Getting Here

Today's Date: Wednesday March 20, 2013

March 15, 2013 (Friday)
     Bonjour tout le monde! Five days into my three-week stay in Strasbourg, France and I have fallen utterly head over heals!  The intricate details involved with almost every architectural aspect, the ample, daily availability of bikes and people walking from place to place, the grocery stores' (and other stores, except some restaurants) consistent closing down on Sundays, the spoken languages, the book stores with rich, academia-oriented selections, and of course, the bread have filled my mind with romantic ideas of becoming a permanent resident--however irrational that may be at the moment!  To give you some context, let me backtrack a bit.

Above, you may view a picture of the Chateau de Pourtales.  This castle is my home during my stay here in Strasbourg.  I am on this trip with seven other graduate students in WVU's 5-Year Benedum Program.  We are all studying to obtain our Masters in education; within the group are three secondary math majors, two secondary English majors (myself being one!), a secondary history major, a special education major, and an elementary education major.  The Benedum Program has worked with the Chateau de Pourtales with previous groups, so staying in here has so far been a very pleasant experience.

Group Members from left to right:
Ryan Butler (math), Claire Garner, Jackie Coffin (English), Anna Tucker (math),Casie Vanderlind (elementary education),
Sarah Summers (history), Emily Phillippi (special education), and Drew Calandrelli (math).

     As a group, we left the airport in Pittsburgh, WV at 5:00pm (EST), then Charlotte, NC airport at 8:00pm (EST) and arrived at a Frankfurt, Germany airport around 10:00am (CET).  This being my first flight in 14 years and my first international flight ever, I was easily amused by most everything when walking to the terminals, finding a blanket and pillow on my seat at the international flight, getting a TV dinner... everything was new for me.  It was especially nice to listen to music (primarily Nora Jones and other Jazz artists in the preset track options) on the TV in front of me.  The flights were long (especially the international flight), but we had fun joking with one another and speculating about what we could and would do when we arrived in Strasbourg--admittingly, not unlike whimsical schoolgirls and boys gazing out of the classroom window on a sunny day.  Our excitement was high even though our legs were becoming cramped and our tushes were slightly, slowly becoming numb.  I slept intermittently, but well, I think, for a plane ride.

March 16, 2013 (Saturday)
    Once everyone retrieved all luggage from the baggage claim in Frankfurt (a blessing in itself!), we met our tour guide/sister (for she is our age), Isabella, bearing a "WVU" sign, piled in the bus, drove on the autobahn (most of us slept after the first half hour), did not see super-speedy cars (and yes, I was looking), and arrived at the Chateau within three hours.  My first impression of Frankfurt and Strasbourg was that it was not so different from home.  I was surprised (once again) by the little things--the terrain was similar, the weather was the same as in WV, and the interactions people and vehicles made with one another were the same.  These factors helped the trip become much more comfortable for me.
    Anyway, when we arrived at the Chateau, Isabella readily explained that they had expected us to arrive on Sunday (it was Saturday, March 16), so our rooms were not ready.  As a result, we would stay in the (exquisite) smaller hotel building adjacent to the Chateau's main structure--this was wonderful!  We had our own showers, full beds, and garden views on our first night in Strasbourg.  (Truth be told, we didn't sleep long.  We stayed up until midnight playing card games with friends we had made from Georgia State University; these students have a contract with the Chateau, so from January 2013 to May 2013, they are studying at a local university in Strasbourg.  They're so friendly!)  During our orientation meeting, we got to try our first French foods.  The welcome committee had made open-faced sandwiches with salmon, ham, turkey, sausage, cheese, and some vegetables.  To drink, they provided champagne that had been locally made.  Everything was delicious!  (I have pictures of these as well.  When I can transfer pictures from my phone, I will post more on here.)

March 17, 2013 (Sunday)
     After breakfast at the Chateau (provided every morning), we locked our baggage up in a private library and went to town with an employee, David.  This was the best decision of the day!  Our rooms were not yet ready, but instead of waiting for them to be fully prepared, we braved the rain on St. Patrick's Day to see a parade called Carnival.  We left the Chateau early so we would have plenty of time to ride the bus and tram systems, see side streets, shoppes, the enormous, local Notre Dame Cathedral (stunning) and eat at a restaurant called "Flam's".  At Flam's, our group of nine was served dishes of various tarte flambes--a crepe/thin pizza crust with toppings (typically involving bacon).  I had an all vegetable flambe (delicious!); once everyone had finished their meals, we split a dessert (a pomme, or apple, flambe) flambe. 
     We spent so much time at Flam's that we arrived to the parade late, but there was still plenty of performances to watch!  This experience was absolutely the powdered sugar on the beignet for my time here so far, although, I had no idea what was going on throughout the Carnival's duration.  Later, I found out that the bizarre costumes (werewolves, warped faces with over-sized, melting, or lacking features, clowns, geisha-esque women on stilts, assortments of bands and instruments, bird-people, caveman people,witches, bellydancers, Chinese-like dragons, etc.) represented an acknowledgement of and celebration for people around the world... looking into it more now, though, it seems that the representations are primarily derived from countries in central Europe, such as France and Germany (based on this website <http://www.jds.fr/agenda/manifestations/carnaval-de-strasbourg-2013-55490_A>).  Regardless, I was ever-impressed by the small children that were present and watching the spectacle with regard, but not fear--even if a more grotesque costume danced close to the child or got on their level and in their face.  Myself, I was thrown lots of confetti (which became a permanent reminder once the rain stuck it to your clothing or person somehow), a Coca-Cola pin and two pieces of candy.  When a costumed person dance up beside of me, I took a picture: