Trios

Not much new has been going on here, starting to fall into a rhythm.  Since everyone now has officially started classes, things have calmed down.  I have decided to take up my extra time with some sports.  I have signed up for English Boxing, French Boxing, Judo and weightlifting.  France, and the French, is very bureaucratic.  For me to be able to use the weights, I had to have permissions form a professor and pass a test on top of paying for a card.  Talk about nickel and diming to death, it seems that if you want to do anything you need 5 peoples permission then have to pay for something.  It’s backwards from the States, and what I can tell from other students from other countries, it is quite backwards from their systems also.  It seems the French have carved their own little world in the EU sometimes, it is quite interesting.

The French is coming along.  Way easier to pick it up when you are constantly surrounded by it.  Not quite to a full conversational level yet, but it is coming along well.  I think it is funny that the French can speak English, but they refuse too (well the ones that don’t deal with international students that is).  I have come to find out that with the “American Accent,” it can be quite difficult to correctly pronounce French.  For example, water (l’eau).  I cannot, for life of me, pronounce it correct when I order it; I have to just say “water.”  It works, sometimes I get weird looks, but my mix of Franglish works.

I still think it is interesting how I can make do with daily life and not have to really speak any French at all.  I can walk through the grocery store and buy all my things just by saying “Bonjour” and “Merci.”  They tell me how much it is, but I can’t understand what they say so I look at the register display.  Also, it is interesting how many words English shares with the Romantic languages.   It is actually quite easy to read and get the jist of what the products are.

Other interesting things, bikes.  Since everything is so close, everyone rides bikes and walks.  The bicycles aren’t the interesting part, it is the riders.  When I walk to class in the mornings, you will see a mother or father riding with a baby seat attached to the back and two or three other children following behind them on their own small bikes, looks like a flock of ducks.  Also the professional women, I still find it interesting to see them riding bikes with their full professional get-up and heals.   You have to be careful when walking on the sidewalks.  Sometimes they have dedicated bike paths, and you will get run over if you aren’t paying attention.  Other times they just ride on the side and ring their little bike bells.  I want to go out one night and collect all the bike bells in Strasbourg, they have become quite annoying.

Cars and Drivers, they are different also. The cars are a lot smaller, but the drivers are crazy.  It makes big city drivers in the U.S. look tame.  One-way streets, stop lights and stop signs all seem optional.  I have been in the car a couple times with some German and French drives, and I will not get back in.  Also, the parking; in the U.S., we park facing the same way on the right hand of the street, not here.  Sidewalks are parking lots, and town squares are roads.

Smoking, every freaking person here smokes.  Smoking never bothered me because 1) I have worked in bars all the time and 2) 2^nd hand smoking in U.S. public really isn’t that big of an issue.  Here, I have to find different ways into the school and other public places.  You aren’t allowed to smoke in bars or restaurants here, but the smokers all graze outside of the entrances.  I don’t exaggerate when I say that to get into the school; I have to walk through a cloud of smoke.  I will take some pictures to show.  Also, the age that people smoke and the amount of people that smoke.  It could roughly be the same as the U.S., I haven’t really counted, but it is more evident here that people smoke.  U.S. smokers sometimes try to be sly and sneaky about it.  Not here, from 9 years to 90 years, they all smoke.  I was walking and saw two little girls; they couldn’t have been more than 11, rolling their own cigarettes. Also, that is a huge thing here, rolling cigarettes.  You are in the minority if you buy what we Americans would consider the standard cigarette.

The way girls dress also is different.  Example, we were going out the other night and the girls were trying on their clothes.  They asked the guys opinion, and I didn’t realize how “culturally shocking” my opinion was.  Under their dresses and skirts they always wear something called leggings.  I told them they look like a grandma and need to take them off and then they replied with something along the lines of “that’s slutty.”  Well, that is a huge difference.  You can tell who an American, or potentially British, girls are by the way they dress…they show their legs.  Europeans tend to be more conservative when it comes to appearance as compared to Americans, so it is a tad bit weird.

Facebook, I do think that it is more of an issue over here than in the U.S.  While I have drastically cut the time I spend on the internet, I do find I’m spending more time on Facebook.  But the time isn’t stalking like most users do, it is communicating with the new friends because I don’t have any other way outside of seeing them in class (I still refuse to get a cell phone).  But my roommates, holy hell!  If I do a day or two without getting on the net, I’m good.  These people, they can’t go more than a couple hours.  We don’t have internet at our apartment yet, so we are borrowing a password to a router.  When you get 8 + people using one router, it gets very very slow.  I can compare it to and old person without their morning coffee, if they don’t get their 8 hour dose of Facebook, they are grumpy as hell!  I find it really funny, I take advantage of the situation to make cultural jokes.  

Speaking of cultural jokes, I see it in the States as well as here, but the stereotypes are amazing.  I do love to hear people’s opinions of the U.S. and Americans when they haven’t even met any Americans, and Americans do the same with other nationalities they haven’t meet.  I do believe that for 5 of my 7 roommates, I am the first American they have met.  But I had recently seen news broadcast of a father telling people on a school bus he was going to beat them up.  By the time it gets here, the conditions under which he made that decisions didn’t make it here also, so it becomes “crazy Americans”.  So, the Europeans see the most exaggerated viewings of American society.  I have been asked numerous times if it was true that everyone’s 16^th b-day in America was like the MTV “My Sweet 16” where the girls and boys get Porsches, ect.  I told them I only wish.  And the Jersey Shore, I freaking hate that show to begin with but you wouldn’t believe that is how some Europeans stereotype Americans.  My theory, when you watch American Reality Television outside of an American context, it does more to promote negative stereotypes of America than our politics!

My last point, American TV.   I wanted to catch up on my last episode of “White Collar” so I got onto Hulu.  I didn’t realize how hard it was to stream content from outside the U.S.  I can’t access Hulu or many news networks because I’m not inside the U.S.  I wanted to listen to the MJ Morning show the other day when I had some time to kill and it wouldn’t let me connect on I(HEART)Radio because I was outside the U.S.

Well, this was quite a long post.  Every time I come across something worth talking about, it put it as a not e in my iPhone.  A lot of this stuff wasn’t from the past week, but weeks since I have been here. 

Au revoir!

Billy

Week 2

I'm almost through with week 2 of my year long escapade, a long ways to go.  A lot of fun has happened in the past week.  Over the weekend I went on a trip with 470 other students (French and International) to Southern France on the Mediterranean Sea.  It was very nice, and in the heart of French Wine Country.  It reminded me of Pasadena, CA, but with vineyards comparable to the corn fields of the Midwest.

It was a 12 hour bus ride from Strasbourg to Valares Plage, our destination.  The bus ride was rough, it is hard to sleep on a bus.  When we arrived it was roughly Noon the next day, so we headed straight to the beach.  We were housed in small cabins, I had three other roommates.  Two were Russian, Victoria and Inna, and the third was Colombian, Maria Theresa.  The cabins were small  but comfy, they had sinks, stove, fridge, full bathroom, ect.  The weekend was an all inclusive weekend, all food and drinks included.  The idea was very neat, but nothing that could be pulled off in the states.  All the wine, beer and liquor drinks one could have, but since the drinking age here is 18, everyone can participate.  Both days were pack with sports, parties and the beach.  It was more reminiscent of a spring break.  On Sunday, we all packed back into the buses for a 12 hr trip back to Strasbourg.

Since then, It has been school school school.  Classes are easy, once you have done your undergrad and a majority of an MBA, you have seen a lot of material. Schedules are weird here.  It isn't like the U.S. when you have a class on the same day at the same time throughout the semester.  My classes happen almost at random.  I have had 12/20 hours of my International Mktg. class in the past 2 weeks and I won't have it again for another 4 weeks.  I will say that it does break the monotony the predictable U.S. schedule can have.  I have noticed though that it seems the French are comparatively unorganized as compared to a lot of other cultures.  For example, this past weekend could have been better organized by 8th grade students.  No clear directions on procedures for showing up, signing in, getting access to your cabin, which bus you would be on.  A simple directional email could have fixed a lot of problems, but it was quite the cluster at some points.  Also, the registration for classes.  The program is fairly new here at EM, but I can say that customer service is quite excellent.  It might take an hour to wait in line and a couple mins for the French to figure out what is going on, but they do provide a level of service that is quite higher than in the U.S.

What else...More cultural differences.  Guns guns guns, no one over hear hunts or shoots for sport.  I was describing what life was like back in the states and I received some savage looks when I talked about my hunting trips.  It was very interesting, but no one owns a gun for sport or hunting.  Most Europeans shrieked at the though of killing an animal...don't understand that since they eat a lot of meat over here. But it was quite interesting to talk about.  Also the food.  Food is great, but when it comes down to the basics...they eat alot of fats and carbs.  I was listening to one talk about unhealthy Americans as they were cramming 5oz of cheese, a 18 inch baguette, pasta and a coke down their throat.  Although fast food is more prevalent in the U.S., the carbs, fat and protein intakes are quite similar.  U.S. gets it from hamburgers and fries, while Europe gets it from cheese, pastas and breads.  The biggest difference is the amount of walking.  Here, you walk EVERYWHERE.  Outside of my daily workout, I walk at least 6 km (3.73 miles) a day, not including the tram.  So, it seems basic activity such as walking aids a lot of the Euro's with the perceived healthiness.

I have all of Thursday and Friday off from class, which is nice.  It is time to set up a French bank account.  I need one for the CAF, a housing allowance.  The French government will give me about 130 Euro ( 170 U.S.) per month as a living subsidy. Going to do some more exploring, Strasbourg is the Capital of Alsace and house to the EU Parliament and other EU institutions, so I'm going to visit them.

Also, working on the details for a trip to Munich for Oktoberfest.  Looks like it will be on 23 Septembre.  There is also a trip being planned for students on a weekend to Munich, either way I will be at Oktoberfest, so expect tons of pictures from there.

Another thing, TV, cell phones and the internet.  It is amazing that you can still live without all three!  I have no TV and it has been amazing.  I do miss some TV shows, but I have found so many more interesting things to do without it.  Also, cell phones.  It is awesome to not have text messages, calls or voice mails blowing up your pocket at all hours of the day.  I have been able to stay in touch with all of my new friends and I don't need one to do that (although many of them have bought one but Euro plans are far more expensive than U.S. plans and I am starting to hear some regrets).  And the internet.  It is how I communicate with you all back at home, but I don't have it in my flat (well I do but it is slow and we borrowed someones password to a router).  At first it was quite annoying, but like the absence of TV, you find many things you can do without it.  I am willing to say I have exposed 6 more hours of time per day that I can do other interesting things, or un-amusing like homework.  I almost like it so much that I just might incorporate these attributes when I come back to the U.S.

Well, I have a French for Dummies class here in 15 mins.

Au revoir!

Bill (or as the French pronounce it B-eel)

First Day of Classes

Well it has been an exciting week since I arrived.  The BDI, a student organization that aids international students in getting acquainted, has thrown parties for the past week. Alot of fun and drinking.  I have met loads of people from all over the world.  I have two German roommates, and Stras is full of German students, therefore it seems that I'm always hanging out with the Germans.  They have come here to work on their degrees and english, it makes it hard to learn french when you are speaking in english all the time.

Outside that, Strasbourg is very nice.  Weather is amazing, between 65-75 each day so far.  Alot of walking and tram riding.  It is very interesting to observe the cultural differences and realize the stereotypes and the falsities/truths.  FYI, although Germans are famous for their kraut, it is only eaten on occasion.  A couple of my German friends came over on sunday and made a traditional German meal.  It was potatoes, ham and an apple kraut.  It was very good!  I also ate a local dish called Flammekueche (it is pronounced flam-koosh).   It reminded me of pizza without pizza sauce.  It was on a very thin crust, thinner than Imo's, with cream as a base and different types of cheeses, bacon and a dessert one that had sugar and apple slices.  The dessert tasted like apple kettle corn, it was very good as was the rest of the flammekeuche!

Other neat things are the beer at McDonald's, beer/wine at the cafeteria on campus, a whole 3 course lunch for less than $3.50 (2.95 euro), and very cheap beer and wine in the markets. Europeans do a lot of drinking, but not drinking to get drunk.  I am amazed at the responsibility among the students and others when it comes to drinking.  Although some get crazy, it isn't too many.  I went over the Kehl, Germany, about 3 days ago to do shopping. It is very inexpensive to shop over there, and it is only 15 minutes away.  One thing, they (both Germany and France) make you pay .09 Euro (15 cents) per plastic bag.  Therefore, I use my backpack!   We don't have a freezer and our fridge is the size of my college dorm fridge (and it is for 4 people), so about every 2 days I am stopping by the market to pick up food for the next 2 days.  It is nice, cause 4 days a week, their is a live market in Strasbourg (2 of the days it is down the street from my apt) so I get fresh fish, veggies and fruits.

Life over here is quite more relaxed, the pace is slower and a lot less noisy (the whole town shuts down form lunch from noon until 2pm).  We have no TV, even though I wouldn't understand French television.  From what I understand, they only have a couple channels and according the locals, the channels aren't worth the money.  The apartment has no internet yet, therefore I can only get on when I'm at the university.  The main difference is we don't spend a lot of time at the apartment, only sleeping and eating time.  The rest is spent outside and in other common meeting areas like the university, city squares, city yards, ect...

Well, that is hopefully a good description of experiences thus far.  I have alot more, but i'll think of it later.  Gotta get finishing some registration and then off to lunch.  Also, I have posted photos on Facebook.

Bonne Jounee! 

I'm Here

Hey All,

I have made it to Stras.  I hopped the ocean on the Nina, Pinta and Santa Marie, it was quite interesting.  United labeled the leg of the trip from Frankfurt to Stras as a flight when it was really a bus.  Outside of that, I arrived a couple hours late, but made it.

I already have loads of pictures.  I spent 4 hours this morning walking around Stras trying to find internet access.  This isn't like the U.S. where you can hop into a Panera and get free WiFi.  I found a McDonalds and luckily they have it. 

My apartment is small.  I'll upload pictures later, but on the bright side I believe we have a maid that cleans the everything but the rooms once a week.

Stras looks like something out of Fiddler on the Roof.  Alot of canals, flowers, greenery and old architecture.

Well, I'm hungry and it is getting close to lunch time.  I need to navigate my way back to the apartment.  It is unique, streets and sidewalks are the same thing and they really do have a "structure" to them.

bonne journée