Au revoir, Dijon!

Bonjour à tous,

I believe this will actually be my last entry...today is my last day in Dijon! Tonight we are taking a bus to Paris and arriving at the airport in the early morning. Our Colby group is split between 2 flights Thursday morning. The weather in Paris has been okay for the past couple days, but it’s supposed to snow again on Thursday. I really hope the snow can hold off in Paris until we’ve left. It’s such a terrible time to have flight issues, everyone just wants to get home for the holidays!! With Paris and London cancelling so many flights, transportation has been pretty paralyzed. Please cross your fingers for the Colby group – we would all really love to get home. Many students are getting quite anxious here, especially the freshmen. For the past few days, we’ve been hanging out in Dijon – walking around, shopping, eating crepes, watching movies at our director’s house…not too shabby for being “stuck” somewhere. I’m doing just fine, but I am very excited to get home.

In my copious amounts of spare time I’ve compiled lists of what I will miss and what I will not miss about Dijon! Et voilà:

Things I will NOT miss about Dijon:
•Not knowing how to express myself the way I want to, becoming frustrated
•Being judged for being foreign/American
•Navigating through the busy Rue de la Liberté (too many people!)
•Passing by beggars with dogs
•Dog poop in the streets
•Playing “sardines” on the bus ride to school
•Life expenses: meals, cell phone
•Time difference with home
•Awkward meeting people
•Lack of hugs (had to wait for “Free Hug” day in France to get a hug from a French person)
•Lack of large drinks (no mugs, just little tea cups) Also – to go mugs!

Things I will miss about Dijon:
•My host family and their beautiful house
•View of St. Michel from my bedroom window
•Jon’s apartment
•Lack of homework
•My teachers, my director
•Laid-back lifestyle: spending hours in cafés, movies on Wednesday afternoons
•Benefits of living in the city: easy shopping, being around people, accessibility
•The art and architecture, the culture surrounding me
•Owls
•Runs around Lac Kir
•FOOD: mustard sauces/dressing, duck, soufflés, mousse au chocolat, yogurt, pain au chocolat, pain d’epices, brioche, bread, macaroons, cheese, croque monsieur/madame, crepes, cassis, vin chaud
•Bars (no hard alcohol ban, no fuss)
•Christmas market
•Lights up and down the main streets
•Opera or movie tickets for 5.50 euro
•All of the excursions
•Hearing French everywhere, gaining the ability to speak with relative confidence
•Spending time with the Colby in Dijon group – what a wonderful group of people, and how nice it is that we get to see each other back on campus!

Well there you have it! Obviously there is much more that I will miss about Dijon, and I probably won’t even realize how much I’ll miss it until I leave. This has been a truly enriching experience and I will treasure these memories forever! I am so happy to have had the opportunity to study abroad, and I think it’s something that every student should do. I am more than satisfied with the time I have spent here, and although I will miss it, I am ready to return to Colby for the spring semester. I know I’ll be back to visit Dijon one day. Au revoir!

Bisous,
Caroline

An Extended Stay in Dijon

Well, this was supposed to be my "farewell" post, but I guess I will have to postpone that for a few more days. I packed everything and was ready to go when I found out tonight that my flight had been cancelled due to snow in Paris. I probably should have seen this coming, but I was still in shock. It's really hard for me to leave places and transition and it takes a lot of mental preparation. I always end up making a big deal out of goodbyes, so when "goodbye" is not actually "goodbye," I'm a little thrown off. But maybe this is just my frustration speaking. Really, I am a very lucky person, because I am still with my host family in Dijon. It's not like I'm stuck in an airport, so life could be a lot worse. Plus, of all places to be stuck, I'm in France, so I'm going to really appreciate these last few days.

So: the plan is to fly out Thursday the 23rd (this was the next available flight). Crossing my fingers and praying that I'll be home for Christmas. I am happy in Dijon, but I really miss home now.

À bientôt,
Caroline

A Semester's Work Complete

Bonjour à tous,

Well there’s not much exciting or new to report (this will be short!)

Made it through my last week of classes and my final exams –really bizarre to think that my next class will be at Colby! I will definitely need to mentally prepare myself for the work load there; I have been spoiled this semester! Forcing myself to sit in my room and study was beyond painful. I am clearly getting sad about my fleeting moments left in France and I just want to fully appreciate everything here.

This past Sunday was quite unfortunate, probably the biggest “low” of the semester – I got the stomach flu. It caught me completely off guard and it was absolutely disgusting. I won’t go into details but my host family is saint-like for still loving me after that night. My host mom has been taking really good care of me. I am much better now thanks to lots of sleep, fluids, and gross medicine. I don’t think I’ve ever been this sick away from home, so I guess it was nice to at least have a mother-figure to look after me (as opposed to dealing with this at Colby – the horror!)

Thursday (tomorrow) night is our goodbye dinner! It’s at a really nice restaurant in Dijon, and all of the Colby students and host families will be attending. I just can’t believe the goodbye dinner has actually come! A few of the Colby students (including me) are singing some Christmas carols in English and in French, hopefully it will go well! I really miss singing and I can’t wait to sing again with my a cappella group at school (Love to all of my Colbyettes!)

That’s all for now! I miss and love all of you. The thought of seeing you all again will be my only incentive to pack! Uhg.

À bientôt,
Caroline

(Post) November Update

Bonjour à tous,

Well, November has come and gone quite quickly. I can’t believe it’s December already! Since I’ve been slacking on the updates, I’ll try to cover the highlights as best I can! Upon my return to Dijon, I had a few mid-terms which went pretty well, but I still hope to do better on my finals. Classes are good, not too much to report. I’m trying to participate as much as possible since my class has a tendency to become nearly mute some days, which is slightly frustrating (my poor professors), but at this point I’m just holding out ‘til I get back to Colby classes. My experience learning the French language here has been quite a rollercoaster. Some days I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on something, or a moderate comprehension, and other days I can get ripped apart and feel like I’m a complete failure. Unfortunately I don’t think that semi-volatile relationship with the French language will change unless I somehow gain fluency, which would really require me to live in France or another Francophone country. I’ll be interested to see if my confidence level with French gets any better when I return to Colby. All of the students here have probably learned more French than they give themselves credit for; it’s just hard to maintain a level of confidence here where you’re constantly judged. I love how the French take such pride in their language, and I want to be driven to speak better French, but for the entire semester I’ve worked on eliminating unnecessary stress caused by relentless judgment. But this is just part of the process, and I have thankfully become comfortable enough here. I can see why my professors all told me to stay for the year, because I do feel like I’ve worked so hard to find my place here, and now that I’ve comfortably settled, I’m leaving. At the same time, I can’t wait to see my family and friends back home, and I am ready to go back to Colby. I just want to make the most out of my last few weeks here. I have so little time left to enjoy my abroad experience!

The Colby group had our last 2 excursions this past month. Our first one was a day trip to Beaune, where we saw the Hospices de Beaune or Hôtel-Dieu, which formerly served as a hospital for the poor and the sick back in the 15th century. We also had a wine tasting at Patriarche, with the largest wine cellars in Bourgogne! We tried several types of white wine and red wine (definitely prefer white wine over red). It was quite the eye-opening experience for me, because I had no idea wine could have such different tastes, I’ve never compared different bottles of wine before! We also got to try some champagne – I especially liked the Crémant de Bourgogne Brut Rose. Our final excursion was a day trip to Lyon. We first visited the Basilique de Fourvière, where the Archbishop resides, and it might be the most beautiful church I have ever seen. I am not exaggerating – I was absolutely in love. The outside was pure white, and when you walk inside you’re inundated with color and gilded mosaics. Not only were the walls decorated with most gorgeous mosaics, but also the pillars were covered with statues of birds and angels. You walk down the church in awe and find yourself below beautiful stained glass windows and a gold statue of Virgin Mary (to whom this church is dedicated). If that’s not enough imagery for you, the Basilique is located on the top of a hill and looks over Lyon and other towns in the distance. Next on our list was the Théâtre Romain, the oldest Gallo-Roman theatre in France which dates back to the 2nd century AD. Unfortunately we didn’t get to walk in the theatre but we got a good look. Afterwards we explored the old quarter of Lyon (Quartier Saint-Jean). We saw an old-fashioned silk store (La Soierie Saint-Georges) as well as lots of other adorable stores and restaurants. Walking through the old quarter, Jacques led us through a “traboule” which is basically like a secret passageway. The traboules in Lyon were originally used by merchants to quickly transport their products from one place to another in Lyon, also useful for avoiding inclement weather. Lastly, we saw the Cathédrale de Saint-Jean, originally built in the 12th century, displaying a mix of roman and gothic architecture. The cathedral was definitely beautiful, but just couldn’t compare (in my eyes) to the Basilique, despite its really cool ruins site and its astronomic horologe (made in the 14th century), some sort of clock-like machine that shows the date, the positions of the moon, sun, and earth. Our day in Lyon was over before we knew it, and too soon we were riding on a bus back to Dijon. Lyon seems like a great French city to visit and I would definitely go back to explore more.


Beaune.


Patriarche wine barrels.


Basilique de Fourviere (outside)


Basilique de Fourviere (inside)


The view from the Forviere hill.


Traditional Soierie (silk store).


Astronomical Horologe in Cathedrale de Saint-Jean.

My weekends in Dijon have been entertaining and relaxed. I’ve seen a couple really great movies recently (we love going to the cinema in Dijon)! As I mentioned previously, I went to Harry Potter the day it came out in France (a week after it came out in the US! Horrendous). The first installment of HP7 completely blew me away – I didn’t want the movie to end! I did see it in French, which was pretty funny actually. During a very serious scene, Voldemort said “Lucius, donne-moi ta baguette” (Lucius, give me your wand) and Hannah whispered to me “What if he gave him a piece of bread??!” We nearly died of laughter in the theatre, and probably got several looks from the perplexed French moviegoers. Sadly the characters just weren’t the same without their British accents and I think I’ll have to see the movie again in English. I understood everything that happened, but I think I missed some of the small, hilarious quips that make the movie so great. Another fantastic movie that I saw in French recently was “Raiponce” (Rapunzel), also known as “Tangled.” Yes, it’s a PG Disney movie, but I would recommend it to anyone, in the same way that I would recommend Shrek to anyone! Also, since it was a kid’s movie, it was more on my level language-wise, so I didn’t feel like I was going through an oral comprehension exercise while trying to enjoy a movie. By far, most intellectually stimulating form of entertainment here has been the Opera. My friends and I saw “Orlando” by Handel. The opera was in Italian with French subtitles. I was not only listening to the Italian words (some which clearly resembled French) but also trying to understand the French subtitles while watching what was happening onstage. It was a mental workout! Not to mention that it lasted for three and a half hours! Thank goodness for the intermissions. I was happy to find that I understood everything that was going on (with some help from reading the synopsis in French) and it was an enjoyable cultural evening.

The first snow of the winter in Dijon arrived Thanksgiving night. I couldn’t have been happier. The Colby group had dinner at our director’s apartment, which is an absolutely gorgeous place. Jon and Dace warmly welcomed us into their home. Many students came with side dishes for our American feast. My friend Maggie and I tried to make green bean casserole (my favorite), but that didn’t really work because fried onion rings supposedly don’t exist here, and as they are so crucial to the dish, we decided to make a different green bean dish, with feta cheese, red onions, and walnuts. We bought a huge bag of fresh green beans from the market, which impressed my host family, since many French people just buy frozen vegetables. Our Thanksgiving dinner had every dish to be hoped for: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, four types of stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, broccoli, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and apple pie. I think everyone was entering a blissful food coma by the end of the evening.


Colby in Dijon Thanksgiving! Pictured: My director Jon and his wife Dace.

It has continued to snow here (on and off) for the past week. One of the happiest feelings I’ve had here is waking up to see the snow softly falling on the St. Michel Church outside my window. They’ve set up the Christmas market in the Place de la Liberation, selling jewelry, scarves, toys, hot wine, and more. In addition, they’ve strung lights up and down the main streets, which make Dijon look like a winter wonderland at night. And with the winter season comes winter activities! My friends and I went ice skating the other weekend, which was a lot of fun. It’s safe to say I’m getting into the Christmas spirit :).


A snowy day of shopping in the Christmas market of Dijon.

Last weekend, we celebrated my host mother’s birthday. All of my host siblings (Louis, Claire, and Benigne, all in their early 20’s) came home, and it was really nice to see the whole family together. The dinner table is much livelier and it’s interesting to watch all of their interactions. I wish they were here all the time!


My host siblings!

Looking ahead:
To my dismay, I have to get through my final exams in the next two weeks…c’est la vie! This week is my LAST WEEK of actual class! How did that happen? Hopefully I’ll also be learning some Christmas carols with fellow Colby students to perform at our goodbye party. I will inevitably be doing more Christmas shopping – it’s too easy when you live right in the city. Those are all of the major plans I can think of (let’s avoid even mentioning packing). Otherwise, my main goal = soak up every last moment in Dijon.

Gros Bisous,
Caroline

The Massive Fall Break Entry (Read at your discretion...)

The first week of November was my fall break. Planning all of my traveling for the break was stressful, and I half-expected something to go awry while traveling, but I was relieved to find how smoothly everything went! Hannah and I embarked for our fall break journey Friday, October 29th. We got to London via the Chunnel, which is probably the weirdest mode of transportation I’ve ever used. I still don’t really understand how I got to London. Hannah and I met our friends Ali, Kristin, and Fiona that night. Ali and Kristin are both juniors at Colby. Ali is a Colby junior studying abroad in London and heavily involved in a fantastic theatre program there. Kristin is also a Colby junior who’s currently studying abroad in Cork, Ireland. Fiona (who I saw in Paris earlier this semester) is a recent Colby grad now working in London. It was fantastic exploring London with so many Colby friends. In short, we crammed most of the major London tourist sites in 2 days: Big Ben, London Eye, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace (and the Changing of the Guard!), St. James Park, Notting Hill (Portabello Road Market), St. Paul’s Cathedral, London Bridge, London Tower, Harrods, Chinatown, Trafalgar Square, Globe Theatre, Piccadilly Circus, and of course Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station. I’d say my favorite parts were walking through St. James Park (absolutely beautiful) as well as the Portabello Road market (super crowded but enjoyable all the same), experiencing Harrods for the first time (the most enormous department store), and catching up with friends over several delicious meals. Least favorite part of London: the expense! The dollar-pound ratio is terrible. Also the tube was frustratingly complex at first, but I think I was just used to the Paris metro. Needless to say we quickly learned how to use it effectively since we had so many sightseeing plans! Despite being slightly overwhelmed by the splendor of London, I felt very comfortable. I felt like my wardrobe was actually acceptable and I have to admit it was nice being in an English-speaking country once again…more importantly, one with a great accent! Halloween night was (unfortunately) spent in the airport, but at least we didn’t have any more children coming into bars to ask us for money (not candy), nor did we have to face the grotesque, bloody costumes that the English are so fond of.

Houses of Parliament.

Westminster Abbey.

Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace.

The cheap Ryan air flight to Cork at 6:00 am Monday morning was, thankfully, a success; however the 3 drowsy Colby juniors (Hannah, Kristin, and I) got very little sleep spending the night in the airport, and consequently had a very long nap after arriving at Kristin’s dorm. Later that afternoon, Kristin showed us around the lovely city of Cork as well as around her campus at University College Cork. One of the best places in Cork: the English market, where we got food for dinner. It was fun being in a dorm-room setting again. Of course I love living with my host family, and I would not want it any other way, but it’s kind of weird living in a home-setting again after getting used to dorm life when you’re surrounded by friends literally 24/7.

Kristin and Hannah at the English Market in Cork.

On Tuesday, while Kristin was in class, Hannah and I went to Cobh, which is a famous harbor town right near Cork. As soon as we got off the train we saw the Annie Moore statue (Annie Moore was the first immigrant processed at Ellis Island in NY, 1892). Cobh is an adorable town with lots of brightly colored houses, notably the “pack of cards” houses built in an ascending stack leading up from the harbor. Cobh also has a lot of history, famous for being Titanic’s “last port of call on her maiden and final voyage, April 11, 1912.” Cobh, which has also been referred to as “Queenstown” in the past, was a heavily used port during the time of mass emigration in Ireland. Apparently from 1815-1970, over three million people emigrated from Cobh! I found the Cobh museum to be really fascinating, and I learned a lot about the failure of the potato crop, its impact on the Irish people, the mass emigration that followed, and they even had an exhibit on the Titanic. I also learned about several of the largest liners that served as the mode of transatlantic transportation until air travel became popular in the 1960s. After an enjoyable morning in Cobh, on our way back to Cork, Hannah and I stopped at the Fota Wildlife Park, which is probably the closest I’ll ever get to seeing real wildlife. We saw so many animals – monkeys, penguins, wallabies, cheetahs, emus, ostriches, zebras, giraffes, kangaroos, lemurs, and more! The lemurs were especially friendly, I literally could have pet one if I wanted to. After getting back to Cork, Hannah and I had dinner with Kristin, and later that night, Chelsea (another Colby junior studying abroad in Cork) joined us for a drink at a really cool bar in town. Kristin and I tried two different types of Cork-brewed beer, which were pretty good despite the fact that neither of us are big beer fans.

Annie Moore Statue in Cobh.

Pack of Cards.

Lemurs at the Fota Wildlife Park!

The next day, Kristin, Hannah, and I took a day trip to Dublin! We saw lots of sheep and green fields on our long bus ride there. When we got there we witnessed a student strike due to the rising college tuition. Granted, it is doubling, but only from 1500 euro to 3000 euro. What would they think about college (or even high school) tuition in the United States? I understood their reasons for striking but couldn’t help but feel that it was a little absurd to refuse to pay 3000 euro for their college tuition. Notable sightseeing in Dublin: Molly Malone statue, Trinity College, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral and its ruins, the Temple Bar area, Dublin Castle, Abbey Theatre, and the Millennium Bridge. I must add that some of these places I didn’t get to explore in full, but at least saw from the outside. We went through Dublin at a fast pace since we didn’t have much time there, but we did get to sit in the Oliver St. John Gogarty Bar and enjoy a drink while listening to live music. After one of the best lunches of my life, I concluded that my favorite place in Dublin is the Queen of Tarts restaurant, which is utterly adorable, and of course has tarts that are to die for.

Students striking in Dublin.

St. Patrick's Cathedral.


Temple Bar.

For our last day in Cork, Hannah and I went to the famous Blarney Castle, which was built in the 15th century and holds the famous Blarney stone, which apparently gives the lips that kiss it the gift of eloquence. Before it became a tourist attraction, kissing the Blarney Stone was a great feat which required one to get into the castle and literally bend over backwards to reach the stone. As we climbed up the tiny stairs of the old castle we had beautiful views of the town below in the midst of fall foliage. We learned the important distinction between baloney and blarney: “baloney is flattery laid on with a trowel. Blarney is flattery laid on with the lips; that is why you have to kiss a stone to get it.” Hannah and I both kissed the Blarney stone (I have a ridiculously touristy picture to prove it) and I am still waiting to see if I have indeed become more eloquent – it definitely hasn’t happened in French. The castle also featured a really interesting Poison Garden, full of poisonous plants, such as the European Mandrake (Harry Potter reference). The castle also had really beautiful grounds that Hannah and I didn’t have that much time to explore. Too soon, it was time to say goodbye to Kristin and Cork, and Hannah and I flew to the last destination of our fall break– Amsterdam!


Blarney Castle.

We met my Baltimore friend, Megan (who went to Garrison, now at Occidental) at Centraal Station and she warmly welcomed us to the city of Amsterdam. Having known nothing about Amsterdam beforehand, Hannah and I found that the city had a lot to offer and we had a wonderful couple days there. While I could never navigate it myself, I love the set-up of the city and found all the channels to be very picturesque. Also, everyone bikes there, which is so eco-friendly and awesome, but as I soon learned, semi-dangerous for the pedestrians! If you’re not paying attention while you’re walking, you will be nearly run over by an agitated Dutch biker. The first night we were there, we went to a great Thai restaurant right by Megan’s dorm. Apparently in Amsterdam (as well as in other European countries) it is looked down upon if you just ask for tap water – you always have to buy a separate drink. So I order a jonge jenever (a drink special to Amsterdam) with tonic. I really have no idea what I’m ordering and even though our waiter told us it’s not the same as gin and tonic, I order it anyway, and he proceeds to call me “Thrill Seeker” for the rest of the night! The drink was actually really good; I just couldn’t get over my new nickname. Thrill Seeker’s adventures in Amsterdam! It has a nice ring, doesn’t it? (Just kidding. Please do not worry, parents and grandparents, I was well-behaved). Highlights of Amsterdam include: walking along Prinsengracht (one of the major streets), the Pancake Bakery (most delicious pancakes of my life), the Tulip market, STROOPWAFELS, the Van Gogh museum, and the Anne Frank House. There are so many wonderful museums to visit in Amsterdam, and I wish I could have seen more of them, but I was really happy seeing the Van Gogh museum. I really loved looking at his artwork particularly his impressionist and pointillist paintings. Two of my favorite paintings were Seascape near Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and Courting couples in the Voyer d’Argenson Park. The Anne Frank House, where Anne Frank lived in hiding until she was discovered, had a really moving exhibit and I couldn’t believe I was walking the same steps that Anne Frank did 70 years ago. Our time in Amsterdam concluded with Museum Nacht, an annual celebration when many of Amsterdam’s museums are open late at night, with food, drinks, music, and dancing. What a fantastic way to spend an evening! Hannah and I joined Megan and her Amsterdam friends and we ended up making it to 4 museums: the FOAM photography museum, the Hermitage (Alexander the Great) museum, the Botanical gardens, and lastly NEMO (the science museum). After a long night in Amsterdam, Hannah and I got some much-needed sleep in preparation for our day of traveling back to Dijon. I was so happy I had the opportunity to see Megan and see Amsterdam through her eyes. I might have never dared to explore Amsterdam if it wasn’t for her great enthusiasm for the city.


Megan and me in Amsterdam!

Whew…if you have read all of this, I’m impressed! Overall, as you might have guessed from my very positive recount of my travels, I had a truly enjoyable fall break. I can’t tell you my absolute favorite part of the trip, because I had so many wonderful experiences, but I will say that I definitely want to visit Ireland again. I’m glad I got to see Kristin’s life in Cork, but I would still like to experience the real Irish countryside – perhaps a trip to Galway is in order, sometime in the future. It was really nice going to countries where they speak English (though people automatically spoke to me in Dutch in Amsterdam before seeing my hopelessly confused look). However, a week of English was terrible for my French! I came back into classes a little rusty, which was unfortunate. At the same time, going away made me appreciate my study abroad experience in Dijon even more. I was surprised at how content I felt to be re-immersed in the French language. I really felt like I came back to my home here in Dijon, and I was once again in a familiar place where I understood the lay of the land. Je t’aime, Dijon!

You can check out my fall break pictures on Facebook or here: http://picasaweb.google.com/cariina27/FallBreakLondonIrelandAmsterdam. Enjoy!

Love,
Caroline

HARRY POTTER! Or As the French Would Say “Ahrhee Pohtehrh”

Hello friends! I know it’s been a while since my last entry. I’m working on writing down all of my fall break adventures (which hopefully will be posted soon)…but until then I have a treat for all of you Harry Potter fans, especially those of you who speak French!

As I impatiently wait for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film to come out in Dijon (tomorrow!) I’ve been reading a little bit of Harry Potter in French. Reading the French translation has been quite amusing and some of these words made me crack up:

Muggle = Moldu
You-Know-Who = Vous-Savez-Qui
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named = Celui-Dont-On-Ne-Doit-Pas-Prononcer-Le-Nom (What a mouthful!)
Lord Voldemort = Seigneur des Ténèbres
Snape = Rogue
Deatheaters = Mangemorts
Dementors = Détraqueurs
Wand = baguette
Sorcerer’s stone = la pierre philosophale
Quidditch = Kouidditch
Hogwarts = Poudlard
Merlin’s beard! = Par la barbe de Merlin!

And now for one of my favorite Harry Potter quotes in French : « A présent, Harry, sortons dans la nuit noire à la poursuit de cette fantasque tentatrice, l’aventure » -Dumbledore

I can hardly contain my excitement !!!


Kristin and I at Platform 9 ¾, King’s Cross Station, London.

À bientôt !
Caroline

October update/Fall Break plans

What? Another update? Mais oui! I thought I’d share a little more about life in Dijon as well as my plans for fall break.

Let’s start with the academics (after all, this is a STUDY abroad program…) After September’s language review course, the semester language courses began when we got back from our Paris/Loire valley excursion. I am much more content with my language course now than I was back in September, because we have less class hours and our learning is more structured. Within my language course I am working on written expression, oral expression, written comprehension, oral comprehension, and grammar. I have different professors for the different sections of my language course and I love all of them. I am also enjoying my art history, history, and literature courses. I’ve seen a fair amount of Dijon that I might not have explored otherwise because of my art history course – I love walking around the city and it’s interesting to see in person the art and architecture we’re learning about in class. My history professor, Jacques, is very outgoing and kind of crazy…note one of his catchphrases: “Is bad joke, yes?” Lastly, my French literature course has been going pretty well – so far we’ve read Madame Bovary by Flaubert, which was downright depressing - clearly not the book for me - despite Flaubert’s interesting writing style. Now we’re moving onto Un amour de Swann by Proust, which I think will be challenging but we will see how it goes.

Moving right along…I’ve noticed myself finally adjusting to life in Dijon. September was long and difficult, but now that we’re nearing the end of October, I feel much more comfortable here. I can ask people on the street for directions. I walk down the side streets. I no longer dread making conversation at the dinner table. I like taking baths. I crave yogurt for dessert (no worries, my love for chocolate remains). I can eat strong cheeses without grimacing. I don’t totally freak out when someone is speaking rapidly. Time is passing by more quickly than before.

As for a little actualité (news), you may have heard about the strikes going on in France. As I discussed in my first Dijon post, some of the French people are enraged that President Sarkozy is raising the retirement age from 60 to 62, as well as preventing them from getting their full pension until age 67. This new retirement plan has caused such uproar throughout France that it has not only caused millions of people to demonstrate in the streets, but has also caused countless flight/train/bus delays and cancellations, petrol shortages, and even violence leading to burning vehicles. What is going on?! (You can check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11520220 for more info.) Luckily Dijon has not been that crazy. Strikes here mostly involve people walking up the main road (Rue de la Liberté) and, at most, sometimes tear gas has been used by the police. I thankfully have learned enough of the layout of Dijon to avoid this road of protest during the strike days. Though, one day I decided to stand on the sidewalk in the midst of a strike and even managed to take a few photos. I think what has interested me the most about this strike is the participation of young people – high schoolers – in the manifestations. The Socialist party is very eager to have teenagers get politically involved so that they can have a greater impact in number and noise as they walk down the streets. I believe all citizens have the right to participate in the strike; however, I am worried about the consequences for the young teenagers. It’s clear that some of these strikes are putting the protesters in danger, and these kids need to stay away from the chaotic mess that has deviated from the once-civil strike. In addition, these kids need to be going to school every day. Some of the French lycées (high schools) are being shut down on strike days, which is unacceptable. They cannot sacrifice their education for walking in the streets. It’s in their best interest to stay in school, and maybe even learn about population demographics and the social and financial issues facing the government. I am not sure these teenagers who are protesting in the streets truly understand the problems that the new retirement plan is trying to fix. Now, I am not saying that these high schoolers aren’t mature enough to have founded political opinions; but I doubt that they have received detailed, objective explanations of France’s current situation to make a well-educated decision. I just think this is a very complicated problem that people are not thinking through and the strike is almost becoming a fad for the high schoolers. Let’s think about this for a second: you’re allowing a teenager to skip school in order to parade down the street with flags and horns in rebellion of the government. Sound like fun? However this is just my opinion. I should probably spend more time reading up on the strike and how it’s being handled, but frankly the mayhem here just frustrates me.

I digress…to finish this post on a lighter note, I want to tell you all about what I have planned for fall break (the first week of November). My friend Hannah (another junior on the Dijon program) and I are travelling together for the entire trip, which has made me feel a lot more at ease. First, we are going to be in London this weekend, where we’ll meet more Colby people. Then we will travel to Cork, Ireland, where we will stay with our Colby friends (Kristin and Chelsea) on their study abroad program. Finally, we will spend the last few days in Amsterdam with my friend Megan, also on her study abroad program. I am beyond excited for this trip!!!!! Planning it was kind of a nightmare, I had never really dealt with booking buses/trains/planes before, and coordinating everything was pretty stressful. I am preparing myself to deal with issues as they come, as things never go perfectly, and I am crossing my fingers for working transportation. But I CANNOT WAIT to have a break, go to some English speaking countries, and see my friends. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to travel through 4 countries in 1 week!!!

All my love,
Caroline

L’aviron Dijonnaise

Bonjour à tous!

I thought I would dedicate this entry to all of my rowers out there. I have been thinking of crew a lot recently, especially because of the Head of the Charles Regatta this past weekend (way to go Colby!) and I simply miss rowing. I am one of the lucky ones, though, because I have had the wonderful opportunity of rowing right here in Dijon!

The first time I went to the Dijon boathouse, I could hardly contain my excitement. I met the “responsable,” one of the people in charge of the Dijon program and talked to him about my previous rowing experience. He paired me with an 18-year-old named Marine and we rowed in a double scull together that afternoon! Marine is clearly a very talented, experienced rower – much better at sculling than I am – so it was wonderful to row with her! I felt kind of embarrassed as we were rowing because I rarely row in sculls (using 2 oars); I am accustomed to sweeping (using 1 oar). While I told her that I didn’t have much experience sculling, I still felt stupid as I made a bunch of mistakes. We rowed up and down the lake (Lac Kir) a couple times – it’s a small lake – and I was thankfully making some improvements. The “responsable” as well as Marine gave me advice about rowing in sculls which was really helpful. It’s very interesting (to say the least) rowing in France because you have to understand everything in French, from the parts of the boat to the directions and advice you’re given. Learning all of the rowing vocabulary in English was challenging enough, and it was frustrating not knowing any of the words in French!

In case this interests any of you, I have compiled a short list of handy French rowing vocab:
To row = ramer
Crew = l’aviron
boat = bateau
oar = rame
blades = les palettes
stroke = le coup
wing nut = un papillon (same word for « butterfly » in French)
washer = une rondelle
single, double, four, eight = skiff, double, quatre, huit
going around/a turn about the lake = faire une tourne autour du lac
“Ready, row” = “Tous” (simply “all”)
the catch: la prise d’eau
the release = le dégagé
handle height = la hauteur des poignées
to steer/direct = se diriger
forward stroke = nager, avancer
backstroke = dénager, reculer
to catch a crab = faire une fausse pelle (learned this one quickly!)
the drive = la propulsion
the recovery = le retour
coxswain = un barreur
rower = un rameur (nm), une rameuse (nf)
novice = un débutant (nm), une débutante (nf)
regatta = une régate
head race = une tête de rivière
blister = une ampoule

Some of these words I learned myself; some I looked up (See www.avironfrance.asso.fr for more info). I’ve also gotten the chance to row in a 4-person scull without a coxswain, which was kind of a mess! Granted I was with other novices and we weren’t communicating well…I wanted a coxswain so badly! At one point one of the girls rowing in my boat used her scarf (yes she brought a scarf in the boat – we are in France people!) to wrap around her oar handles because her blisters were hurting her so badly. I did not dare say anything but thankfully she soon realized that her solution didn’t work so well. Overall, I was happy to get the experience of rowing in the 2x and 4x, since I wouldn’t normally do that back at Colby. From what I’ve gathered, the Dijon club hardly takes out 8’s and emphasizes learning how to scull. I appreciate the chance they have given me – at this point, I’ll row in anything to get on the water – but I can’t wait to get back in an 8 with my Colby women!

I spent my Sunday night on Skype with Kristin and we watched the Head of the Charles Regatta together via the live webcam on the HOCR website. It was SO fantastic seeing everyone row and you can bet that I cheered for Colby Crew as if they could hear me across the Atlantic Ocean!

To all of my fellow Colby rowers: I miss you terribly and I hope you’ve thoroughly enjoyed your fall season! Have fun with the Halloween regatta and have a good start to your winter training. I can’t wait to join you in January.

Bisous,
Caroline

Excursions Galore!

Well it has taken me way too long to update this blog, but not to worry, I will update you on everything! September was a month of excursions, so for this post I’ll focus on all the traveling we’ve done so far.

Our first excursion was to the Côte d’Azur in the south of France. We traveled there by coach bus (I feel like I have a special attachment to coach buses after the countless hours I’ve spent going to and from regattas…definitely thought of Colby Crew!) My history teacher Jacques was playing guitar and singing random French songs, as well as conversing with my director Jon. When we arrived at Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer in the afternoon, we went to the beach (right by our hotel!) and swam in the warm Mediterranean water – it felt like summer again! The following day we discussed our summer reading with Jon on the beach and I kept pinching myself as I was lying on a beach in the Côte d’Azur instead of sitting in a chair in a classroom (or worse, a lab) at Colby! I must admit that the beach is probably not the most productive classroom setting, but I’ll take it! Later that day our group had the opportunity to go scuba diving, but I opted to take a little hike and see the Mediterranean from a higher viewpoint.

The view!

The following day we left for the town of Orange and visited the Théâtre Antique d’Orange, which was magnificent! It reminded me of the grand amphitheaters I saw in Italy and the theatre had an overwhelming amount history to learn. I sat in the shade and listened to my audioguide for a while; then I watched a mini performance of the type of theatre performed back in the 2nd century BC and several actors also donned the typical costumes. I wish I could have spent more time there to learn more about the theatre but it was time for lunch, and I had the most delicious meal at a restaurant nearby: for the appetizer, an asparagus tart with salad, followed by lamb stew, and for dessert, panicotta! I was très content.


Théâtre Antique d’Orange.

Our next excursion was a day trip to St. Romain. It felt so great to be in the countryside after living in the city of Dijon…I’ve realized that I am simply not a city girl! The weather was beautiful and we walked around in the adorable town of St. Romain, seeing vineyard after vineyard. We visited the church of Saint-Romain-le-Haut and Serge (one of my teachers) met us there to teach us a little art history. Afterwards we continued to walk around and had some great views of the cliffs and the village below. We ate lunch at our history teacher’s house (chez Jacques) – it was just lovely. Jacques’ wife made the best mousse au chocolat for dessert! I hope I’m not talking about food too much in my blog…I am just eating so many wonderful things here that it is a shame not to tell all of you!

Finally, the Colby group had a major excursion at the end of September to Paris and the Loire Valley. We spent four days in Paris, followed by two days in the Loire valley, and it was a wonderful break from classes. It will bore you terribly to tell you everything about my trip so I will list the highlights:

1. We visited the Louvre and I ran into Will Finney and Andrew Reid from Gilman!! The whole Sewanee study abroad program was there that morning as well. Somehow we managed to be in the same area of the Louvre at the same time on the same day in Paris. What are the odds?! Madame Colombat would be so proud of her three French 5 students studying abroad in France! That brief dose of Baltimore definitely made my morning. Our tour guide, Caroline, took us around the Louvre and focused on the French artwork, so we got to see some famous pieces (including some that I hadn’t seen when I came to the Louvre 2 years ago), but there was a lot that we missed. I wish I could have stayed longer and gone through more exhibits but you just get tired and after a while your eyes glaze over because you’ve been inundated with so much information! I’ll have to come back to the Louvre one day, perhaps without a tour group, so I can explore at my own pace.

2. My friends and I walked up and down the entire Champs-Élysées one afternoon and went in and out of a bunch of stores. Everything was pretty expensive but I enjoyed looking nonetheless. My friend Hannah and I actually sang the Champs-Élysées song as we were going down the street so that was pretty awesome!

3. I went to a concert in the Eglise Madeleine (a beautiful church that kind of resembled some sort of temple from the outside). A group of violinists and cellists performed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as well as other classics like Pachabel’s canon and Ave Maria (they had a wonderful soloist). It was really cool being able to recognize all of the songs and know how they develop, since I listen to the Four Seasons so often while doing my homework! Good times in Olin library. I also thought of my Intro to Music class (thank you Professor Saunders) and smiled. And of course I had to listen to the Colby Chorale’s version of Ave Maria on my iPod after the concert. Overall it was a wonderful way to spend the evening!


The concert.

4. One morning we went to visit Sainte-Chapelle as well as Notre Dame. I absolutely loved the enormous stained glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle. I’d say Sainte-Chapelle is one of my favorite places in Paris – in addition to light and color provided by the stained glass windows, it’s also painted in a lot of blues and reds and golds – probably the most colorful church I’ve seen. A much nicer atmosphere than Notre Dame, in my opinion, even though it’s much smaller. I was happy to go back to the Notre Dame, our tour guide Caroline lead us around, but I don’t think I actually like the church that much because it’s so dark and somber. My favorite part about visiting the Notre Dame was getting to walk up to the top (I believe there were over 400 stairs)! I got lots of great pictures of the city of Paris and it was fun being so close to the gargoyles! I even got to see the bell at the top and wanted to sing “Out There” (Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame reference).


A pensive gargoyle.

5. One evening my friends and I went to the Eiffel Tower. We took a ton of pictures! I must say it was a pretty magical experience to eat a banana and nutella crepe as I watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle at the hour.


Left to right: Steph, Maggie, Me, Kallie, Jackie in front of the Eiffel tower.

6. One morning we went to Versailles – it was just as grand and decorated as I had remembered, but I took a very similar tour there two years ago, so it wasn’t really a novel experience. It was nice having our tour guide Caroline there to tell us about some things in more detail, but it was so crowded and overpopulated with annoying, pushy tourists that it was not the most pleasant visit. Also, there was a bizarre Japanese modern art exhibit in Versailles that looked completely out of the place. Maybe I would appreciate it more in a modern art exhibit, but I was not a fan of it being displayed in the ornate and elaborately decorated rooms of Versailles.

7. For our last night in Paris, Lucy, Hannah, and I had an elegant evening at the Ritz in Paris. We got dressed up and tried to walk into the Ritz “like we had a reason to be there” as Lucy put it. The doorholder wished us a good evening and we were escorted to a booth in the dining area. Looking at the menu was mind boggling – the drinks were SO expensive! The most expensive on the list was a bottle of some really fancy wine for 7000 euro. So ridiculous. After ordering much cheaper drinks, we were served chocolates as well as a variety of nuts and olives…so exquisite! When we were getting ready to leave the Ritz, we decided to be daring and steal the napkins embroidered “Ritz Paris” as a little keepsake (mature, I know). We managed to get away with it and I must say it was quite exhilarating!

8. And lastly, my favorite part of the whole trip: seeing my friends Fiona, Emma, and Dominique in Paris! Emma and Dominique are also juniors studying abroad, and my friend Fiona actually lives in Paris, so it was wonderful to catch up with them. I had my first café (expresso) with Fiona and I could barely drink it, it was so strong! Needless to say I opted for hot chocolate when I went to a café with Emma. Dominique showed me around the Latin quarter and we found a lovely restaurant for dinner. I must say, I am happy to not be studying abroad in Paris. The city is way too large and international for me. I know everyone would speak to me in English – I doubt I would learn much French. Also, all of the tourists are so annoying! Let’s ignore the fact that I am technically a tourist as well.

Next, we traveled to the Loire Valley, which might be my favorite excursion so far. We visited SO many chateaus and I was so happy to be in the countryside again.

Our first stop was the Chateau de Chenonceau (my personal favorite). My friend Emma describes it as a “Disney princess castle.” This chateau was built in the 16th century during the reign of François 1er (which is clearly displayed by the numerous appearances of his symbol, the salamander, throughout the chateau). There were so many beautiful bedrooms and tapestries and paintings, it was overwhelming! It was also slightly confusing to keep track of all of the owners of the chateau throughout the centuries. It was interesting to learn about all the uses of the chateau and its importance in France: in WWI, the gallery was converted into a hospital; in WWII, it became “la ligne de demarcation” that separated la zone occupée (the entrance of the Chateau) and la zone libre (back of the chateau). The gallery allowed for many people to secretly pass into the free zone, but apparently during the war, the Germans were ready to destroy the chateau at any moment. How terrifying – I can’t even imagine. The kitchen was charming, with lots of copper pots and pans, there were also separate rooms for making bread and cutting the meat. We didn’t see all of the rooms but I was already quite impressed with what I had seen and we walked outside to see the charming garden areas.

I also enjoyed going to the Chateau de Clos Lucé, built in the 15th century in Amboise, most famous for being the residence of Leonardo da Vinci for the last 3 years of his life. King François 1er invited da Vinci to live there in 1516. What I liked most about visiting this chateau was not seeing all of the rooms with the beautiful Renaissance décor, but rather seeing the rooms that held models and drawings of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions. Some of his inventions had even been digitalized and made into a mini-cartoon. I had no idea he invented so many things! He was such a talented individual, really one of the most incredible people I’ve learned about. In addition to the Chateau, there is a lovely outdoor area called “le parc Leonardo da Vinci.” I would definitely encourage everyone to visit this chateau – as I was leaving I regretted not spending more time there because there was so much more to see than time allowed.

I am not going to go into quite as much detail about the other chateaus but I will give a brief summary! The next day we visited the Chateau d’Azay Le Rideau. We saw more quintessential beautiful Renaissance décor – lots of tapestries depicting stories and mythological tales which Caroline (tour guide) liked telling us about. That afternoon we visited the Chateau de Villandry et ses jardins (gardens)! We didn’t actually go inside the chateau, we just walked around the gardens, which I loved. The view of the design from above was magnificent – there were so many different gardens with a variety of plants of all colors! There was even a maze, which everyone was excited to get lost in, only to find that it was pretty small and clearly mapped out. Our next stop was the Chateau de Cheverny which was gorgeous and had very extravagant decorations. The biggest room of the chateau was filled with armor and weapons from the 15th-17th centuries, which was so cool! The chateau is currently inhabited by some family and it was kind of weird to see their pictures throughout the rooms. I would never want tourists in my house, though it must still be a magnificent residence! The last chateau we visited was Chambord, which was enormous…I think it had over 400 rooms! The coolest part of this chateau was the double helix staircase! Supposedly invented by da Vinci, the staircase turns around itself in a double helix and I felt like I was walking up DNA! I decided they should go to Chambord for a Magic Schoolbus episode. Yes, I was pretty much geeking out and having a Biology major moment. Slight diversion: the other day in Paris, we were learning about the stained glass windows in the Sainte-Chappelle, and apparently they used lead in between the window panes. The word for “lead” in French is “plomb,” but I didn’t figure that out for a while…then I made the connection that, on the periodic table, Lead = Pb. Yay for Chemistry (I hope Daas and Lisa are proud)!


Villandry gardens.


The double helix staircase (sideways).

Last thing I will mention about the Loire trip: we stayed in a fantastic hotel right next to Chambord called “Hotel Saint-Michel.” It was literally a world of a difference from our crappy Paris hotel. I slept in a queen size bed and was in a room for 2 instead of a room for 10, we had our own bathroom, and even a small TV! I felt so pampered. All of our meals there were absolutely delicious – without a doubt, the Colby students are well-fed on our excursions.

All in all, I would say that I have really enjoyed our planned excursions. They are a pleasant break from classes, but they also provide a wonderful learning experience! I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to see all of these places in person, and I know these will be unforgettable experiences. I am so grateful for my director, Jon, my tour guide, Caroline, my teachers Jacques and Serge, and of course, all the Colby students, who are the life of the program. I miss you all so much, wherever you are at the moment – I am always thinking of you!

Love,
Caroline

The Start of an Adventure

Bonjour et bienvenue à la France! I’m so sorry I haven’t updated my blog yet – I have been kept busy here for the past two weeks! I hope I can adequately summarize what I’ve been up to without boring you terribly.

I guess I should start at the very beginning (since it’s a very good place to start :)!) Mom and Dad brought me to the airport and there I met all of the Colby students going to Dijon, including my dear friend Sus who flew with us to France on behalf of Colby to make sure the trip over went smoothly. After a nice flight to Paris, we were shuttled to a hotel in Dijon, where we stayed for a few days before moving in with our host families. These days consisted of various orientation activities and we explored the city a bit. I’d say one thing worth noting specifically about orientation is the 5-mile jog around the lake with my director, Jon, and a few Colby students. The lake is so pretty and it felt really great to exercise after being so sedentary on the plane/shuttle…though I was quite sore afterwards! I’m hoping to run there on a semi-regular basis throughout the fall.

On Sunday, September 5th, the Colby students met their host families, and later that night there was a gathering at Jon’s apartment for everyone. I was really nervous to meet my family, because upon arriving in Dijon and being forced to speak French, I realized how rusty I was/how little of the language I actually knew. Obviously concerned, I could hardly get myself to speak and silently freaked out. Luckily, my worries were assuaged when I met my host family: Dominique (host mother), Jean (host father), and Alban (host brother, 16). I am so lucky to live with such nice people. Their house is right in the center of Dijon, and I can also see the church Saint Michel from my window. I think I must need to live near a church, because at Colby I lived next to the Chapel for 2 years and now I’m next to a church in France as well! It’s comforting for me to hear church bells.

As far as academics go, my classes started last Monday (September 6th). My language course is pretty intensive, time-wise (17 hours/week), and in addition I am taking French History, Art History, and Literature – all in French of course. While I spend a good chunk of my day in the classroom, so far I’ve found that there’s little work outside of the classroom. This is definitely a pleasant break from the workload at Colby. I think I will enjoy my courses this semester – I like my professors so far; I think my main concern right now is becoming comfortable with learning everything in French (it’s hard enough learning history in English)!

One of the most notable events of last week was la grève (a strike) on Tuesday (September 7th). Currently in France there is a large population of aging people who are going into retirement, however there are not enough working people to support those who are retiring. I’m not going to pretend I know a great deal about population dynamics and the economy, but basically France is faced with financial problems due to 1) a large older population, 2) the increasing lifespan, and 3) lack of working citizens. President Sarkozy’s plan is to raise the age of retirement from 60 to 62 years old. More than one million French citizens are actively demonstrating against increasing the age of retirement (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11204528 for more information). I’ve discussed the strike with my host parents and with my professor and I don’t think there is an easy solution to this problem. Another strike is planned for September 23rd. I watched the news with my family that night, and it was really interesting seeing the effects of the strike throughout the country.

I know you all want to hear about all the amazing food I’m eating, so let’s see if I can summarize. In general, I’ve consumed more delicious bread here in the past 2 weeks than I have anywhere else – breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the French eat bread! Ham and cheese on a baguette is like their PB&J. There are patisseries (bakeries) and cafés EVERYWHERE! Speaking of cafés, I’m pretty sure I will actually like coffee by the end of this trip. After class, my friends and I have been exploring Dijon and finding some really cute cafés to sit and drink an afternoon coffee. They really like expresso here (this is what you will get when you order a “café”), but I can’t drink that yet; instead I order another type of café and add so much milk and sugar that it resembles coffee-flavored milk! Anyway, as for the actual meals I’m eating, I’m very fortunate to have a host mother who is a fantastic cook! I’m also trying new things that I wouldn’t normally eat at home, because it is super rude to decline anything here. The other night we had “boudin noir” with cooked apples. I had never seen this food before and my host parents didn’t really try to describe it to me (probably better that they didn’t). My host father mentioned several times that it was good for my health, so I ate it without hesitation…and really liked it! After dinner, I went online to figure out what I had just eaten…turns out that boudin noir is a traditional French dish also known as black pudding or blood sausage. My advice is: don’t look up the ingredients, but try it! And how could I forget the mustard of Dijon? Mustard is often used in Dijonnaise cooking in so many ways; so far I’ve had some pretty great mustard glazes and dressings with several meals. But beware, it can be quite strong! The other night I ate too much mustard at once and had a strange burning sensation travel up my nose and cause my eyes to water right at the dinner table!

Continuing on the topic of food, I had an interesting conversation with my host parents the other day. I asked them if they ever eat peanut butter (beurre de cacahuèttes), and they basically laughed at me! NO ONE eats peanut butter here and it’s such a bizarre concept for me (considering I eat peanut butter practically every day at home). Apparently everyone in France thinks peanut butter is super fattening...they have no clue what they are missing! I’ve been desperately craving peanut butter lately so hopefully I will be able to find it somewhere. This might sound odd but I’ve also been craving chocolate lately because the French always eat fruit for dessert! Why must they be so healthy?!

Slowly but surely I am getting geographically oriented here in Dijon. I’ve taken the bus to and from school most days, but when it’s nice out, my friends and I like walking back into the city and wandering around or stopping at a café before going home. Both modes of transportation give the opportunity for some great people watching, though I am aware that people are watching us as well! Speaking English is a dead giveaway, of course, but even when we speak French, everyone can tell we’re from the US. It also probably doesn’t help that despite my sincere efforts in dressing nicer, I still don’t look “à la mode,” as the French would say. I’m sorry, but there is far too much black in French fashion for me. I will stick to wearing my colors, thank you!

There is more to come in my next post, which will include details about our excursions so far! I promise to actually update my blog SOON! I think about all of you so much, whether you’re home in Baltimore, back at school, or studying abroad. I send my love across the world!

À bientôt,
Caroline

Au revoir Baltimore, Bonjour Dijon!

Welcome (bienvenue!) to my Dijon blog. I'm hoping to update this regularly in France throughout the semester to share my experiences abroad with you all. Right now I have a mixture of feelings - of course I am very excited for all that is to come, but I am nervous about adjusting (I don't exactly deal with change well). In any case, I know this will be a wonderful learning and cultural experience and I'm so grateful for this opportunity. I hope everyone has a wonderful fall - please continue to update me on your lives (send an email to cariina27@gmail.com). Good luck to those back at school!

Love,
Caroline