Blogs from Besançon, Franche-Comté, France, Europe - page 4

Hey all! I am so excited, because I now have internet access in my room. Which means that I will be on Messenger pretty much round the clock, so download it if you haven't, email me for my screen name, and we'll be able to chat. Also, I received my mailing address. So, if for whatever reason you need my address (hint*peanut butter m&ms and kraft mac and cheese*hint) it is below. ;) Mlle. Sarah Fech Résidence Fourier Pavillion Fernier Chambre 433 19, chemin de l'Epitaphe BP 61263 25005 Besançon CEDEX 3 A bientôt SFech... read more

This past week I had the privilege of going to Champlitte, a small town in my region, to participate in a festival that dates back to 1612. The festival is for Saint Vincent, the patron saint of wine. Obviously, wine is a large part of the culture here in France, and it was a delight to have the opportunity to experience this festival/ceremony. In the morning, there was a long ceremony that resembled a mass--it was certainly Catholic in nature--but there were differences. For example, there were several speeches integrated into the mass and also at one point all the people that reigned from foreign countries were asked to stand on the stage in a circle while holding candles. I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of that was... Then we went outside to watch some ... read more

So the subject of this blog is twofold, but in general concerned with this weekend's festivities. First, on Friday night the host family of one of my groupmates, Mary-Clare, invited a few of us over for a crepe party. We had ham and cheese crepes for dinner and then for dessert, I kid you not, we each put away 12 dessert crepes. Crepes with jam, nutella, peanut butter, sugar, lemon, it was crazy but delish. We even got to help make the crepes! (See pictures for a view of the festivities). It was really nice to meet another French family. They were very curious about us and what we were studying, and as usual, we discussed the differences between France and America. Its a very common topic for obvious reasons. Then, on Sunday, we conquered the ... read more

Dear All, It has been a busy week! The excitement and preparation that I had been putting off for the last three months has all exploded within 7 days. I left for France on Wednesday morning, Jan. 2 running on 45 minutes of sleep which I cannot recommend to anyone and will admit now that it was just a tad bit short of idiotic! In any case, I arrived in Chicago several hours ahead of my flight to Paris. I waited for the rest of the group that I am studying with to arrive from various places, although most were coming from Lincoln. The flight to Paris was filled with students from all over the nation going to Europe for their various study abroad experiences. I sat next to a girl, Rachel, who was headed to ... read more

Bonjour mes amis! So I moved in with my host family a few days ago and they're very nice. They're not really traditionally French but I'm having a good time and learning a lot of French. My host mother has lived in the states, Canada, Mexico, Morroco, Japan and France, and she wants to move to India next. I live with her and her daughter, Dora-Ly, who is 14 and very sweet. French adolescents act much more maturely than American ones, she acts like an 18 year old American. Because they've lived all over the world, my host mom cooks food from tons of different countries. I don't think she really knows how to cook French food, otherwise she just doesn't. But we do have French deserts quite often and wine, of course, each night. My ... read more