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.

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

i live in a castle.

arrived yesterday in strasbourg. after a four hour bus ride from munich, we crossed over the rhine into france. the chateau de pourtales is on the outskirts of town, near a village called robertsau. the title is true; i live in a castle. just call me princess katherine while i'm here, please.

the chateau was built in 1750 by count pourtales, and his wife, madame melanie. they say madame melanie haunts the castle, but it is possibly just a ploy to get us to clean up the kitchen.

i share a double room with another girl. smallish room, i guess, but i'm living in a castle so i'm not complaining. two showers to share for 20ish girls. the WC is in one room, and then there's a "bathroom" with 6 or so sinks. all on the third floor. let me tell you, carrying my huge duffel up those winding stairs was not fun. at least my luggage finally made it.

i haven't picked up too much french as of yet, though i have developed a pretty killer accent i speak with english. close enough, i suppose.

this afternoon, we took bikes out around the surrounding area. these bikes are built for racing. i was a little short so reaching the handlebars was a stretch. racing through the trails, i felt like lance armstrong. you know, my own le tour de france. the chateau is in the middle of a big park, with lots of trails and forests. seriously, i might never leave here. we also took a walk to the supermarket, atac. i thought they were selling dead cats in the meat case, but it turned out to be a rabbit. still, pretty gross looking.

tomorrow we're going into strasbourg for the first time. boat tour, possibly buying a cell phone, walking around, maybe a cafe.

classes start monday. it's starting to feel like home.

au revoir!

-katie.

really, it was inevitable.

now that i've arrived at the chateau, i finally have internet access. i wrote this entry on the bus ride from munich to strasbourg. current updates to follow.

i'm officially here. well, i guess "here" could be a relative term, when you factor in the various states of consciousness i've been in for the past few days. jet lag, smelliness, intoxication, hungoverness... you know, what is to be expected.

the flight over here was relatively uneventful. delayed leaving chicago, so cut the connecting flight a little close. almost didn't make it. much to my discomfort, my luggage didn't make it at all. i spent monday, tuesday, and most of wednesday in the same pair of undies. gross. i bought a shirt and pairof pants from h&m in munich, so that wasn't so bad. mostly i missed my toothpaste. for future reference, i do not recommend german toothpaste. not so minty fresh.

tuesday we had lots of free time, then a city bus tour, then dinner. germany is refreshingly german. leiderhausen and dundel skirts, beer and saurkraut.i can't get over the architecture. most of the city was destroyed during wwII, so a lot of the historical stuff had to be rebuilt. it's quite interestingto see the stuff i learned in design history in real life, in context. we took a tour of nymphenburg palace, where i could have easily busted out my chair handouts and checked things off as we moved through the rooms.

more impressive is the current stuff being built. gorgeous. i'm impressed with the value germans (perhaps all europeans) place in design. it seems thereis a greater appreciation for the form of objects.

last night we had dinner at the haufbrauhaus, which i guess is famous or something. seemed like kind of a tourist trap. however, they had a delicious buffet. and the beer, oh the beer! served in liter mugs, incredibly delicious.

after dinner, a group of us went to oktoberfest. another beer, dancing on tables. an oompa band was playing (i don't think that's a technical term), butinstead played standard wedding reception fare. lots of fun to hear YMCA in german. hehe. i didn't know that was a universal dance. i continued my unbroken streak of befriending sketchy drunk european men (costa del sol, anyone?). good pictures from that as well. oktoberfest ends at 10:30ish, so we finished the evening at the bar in our hotel. at least this time the beer wasn't as big as my head.

woke up this morning still kinda intoxicated. but my luggage finally arrived last night, so i was able to enjoy a fantastic shower and fresh clothes. this morning we went to a modern art museum called pinakothek. four separate wings, one for paintings/ photography and what not, one for industrialdesign (with the most wonderful collection of furniture i've ever seen), one for architecture (edwards would have really enjoyed the models on display), and one other i didn't see. i only wish we could have spent more time here; i tried to walk through all the galleries, but it's kind of hard to enjoy a piece of art as you walk past for three seconds.

i'm really enjoying the people on this trip. quite honestly, i was worried about making friends. plus, have you seen some of the freaks that go to our school? everyone is fun. it's a little tricky remembering names. sometimes it feels like in chicago i surround myself with an ID bubble. it's really nice to hear about other majors, comparing and contrasting classes, understanding different types of design. plus, everyone is pretty cool.

later we'll finally make it to strasbourg. i've really enjoyed the time in munich. it was a nice way to start the trip, but i feel anxious to settle into a home and a routine. right now it still sort of feels like a people-to-people-esque tour. like i'll be going home in a couple weeks, or something.

but i'm not! this is going to be fun.

bags are packed; i'm ready to go

that's true, except my bags aren't quite packed. and i don't leave until monday. for france (and by france i mean quincy for three months where i will do nothing but photoshop myself into pictures of europe... mwahhaha). no really, i mean france.

perhaps it's my tendency to procrastinate. right now, pretty much every item of clothing i own in strewn across my floor. i think at one point i tried to put things into piles, but it turns out the piles became too specific. what i'm trying to say is, i can't yet bring myself to put anything in my suitcase. instead, i thought i would meditate on the act of packing, of moving on to something new. then i would share these observations on here. once i have resolved these lingering issues, i can pack in peace. god, she is weird

well, i guess i can say now that i've pretty much gotten through my ginormous to-do list that i had leading up to my trip. (side note: i feel strange calling it a trip, because it is much longer than a simple holiday. program sounds too rehab-y; adventure is silly. trip will have to do.) i'm officially done with all my classes, successfully completed final projects for all four, taken two final exams, moved my belongings into storage, gotten my hair cut (it's short!), completed all pre-departure arrangements, and so on and so on. though at the beginning of the quarter i felt daunted by my ever-growing to-do list, i wouldn't have done it any other way. well, maybe i would have spent a little more time working on my autoCAD final. and my rendering. but we'll wait until my grades are posted for that particular complaint. right now i have a load of laundry going downstairs, so that about wraps it up for this evening's activities.

i don't know, the more i think about my trip, the more i'm convinced that it will go by likethat. 11 weeks sounds like a lot, but in the same way, it still feels like yesterday that i started summer quarter.

i promise my bloggage in europe will be more exciting, less introspective, and report on actual events and stories and travels and fun. sorry to bore you.

you know, just testing out the ol' typing fingers.
goodnight.
-katie

welcome...

hello there!

this is the blog of katie mays as she spends three months in france studying abroad. is it premature for her to be setting up this account? perhaps. but, it's late, she's not tired, and for some reason is typing in third person.

i promise i won't do that the entire time.

anywho, this will be my connection to friends and family back in the states while i'm in france. here's to online stalking and the joys of traveling vicariously!