J'ai fini!!!

I am now officially finished with all class-related things until September. All finals completed, all presentations presented, all papers turned in. It’s quite a nice feeling, actually, though I don’t want to rub it in too much, as I’m pretty certain I’m the first of my fellow student friends to finish classes this semester…

This week, needless to say, was a rather stressful one. Can’t say I did many fun things this week, as finals pretty much took all of my energy. However, I did have a little fun today. First, there’s a chance that I – or, rather, my feet – will be on CNN in Europe. My communications professor works at the Council of Europe (which is NOT the same as the European Union – they’re two completely different organizations, just for your information), and had asked Sarah, another student in my class, to film a TV spot for one of the campaigns she (my professor) is working on. The campaign is directed at all European citizens, as an attempt to break down any and all sorts of discrimination. Really broad, I know… The slogan is “all different, all equal,” which fortunately translates easily into all the many languages of Europe. Anyways, this TV spot will be a 30-second shot of all different kinds of shoes (all different, all equal shoes, of course), and all kinds of different people wearing said shoes. Still shots, dancing shots, one pair of shoes, multiple pairs of shoes – quite a variety. And, as a member of the class and had helped brainstorm the idea for the spot, we were invited to the Council to help with the shooting. I got to wear some really great pairs of shoes, as I was the only one with feet small enough to fit in them. :) Let’s see… 2/3-inch red platforms, this crazy pair of aqua heels with a red and white flower print, flip-flops with giant pink flowers, and my teal crocs (yes, Corby, your Christmas present might be on international television!) with purple plaid PJ pants (talk about alliteration... and that’s another Christmas present that could be on TV :) ) – I think that was all I tried on today. It was a pretty silly afternoon, but also quite fun. I think I’ll get a copy of the final edited version, and it’ll be nice to see it.

The final fun part about today was the Farewell Dinner with Syracuse. Every semester, towards the end, Syracuse University takes all the students out to a nice dinner to say goodbye. Though I’m not actually leaving Strasbourg, most of the students will leave next week while I’m traveling with the music trip, so it was still a farewell. Not only was the dinner amazing (I had heard that the food was just OK, but my duck was quite delicious), but it was just a nice dinner. I took the pictures I wanted to be sure to have, and felt that it was a good way to finish this semester (course wise, anyways, for me). One of the other music students is leaving for the States straight from Prague, which means that tonight is her last night in Strasbourg. She was getting pretty teary – I’m not sure if it was just from lack of sleep from finals, or that she was really sad to leave Strasbourg. I’m still a little afraid that will be me come the end of May… At least, though, I’ll have the trip with my parents to look forward to, and hopefully that will lessen the pain of parting from this city that truly has been my home for these last four months.

Despite the fact that I’m loving it, as I’ve said many times before, in Strasbourg, there will always be things I will miss back in the United States. This news might come as a surprise to many of my readers, but for me and my family, we have been waiting for this for a few years now. Namely, my paternal grandmother passed away last night, six days before her 89th birthday. Her dementia had been progressing steadily for a long time, and her strokes had left her severely debilitated. For the past year or two, she had slept almost 24/7. So now, she is in a much better place, much more content, and is finally with my grandfather, to whom she said “I’ll be with you soon, Jim,” five-and-a-half years ago, when my grandfather passed away. It’s simply unfortunate, and though I wish I could be with my family back in the States, it just isn’t feasible. Especially as I will be on the train from Prague to Strasbourg while the funeral is happening…

Tomorrow begins my first trip in a month. We will travel to Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, and Prague, all cities important to the world of music. Tomorrow night, actually, we have tickets to the Berlin Philharmonic, one of the best orchestras in the world, directed by Seiji Ozawa, who I have always thought of as one of the greats of the conducting world. I’m ridiculously excited – it’s not every day one gets to see the Berlin Philharmonic. I know this trip will be amazingly fun, and I am planning on enjoying it. Then, I will return rejuvenated and ready to spend the month of May practicing and traveling around France. :)