It's the final Countdown...

Sorry for my silence recently. It's been a crazy past few days. This post is coming on Saturday. In less than 48 hours, I will be back in the USA, getting ready for school. Crazy, huh?

Anyway, since my last post, nothing interesting yet everything has happened. Here's a rundown:

Monday: We got back from Paris and enjoyed some nice R and R. It was actually sunny and nice out, so some of us ventured outside to play! Good times were had.

Tuesday: Easy day for my group. One short class then spent the rest of the day relaxing again. Liz and I went on a nice bike ride and followed the river. We saw Germany!

Wednesday: Final internship day. Sad times. It was cool though because the kids were doing a practice run of their Odyssey of the Mind projects and my group were the judges. All the groups did a good job. Rest of the day was prepping to pack

Thursday: FREE DAY! I went out on the town to get some souvenirs, do a last-minute visit to places that I wanted to go to (ate some beignets!) then packed up. Spent as much time as possible hanging out with the GSU people. I'm gonna miss those guys.

Friday: Up early for our train to Munich. We pretty much checked into the hotel then spent the rest of the day around town. Nothing too crazy except for the "beer challenge" we went on. Essentially, it was a guided tour of different establishments where we could get drinks. I paced myself because I wanted to be ready for the tour tomorrow.

Saturday: We visited the former concentration camp Dachau. It was a really sobering journey. I can't even describe how it felt to walk on the ground where thousands of prisoners lived, 70 years ago. I got chills down my body as we walked through the crematorium. Definitely a creepy feeling. Once we got back, we went to a restaurant we visited last night and I got some Schnitzel, which was delicious. Went back to the hotel after exploring with Claire, visited the hotel pool, then relax time.

Future plans: We leave for Frankfurt tomorrow. I think we plan on seeing a movie. After this trip, I think this group just needs some time to sit, relax and not think about anything. Stateside soon....

Parisian Paradise

So, just spent the extended Easter weekend in Paris! Woo! Instead of giving you a day-by-day account, I'll just post the highlights.

Eiffel Tower: Day
Drew and I decided to spend some time around the city before our tour of the Louvre. First stop: Eiffel Tower. We decided not to go to the top, as it would be a better sight during the evening. We did get pictures around it though with our flags and were even accosted by a street vendor! Good times.

Arc de Triomphe
Our second main highlight of the day, it was a decent walk from the Eiffel Tower here, though made much easier once we found where we were supposed to go. We walked around it getting pictures and met a guy who recognized our flying WV flag (he went to VT. meh.) We couldn't get pictures underneath it or go on top, as there was a long line and we had to meet everyone at the Louvre.

The Louvre
I could have spent all day here.  We spent 2 hours and I didn't even get to visit all the places in one of the wings. There are 3. I did make it a point to visit all the Greek and Roman statues/paintings though. And of course, saw the Mona Lisa, though.

Eiffel Tower: Night
This time, we ventured to the top. Claire, Drew, and I decided to make the trek to the top on foot (well, to the 2nd level then had to ride the elevator up.) It was definitely worth the wait. Seeing Paris during the night was a remarkable experience. I took pictures but they definitely won't do it justice. The only negative was that it was cold and windy at the top. Also, a random fact, I met some 4-Hers! I don't know where the first couple were from, but the second group was from California! How-How for 4-H!

Free Walking tour
We went on a free walking tour around Paris that was led by a student from the city. We saw Notre Dame from a distance, visited Pont Neuf, the Love-Lock Bridge, stopped by the Louvre, and ended in the Place de Concorde and saw where the guillotine was. Cool tour. Lots of pictures

Moulin Rouge!
Yeah, that's right. I went to the Moulin Rouge. And it was AWESOME! I don't even know how to explain it. The whole experience was spectacular. The show was split into different parts. The main dancers would do a themed performance (Amazonian dance, 50's jukebox, circus, etc.) then there would be a intermission act while they set up the next act. The intermission acts were pretty cool. The acrobatics performed were astounding. I saw a girl do a headstand on a guy's head, the same guy holding the girl doing a handstand, bend backwards over a chair then stood back up. CRAZINESS! A good way too spend the evening.

The Gardens of Versailles
Wow. The Gardens were spectacular. It can only imagine what it looks like once the trees and flowers are bloomed.  It was all very symmetrical and well-kept and amazing. Still, it was interesting to go around the area and hear the history of Louis XIV until Louis XVI. There were lots of fountains but no water was running as it would cost WAYYYY to much money. We weren't able to go inside though, because they had closed the ticket office by the time the tour was finished. Oh well.

Hotel d'Invalides
So, because of Easter, I didn't get to see much of this. I saw the main courtyard but the actual Army museum and Napoleon's grave were closed off. Still was kinda cool to see.

So, that was my Paris trip in a nutshell. Good times were had by all.

Thursday Teaching and Travels

Today would be the day I forget my camera. Today was a fun filled day of teaching and exploring the unseen side of Strasbourg. I apologize to my friends who are creeping on my Facebook pictures. I will try to recreate the experience at a later day, with camera in tow.

The day started out as usual: wake up, shower, breakfast, bus to school. It was about halfway to the bus that I realized I left my camera on my bed but I thought "Oh, I don't think I'll need it today. No big deal." Boy was I wrong. More on that later though.

6th Grade History:
This class was kinda cool. They started learning about Greek housing. Few main things from class: Mrs. Bisbee used the Smart Board and a website to have students place people into the appropriate places in a Greek house. The whole website was actually a really good teaching tool. It gave definitions of the different room types, which the students copied onto their own diagram of a house. The other thing was that she had an app on her phone called "Stick picks." Essentially, it is a classroom tool where students names, once inputted, are "drawn" from a cup. It's a completely random way to select students to answer questions or go up to the board. The app also let you take notes on each student about the types of questions you can ask them, so while it may seem at random to the students, it is all carefully planned (somewhat) by the teacher.

8th Grade History:
Civil rights! Yeah! The students went over the definitions from the readings we started with them earlier in the week. We then watched some PBS videos about the Freedom Riders, which was cool. Other than that, nothing too exciting or noteworthy.

7th Grade History:
We (meaning Sarah, Drew, and I) taught today! Since the students were exploring the Middle Ages, Sarah pulled out a lesson plan she had about the manor system and new agricultural methods. Overall, I think the lesson went well. The students asked plenty of questions, which was good. What helped was the fact that they already had the some of the information beforehand, so when we had them create a spider chart of what they knew, a lot of information was given. It was a bit weird sharing time with 2 other teachers, though. But, we made it work and Mrs. Bisbee was impressed. Score one for WVU!


And here is where I regret not having my camera. Drew wanted to go to Maundy Thursday service, so by the time we got done with school, there would have been no point in going back to the chateau. Instead, he and I decided to hop on a tram and just go wherever it took us. It was actually pretty fun. Got to hang out with Drew which is always a good time. Here's a list of the places I went today (including our break time during school:)

• the Juice Bar that I've passed many times. Unfortunately, all the drinks I saw were alcoholic, so I got a hot chocolate instead. probably the best I have had so far. Nice and frothy, good amount of chocolate. Delicious.
• the end of tram lines E and A. A ends near a college, I think. It was a bit weird and kinda felt like the ghettos. It was on the outskirts of town and there was a lot of residential areas. Drew and I quickly left (mainly because there was no more trams, except the way we came.)
• tram line E ends at a mall. Pretty standard as far as malls go except for one difference: THERE WAS A GROCERY STORE INSIDE OF THE MALL!!!! Seriously though, it was like Super Wal-Mart meets Super Kroger and had a giant baby. I would say that the store took up about 1/2 of the total square footage of the mall and had well over 100 different aisles of stuff. I want to go back just to take pictures of everything. The mall was at Baggerse.

**Side Note** On the way to the mall, Drew and I saw what we think is a giant movie theater and a diner modeled after the American 50's. I'm interested in returning

• Back to the list. I went to a Chinese restaurant while Drew was at service. IT WAS AMAZING! Once again, I wish I had my camera. I am definitely going back though. It was very traditional in service and I was the whitest person in the restaurant when I first walked in. Good times. Anyway, here's what I had:
• Shrimp Chips/Prawn Crackers/whatever else they were called. I haven't had these for a while, so it was a very pleasant surprise when they brought them out.
• Beef Dim Sum. Nothing fancy about that
• Duck with bamboo shoots and Chinese mushrooms. Delicious. Duck was very good. I love those Chinese mushrooms. All served with white rice. Yum.
• Green tea to drink. Made with the little tea ball that my brother has. Also good stuff. Finished off an entire pot myself.

           Overall, very good. Mom, you should be proud of me and I think you would enjoy it very much.

Afterwards, I decided to head back to the Chateau. However, seeing the city center at night was one of the most beautiful things I have seen this entire trip. It was like something taken from the movies, it was so picturesque. I definitely want to recreate this experience once we get back from Paris this weekend.

Wilhelm's Castle and Wine Tour Wednesday

Well, Wednesday was wonderful. Yay alliterations! Anyway, this post will have a very large lack of learning, as we had today off for some pre-planned excursions.

First stop: Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg
I WAS IN A CASTLE!!!! Not a "castle" as some call the chateaus, but a REAL CASTLE BUILT IN THE MIDDLE AGES!!!!!! Can I get a What What?

Here's the history of the castle in a nutshell:

• Built by at least the 12th century (first records of it)
• Burnt down during the 30 Years War (last record of Swedes doing anything aggressive other than banking)
• Abandoned for centures
• Found by Kaiser William II, restored but with German flair
• Switch back to French control by the Treaty of Versailles (1919)
• Suffered an invasion of eight West Virginians (2013)

Alright. Now to the castle. It was really amazing to see. Drew and I could have spent all day there and other castles. Seeing the intricate detail that was put into building it was astounding. Even the doors looked awesome. The armory was pretty sweet, as I got to see weapons that I only read about or saw while playing Lords of the Realm II. I tried to take pictures but my camera battery died. Many pictures were taken by my friends though. I doubt I'll need pictures to remember going to a CASTLE!!!!!

Pit Stop: Riquewihr
This was a small village that was actually pretty nice. Still, few pictures because of the dead camera. This was a quick stop for lunch and to kill some time before our wine tour. I tried some sauerkraut, which actually wasn't that bad. I assume it was a German special, since it was served with 5 different meats. Drew lived up to his "I'm in France, why not?" motto and ordered escargot (snails.) I decided to go the safe route and ordered some authentic French Onion Soup, or Onion Soup as it's known here. I got some batteries and chocolate from a small gift shop. I'm trying to save my souvenir shopping for Paris.

Next Stop: Jean Geiler Winery
What better way to explore the Alsacien region that is known for its wine than to go wine tasting? Our group had a small tour of the facilities on site after driving past hundreds of acres of vineyards. This winery makes hundreds of millions of bottles of year. Dang. After a quick tour, we got down to what some people were most excited for: wine tasting. I was indifferent to this. We tried 6 different wines then could request more we might be interested in. Overall, it was not a bad experience. Wine is still not my thing (or drinking in general) but I did find some types I don't mind that much. Apparently, wine for me has to be really dry or really sweet. The middle stuff is not my cup of tea. Oh well. Some people bought bottles to take back as souvenirs.

Pit Stop 2: Statue of Liberty!
'Murrka!!!! We had a small detour to check out a replica of the Statue of Liberty in Colmar. Of course, we had to do the tourist thing and take tons of pictures while there. Got a couple good ones of the group reppin' the state flag! Woo! Nothing too exciting but still fun times to be an obnoxious American.

Final Stop: home
Got home. Dinner, relaxing, get ready for school tomorrow. David and Sarah went into town to see the Philharmonic Orchestra that was playing. I thought about going but I didn't want to be the third wheel, though I am slightly regretting it now... Oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I guess.

Tuesday's Title

It's crazy to think that we only have a few days left in the school. Tomorrow is a day off, so all that's left is Thursday, next Tuesday, and Wednesday. It's crazy, man. Crazy.

Tuesday is fun because it is the easiest day of the week. All my group had today was the 7th grade theater class of the Tempest. For today, they were coordinating a scene where all the characters were being drawn to the center of the island by Prospero. The teacher, Mrs. Bloomfield (the British one) had them doing it as a sort of interpretive dance. It's hard to explain, but essentially, each group would be moving at the same time, then some would stop and others would continue. Then, somehow, a puppet theater comes into play. The students seemed to know what she was talking about, though, so it all works out in the end.

Other than Theater class, it was smooth sailing from there. The three of us returned to the chateau. Drew and I met up with Liz and Emily (GSU) to go to the observatory/planetarium. When we got there, we found out it was closed until 2, so the ladies decided that it was a sign to go shoe shopping. Drew and I tagged along since it was something to do other than sit around at the chateau. So, we all went shoe shopping then grabbed lunch at a thai noodle place which was delicious. The ladies needed to go back to the chateau for class, so Drew and I proceeded to go to the planetarium. It was open this time, however it was only open for University needs, so we weren't allowed in. Our plans thwarted, we decided to return to the chateau and do some much needed laundry. I also picked up some hot chocolate from the market, as it was FREEEZING (literally) outside. The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home, reading, drinking hot chocolate, reading and playing games with the GSU people. I did cook some rabbit for dinner, which everyone was intrigued by, so point for Ryan!

School observations:
The threat of disciplinary action is a very effective tool. Proper classroom behavior must be taught and enforced to the students from an early age. Students were acting up in class and all it took was the threat of a "Behavioral warning" to get them back into line. From what I have seen in the past, students do not react well when it comes to the point where they get into serious trouble.

It's a Monday...

Captain's log, Stardate 03-25-2013.

I find myself trapped in the early 21st century in what is known as Strasbourg, France. Many of my crew are missing, with only 8 of us remaining. We have decided to take the roles of student-teachers in order to find more about this environment and split into 3 groups. I can only blame Q for this inexplicable turn of events.

Today marked the first and only day that I will be observing the educational patterns on the day that is known as the locals as a "Monday." It was a standard away mission, our main objective being fact-gathering. The daily routine of the locals appears to follow a similar routine, with some variance depending on the day of the week. For today's observation, I followed local children to 3 different gatherings, know as "classes."

 This first class involved students in what is known as the 7th grade, a ranking based on knowledge and age, surely, learning about ancient Earth cultures during what is known as the "Middle Ages." The main focus of today's meeting was to inform the students about a project they had to do. The students were allowed to pick their partners to form groups of 3. Each group was then tasked with creating their own away mission for their local surroundings, explaining to their peers about the historical aspects of certain areas or buildings. Each group mission had to have a specific theme that tied all their areas together.

After this class, there was a small break in my observation of the students, so I decided to take the rest of my team into the surrounding town to gather information about this environment. Many facilities were closed, though we did happen to find a cafe where my team and I partook in the local beverages. I personally sampled a "chocolat chaud" and a "croque monsieur." After the break, we returned to the school as the students were to engage in a technological lesson. These students were to practice becoming more efficient in their use of use primitive input devices, or "keyboards."  They were also to practice in creating an early version of logs that were typed into the computer, known as a blog. As both Ambassador Spock and Admiral Janeway once said, it is like using "stone knives and bearskins."

The final class my group observed involved "8th graders" learning about a 20th Century economical movement called the "Industrial Revolution." Students were divided into groups to finish reviewing a piece of literature written during the age, a novel known as "The Jungle."

One of my crew decided to continue with her explorations. As these people seemed harmless, I allowed her to continue as First Officer Calandrelli and I returned to our local residence. From there, it was simply a matter of finding nourishment and adjusting to our environment.

Butler out.


P.S. Bonus points if you read this in your favorite captain's voice. Double for Picard.

Weekend in Strasbourg (3/23-3/24)

Everyone decided to spend this weekend around town. As of this post, I am in the middle of what will probably be the most confusing and frustrating game on Monopoly I will ever play. So, I will be posting the highlights of the weekend and hopefully will flesh it  out later.

Saturday:
headed to town. find lunch spot. visit game store. more wandering. Visited the musee alsacien, botanical gardens, and the zoological museum. Unfortunately, the observatory was closed. We did walk around Petit France and went shopping. A lady was doing what I guess was a Bachelorette/Wedding Scavenger Hunt and my group got dragged into doing a Gagnam Style video. Candy shop! fancy restaurant for dinner. people went to see Passion. The rest of us went home, played chess with David, played Cards with everyone. bed

Sunday:
Church at Notre dame. Lunch. Climbed to the top of Notre Dame.
Museums:
-archeological
-decorations (napoleon lived 1805-1806)
- 2 art

Planned our Paris trip. Met with Isabella about our first week. Played board games.

Friday: TGIF!

Today was another long day of history. Here was the class schedule for the only Friday I will be here:
6th grade history (more Ancient civs.)
6th grade Theater ("The search for Odysseus)
8th grade history (the Industrial Revolution)
9th grade history (20th Century - US Civil Rights movements)

In the 6th history class, our teacher showed a video to the students about the different inventions the ancient Greeks made. She showed it to them, had them write down what they remembered, showed it again, had them add on to the list and discussed it, then created a full list while watching the movie as a reference point.

6th grade theater was a bit rambunctious. They are getting to the point where not everyone is in a scene, so students get restless quickly. This caused a few behavioral problems. Apparently, the policy is that the student gets a verbal warning. If the student continues to persist, the teacher collects their agenda book and writes a note in it to the parent. Apparently this is very effective, as many students reacted towards the verbal warning.

8th and 9th grade were similar. This is the most we have gotten involved in the classes, other than the popular culture class. The students were divided into 3 groups and Drew, Sarah and I each took a group. The students were given a passage to read about their topic and we were mainly used as facilitators. We helped the students understand vocabulary terms as well as leading discussions as to the key points. We did this after every paragraph, which was nice for the students, as they had plenty of time to ask questions.

One of our host teachers talked to us for a bit outside of class. She gave us some books about the city and wanted us to see if we would like to plan a lesson for next week. We shall see. However, because of this, we almost missed out lunch date with Joe and Liz. Actually, Liz did wind up having to go to class but we saw her leaving and had to literally chase down Joe off the bus. Sarah left to go for a bike ride while the three guys went to a Turkish-French restaurant. Pretty good first experience. We headed back to the Chateau so Joe could finish packing for his trip. Drew and I wound up taking a nap. I woke up before him and went for a small bike ride on the grounds and the nearby forest, similar to what I did with the group earlier in the week.

I  had to head back, as it was my turn to cook. Claire and I decided to keep it simple: make-you-own-taco bar. I think it was the best meal of the dinners, but I might be biased. After cooking and cleaning, I went to play chess with a older gentleman named George. This guy is was to awesome to describe. He has all sorts of random information, loves to tell stories, and even knows John Howe (Art director for the LOTR) We tied 1-1 for the night before I had to head out and escort the ladies as they left for a night out in the town. Fun times were had by many.

Thursday 3/21: Spring has Sprung

Apparently I am really bad at keeping up with this blog. It's Saturday (technically Sunday) and I have 3 posts to write. oops? This post might be a bit short.

Anyway, here's what Thursday entailed teaching-wise:

6th grade hist - ancient civilizations

7th grade hist - middle ages

9th grade hist - 20th century

A Few stray classroom observations:
Younger students stand up when an adult enters the class as a sign of respect. This gets a bit lost as they get older
very advanced curriculum for the school. 6th graders doing ancient Greeks? 7th graders going in-depth about the Bubonic Plague and Middle ages?
notes for 6th: homework to paraphrase then reviewed as class
notes for 9th: Read together and highlight key topics

We had a small break between the two schools so my host teacher took our group out to a small tea shoppe. Apparently this is a popular spot, as some of my cohorts visited this spot with their teachers as well. I had a cup of hot tea (I'm liking tea more and more this trip. I fear I'm turning into my brother...) and a slice of cheescake. Really good stuff

We had another hour between classes, so I took Drew and Sarah and wandered/explored. We visited an area of town called "Petite France." There were lots of shops i want to stop by, so I might make a return trip over the weekend or on a Tuesday. Actually, there's so much I want to try, I keep forgetting where/what they are. I need to start keeping a notebook of places that catch my eye.

As a small side note, I tried some coffee. still not a fan.

Wednesday: livin' the American Dream

Finally caught up. Sheesh. Singing along to my music is definitely a hindrance to my typing ability. I blame Drew, even though he wasn't here. He and I have quickly become well-known in the Georgia State group with our antics and singing. Good times.

Wednesday is a weird day. It was supposed to be everyone's day off but due to teacher schedules, my group (Sarah, Drew, me) have to go all day while the others get to rest. I guess this is karma for having one day on Tuesdays. Commute was the same, though it is interesting because we ride the same bus as our students. What was especially fun (and slightly adorable) is that while we were walking to the school from the bus stop, a student that was on the bus asked us if we were the interns coming to his class today. He introduced himself (Joshua) and told us how happy he was to have us in his class. We then had to leave to get ready but it was definitely exciting to have such a positive reaction from a student we had never even met.

1st class: 6/7th grade art class.
 This is a 2 hour long class. Our second teacher (Ms. Bisbee) has the combined classes. Today was just a day to continue working on their different costumes and posters. Students actually had to design their own costume and are given the materials to make it themselves. So, we, along with another intern from Syracuse, helped the students where we could and made sure they didn't hurt anyone with their box cutters and everything. One thing that surprised me happened while I was helping a 6th grader create a Greek ship. He needed to make a box to help stabilize the mast. I was fully expecting him to either try and find a box-shaped item or even ask me to help him make one. However, without even missing a beat, the student grabbed a pencil, straight-edge, and some paper and went to town. Before I knew it, he had the pattern for a cube drawn. I was blown away by this.

2nd Class: 6/7th grade Odyssey of the Mind
 I honestly have no idea what to write about this class. I am completely in awe of the things done in this class. The whole premise of this class is that there is a continent-wide competition. The students undertake a task on how to solve/explain a real-life problem. While the actual solution is part of the grade, their collaboration is what is most important. Whenever the class goes to the big competition, they compete with their groups originally. Then the students are mixed into other groups and given a new problem to work on. The whole thing is mind-blowing. I might put a blog dedicated to this idea in general when I am less tired.

((1 hour Lunch Break))
For lunch, my group decided to try French McDonald's. I think their slogan can be "Different Menu, Different Cheeses, Essentially Same Taste."  The portions though, are much smaller. Poor Drew tends to drink too fast and there are no free refills here.


3rd Class: 8/9th U.S. Pop Culture
This was probably my favorite class of the day. This class has researched all sorts of topics of American pop culture, from Super Bowl ads to gun control. For today's class, they had a pop quiz: Write 3 questions to ask the new interns, while we did same. Then the rest of the class was a giant discussion about whatever questions were posed. We covered things from fashion to cars to food to gun control (again.) The main thing I learned from this class was that the "American Dream" still exists, just modified. The popular thing to do in France now is to look and be American, from clothes to music. I find this ironic because we often look to Europe for trends and fashion.

4th Class: 8/9th Theater
This was an interesting class. The teacher is making a new adaptation of the book. She is taking the play, cutting parts out and supplementing it with material from the book. This is especially difficult as it is a small class. They also are in the cafeteria which initially isn't the best of locales. However, after careful and strategic planning, it all actually works pretty well. There was really nothing for the three of us to do, so we sat and observed and gave some feedback at the end.

From then on, we met with everyone else, bought our tickets from Strasbourg to Munich then headed home. The rest of the day was dinner, downtime, more planning, and blogging. Now it's time for bed for school tomorrow.



Stray Observations:
Students seem to be more responsible that American. I don't think I could trust my students with some of the activities they were given.
Students also seem better developed. Some of the mental processes undertaken by these students is astounding. They are thinking of ideas that we wouldn't have even considered.
I was complimented on my French accent! My French is slowly coming back to me. I wish I could stay longer, even just for the sake of the language.

Tuesday: We're going Joe hunting

Final disclaimer: Still Wednesday, still typing, still going from my rusty memory.

Today was the first official day in the classrooms for all of us. My group consisted of me, Sarah and Drew. We have the lightest schedule on Tuesdays, as we only have 1 class, the 7th grade theater, for one hour. So, after crawling out of bed in order to leave by 7-ish, everyone began our official journey as Study Abroad Interns! Woo!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, after a much shorter commute (it's still about an hour), we all arrived at our schools and began the day. My group's first impression was that students here seem very similar to those in America. When we first arrived at the primary school, LB, there were students running around the courtyard, playing, talking with friends, just being kids. We met one of our host teachers and waited for the students to report to us once the bell rang to begin school. We went to the classroom where we were introduced to the students officially and they began work on scene from the Tempest. The three of us exercised our teaching ability and helped some students who were not in the scene run some lines instead. Soon enough, the hour was up, class was done, and we were done for the day! We decided to spend some time around the city. We re-visited Notre Dame, went hat window shopping, and got some more Euros. We decided to go home and rest before our lunch date with a couple Georgia people. While waiting for the bus to take us back towards the chateau, we see Joe get off the bus across the street with Itzel, another Georgian, who were heading to class. We shouted a quick hello, loaded the bus, then returned home to have some shenanigans around the chateau. At the appointed time, we met with Liz and Emily (georgia) and headed back into town. On our way, we ran into Joe (sighting #2) and dragged him along for lunch as well. All 6 of us spent some time in town hanging out before returning to the chateau. The Georgians had a class, which was eventually cancelled, so the five of us (no Joe) went for a bike ride around the grounds. This was a much more intense bike ride. We went off the beaten path, saw some WW2 bunkers (which I took a piece of for Dad), saw Germany across the river, got muddy and randomly ran into Joe (#3) who was on a run. At this point I can tell my weekly work-outs with Brandon are helping, as I am in much better shape that I thought.

Anyway, we returned to the chateau where the WVU-ans had another family dinner provided by our Emily and Casie. Then came the fun times and we spent the rest of the evening making plans/ordering tickets for our free weekends. They are as follows:

March 22-24: Stay around Strasbourg. Possible day-trip on the 23rd
March 29-April 1: Easter in Paris!!!
April 5-8: Munich then Frankfurt.

A few card games later, it was off to bed for another day of teaching.



School observations:
not much today. Students are very good at speaking English. They act as any 7th grader in the USA would, in my opinion. I am already learning a few students' names. Our first host teacher is BRITISH! ACCENT AND ALL!!! WOO!!!! She's pretty cool. The students seem to have more respect for her and listen to her, though they are as hyper as any 13-ish years old kids normally are.

Le début, part deux

Continuing from the previous blog, it's still Wednesday and I'm trying to catch up in my blogging. I apologize for the incompleteness on some of it. I'm trying to go from memory...

Monday:

Monday was our orientation day at the school where we were being placed. Isabella was with us again, acting as our guide for the city. It was a bit of a hectic morning, with miscommunications and whatnot all around. It started off first thing. We were supposed to have met Isabella at 7:30 according to her schedule but for some reason, our itinerary said 7:45. Ergo, we were obviously late in leaving the chateau. Then, we proceed to take a bus (bus 15) , followed by the tram (tram E), followed by a final bus (bus 10.) Unfortunately. the route we took was the long was around (we went north instead south towards the city.) It still got us there, but there was a more efficient route. What didn't help is that we got on the right bus but it was heading the wrong direction. Eventually, we got to the school and met the principal. There are actually 2 schools that we are in. The first is a primary school that goes from pre-k to 7th, called Lucie Berger. There are many impressive statistics, but I do not have my folder with me right now, so I might upload them later. It is a private school though and bilingual, so everyone in the group was split into 3 groups and placed with teachers who taught during the English half of the day (the day is split between English instruction and French instruction.) The second school is a high school located a little further in the city but easily within walking distance. The English-French split is closer to 1/3 to 2/3 instruction. We also met our host teachers and learned about their classes, which I was very excited about. Unfortunately, I am not in a math classroom. Math is taught during the French portion of school, so I cannot observe in one. I will have to focus my research and findings on more classroom management skills of the teachers.

My classes are as follows:
7th grade Theater (working on the Tempest)
6/7th grade Art (theater workshop. 6th grade is working on the Adventures of Odysseus)
6/7th grade Odyssey of the Mind (group project-based learning. pretty awesome stuff)
8/9th grade U.S. Popular Culture (self explanatory)
8/9th grade Theater (working on an adaptation of Warhorse)

History classes which I do not remember as of right now.

Classes here are similar to how we do it in college. Students have certain classes only on certain days. No block scheduling or anything like that. It's definitely a change of pace.

After orientation and meetings, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. All of us (including Isabella) spent some time shopping and lunch on our own. This, to Drew and I, translated to wandering around town, familiarizing ourselves with it and finding random cathedrals to visit. (Side note: we went to the Notre Dame cathedral in Strasbourg on Sunday. It was breath-taking.) While we ordered lunch, Drew, who knows no French, tried to order in English, panicked, then started speaking Spanish. Thankfully, my many years of French are coming back to me and I bailed him out. We ran into Isabella and just hung out with her to kill some time. At the appointed time, we went back to the chateau where we had some downtime. Some people went grocery shopping, some people did work, some relaxed. I went on a bike ride, which was the perfect way of relaxing for me. Everything here is so FLAT, so riding is pathetically easy compared to home. I took a small tour around the chateau estate, which was beautiful. This place is amazing. I then decided to bike to the grocery store, say hi, then bike back. After a graciously cooked dinner by Anna and Jackie, Drew, Sarah and I went bowling with the entirety of the Georgia State people. Just for future reference, the people we have gotten to know the most so far are Joe, Liz, and Emily. I didn't bowl my best of games, but a fun time was had by all anyway. It was more about the company than the competition.

Le début

Bienvenue au Strasbourg! (Welcome to Strasbourg!) This marks the first post of hopefully many to come! It is our first Wednesday in Strasbourg, so I have much to catch everyone up on! From now on "we" will usually refer to all 8 people on the trip: Me, Drew Calandrelli, Anna Tucker, Jacqueline Coffin, Casie Vanderlind, Emily Phillippi, Sarah Summers, and Clare Garner. I'm going to split the blog into multiple parts, just so you know, beautiful reader.

Nothing too interesting occurred on the way over. Our first flight let Pittsburgh around 5:15 and we had a small layover in Charlotte. I think it was at this point in time that things finally seemed real. I was on my way to Europe!!!!! WOO!!!!!!! We boarded in Charlotte around 8-ish and then were off! Strasbourg here we come! My first international flight was pretty cool, if not uneventful. I had an aisle seat, so that was nice. Unfortunately, I was sequestered from the rest of the group, but it happens. I was finally able to see Looper and Life of Pi on the flight, both of which were pretty good. The cinematography for LoPi was phenomenal. I can see why it won at the Oscars.

Anyway, we arrived in Frankfurt around 10:00 local time (5 in good ol' WV) and met our coordinator Isabella. We then took a bus to Château de Pourtalès (It's a castle. Be jealous) via the Autobahn. It was really pretty and kinda reminded me of home. There honestly did not seem to be much different landscape-wise, except it was all FLAT! After a quick orientation, we spent the rest of the day unpacking and trying to catch up on some sleep. We did go to a nearby supermarket (about a 15 minute walk one-way) to pick up some necessities. For dinner, the group and Isabella went to a small restaurant by the chateau to have our first official French meal, which was delicious! A lot of people took pictures, and I think I was one of them. It might be uploaded later, once I find a way to get them off of my camera. Aprés diner, we met a couple of people from Georgia State who were here for the entire semester and hung out with them. The majority of their group was in Paris, so we met them at a later date.


Sunday:
St. Patty's Day! Reppin' my green by sporting a How-tacular 4-H shirt! Sunday was a free day, so we spent most of the time in the city, escorted by a coordinator/worker/whatever-for-the-hotel/chateau, David. It was rainy but a really amazing trip. We saw a Mardi Gras parade (why it was on Sunday, I have no idea...) which was definitely bizarre. We (or at least, I) learned how to navigate the metro and bus system. We wandered around the city center and sampled a couple favorite local restaurants. The evening was spent relocating to our actual rooms, since we were temporarily housed in the hotel section of the chateau. Afterwards, we hung out with the Georgia State people again. The next day marked our orientation to the school we were placed in!