amy m anderson

Well, here it is. Four months spent in an entirely new university, home, city, country. I kept telling myself that I wouldn't miss Nantes that much, that it was just like any other town. On my last walk through the centre-ville, running errands, catching trams, taking the final photos, I couldn't believe how much this place has grown on me. It's absolutely true, what everyone, studying abroad is the best semester. I have so little to say and yet so much. You'll all have to forgive me in the coming months, I've heard there's a bit of a readjustment period, and it's as just as much a roller coaster ride for the way back as it was for the way here. I guess I've changed, but that's for you to decide how much. Madame Rouchet, oh ... read more

Brussels was definitely an interesting weekend, and I think it accelerated the desire to return to Chicago. More on that in a sec . . . This was the first, and not the last, that I was all by myself (cue Eric Carmen). Alli & Andrew were off to a skiing trip in the Alps (about that, it’s the warmest there in 1,300 years), Katie booked herself a trip to Paris to see family friends, and Melissa decided to stick it out in Nantes. I wasn’t too worried about being alone, I’ve had enough time with maps and my trusty little compass to figure out where to go. And unlike previous excursions, I mapped out exactly where my hostel was. No wandering this time. The trip was quick, about 5 hours on the train (seriously, 4-hr ... read more

Granted, I shouldn't be writing this. I should be either a) studying for my grammar midterm that's going to kick my butt, b) studying for my sociology midterm that's really gonna kick my butt, or c) studying for my art history midterm of which i have no idea what to actually study. But really, since my family here just got WiFi, I now have constant internet access. Thus, lots of useless distractions. So it's going to be another week-long recap because I don't know how to sit down each week and get this all down. Nor, at this point, do I remember most things, so you all can thank your lucky stars for that. Two weeks ago, the five of us journeyed to Toulouse (and, no, Mom, I checked, it has nothing to do with Toulouse-Lautrec, ... read more

So by now I've forgotten most of the first weekend; my mind has been filled to the brim with a whole new batch of stories and images. But I'll do my best to remember, and most likely keep it short (that's for you, Ivan). Locronan was yet another beautiful little town; its name means hermitage of Saint Ronan. The town may only have a few defining objects, but of said objects, they've got a ton . . . hydrangeas and fairies. Everywhere. In the local bookstore, about half of the books were dedicated to folklore; faeries, ogres, sprites, etc. (the other half was about lighthouses). Locronan has an amazing granite church; it's truly the center of the town; everything is built around it. For lunch, we dined on a local specialty- la galette complète. It's a ... read more