleon I. I believe Marie Antoinette slept in this room once.

The original rooster on the clock. The oldest automated object in the world!

I took this specifically for you Uncle Tommy. There was a random exhibit of a collection of toys one man gave to the museum in the earlyish 1900s. I saw these old cars and thought of you!