Now that I feel like I'm living in Strasbourg...

It is now two months into my semester here, and now I really do feel like I’m living in Strasbourg. I know my daily routes REALLY well (house, Syracuse center, Conservatoire, the locations of my preferred patisseries…), and after three mostly stationary weekends in Strasbourg, I have a much better idea of how the city is organized, and can find my way around without getting completely lost. Only just a little lost. :)

I thought, though, that this would be a good time to write a post about what my daily life is like here, as come tomorrow, I’m on Spring Break. Yipee! Beth and her friends are arriving in Strasbourg tomorrow after my last midterm, and then on Sunday, I’m off to Florence, where I’ll meet my friend Lilly from Wellesley (she’s studying in Bologna this semester), and then Thursday, I’ll go to Milan where my friend Meilan is studying abroad. I’m still hoping to get to Venice and Rome before the semester ends, but we’ll see how that goes.

As for my daily life… I’m generally out of the house by 8:15 am, and at the Syracuse Center by 8:30. Most days, my first class starts at 9h, so I have a little down time for internet or last minute reviewing. Mondays are not so good for me – I don’t have enough time in one block to get to the Conservatoire to practice, so Monday has become my internet day to talk to people back in the States. (Just FYI, GoogleTalk and Skype are both free programs you can download off the internet, and then you can talk with anyone in the world for free over the internet, as if you were talking over the phone. You’ll need either a mike on your computer or a headset, but it’s still pretty cool, don’t you think?) Tuesdays, I usually have my mallet lesson in the afternoon (after morning classes), and so can get some practicing in at the Conservatoire. I also have a Tuesday evening class at the Conservatoire, and then I get back to my house around 19h30 (7:30 pm – France almost always uses what we call military time, and I’m really starting to prefer it…), making Tuesday my latest day of the week. Wednesday, I’m done by 15h, but as the kids of Alsace don’t have school on Wednesday (common for the French school system), the Conservatoire is pretty packed with the younger students coming in to practice. I often watch a movie and practice on my bed, in lieu of having a marimba at home. Thursdays, I’m done at 12h30, and also try to get to practice, but as it’s my last day of classes, I’m not always in the mood. o:) Friday and Saturday mornings, I usually get to the Conservatoire pretty early before most of the percussionists are awake, and I can therefore get a room and get a good morning of practicing in. For my Sunday mornings, I’ve found an Anglican church here, and I really like it. The first Sunday I went, I realized that I’m still a foreigner – almost all the native English speakers are from England, not from the States, so I still have a funny accent. That made me think a little bit.

If it’s a nice weekend afternoon, I like to get out of the house and study or read at one of the nearby parks. Parc du Contades is the closest, and Orangerie is the biggest. So far, those are the only ones I’ve really explored. One afternoon a couple of weeks ago, while sitting in the park, I heard a woman say to her dog, “Sur la banc! Sur la banc!”, and it hit me that the dogs in France speak French. They wouldn’t understand “sit,” but they’d understand “assis!” You’d think that would be obvious, but I didn’t fully comprehend that until the woman asked her dog to jump on the bench, but the words “on the bench” were no part of the command.

Also, having three good weekends in Strasbourg, I’ve been able to explore the restaurants the city has to offer. I’ve found two streets that have quite a few restaurants on them, and another area with to-go lunch type restaurants, so I shall never be at a lack of places to eat – always a plus. Yesterday afternoon, I walked around downtown searching for all the sights I want to show Beth and her friends, and now I’m confident that I will not get the five of us lost this coming weekend. I’m a little concerned about the weather, so maybe no boat tour, but oh well. I’m getting more courage to speak to my host family, and the people who work at the center are also very patient with my slow French, but still let me practice with them. All things considered, I’m very content to be living in Strasbourg for these five months.

You might recall that it is now the time for midterms. Today I took my French oral comprehension exam, presented my paper for Communications, and took my Music Theory “quest” (counts more than a quiz, but less than a test). I’m reasonably confident about French and Music Theory, but I’ll just have to see my grade for Communications to see how that turned out… Tomorrow brings French written comprehension, Ear Training (rhythm and singing (prepared and sight) exercises), and most importantly, BETH!!!!! (If you can’t tell, I’m extremely excited about Beth and her friends coming tomorrow.)

I also apologize for the delay in posting. My plan was to post late last week, but I received some sad news from home and it kind of took priority over my blog. My maternal grandmother had hip surgery last Tuesday, and some complications arose later Tuesday evening. Friday morning, the doctors discovered that my grandmother had had multiple strokes that she would likely not recover from. Soon after, the decision was made to take my grandmother off the machines that had been helping her breathe, and she passed away early Friday evening. Her funeral was yesterday, and though I am quite sad I couldn’t be there for it, I know a lot of my family, even those on my dad’s side and not blood-related to my grandma, were able to make it, for which I’m grateful. However, now it’s just a matter of moving on, and getting back into the swing of things. Which includes posting on my blog! :)

One more day of classes, then three days of Beth and friends, and then I’m off to Italy! Hooray!