orientating myself

spent the last few days orientating ourselves to stasbourg and the chateau. it's been raining nonstop for the past two days, which i guess is the norm for this time of year. the rain is frustrating because so much of what the chateau has to offer involves outdoor activities of some kind. i've yet to develop the gravitas to ride a bike in the rain, or do anything else for that matter. besides the rain, i am fully orientated to the chateau. there are several additions to the building that seemed to have been thrown on haphazardly, as funds became available. sometimes, when walking up a set of stairs, you end up in a completely different place than you were expecting. maybe this was what inspired j.k. rowling and hogwarts.

sometimes it's a little creepy to walk alone in the chateau at night. i'm normally up a little later than everyone else, so i use the bathroom, take a shower, whatever. there is one set of stairs tucked away in the corner that completely freaks me out. in the daylight, it's a really interesting spiral, made of stone. but at night i can'tbring myself to go in there alone. cobwebs and poor lighting and creaky windows, oh my! i'll gladly walk to the other end of the hallway to use that WC.

strasbourg seems like a wonderful city. it is not as metropolitan as paris or london, yet has a very large student population. yesterday, a friend and i took the tram to the city center, which was completely packed with students from the university. i'm anxious to go out without our group and meet some cool french people. doing anything in a group of thirty really limits interaction and immersion in french culture.

speaking of french culture, i'm so excited for my french culture and civilization class. it's being taught by a woman who was born in america, but moved to france for her senior year of high school and hasn't been back. she's having us research not only historical significant events and people that have greatly contributed to the french way of life, but also to observe what we see while in living here, and report on the differences. not only will this force us to immerse in french culture, but we'll have a way to share this information and come up with a cohesive understanding of what we've experienced. yesterday for class we visited the supermarket to observe differences. for instance, the french seem to place a higher standard on eating fresh food instead of overprocessed, prepackaged meals. also, on saturday, we went to a farmers' market in the city center. i sampled some of the best cheese i'veever tasted in my life. one of the guys who had set up a stand offered a slice of muenster and some other hard-ishcheese. he had made them himself.

it's possible i might sustain myself on bread, wine and cheese alone my entire stay here.

also yesterday, petra (the woman teaching my french culture and civilization classs) took me and my friend to the art store downtown. i won't tell you how much i had to pay for three prismacolor markers (21 euro... for three. eeeek!) after shopping, she showed us the art school and an interesting gallery. we also visited her apartment, which was pretty much the cutest thing i've ever seen. you enter through a courtyard, then walk up a cobblestone path. her apartment is three stories connected with a tiny spiral staircase. the first floor is her kitchenette and bath, the second floor is a little living room/ office, and the third floor is her bedroom. each room is about10 feet by 15 feet. it feels like she lives in a treehouse. she drove us back to the chateau, so we also got a different view of the city.

last night we feasted at this wonderful barbeque they put on for us. the whole group, sitting around a couple bonfires on chairs made by eduardo, under teepees. there's a couple who lives in the chateau that does these events for groups for a living. eduardo is from brazil, and grills the most amazing food i've ever had. the woman (i've forgotten her name) makes wonderful salads and side dishes. grilled perch, chicken, beef sausage and pork sausage and chicken sausage and grilled feta and potatos and cucumber salad and warm bread and ciabatta with herb butter. we ate like kings last night. also, wonderful beer from the black forest region of germany. i don't know if i'll ever be able to drink american beer again. we ate like kings, i tell you.

i'm glad to have started classes and to be getting into a type of routine. today i've got survival french class, the first. i'm hoping to pick up as much french as possible, so i'm looking forward to this class. besides that, my day is free. perhaps i'll get some coffee in town, or go to the grocery store to buy some food.

right now i'm going to take a shower.

au revoir!
-katie