Kevin
At this point, it's about 4am here in Dublin (meaning 21 hours of being awake and close to 19 hours of travel thus far). I know I haven't written in a while, so I'll try and summarize everything from the last week staying with Melanie [French exchange student at Glenbrook North High School during Kevin's junior year].
I arrived on an afternoon to meet Melanie at the Colmar train station, after a BlaBlaCar from Paris to Strasbourg and a very last minute (yet not at all expensive) TGV to Colmar, and she took me home to re-meet her sister Mathilde and get to know her two friends visiting from Germany for the week.
After putting all of my things down, I joined them on a walking tour throughout a lot of downtown Colmar, which, like many of the towns there in the Alsace region, has strikingly German (and really nice!) architecture, a stark change from Paris and even more so from Dinan. Afterwards, Melanie, her mom, and I drove about half an hour east to the German border and another half hour to Freiburg, where I literally could not understand anything. The city looked really cool, but I've never been so lost in my life. (It's a good thing Melanie's fluent in German, as well.) After walking throughout the city, we met, at the bus station, Lena a girl who was a foreign exchange student in Melanie's group in one of the southern suburbs of Chicago. For the week, she'd stay with us as we traveled, as well.
When we came home, it was a little late, so the seven of us (Melanie, her mom, her sister, her sister's two German friends, Lena, and me) had a late dinner before going to bed. It was definitely a lot more adventurous than I'd imagined for my first day with them.
The next morning, Melanie, Lena, and I drove down to Basel, Switzerland (again, with no border patrol, it was so easy!) to pick up another past foreign exchange student, Vivian, from Taiwan. For the next five hours or so, we walked across nearly all of Basel, and I, once again, understood nothing. But, there was a sign at a small shop for half-priced (nearly expired) craft beers that I managed to make out, which made my dinner for the next three nights significantly better. After touring Basel, we returned to Colmar, where Vivian and Lena slept for a little while in the afternoon, as Melanie and I began preparations for the evening. She'd invited several friends and neighbors to come over for a mini-party, and she needed my help in cooking some German food that I can't pronounce (kind of like pizza, with only a doughy tortilla crust, sour cream, onions, and sliced ham). When they all came over, I had numerous people with whom I could practice my French, and it was a lot of fun.
The next morning, Melanie, Lena, and I drove down to Basel, Switzerland (again, with no border patrol, it was so easy!) to pick up another past foreign exchange student, Vivian, from Taiwan. For the next five hours or so, we walked across nearly all of Basel, and I, once again, understood nothing. But, there was a sign at a small shop for half-priced (nearly expired) craft beers that I managed to make out, which made my dinner for the next three nights significantly better. After touring Basel, we returned to Colmar, where Vivian and Lena slept for a little while in the afternoon, as Melanie and I began preparations for the evening. She'd invited several friends and neighbors to come over for a mini-party, and she needed my help in cooking some German food that I can't pronounce (kind of like pizza, with only a doughy tortilla crust, sour cream, onions, and sliced ham). When they all came over, I had numerous people with whom I could practice my French, and it was a lot of fun.
The next day, we slept a little late (until about 10 or 11 AM), and then we all (Melanie, her mom and sister, her sister's two friends, Lena and Vivian, and me) drove to Strasbourg to traverse the city. We ended up staying there for nearly eight hours, spending an hour or so of that time at a local cafe which served exclusively organic and vegetarian food. (It was great, nonetheless.) At the end of our trip, we dropped off Mathilde's two friends at the bus stop, visited Melanie's grandmother in the suburbs, and journeyed back home to Colmar, two fewer.
The next day, because Mathilde had to get a visa to study in America (She'll be a foreign exchange student in Austin.), her family decided to make it a grand trip to Paris. Her dad drove her, Melanie, Lena, Vivian, and I to Paris, where we walked along the Jardin des Tuileries for a few hours while Mathilde got her visa, and later to a village nearby called Barbizon, where we stayed at a small hotel for the night. In the village, we walked to a nice restaurant, where I was very close to eating lamb brain (I just couldn't do it.), and instead just settled with normal lamb meat, and creme brulee for dessert.
The next day, we traveled to Chateaubleau, a royal castle for the French elite, where we toured for about three hours. At the end of the tour, there was a small orchestra performance of students in American conservatories (Julliard, Oberlin, etc.) next to the gift shop, and I got to sit in the front row! After walking around the castle, we had a picnic in a nearby garden, before beginning our drive back to Colmar. On the way, we stopped in a small medieval town called Langres, but otherwise, we just continued on until Colmar, where we arrived at about 9 at night. Then, more of that German pizza-like food that's really good.
The next morning, it was Melanie's mom's turn to take us traveling (minus Mathilde, who'd gone early that day to Germany, to stay with her friends), For about two hours, we drove to Gerardmer, where we hiked a little, had a small picnic, and met the family of one of Melanie's friends. Afterwards, her friend took us to the center part of town, where we walked around a lot, before paddling in a boat on the lake (pictures should be coming soon.). Then, we went back to her friend's house for a barbecue, which lasted until about 11 PM. Then, we drove to a local bed and breakfast, where we all showered and went to bed very quickly.
The next morning, we hiked along one of the mountains in the area for two or three hours before meeting Melanie's friends at the beach for a swim in the afternoon. It was quite a paradisical final day in France. Late in the afternoon, we began our drive back to Colmar, where we played French music and I read French books, so as to put me in the right mood for my Haverford French Placement Test, which I took right after getting home. Apparently, my eight months of learning really have amounted to something! I'm not completely sure where I'll place, but I have a strong feeling I'll skip straight to Semester 3 or 4, whatever that means. After my test, we had a final dinner, and quite a few drinks for my final night in France, before going to bed.
Since this morning (8 AM on August 4), I've packed, eaten breakfast, driven to Gare Colmar ["gare" = train station], taken the train to Gare Strasbourg, taken the train to Charles de Gaulle airport, taken a plane to Dublin, and waited (A LOT). In about 4.5 hours, I'll be on a plane to Toronto. (Although, I'm really hoping it's oversold. My flight here was oversold, but the next one wasn't until 1 PM, and they, Aer Lingus, wouldn't rearrange my Air Canada tickets, so I couldn't stay the night at CDG for 250 Euros. I'm thinking, I've already been travelling for practically a day, what more do I have to lose in terms of a few hours for several hundred dollars?)
The next day, we traveled to Chateaubleau, a royal castle for the French elite, where we toured for about three hours. At the end of the tour, there was a small orchestra performance of students in American conservatories (Julliard, Oberlin, etc.) next to the gift shop, and I got to sit in the front row! After walking around the castle, we had a picnic in a nearby garden, before beginning our drive back to Colmar. On the way, we stopped in a small medieval town called Langres, but otherwise, we just continued on until Colmar, where we arrived at about 9 at night. Then, more of that German pizza-like food that's really good.
The next morning, it was Melanie's mom's turn to take us traveling (minus Mathilde, who'd gone early that day to Germany, to stay with her friends), For about two hours, we drove to Gerardmer, where we hiked a little, had a small picnic, and met the family of one of Melanie's friends. Afterwards, her friend took us to the center part of town, where we walked around a lot, before paddling in a boat on the lake (pictures should be coming soon.). Then, we went back to her friend's house for a barbecue, which lasted until about 11 PM. Then, we drove to a local bed and breakfast, where we all showered and went to bed very quickly.
The next morning, we hiked along one of the mountains in the area for two or three hours before meeting Melanie's friends at the beach for a swim in the afternoon. It was quite a paradisical final day in France. Late in the afternoon, we began our drive back to Colmar, where we played French music and I read French books, so as to put me in the right mood for my Haverford French Placement Test, which I took right after getting home. Apparently, my eight months of learning really have amounted to something! I'm not completely sure where I'll place, but I have a strong feeling I'll skip straight to Semester 3 or 4, whatever that means. After my test, we had a final dinner, and quite a few drinks for my final night in France, before going to bed.
Since this morning (8 AM on August 4), I've packed, eaten breakfast, driven to Gare Colmar ["gare" = train station], taken the train to Gare Strasbourg, taken the train to Charles de Gaulle airport, taken a plane to Dublin, and waited (A LOT). In about 4.5 hours, I'll be on a plane to Toronto. (Although, I'm really hoping it's oversold. My flight here was oversold, but the next one wasn't until 1 PM, and they, Aer Lingus, wouldn't rearrange my Air Canada tickets, so I couldn't stay the night at CDG for 250 Euros. I'm thinking, I've already been travelling for practically a day, what more do I have to lose in terms of a few hours for several hundred dollars?)
I think, when I arrive at home, I'll be very tired. But, before I go to Haverford, here are the things I've been thinking about eating: a Real Urban Barbecue three meat combo, a double-hamburger from Five Guys, a chocolate fudge brownie milkshake from Steak 'n' Shake (during their happy hour), and orange chicken from Mandar Inn. Those are all foods I just can't really have here, and they're excellent.
