don't walk away

halloween!!!!

hands down, i'd say the best halloween i've ever had. we had a fantastic party. it is not hard to transform the chateau into a very scary place.

here's my costume:

get it? i'm bullshit!! hilarious.

i feel that i can best describe the evening through pictures. i stole half of these pictures from karissa. thanks, karissa!

eric and i on cooking duty, dipping cookies into white chocolate in order to make "ghosts".

looking creepy with the knife.


the cake i made. enhanced by creepy mood lighting.

jessica, dressed as jessie from toy story. and bullshit.

karissa, dressed as a mermaid. and bullshit.

at the party. me, jeff (my perspective teacher, dressed as a manic-depressive clown), shruti (dressed as a mummy), and roderica (as a bunny).

petra, dressed as some sort of zombie-spiderweb thing. and me.

my teachers. scary even without the costumes.

alex dressed as jesus. hands down, best costume of the evening.

arianna's friend serge, dressed as a pirate.

zombie eric.


antione, serge's friend. wearing a funny hat.

bang, the dead flight attendant. gross.

that's about it, i guess. happy halloween!

-k.

p.s. i changed some settings, and now i think it's possible for everyone to leave comments, not just people who have a blogger account. so you know what that means...

a random smattering of photos

from the past few days... all captioned and everything!

autumnal chateau. please refer to my posting about how much i love autumn.

chateau, outlined by the sunset.

heelclick in the forest. that's shruti on the right. look at the air!

creepy face, yes. on the grounds of the chateau, there are random sculpture installations. including many giant ears leaning against a group of trees. odd, perhaps.

took this at our latest bonfire. b+w captures the mood, no?

and finally, a picture from the amazing sunset last week. taken from my window. i have at least fifty pictures of this, all gorgeous.

anywho, just clearing out some miscellaneous business.

cheerio.

-katie

rock paper scissors...

short week because of london. it was hard to get back to the routine of online classes. thankfully, i only have one and a half more weeks. we will have quite the celebration when those are through.

the class schedule was messed up because of london. we had class on friday, which sort of confused my understanding of the week. friday was also my roommate’s 21st birthday, so i made her a cake to celebrate. i think she appreciated it, but i couldn’t tell how she was feeling otherwise. i don’t think i would like spending my birthday away from my friends and family. especially my 21st, which is such a big deal in the states. here, since there is no age restriction on drinking, number vingt-et-un becomes quite blasé.

friday night we went to a concert. i would like to first point out that under no circumstances would i ever go see this band if i were in the states. i was more interested in seeing what it is like to go to a concert abroad. but, since this band is not really my scene, i would sort of be comparing apples to oranges. second, i was not impressed with their music. do i look like an asymmetrical haircut emo chick to you? didn’t think so.

now i feel like there’s an unnecessary buildup to the name of the band, which i did not intend to do. we saw “panic! at the disco”. which is a pretty silly name for a band, if you ask me. pale faced boys in supertight pants wearing more makeup than i have owned my entire life. that’s not entirely true, but you get the picture. the music wasn’t too excruciating, just your typical emo-punk with a cello and xylophone thrown into the mix. their lyrics were rather nauseating, but luckily the sound system was pretty sub-par, and i was not subjected to the whine fest. “the only difference between suicide and martyrdom is press coverage” was one of their songs. ugh, that’s some pretty deep stuff, but only if you forget that they took it directly from chuck palihnuik.

the crowd was actually just what you would expect for this type of show. average age: probably 17. youngest was probably 13, with a handful of obvious parents there to chaperone. and a few out of place looking thirty-somethings. emo haircuts, boldly printed shirts, lots of eyeliner. i had no idea the fad had spread across the atlantic. i spent a solid chunk of the show wondering what it must be like for your favorite band to not speak your language. sure, french student especially might understand a healthy bit of english, but there are crucial parts of the experience that i’m sure are lost in the translation. then again, music can cross barriers. i’m sure the teens at this show wanted to have the babies of emo-frontman mc panic as much as the fourteen year olds in america. sidenote: it is possible that this was the first concert i’ve attended where there was an actual bra thrown onstage. it’s also possible that i am not normally very observant of such activities. nevertheless, a bra was thrown onstage. honestly, who does that? what is this, a poison concert?

after the show, we headed back to the chateau. actually, first we talked to one of the roadies, who seemed surprised to see americans in the crowd. strasbourg isn’t exactly a well-known city. we chatted for a moment, got the lowdown on touring europe-style. this guy was not a fan. he also hopped onstage to grab a drumstick for my roommate and one other girl. guess we get preferential treatment because they understood what we were asking.

anywho, we made it back to the chateau on the last bus, then went to bed. i can make a lot of fun about the music, but the girls i went with really enjoyed the show. that’s sort of their scene, though. and i guess i did have fun.

saturday morning we woke up early for more excursions. first up, struthof concentration camp. not quite a cheery way to start your morning. when i was in austria, we visited the maulthausen concentration camp. maybe i forgot what it felt like to stand in such a place, or maybe a few year’s age has given me a deeper understanding of humanity. but saturday, i felt emotionally blown away. the whole camp is carved into the side of a mountain. it was physically challenging to walk up the steep, stone paved hill; incomprehensible to think of how one would manage even the trip from barracks to other parts of the camp, being so malnourished. barbed wire fences enclose the site, with guard towers every few hundred feet or so. at the top of the hill, a memorial to the thousands that perished at this site, as well as to the efforts of the french resistance movement. moving down the hill, the gallows stand out starkly; a lone noose against the vastness of the sky. most of the buildings have been taken down. only an outline of stone, marking the footprint of each of the barracks. the emptiness creates an eerie, sobering atmosphere.

at the bottom of the hill, two buildings still remain. one was the “prison”, where the most violent or dangerous prisoners were kept for disciplinary reasons, or simply as a holding point before execution. the other building was the crematorium. i have a picture of the exact same piece of machinery from my visit to malthausen. outside the crematorium, a deep pit sinks into the ground, with a stone cross rising from the top. this was where the remains of the dead were disposed. standing at the top of that pit, looking into the grave of thousands of innocent people, my eyes filled with tears. how could so many live be taken by such a madman? what sort of evil can be harbored in humanity?

before the nazis invaded france, this area was a very popular ski resort. at one point, as we were arriving, i though to myself how beautiful this location is. magnificent vista, fall colors, tiny town with half-timbered houses in the valley. then, of course, the gallows come into view.

after our time at the camp, we all got back onto the bus for the ride to our next excursion. after an hour or so, we arrived at the haute koenigsburg castle. i am not one who is easily impressed by castles. i think they’re cool, and all, but i have always somehow been disappointed when finally at the doorstep (exception: the alhambra in granada). not so at this place. this thing was freaking sweet. imagine a giant, red sandstone medieval castle, built right on the top of the highest mountain in the area. looking outwards from the top of le grand bastion, you saw fields of grapes (we were still in alsatian wine country), their leaves changed into bright yellows and oranges. tiny villages dotted the landscape. in the distance, the black forest of germany. beyond that, on a clear day, you could see the swiss alps rising above with their jagged peaks. we took a tour through the castle, seeing all sorts of cool stuff. sorry i don’t have any pictures, but my camera battery died after the concentration camp.

when we got back, the bus driver dropped us off in town. on tuesday, we’re hosting a halloween party, so we worked on getting costumes. i have a vague idea of what i’m going to be, but i’ll wait for pictures from the evening to fully explain myself.

suday we went on at hike to mt. ste. odelie. there’s a monastary at the top of a hill, and we’re hiking there. after a bus ride, of course. anywho, we weren't supposed to know what exactly it is, so we are “inspired”. now we have a corresponding assignment for french culture and civilization. it was a really gorgeous location, and i took tons of pictures. i think for my project i'll do some creative writing. short story, or something. if it's good, i'll post it here with some pictures. but i still have to write it.

well then, that’s the weekend's recap. tomorrow evening is our halloween party, so i've been helping with the food preparation. yeah, cookies!

goodnight.
-katie

insert british accent here

expanded london edition.

what a trip. london was everything i was hoping. can't swing a dead cat without hitting something historical or famous. the rain held off for two days, so we might not have had a typical london experience. unfortunately, this trip was scheduled at about the one-month mark for time away from home. that, coupled with the anti-culture shock of english speakers and starbucks, messed with peoples heads a bit. tensions were high, and "some stuff went down". unfortunately, a bitter taste was left on a couple of the days. but, everyone made it out okay, and we are all still speaking to one another. more or less. anywho, back to my trip.

we left thursday afternoon for the hour bus ride to karlsrue-baden airport. uneventful flight, which i guess is what you hope for. and my luggage arrived at the same time i did, so that was a nice change. when we left the airport in london, it was a little weird boarding the charter bus on the opposite side, but that quickly subsided.

if not for these reminders, i would probably be dead.

our hotel was by kensington gardens. pretty nice area, actually. when we got in, we hadn't had any dinner, so the first thing we did was hunt for some food. stopped into one pub and actually got carded. eventually we found some food and went to bed.

friday morning we woke up early for a bus tour of the city. led by our guide, john harrison, we got an overview of the city. i always enjoy this approach so i feel like i see the whole city and can get my bearings.

after the tour, we had free time until dinner. i decided to help out the struggling british economy and go shopping. basically i got screwed with my pants on because the exchange rate is something like two dollars to one pound. i bought a dress that i would wear later to dinner.

in the evening, we went to see "the producers". i don't know, i've never been one to really get into musicals. i sort of enjoyed myself, but probably wouldn't see it again. the theater was on drury lane. you know, where the muffin man lives. hehe.

saturday we went as a group to the tate modern museum. we were scheduled to have a guided tour, but he didn't show up. instead, we got a free admission to the fleichel and weiss exhibit. i had never heard of these artists, but i ended up really enjoying their humourous approach to art. also at the tate, an installation of slides. yes, giant four story slides. which were awesome. the artist was exploring the idea of making slides part of everyday life, somehow including them in architecture. the description of the slides was really poetic, talking about the anxious buildup, the fear of heights, the thrill of the descent. funny, he didn't mention the bumpy ride. i wish i could have gone down a few times. it was really fun.

after the tate, we had free time until dinner. my friend shruti wanted to visit a temple outside central london. saturday happened to be the second-to-last day of the hindu new year celebration. so shruti, karissa and i set off for this temple with a vague set of directions and optomistic spirit. two hours, two tube lines, a bus, and about a mile of walking, we made it to the swaminarayan temple. since it took much longer to get there than we had expected, we only spent fifteen minutes or so inside. we took off our shoes to go into the temple. filled with ornate carvings in white marble, the temple was really quite something. shruti did her thing, then we were on our way.

funny, i couldn't help but think how many thousands of people visit christian cathedrals while in europe. nearly every city seems to have a major church built over thousands of years that are visited hundreds of times daily. but then here i was, in london, at a temple that i had never heard of, taking a moment of silence as i sat among the different altars. and to think of how much effort it took to get out there, but how beautiful it was, and how few people would ever go. i'm glad shruti asked me to go with her, because it was something that i know i would have never done otherwise.

actually, it also reminded me of the 8th grade washington d.c. trip. father bauer tried so hard to expose us to the different houses of worship for world religions. this felt more personal; less academic.

walking to the temple, we walked through the soccer field where they filmed "bend it like beckham". and we also walked by ikea, which tells you how far out of the city we were (you know, because ikea likes to build out in the middle of nowhere, in a place you would normally have no reason to visit. like schaumburg.)

anywho, we made it to trafalgar square with an hour to spare before our rendezvous. got caught in a sudden rainstorm, and remembered that we were in london.

saturday evening we went to the london eye. you may remember this famous ferris wheel from the bbmak video. yes, i just referenced bbmak in my blog. anywho, i did not enjoy the london eye. funny, i didn't quite realize i was afraid of heights until i was held captive for thirty minutes in a glass orb as it flew 434 feet above london. i spent pretty much the entire trip sitting indian-style on the bench they have in the middle. clutching the wooden bench with a death grip that should not have been possible, considering how much my hands were sweating. i think i might have had a bit of a panic attack. depending on where you look, the eye moves so slow that you don't necessarily know you are moving. so i would look toward the center, see us going higher, and freak out. but i couldn't look the other way, because it didn't feel like we were moving at all, then i panicked because i thought we might get stuck. then i started having a bit of vertigo. ugh. exiting that thing was the highlight of my day.

after the eye, a group decided to go out to a club. not being one for clubbin', some others decided to go pubbin'. we walked around for a long time, but ultimately ended up in the exact same pub by our hotel that we had been to on thursday. we are creatures of habit.

the pub was fun. i don't know. somehow we got on the topic of religion, which is always the best thing to discuss after a couple pints. kinda wish we had stayed away from that particular discussion, but whatever. i went to bed earlier than the rest of the group (like 2ish) because i also had to finish a bit of online homework. ugh, i am sick of that class. apparently the rest of the group stayed out, but then ended up at the bar in the lobby of the hotel, drinking with some old welsh guy. i guess at the end of the night, he got up to leave, but tripped by the bathroom or something. they had to call an ambulance. glad i went to bed.

sunday morning i woke up surprisingly early with the goal of attending mass. i like to see how catholic mass is different in various parts of the world. and since i knew it was going to be one of the only times i would have the opportunity to go to mass in english, i was even more interested. i ended up walking to the brompton oratory, which i guess is famous. or so says the random old guy who was in the lobby and gave me directions. mass was interesting. first of all, the pews were torturous, but i figured if the old ladies could manage sitting through mass, than so could i. they did not sing, but organ music was played. of course all the words were the same, but the priest spoke very measured and deliberately. it's like american priests are trying to get through the standard stuff as quickly as possible so they have more time for their homily. this priest took his time. and he had a british accent. i found myself saying the repsonses in a british accent as well. i guess it felt more natural to fit in. for communion, they still used the rail at front where you kneel. that was my first experience with such a method. very intersting. i'm glad i went.

after mass, not a whole lot of people were around. i decided i wanted to explore the city on my own. there were several things i wanted to see, and didn't want to mess with a lot of different people. i'm thankful that i have such a natural sense of direction, or else i wouldn't have been able to explore the way i wanted to.

first, i headed to buckingham palace. i got about halfway there before i realized i had to meet the group at the british museum across town. so i changed my plan and headed towards the museum. i got a little lost on the way, but eventually made it. by this time, it was raining pretty steadily. my map lost most of its physical properties, but i made it to the museum. inside this museum we saw many grecian artifacts, as well as the rosetta stone. and some mummies, which were pretty sweet. gross, but sweet.

after the museum, i headed to a nearby restaurant for fish and chips. you know, when in rome. they were pretty good, but left a lot to be desired. oh well, still crossed it off the list.

next, my big excitement. i hopped on the tube in search of abbey road. when i took a wrong turn walking out of the underground station, a nice man pointed me in the right direction. some kid had set up a table and was charging one pound to take a picture as you walked across the street. of course i did it.

i don't want to claim to be someone who knows tons about the beatles, or is a diehard fan. i thought it would be cool to do when in london. plus, i am not really that interested in attractions such as the changing of the guard.

after abbey road, i headed back to buckingham palace. had tea with the queen, then stuck around to take some pictures.

kidding. i didn't really take any pictures.

in keeping with my tradition of being incredibly easy to please, i had so much fun riding around on the tube. living in a big city, i've developed quite an appreciation for public transportation. the london tube system is amazing. fast, clean, easy to navigate, clear and relevant communications regarding interruptions in service, not to mention the amusing way they remind you to "mind the gap" when entering and exiting the train. busking in the stations is an art form. if i remember correctly, performers actually have to audition before given a permit to play in an underground station. the talent certainly surpasses anything played at the washington stop on the red line.

sunday evening we went back to the same pub... again. honestly, can we not expand our horizons even a little bit? still, it was fun.

monday morning we woke up early to go to st paul's cathedral. we climbed the stairs to the insided of the dome. i forget the technical term. i think the london eye really messed with my head, because i was all afraid again. that doesn't normally happen. thankfully i won't be living in presidential towers when i return to chicago, because i'm afraid i wouldn't be able to handle it.

we heard announcements on the underground all sunday saying that westminster station was closed for filming. fine, it didn't interfere with anywhere we wanted to go. then monday morning, as i read the paper on the way to st paul's cathedral, a short article caught my attention. apparently, they had been filming for the fifth harry potter on sunday at this station. "harry must navigate commuters", or something like that. to sum up, i almost met harry potter when in london. jen, i though of you.

anywho, after the cathedral we packed up our bags, checked out of the hotel, and flew back to france. overall, a great trip. i really enjoyed london. the business, the people, the attitude, even the rain. i wouldn't mind getting a job here after school is over. i can see myself living in london.

that's about it i guess. i'm pretty tired, and have class at 9 tomorrow. tonight was another barbeque. which means delicious food and a full belly. mmmm.

goodnight.
-katie


p.s. today is the one month anniversary of me being in europe. really, only one month? somehow it seems like much longer and no time at all at the same time. less than two to go.

je ne sais pas.

fall is my favorite season. i think i forgot how much i like seeing the leaves change, or the crisp of the morning. maybe it's because i've lived in an urban environment for a few years, away from "trees". the chateau is basically in the middle of a forest, so we're seeing the changing of the leaves in full splendor. makes me want to pick some apples, or drink some cider, or carve a pumpkin. also, chicago seems to skip over autumnal weather. somehow it goes from super hot to really cold in a matter of days (speaking of, didn't you guys get some snow last week? what was up with that?) thanks to the gulf stream, or some other weather phenomenon that i am unaware of, temperatures here have been lovely. crisp in the morning, warm sun by afternoon. j'taime francais.

we had a quiet weekend. most people were taking it easy (and by easy i mean not spending any money) to save for london. excursions were pretty low-key too. friday we visited the european parliment. for some reason, we took a bus, though it is literally a mile down the road from the chateau. call me a geek, but i was excited. first off, i dressed up in my "stylish, confident designer" outfit, aka the one i wear for presentations, and looked snazzy. uli, the woman whose family owns the chateau, escorted us on this excursion. her husband is in government, but he's a representative for german parliment so she didn't really have that much insider info on how the EU is run. we were met by a guide, some french political aide who spoke with a thick accent and was rather hard to pay attention to at 9:00 in the morning. but we tried. anyways, it was interesting to learn about the shift in governmental power currently happening in europe. in the past, individual countries held quite a lot of power and went about trying to conquer the world (you know, as they are prone to do). now, it seems like they are more interested in working together as a unit; a continental force, if you will. it's interesting to hear how they try to reconcile the interests of their individual nations with the prospect of a unified europe. right now it seems like their main focus is humanitarian efforts.

wow, reading that got boring really fast.

caucus. they call these structures "tulips"

also of note was the architecture of the complex. very modern, very cutting edge, very progressive. quite a contrast to the neoclassical designs of america's government buildings.

saturday we visited the kronenburg brewery. first of all, no beer is currently brewed at this location, so that disappointed right off the bat. i've never been on such a tour, but i had an image in my head of walking on some scaffolding above a giant floor of machinery; bottles rolling down the production line. just like the theme song to laverne and shirley. except in french. anywho, while visiting the museum of beer, we learned lots about how beer is made. and the history of kronenburg beer. afterwards, we finally got to the good part: the tasting. i tried one that was fruity, the 1664 blanc. it was not very good. i don't like my beer to taste like fruity pebbles. other people liked it, though. then i had another beer, which i also did not care for. it's possible i don't like french beer. finally, i tried an irish stout. it had a strong coffee flavor, which i enjoyed. then they let us come behind the bar to try our hand at pulling a pint. so i got behind the bar and poured myself a fresh one from the tap. that was fun, but i think i'm much better at pulling shots from an espresso machine.

speaking of which, i think there is nothing i miss more than intelligentsia espresso (except my friends and family, of course). there is nothing like a freshly pulled double espresso to start a morning. the coffee here. . . is not good. even the espressos i've had in cafés have been disappointing. but i will continue my search.

i guess that's about it. thursday we leave for london. i'm really excited to go to london. our itinerary looks fun; mostly free time to explore on our own. expect fun blogs post-london. whoo-hoo.

before i go, i'd like to give a shoutout to jen- happy birthday. and shoutout to dan- hope you're having fun in D.C.

signing off,
-katie

oh, i also updated my photo albums. you know, a bit of catching up before london. so there are now more pictures in the "munich album", and a whole new album of fun! yeah!

and at night, the fog rolls in

not like san francisco fog (i would imagine; i've never been to california). instead, mist covers the front lawn, transforming my temporary home to even more of a fairy-tale land. now i'm living in the headless horseman instead of beauty and the beast. hmm, i'm probably not living in beauty and the beast, because there is no beast. just me in france. singing bonjour to everyone i meet.

what was the point of this again?

you should see the mist out front. it seeps in from the forest, obscuring vision and creating an altogether ethereal glow. i should really take some pictures.

last night we hoseted an american/french cultural exchange bbq (perhaps more accurately titled, "petra invites all the cute, single french boys she knows to meet cute, single american girls in strasbourg for three months). maybe half a dozen french boys showed up. university students, studying political science, law, pharmacy... maybe others. we had it at the interaction park, which first was set up with many different activities. before our guests arrived, we had fun on the human bungee race thing. you know, where you strap onto a giant bungee cord, then run against an opponent, trying to stick a velcro glove farther on the line. then, of course, the bungee snaps back, and you are rocked pretty bad. on your head. or my head, at least. i must have done that thing twenty times.

anywho, our party was lots and lots of fun. we ate, we drank, we danced. oh, how we danced. as you may know, i'm pretty white, so i'm not exactly a "good" dancer. but there's a girl here from venezuela who gave us all dance lessons tuesday night. man oh man, do i know how to shake it now. just kidding, i still probably look like a fool. but a fool who knows how to rumba.

the french boys were fun. one of them commented to me, "when we walked in, it felt like we were being attacked by sharks". which made me laugh. petra should have warned them beforehand. hehe.

one of them looked a lot like roger federer. maybe that's the stereotypical european look. which is fine by me.

anywho, we got some numbers and will probably be in touch soon. all in all, a great evening.

tonight we had another campfire barbeque, like last week. again, we ate like kings. seriously, they cook the best food i've ever eaten. grilled feta, grilled chicken, awesome cucumber salad. i had to pace myself tonight; i didn't want to gorge myself like i did last time. i could get used to this life.

more than anything, i love seeing our group relaxing around the campfire. something about the atmosphere; so laid back, so relaxed. i think it will be my most cherished memory. i'm a cheap date.

tomorrow we're going to visit the european parliment. the afternoon is french culture and civ class. saturday is a visit to the kroenburg brewery. should be a good time.

on an unrelated note, we had some fantastic news here tonight. one of the girls who is here has been under a lot of duress lately. her fiance was in a terrible accident, and had been in a coma the last week. she's been taking it really hard, with good reason. tonight, as we were all sitting around the campfire, she got a call saying he had woken up. oh, what relief! it was a very good night.

well, this entry was a little boring. sorry for the lack of pictures. there are many good pictures from the last couple nights, but i didn't get any on my camera. and i'm going to bed.

bonne nuit!
-katie

tie my head to the sky.

quite the busy weekend: three days, three countries, two wine tastings, and the possibility of a marriage proposal. i need a nap.

on friday, we woke up early and left by charter to germany. first stop: vitra design museum. really more of a design complex. part museum, part warehouse, part showroom. all in a dozen or so buildings spread across their campus. not just any buildings, either. i would compare it to a cheese tasting plate (because i am in france). but instead of cheeses, each building is designed by a world famous contemporary architect. starchitect, even. frank gehry, zaha hadid, buckminster fuller, jean prouve, and on and on. once again, i marveled at the way germans celebrate and appreciate excellent design. the museum was only once exhibit; currently a temporary collection of jean prouve's works. interesting, indeed, but our tour guide was a little too thourough for the collective group's attention. we must have spent an hour and a half on what should have been a 15 minute overview, then time to explore. also, vitra has a showroom of furniture not unlike the merchandise mart. maybe it was my lack of sleep and overall giddiness, but i frolicked around that room like a five year old on a sugar high in a toy store. quite amusing.

the gehry-design vitra museum.

my favorite eames chair.

after vitra, we were supposed to drive to basel, switzerland to enjoy some free time in the city center, and lunch. our long-winded tourguide got us behind schedule, so we ended up skipping basel. instead, we stopped at a rest area on the highway in switzerland and had lunch. funny, switzerland has been the only country so far to stop us at the border (with the exception of the airport) and ask to see passports. we were in switzerland for maybe an hour. i bought a chocolate bar at the store, so basically saw everything switzerland has to offer.

actually, we go to switzerland again at the very end of the trip to go skiing and snowboarding.

friday afternoon we had free time in freiburg, germany. doreen, our tour manager, says that freiburg is her favorite city in the world. i can see why. lots to do, nice people, cute german boys. oh, doreen also told us a superstition of freiburgians. throughout the city, water runs down every street in little streams that sort of look like gutters. i guess the water is from the river or something. anywho, if a girl falls into one of these streams, she is destined to marry a man from freiburg. walking with a group of people, i couldn't help but play into this tale. i stepped into the stream, to the cheers and laughs and "ooooohhs" of my friends. hehe.

but wouldn't you know, i got hit on all day. i should have bottled up some of that stuff and taken it home.

hehe.

long bus ride home, than an evening writing possibly the worst paper i've ever written in my life. i don't think my online professor realizes that i am in france, and would rather not do anything related to sociology. seriously. how can you expect me to form any kind of argument about gender inequality when i've been in three countries that day?

saturday was our tour of le route du vin. translated: road of wine. arrived at our first winery at 10. am. for a wine tasting. after visiting the cellar (which smelled of fermentation), we learned about the seven types of wine produced in the alsace region. riesling is the most recognized, but there are 5 more white wines and one red, a pinot noir. wine tasting is really quite lovely. first of all, you're drinking. but more than that, it's very interesting to see just how different each grape is, and to do a side-by-side comparison. also, the guy from the winery was adorable. he reminded me of joe pisapia. and he was funny.

in the cellar

our guide

after wine tasting number one (feeling good, i might add), we rode through several alsatian villages. our tour guide for this particular day was a woman from strasbourg. because of her accent, she didn't pronounce any "r"s in her english. therefore, "wine road" became "wine wode".

i couldn't help but think of the princess bride. you know, "mawwidge is what bwings us togewwer... and wove, twue wove..."

on le route de vin

anywho, after a much needed lunch break, then poorly planned trip to a medieval art museum, we were off to wine tasting number deux. for reference, this was a solid five hours later. we're not alcoholics.

wine tasting two was much more informal. we tasted a greater variety of wines, from the sparkling wine of the region to pinot noir. again, delicious and informative. and just a little buzz.

hmm, i don't want you to think from reading my blog that all that i'm doing while i'm over here is drinking. honestly, with the exception of oktoberfest, i haven't really been "out", to a bar or club, that is. any alcohol consumption has simply been part of the cultural experience.

anywho, today we visited the museums of strasbourg as a group, the musee de beaux arts and the museum of contemporary art. thankfully, we weren't subject to lengthly presentation by outside guides. instead, an overview at the entrance of the museum, then freedom to explore as you wish. afterwords we discussed what we saw, which was informative and enlightening.

i have to say, i'm not good at doing things in large groups. i tend to get annoyed. like at how loud we can become, especially in open spaces such as a museum. and how some people seem to shout "oh my god, that's amazing" at every piece of fine art they see. ugh, this one girl was really getting on my nerves. honestly, have you never seen a picasso before? have you never been to a museum? can you use your indoor voice???

at the contemporary museum, we were free to return on our own. i spent quite a bit of time exploring the impressive collection on my own (had to separate before i snapped). before i realized it, everyone else from our group had left. it was really nice to wander the streets on my own. i've always enjoyed my independence. i liked blending into the scenery; becoming one of the strasbourgiouse. i made it back to the chateau all by myself.

hey this looks like my calvino project!

an architectural model done in the same distjil style... just like jayson's form and space model!

that's why i took a picture.


contrast of the thinker (cast) and some street art... very interesting.

anywho, that brings us up to speed. my french is coming along nicely, but i still need a little more confidence before i speak without reverting back to english.

random notes:

the clouds here are amazing. there must be something about the weather patterns, because the clouds form the most magnificent formations. i really must take more pictures of the clouds.

this morning it was really foggy. and the dew had collected on many spiderwebs around the chateau. i took some great pictures.