Category Archives: France

“I get by with a little help from my friends!”

Posted on by
3

Seemed like an appropriate title considering its the half way point and that the boys are learning choreography to a Beatles’ song and this experience would not be even half of what it is, if it weren’t for the friends I’ve made.

Friends at a look out point from our tour of the Fortress (see below)

Lost in Translation story of the week:
*mass chaos in studio*
Me: “What’s going on?”
Gwen: “Huh?”
Me: “What’s going on?”
Gwen: “I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Me: “Yeah! Me either, I don’t know what we’re supposed to do!”
Gwen: “No no no! I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Me: “Right…me either.”
Gwen: “….no, what is ‘going on’ ?”
Me: “OH! What is happening! What is happening right now.”
Gwen: “Ooooh! …..Then I still don’t know…”

Gwen, not in the chaos of the studio but in the city. On a chess board that made me think of Harry Potter!

Shopping and interacting with no-so locals:
Went to the local mall which is only about a 5 minute walk from where I’m staying. Vivra needed a “plaster”. She asked us where to find one. No one knew what a plaster was. Turns out it was a band-aid. Calling it a plaster is apparently a British thing but I quite enjoy the term! Another friend needed shampoo but had already checked out so Joni and I were recruited to go back and grab some for him. Neither of us speaks German. After a moment of struggle I decided to just ask the guy standing there; “English?” After explaining what we needed he helped us and continued to explain, “I’m not actually from here!” well, “Neither are we!” But he still was helpful and I was brave enough to try to interact with (who I thought to be) a local.

Today (our one day off for the week) I went into the city with a group of people for food and touring. Along my previous blog theme of picky eating, I don’t particularly care for Asian food….but the group chose a Chinese food place so I went along. I actually enjoyed the buffet and was satisfied.

All of us at lunch at the Chinese buffet! I’m slowly getting used to how restaurants are different here.

We took a tour of the Festung Hohensalzburg (the Fortress, Castle place) and even had an audio guide! The view was spectacular. We shopped at the little market along the river and I got a nice scarf after conversation with vendors. Now this is the more interesting part, I interacted with actual locals and supported a young woman’s bachelorette party fundraiser. They were all dressed up and explained to us the Austrian tradition for the friends to say “goodbye” to the bride the night before her wedding and I got a cookie. Seemed like a lot of fun and made me want to get married in Salzburg! The day in the city ended with another addition to my rubber duckie collection! Thanks to Joni, I now have a Mozart rubber duck. I was so surprised, excited and grateful!

Joni, all dressed in his going to the city outfit and the duck that he got for me! 🙂

I took a zillion pictures all the way up to the top of a tower at the fortress. This was not even half way up and next to the giant gold ball is the chess board from the picture above.

One of the pictures from the panoramic view at the top of the tower. This one has the most of the city, other angles have more of the fortress or open land visible.

More seriously, it has been interesting talking and learning about other cultures and in a single conversation having 5 different countries’ view points. Last Friday’s topic was drinking/driving ages. Last night’s was (prompted by the horrible news of the shooting in Colorado) more politically inclined and included a discussion about criminal activity, the death sentence and jail vs. mental institutions. It sounds rather dark as I write about it here but it was rather fascinating and intellectual. Not simply a compare and contrast session. The individuals involved were some of the oldest students at this program and it was genuinely nice to have sophisticated conversation. Not to mention impressive, because of how well everyone speaks English as a second, third or fourth language!

“Lean on me” …literally.
Helena informed us one afternoon that she had a “purple” on her arm (most likely from partnering). What’s a purple? Exactly what it sounds like. A bruise. I will never use the word bruise again, they will forever be purples. Except mine is more of a greenish brown.

Evenings have become massage trading time. Soon enough, we’ll all owe each other hand massages. Legs make good pillows and a buddy’s shoulder is a nice spot to rest an elbow during or at the end of a long day of dance! It’s really neat how much we can learn from each other as fellow dancers and not just from our (also incredible teachers). One classmate studies Pilates and Yoga and showed me a stretch just different enough from what I knew to help my injured hip release some tension.  Sadly, tonight we said goodbye to an injured friend going home to Norway with promises of pictures and updates! Safe travels to Helle.
“When you’re not strong, I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on!”

Goodbye to Helle in the Lobby of the dorms 🙁 So glad to have had the chance to get to know her and can’t wait to have her be a guest teacher for my ballet students someday 😉

Little by little my pile of “stuff” is growing as I accumulate souvenirs (good thing pictures are digital!). When I first arrived I was asked if my other suitcase was in the mail. Ha, nope! I’m amazing and fit it all into one……at least on the way here…

Tschau!

Emily

Welcome to the châ…pala….château?

Posted on by
2

At the end of my second week studying in Angers, our program took an excursion to look at three famous châteaux of the Loire Valley, and I am still wondering how they could pick three out of the more than 300 châteaux of the region! As we began our tour, we started with Château d’Azay-le-Rideau. The château is pictured below:

Image

This appeared to be a very old and very large house that we assumed to belong to a wealthy family in French history. As we continued on our journey, we traveled to Château de Chenonceau (my personal favorite) which is pictured below:

Image

It was larger and grander than the first, and it actually spans an entire river! It had impressive gardens and had a long driveway bordered in trees making it appear even grander. The final château of the day was the Château de Chenonceau and it was so impressively large it was no surprise to learn it had been built and used by French royalty.

Image

These were three very different buildings, but one strong commonality between them is their designation as a château. More than the comparison between these three, the comparison of the three to the Château of Angers had me wondering what exactly is a château, and how is it different than a palais (Palace)? The Château of Angers was built as a fortification and clearly looks like a castle built for the purpose of protections:

Image

After coming in to contact with this word describing such different buildings I decided to do some research. I found a lot of information on the internet, but there were multiple answers given as to the difference between château and palais. One source recommended that the difference was an urban/rural differentiation. Urban buildings of this nature are called a palais, while buildings in the country are referred to as a château. Another source was claiming that the difference is based on reinforcements. A palais is an unfortified building and a fortified building, no matter its use, is a château.

As I reflected on this information, I reached out to my main resource with native French speakers: my host family. I asked my host father what he believed to be the distinction of a château and palais. His answer supports the idea that a château is a fortified building and he used the Château of Angers as an example. It was built for defense, and although people did live in it and it has been used for many other purposes, it is qualified as a château because it was fortified. A palais can also have different purposes, but it does not have the same fortification. While this is what he said, I do not feel that this is necessarily excluding the idea of urban and rural. A house that was built in town would probably not need the same level or protection that a house in the country would need. It may be that a house in the country is a fortified house and one in the city would be left without such measures.

The distinction between château and palais was certainly not something I thought about before I journeyed over to France, but understanding these differences is an important part of learning a language and culture. The Loire Valley is well known for the hundreds of châteaux that span its reaches and I am excited to discover what else it has to offer.

2 weeks left in Angers!

Maggie

Santa Claus and Batman Play Backwards Pool

Posted on by
1

Part 1: “Lost in Translation”

Good grief, where to even begin?! I’ve been posting many updates along the way to Facebook in the hopes that when it came to blog time, I’d have a more concise report. No such luck.

I was thinking back to my first few nights and how there is something comforting about airports and everyone being out of their element and often far from home together. There is the same sense of communal up-rootedness here at this workshop. It’s exciting! At first I was confused by the students that chose to hang out with the others from their home country or those who spoke their native tongue because I was really excited to mingle and meet people from all over and learn as much as I could. However, as time has passed, I’ve found myself drawn to the other Americans too and felt like a bit of a hypocrite. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with my friends from all over! More on that later. It’s just nice to remember how to use English slang and discuss familiar pop-culture once in a while!

Welcome party! Left to Right: Alida (Greece), Gwendoline (Belgium), Vivra (Finland), Nili (coordinator from Israel), Gabi (Cali), Me, Helena (Brazil) 🙂 

Lost in translation….indeed. I already have so many great stories of miscommunications and mispronunciations; it keeps me entertained though the pain of 8 hours of dancing every day.

Sometimes conversation is painful, I have a roommate that only speaks Italian. No English. We’ve gotten to be good at interpreting gestures and Google translate’s bad grammar. My other roommate is from California and the two of us have naturally clicked. It’s hard that it feels like we’re leaving the other out because she doesn’t understand. Meals can be this way too when there are enough students at one table that speak one language and the others don’t understand. Luckily everyone is kind and inclusive. A smile goes a long way.
On a lighter note, one of my ballet teachers has a thick Russian accent. So far, my favorite things that he says are “battement” (ballet step pronounced in French like “bot-mah” – a large kick) which sounds like Batman when he says it. And “center” sounds like Santa, as in Santa Clause. Please stand on Santa. 🙂

This brings me to another story. My Belgian friend who speaks French was asking my roommate and me who we had danced with during pas de deux (ballet partnering) class. She wanted to know if we had danced with “Oht-man”. I questioned, “Hot, man?” She replied, “Yeah! Oht-man.” In confusion I inquired, “Which one is the hot one?” Her response, “Oht-man!!” Eventually we came to conclude that it was a Spaniard named Ottman not a hot man. So many laughs!

However, my partner was Tuomas from Finland:

This picture is actually kind of embarrassing but I wanted to provide a visual of pas de deux class. I’m in motion and therefore not in a proper position……excuses….

While I’m on the topic of amusing people, Gabi (my Californian roommate) and I have grown to be friends with two boys from Finland (home of Santa Clause….) that are our age. We went to visit them and the other guys on their floor on Tuesday night and played the most unique game of pool I have ever experienced. It was backwards you see. Whoever retrieves the most balls stuck inside the broken table wins….almost…it was a group effort. What makes this even better is the muscular male ballet dancers lifted and tilted the table to roll the balls to arms reach and of course, this was done with perfect turn out in a 2nd grand plié position (ballet squat). So graceful!

The boys lifting the table in grand plie. Not shown is our job to reach into the pockets and retrieve the balls or peer through the crack to direct the table tipping.

Anyway, Finland has become a fascinating topic of conversation in the evenings. Did you know the Fins love saunas? A few of us have invented a new Olympic sport known as sauna hopping. This involves 3 saunas in a triangle and one must make the most creative snow angels in the fastest time between saunas. Their Independence Day from Russia is December 6th 1917 and the amount ticketed for speeding depends on annual income. I’m learning more than choreography! Another fun fact is that instead of saying “Excuse me” or “sorry” when bumping into one another for example, the phrase used is “Oho” which translates to “oops”. Apparently small talk is also less common. Who knew the Fins were deep conversationalists! Perhaps one of my favorite parts about talking with them is that their English is quite good and has a slight British accent, which adds to my amusement. J

Tuomas and Joni 🙂 (The girls and I in the background) I also learned that Fins don’t have much small talk. We tease them about their deep conversations!

Part 2: “I will survive”

I’ve noticed that things are smaller (such as dishes and portions) as well as quieter. I went to what would be the equivalent of Portland’s Saturday Market along the river in the city. The street was so packed that every step you bumped into at least two people, yet is was so quiet you didn’t need to raise your voice! Now I know how to spot American tourists/how not to be one! Oh yes, and on the topic of differences, the metric system – what a headache. I’m hoping it gets easier. I’m also hoping that I’ll start believing Euros are real money and stop feeling like it’s all just pretend.

About surviving…of course the need to repeat that phrase (see title) to myself is usually only during the last rehearsal of the day and/or when presented with really unappetizing looking food. This makes me sound ungrateful and unhappy, so let me just say, my cheeks currently quite sore from smiling so much and my abs hurt from laughing. Actually in addition, my whole body has that satisfying day old soreness-from-a-really-good-work-out feeling.

I haven’t talked a lot about the dancing aspect – the main reason for this part of my trip. Somehow it’s been slightly over shadowed by the people I’ve met. Incredible dancers I’ve met, mind you.
So last Saturday night I was so nervous for Day 1’s audition I was making myself sick. Just by talking to the other dancers and sort of seeing people stretch out plane ride stiffness was intimidating. This was close to the most nervous I’ve been about dancing in my life. It seems so silly in hindsight. That night and a bit on Sunday morning (my time) I was able to talk to some friends from home and other girls I’ve danced with before. This helped a bit; their encouragement and good wishes calmed me some. I was also calmed by the other dancers here, some of which were as nervous as I was. At least we were all in the same boat. The audition went really well and I was placed in the more advanced of the two groups we were split into with a few of the friends I’d made already. I was so surprised it took me a full day to realize I could be proud of that accomplishment!

Pointe class. I’m the one in all black. Three beautiful dancers/friends in front of me!

Since then class and rehearsal have gone well. Each day includes ballet class, usually pointe class, rehearsal for the ballet show and rehearsal for the modern piece and jazz. Evenings include showers, stretching and messaging. Oh and chocolate. It’s exhausting and several of my injuries have caused me grief but I’m just happy I got through week 1! I’m not used to classes like these; it’s a different style of ballet but such good experience. I also get distracted by some of the incredible dancers I have the privilege of sharing a studio with and motivated by some of the hardest working dancers I’ve ever met! I repeat: hardest working dancers. It’s inspiring to see their passion and drive.

Coppelia rehearsal (I’m far left).

Surviving food. Those of you who know me, already are familiar with my eating habits. “Are you a vegetarian?” …no…. “So why aren’t you eating the meat?”, “Why do you have your salad on a separate plate?” It’s hard to explain. I’m picky and particular and prefer things a specific way. I proudly report, that I am making huge strides in overcoming these ridiculous personal problems. I’m trying new things and gladly eating stuff I may not have considered looking at in the States. And ordering things somewhat blindly from menus and not freaking out when all my food gets mixed. May seem petty to you, but it’s (sadly) a pretty big deal for me! I just hope that I form new, less picky habits that come home with me.

The incredible chocolate that waits for me at the end of the day. To die for. Or rather, to dance for!

Here goes week 2! Good friends by my side. Pile of clean laundry and chocolate in my closet. Smile on my sore face. <3

Emily

Green Berets

Posted on by
2

Quite randomly but also often you will see military men with big guns in green berets just wondering around the streets or on the metro, but they always seem to be in the places that make you a little apprehensive to see them in. One time in particular that I witnessed them walking around was while standing in line for the catacombs. Thats when I began to feel apprehensive, thinking maybe something was wrong. Not a good feeling to have when you are about to enter an underground grave yard. They circled around the line a good 5 times before I didn’t see them anymore. At first I was a little scared to see guys with huge guns crossing the street, then I was curious as to why they were at the catacombs. But I figured since they didn’t talk to anyone, it was just a regular thing. I tried looking it up online but couldn’t find anything on the french military men in green berets only special forces in the U.S. Talking to my teachers and other local people didn’t help much either, they all said the same thing, “oh they are just around”. A strange occurrence to say the least, something I didn’t expect. My fear quickly turned into excitement though as we got closer to the entrance. The catacombs where definitely worth the wait even with two of the “exhibits” closed.

For those of you that may not know what the catacombs are i will give you a little background. Known to the French as “les carrières de Paris” or mines of Paris the catacombs are old mines that hold the remains of 6 million people that had been removed from there graves located in the city of Paris, because the grave yard “Saints Innocents” had been filled to capacity but people where still being buried there. Because of the overwhelming amount of bones and filled graves, the sanitation began to decrease and become unhealthy. The city then began to bury there dead outside city limits as they used to, before the rise in Christianity, but what to do with all those bodies? The underground mine system had since been emptied and Thiroux de Crosne (Police Lieutenant General ) had all of Paris’s dead moved underground. Today the bones are arranged in a series of tunnels with some tomb stones and other decorations from the grave yard randomly placed with the bones. Very powerful thing to see but not for those with weak stomachs.

bon voyage!

-Lauren H

Week 1 Surprises

Posted on by
Reply

Bleu cheese, as many would agree, is a distinct and unique taste that you may really love, or may really hate. It comes in blocks, crumbles, and dressing, but there was one thing about bleu cheese that I was not prepared for on my journey to France. Moisissure, or mold in English, is an ordinary part of bleu cheese in France. It was quite a shock the first time I saw bleu cheese and it looked something like this:

Image

Moldy bleu cheese!

I decided to try it, although I was afraid that it would only taste of mold.  I was relieved to discover it tastes very similar to the bleu cheese in the United States, perhaps even better. I decided to investigate why France bleu cheese has mold and why United States bleu cheese does not.

Apparently, the mold on bleu cheese is somewhat unique as it does not harm us when we eat it, and it can actually even be good for us. Blue mold, which is the one on bleu cheese, can help your digestive system and immune system when you ingest it. I searched for a reason why we would not have this mold on bleu cheese in the United States, and essentially what I found was that as a culture, we think that all mold is bad. If we were in the grocery store and saw mold on a product, we would assume it was bad even on something like bleu cheese where it is safe. I could not find a health related reason as to why we avoid the “moisissure” of cheese.  When I asked my host family about the mold on the cheese, they reaffirmed what I had researched and told me and my housemates that it is good for you. In France, it is completely accepted as part of bleu cheese and as a healthy attribute of bleu cheese.

Even after discovering that there is no reason to not eat the moldy bleu cheese, I still find myself somewhat reluctant to eat it. Clearly, French people have been eating the mold for quite some time and do not have problems because of it, but growing up in that culture where all mold is thought of as bad makes it very difficult to look at bleu cheese and find it appetizing. I have never been a huge fan of bleu cheese, but I must admit that the moldy bleu cheese that I tried in France was much better than the mold free bleu cheese that I have had in the United States.

3 weeks left in Angers!

Maggie

France at last!

Posted on by
Reply

I arrived in Paris by train rather than by plane because I flew in to London Heathrow rather than Paris Charles de Gaule. This was my first time riding on a train like the Eurostar trains, but it was also the first time I had traveled so far by myself.  Coming in to the train station was overwhelming because it was busy, crowded, and completely in French. Finally entering the country was exciting and frightening, but my lack of proficiency with French was making me more and more nervous. I understood enough of the signs to make my way towards the metro and wait in the long line to buy my metro ticket to move around Paris. The train station I took from Paris to Angers (Gare Monparnasse) was different than the train station I look into Paris from London (Gare du Nord). The whole experience was over stimulating, and as it was early in the morning, I was even more overwhelmed by the information I was processing. I had been excited for studying abroad, but my arrival in Paris made the reality of the situation sink in and I became ecstatic about being in France. I loved to see that even in the train stations, there are little shops that sell French food like baguettes and croissants and even some Paris merchandise with little pictures of the Eiffel Tower. The single most frightening factor of arriving was trying to find out where I was supposed to go in a mass of people, all in a hurry and walking with confidence as to their destination.  People seemed distant from each other, and this have something to do with it being such a large city or perhaps it is  the normal in France.

Image

This picture is of the train station, these people are waiting by this giant board that shows the platform for each scheduled train. The catch? The platform is only displayed 20 minutes before departure so people gather right under the sign so that as soon as the platform is revealed, people scurry over and begin boarding.

My time on the train to Angers went by quickly and I was greeted at the train station by the coordinator of my program as well as by my host dad. There are three of us staying at the same house, and I was the first to arrive, I had first pick of the bedrooms. I picked one upstairs, and it is shows in the following pictures:

Image

My pretty bed 🙂

Image

What you see upon entering the room, these cool windows with electric shades! You just push a button to close them, and you can completely block out the sun or leave some coming in.

Image

My view out of my bedroom window

Image

My armoir and desk, important for all the studying I will be doing!

The first day was extremely exhausting and I was excited for the other girls to arrive as to have some break from speaking French, and to not be the person of sole attention from my host parents. They have a lot of questions (which is great!), but all of the thinking in French is very tiring already! Only four more week in Angers!

Maggie

I hope the bread and cheese stereotype is true!

Posted on by
Reply

I am both excited and uncertain about my trip to France this summer. I previously visited France on a trip where I saw some cities such as Paris and Nice, but I feel like there is much more to do and so many places to go in the country. I am excited to see Angers, meet my host family, and begin the overwhelming task of adjusting to another culture. I believe Angers will be like inviting to us because there is the established program for exchange students and this may mean people are more willing to assist us with problems that arise because of our lack of fluency in the language and culture. I found that people were very helpful, and some even went out of their way to assist my family when we visited the country previously. I feel like the culture is welcoming to outsiders, which is part of the reason I chose to go to France. Another aspect of the culture I am really excited to experience is the meals and food in the way that the French people experience them. I believe both the food choices as well as the culture around meals will be different than the United States.

Image

I chose this picture of the Eiffel Tower because I believe it represents one aspect of the trip which will be comfortable to me already. I love to travel, and so visiting monuments, museums, and national landmarks is something that I already know how to do and love doing. The other aspect of this trip that is exciting, but also scarier, is the submersion in to the culture. The touristy side of travel, like visiting the Eiffel Tower, and the study of the culture are both interesting and important to me during my study abroad session.

Image

This picture of a variety of different bakery foods again shows my interest in becoming fluent with the food culture of France. I believe that the culture of food in a country can tell so much about the country itself. Aspects such as country’s wealth, health, and lifestyle are all shown by what the people eat, how much they eat, and when they eat. Do families eat most meals together or are there meals which require individual agendas? Is there one meal that is much larger or more important than the others? What types of food are common for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? I hope to find all these out in my stay in France.

Maggie

“A Whole New Word”

Posted on by
5

“Shining, shimmering, splendid!”
Let me first go back for a moment. My first plane from Portland to Chicago I had an aisle seat so it was hard to nap, (luckily I had my glorious neck pillow!) but instead I read Sky Mall. Who knew I needed so much! Just think; “The Superior Comfort Bed Lounger”, “The Healthiest Deep Fryer”, “The World’s Largest Write on Map Mural”, “The Always Cool Pillow”, “Potty train your cat fast than most people potty train their kids!” (<- 3 steps in 18 weeks!), “Velociraptor, Jurassic-Sized Dinosaur Statue, 5 ft tall!” …oh the things I’ve been living with, un-healthy French fries, litter boxes and warm pillows. Actually, on a more serious note, I liked the idea of a home carbonator and syrup and using less bottles or cans.

Only $2,250!

“A new fantastic point of view”
Also on the plane I saw the movie, A Thousand Words. Basically, Jack (Eddie Murphy) has a curse that every word he uses = a leaf on the tree falling off. When all the trees fall, he dies. “Jack is forced to pick and choose his words, communicating with others becomes difficult and full of misunderstandings”. I could relate to this in more than one way. My dad used to joke that I had a word limit that I was constantly exceeding. If you know me, you’ve experienced that. I also knew that soon, I may be in situations where I have to rely on smiling and gesturing and more importantly, where listening and watching would become far more important to my learning.

“A dazzling place I never knew”
After a delay in Chicago (due to Thunder and lightning!) and the stress of knowing I’d miss my next connection I was on my way again. I sat next to a friendly young dad who had lived in Hungary for 3 years and traveled quite a bit. We chatted over a mysterious airplane pasta dinner. Finally The London Eye and Big Ben were in sight. I was rather giddy!

Upon landing at Heathrow I was faced with no cell phone use and a rebook to deal with. Luckily they speak English (except cooler)! However, between the various nationalities, heavy accents and mumbling it was still a challenge. I tested out using pounds and added a British rubber duck to my collection!

“Indescribable feeling”
Munich. Now the nerves really set in; in a foreign country, in the future, with swollen feet and an awful headache! I was reassured that basically everything was in German and English (however, the further from the airport the less that is true) and the bus transport guy was very nice. I waited for the van and noticed there was a Subway, playing Kesha’s “Blow”.

“Unbelievable sights…Don’t you dare close your eyes”
Oh but I had to. I was so so tired, my pillow and I had a nap on the van. I mean, at least sort of. The driver was, well, I don’t want to say reckless, but I was slightly uncomfortable. It worked out the sudden change of speed kept waking me at the interesting places!

One of the several pictures I attempted to take out my van window between naps on the way from Munich to Salzburg.

“A hundred thousand things to see”
Salzburg is beautiful! I took pictures from the van (and later got to explore a bit on foot). It was interesting how some places look just like another U.S. city/state and others are old, grand, beautiful bits of history. I was countering my nerves with the thrill of the city. When I was dropped off I had no clue where to go. I stood there just kind of looking around. Not exactly the movie-esque drop-the-bags-and-spin-in-excitement I’d imagined. The director of the dance program saw me from the window and yelled my name “Im-el-ee! Im-el-eeee!”. She smiled kindly and said someone was coming down to help me. Relief won out over threatening tears. Everyone was so nice!

The view from town!

In short some struggles, surprises and satisfactions include: Urinals across from regular toilets and clear shower doors in the water closet. Not understanding how to use the sheet they provided. People smoking indoors next to my room. Being verbally instructed how to get to the mall…alone. Ordering dinner. Remembering that a coin can be up to 2 euro. Euros are not dollars. Light switches and outlets. Huge, heavy windows with no screens. Free gelato 🙂

The not confusing light switch and an outlet without my converter.

Eventually, my brave face faltered when my adventurous attitude got tired. I accomplished things today/yesterday that I never thought I could do alone. And now the hours of travel have all become a blur! The first real night was hard, but I know it will keep getting easier.

My spot (which looks a bit different now) and my new rubber duck up on the shelf!

“Hold your breath – it gets better”
Day 1 included a continental breakfast and new friends. I went to the mall and walking around town with a girl from Israel who now lives in Atlanta and a girl from Brazil. Buying products is much harder than food. None of us speak German! My nerves are up and down but I’m excited for the welcome party tonight and to meet my roommates!

“I’m like a shooting star, I’ve come so far, I can’t go back to where I used to be….” I’m not in Kansas anymore, but that’s ok, Salzburg has better weather.

Cheers!
Emily A.

“I’m Leaving on a Jet Plane”

Posted on by
7

One of the planes I’ll be on in the next few days!

I do know when I’ll be back again….CHRISTMAS! Woah.

I’m feeling sort of numb. It was way easier to be excited when it was still a month away and when classes were a distraction. Now, with 2ish days to go and nothing to do but get prepared (and let me tell you, “nothing but” actually means no time for anything but getting prepared), I’m not nervous or bouncing off the walls I’m just not really feeling anything. Of course, this changes by the moment. I just don’t really believe it. It’s simply not possible that an experience I’ve been waiting years for is beginning in less than a week.

For those that don’t know, I have three adventures in one ahead of me. I am going to a dance intensive (dancing 8 hours a day for 6 days a week) in Salzburg, Austria for 5 weeks. This means I’ll be doing ballet and other idioms of dance with other international students whenever I’m not sleeping or eating.

These are my feet sometime in early high school. This picture is to represent my nerves about doing work en pointe at this intensive and my struggles picking which pairs of shoes to pack!

Beginning sometime in August, my parents will meet up with me for 3 weeks to travel around, mostly north of the Alps.

Ensuite, je vais arriver en France! Then, I will arrive in France! This is when my parents return to the states and I begin the portion of my trip that is the study abroad through WOU. Living with a family and taking classes taught in French and immersing myself in the culture I’ve longed to experience. On a side note, if my host family has a cat, I’ll be the happiest American in France. 🙂

Garbonzo Bean – my family’s kitty that I will miss terribly.

As I pause to think and lift my fingers off the key board, I notice my hands are shaking. Is that from the nerves of putting all that in words? Or my half drank cup of coffee? Who knows…

I don’t really know what to expect. All of the research I do and information I get still leaves me just curious. I’m more or less just preparing myself to be flexible, accepting and to be totally overwhelmed. In Austria, there will be students from all over the world and we’ll be living in a school building together. I’m excited to be introduced to so many cultures and not be the only one that feels “out of context”.

The school in Austria that I’ll be living/dancing in for the first 5 weeks of the trip! Check out the mountains!!!

For the traveling portion, I expect to just be a guest in various cities and experience each host culture with an open mind while learning as much as I possibly can!
Finally, France will be the country that I dwell in the longest. I hope to submerge myself in the French way and learn how to blend in as a French student as opposed to a tourist. I can’t wait to better my speaking skills and interact with the locals. From what I have heard, the French will respect the tourists if they respect the culture and at least try to communicate. I see myself able to adapt and take on a new way of life but at the same time, it will be really hard to not compare everything to my home life.

Palace Versailles Garden
I can’t wait for the excursions!

Oh my bags are packed, I’m [not quite] ready to go….. And babe, goodbye is hard, but I sure don’t hate to go. Putting my independence to the test, my motto has to be the oh-so-cliché; c’est la vie!

Bon voyage!!!

Emily