Final Details

This summer has felt like one long waiting game. The library didn't give me many hours this summer and it seems nearly all my friends had left Rochester for internships and other opportunities. And to be honest, spending a month in London for my Spring Term and another week in Berlin just had me craving more of those nuances of European life when I came home.

Not that my two months at home haven't been wonderful. In attempts to keep my language skills at least partially refreshed, I took advantage of our local library's foreign film section. Most were so interesting and innovative that I forgot to concentrate as intently on the language! But of course, these also helped to serve as small cultural spritzers.

(Some of my favorites included:
Pierrot le Fou, a dazzling postmodern film from the French New Wave;
Goodbye, Lenin!, both humorous and moving, about a teen's attempts to keep his bedridden mother from finding out the Berlin Wall fell while she was in a coma;
The Lives of Others, another German film about the invasive surveillance that took place in East Berlin under the Soviet regime).

Now finally, instead of living vicariously through bizarre film characters and re-telling the details of my itinerary each time my mom strikes up a conversation with someone, my real journey begins Thursday. One last time, as a preface to all my upcoming adventures, I'll lay out the details here.

First, I'll be spending a month in Freiburg, Germany to study with the Goethe Institute. A 4-week intensive course will replace the semester of German I'll miss in the fall--assuming I don't forget it all after a semester in France! In Freiburg, I will be staying at the home of my friend Theresa, who was an exchange student for a year at my high school.

I think I'm more nervous about this program than France, because I'm not as sure what to expect with the program. I've also only had a year of German at Alma, compared to my six years of French.

Oh, and I have to take an examination at the end of the course that's required for my German minor. (I have to take a similar test in France).

Once the program ends, I have a few days to travel before my France program starts. As of now, I'll probably go to Cologne (Köln on the map) to visit Kathi, a friend who was the German TA at Alma last year. Then it's off to Paris to meet Heidi, another Alma student doing the France program with me. We're hoping to cram lots of art museums, historical sites, and café-sitting into 3 days!

Finally, the last and longest stop on this journey will be a semester with IES Abroad in Nantes, France. A fellow Alma student highly recommended this program to us, in part because it's a "truly French" experience. Paris has so many students and tourists from all over the world that it would be quite easy to fall back into speaking English--which is exactly what I don't want to happen. IES is the only permanent American study abroad program in Nantes, and thus we'll be immersed in French language and culture.

Many of you kept up with my India blog last summer; your feedback was undoubtedly a perpetual source of encouragement. This time around I'll try to respond more to your questions and observations, as well as provide photos, pictures, and relevant links (which I've test-driven a bit in this entry). I hope that my writing is entertaining and intriguing enough to keep you reading!

Until my next entry (which will probably be abroad), bis später...à bientôt...'til next time!