Update: February

Sunday, February 23.

Hello again! February isn't quite over yet, but it's definitely coming to a close. And wow, this month certainly has sped by! It literally feels like yesterday that I was writing my January update post ... and now I'm getting ready for my spring break. But that's probably just because I've been keeping busy!

Let me rephrase. I've been keeping very busy. Like busier than I've ever been before in college busy. (So if I haven't been responding to emails/posting on Facebook, you'll see why.)

Things are starting to pick up with my extra-curriculars and suddenly, the reality of beginning so many new activities has set in! Honor Council is a big time commitment: even without cases, there are still weekly business meetings and office hours. And now that I'm co-chairing the Council's Faculty Liaison Committee, I have a few more responsibilities to take care of in the meantime. My internship at the Undergraduate Admissions Office is starting to pick up pace as well: in addition to getting ready for Day for Admitted Students in April, we interns have been helping around the office in preparation for committee, when the official admissions employees will select W&M's Class of 2018, and I've never spent so much time color-coding and alphabetizing! On the slightly cooler side, you can now see my official Admission Ambassador profile on the William & Mary website! Check out the ambassador biographies here and my first blog post ("Why W&M?") here.

There I am with the other Spring Programming interns! Fun fun fun.

As busy as things are outside of the classroom, there's even more today within my classes. Although I have hardly any tests this semester, all of my courses are really paper-heavy and require a lot of time spent on class readings and papers. I've already turned in two papers and have three more to submit within the next week! I'm not going to lie, it's been pretty overwhelming. The papers that I'm writing feel more advanced than the things I've done in the past and although everything I've submitted has turned out pretty well so far, they've been a struggle. However, I'm trying really hard this semester to work ahead and ask for help in advance with my assignments -- no more last-minute paper-writing for me! (Sigh...)

And as if I weren't busy enough, yesterday was Campus Golf! As I had to explain to more than one confused tourist, Campus Golf is Kappa Delta's annual philanthropy event -- a huge day-long extravaganza that raises thousands of dollars for charities like Prevent Child Abuse American and Avalon, a local women's shelter. It's also one of THE biggest events on campus and attracts hundreds of teams every year. (Don't remember how it works? You can read more about last year's event on my old blog here.)

Update: January

January 31, 2014.

Hey folks! Have you missed me? I hope you're in for a long post, because I've got quite a bit to tell you about the last month of my life. ("But Elisabeth, this is a study abroad blog ... and you're not abroad anymore!" I know. I know. Just keep reading.) They say that time flies ... and it's true. I cannot believe that just over a month ago, I was walking through the streets of Montpellier on my last day in France, carrying cheese and pastries in the pockets of my raincoat (everything becomes a shopping bag if you're desperate enough). Although my last days and weeks in Montpellier feel as vivid as ever, Winter Break is nothing a happy blur spent catching up with family, friends, and fast food. I talked about France and even began my study abroad scrapbook, but it hasn't been until coming back to college that the change has felt permanent.

Now that I'm back at school, it sort of feels like my semester abroad never even happened -- as if it were all some particularly long and complicated dream. (Imagine, a dream that requires a visa! Only in France...)

Lest you get the wrong idea, I'm very happily settling back into life at the College. The first two weeks were tough: moving back into a dorm room, figuring out my final class schedule, and -- like any student freshly-returned from time abroad -- finding a quick response to "HEY! HOW WAS FRANCE?" ("Great" feels like such a cop-out and anything more enthusiastic -- "it was life-changing" -- is too obnoxious.) But the "newness" of my return is starting to wear off. Now, most people ask me about my classes or my weekend, not my four months abroad. Stories of my experiences -- about the friends I met, the places I visited, the hilarious cultural differences I noticed -- slip into conversation, but they're not the main focus of discussion. That's okay, of course, but it only underlines the feeling that my semester abroad never even happened. I've found that I'm most comfortable talking to others who've been through the same thing, who have undergone the same "reverse culture shock" that inevitably sets in upon return to Williamsburg. But don't get me wrong; I'm glad to be back. I'm actually very excited for this semester! It's going to be busy, but that's okay. "Busy" is usually where I am the happiest.

Welcome Home

Monday, 23 December.

Celebrating at the Capital of Christmas

Jeudi, 19 décembre.

As you could probably tell from the length of my last post, it would have been absolutely impossible to fit all of my Strasbourg adventures in one post. We just saw and did (and ate) too much! So here begins part two of the Strasbourg adventure -- this time, all about the Marchés de Noël.

As the city holds the title of "capital of Christmas," it's not surprising that they have Christmas markets down to a science. There are over 300 chalets -- little booths, selling everything from pretzels to mulled wine to tree ornaments -- spread out over eleven villages throughout the city. It's all super well-organized: there are giant maps everywhere! (Perfect for a photo op.)

The biggest of these markets is the Christkindelsmärik (an Alsacian term that translates as "Baby Jesus Market"). The history of the market goes back to 1570, when a Lutheran priest, who in an effort to eliminate the very Catholic tradition of venerating saints, was trying to get rid of the city's traditional Marché Saint-Nicolas. Instead of fully cancelling the market, city council decided instead to change its name! And so the "Baby Jesus Market" was born.

Although the Christkindelsmärik is the oldest and most famous, another of the city's Christmas markets -- at Place Kleber -- had another distinction: it's the home of the city's 30-meter Christmas tree! I've never been a fan of over-decorated Christmas trees (like the National Christmas tree in DC, which hardly looks like a tree once they've finished lighting it up), so I loved that this one retained its "tree-ness."

 

I loved the lights and the little illuminated village at the bottom! Although both the tree and village were truly glorious at night, they're also quite lovely during the day.

As for the Christmas markets themselves, they definitely lived up to my expectations! They were a little different than in Heidelberg: the stands were more unique and seemed to have more artisanal goods ... and there was no bratwurst!

Sightseeing in Strasbourg

Jeudi, 19 décembre.

I had been looking forward to our trip to Strasbourg since August, when Molly and I first sat down to plan our semester full of adventures and decided to make the pilgrimage to the city's world-famous Christmas markets. And, as the final trip of my study abroad experience, it did not disappoint.

Allan and I got a little preview of the city on Saturday morning, during the couple of hours between our train from Montpellier and our bus to Heidelberg -- it was rainy and wet, but after a ten hour night train, we were just excited to have made it! After 24 hours in Heidelberg, we returned to Strasbourg on Sunday night. Molly arrived the next morning and the three of us explored the Christmas markets until Allan had to go  back to Montpellier. But Molly and I still had one more day before we finally left on Tuesday afternoon! Strasbourg isn't a very large city, so during the course of a couple days, we wandered through most of it several times. For the sake of not confusing you too much, I've given up on explaining our trip chronologically. Instead I'm dividing Strasbourg into "sightseeing" and "christmassing." You can read more about the city's world-famous Marchés de Noël here, but in the meantime, here are all the slightly less-festive (but still VERY cool) sights!

My first stop on both Monday and Tuesday mornings was Petite France, a historic neighborhood in Strasbourg that is full of maisons à colombages -- those beautiful half-timbered houses you see on postcards. The style, called "half-timbered" in English, is typical of the Rhineland region and definitely makes you feel the city's German influence. Also it's just gorgeous.

 

  

 

Because we were there so early, we had the streets pretty much to ourselves. I loved taking advantage of the quiet to grab some up-close pictures of the beautiful buildings!

  

Also located on the city's historic Grande Île ("Main Island") is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg. We stumbled across it as we walked through the city streets and let me just say ... WOW.