Yes, I’m a terrible blogger. Even Andrew has been asking when I am going to post again, so here goes. I still don’t have functioning internet in my apartment-I bought the USB key but for some reason it is having trouble making an actual internet connection. I’m posting this from the McDonalds down the street from UHA.
Since I last posted, I’ve been on two weekend excursions and had a quiz in one of my classes. In my linguistics class, we took a quiz in which we were given a passage with certain words underlined and we had to identify the type of word (noun, adjective, etc.) and then identify its properties (plural, masculine/feminine, type of noun/adjective, article, etc.). I thought I had done fairly well, but then she went over the quiz afterward and I know I didn’t write enough to satisfy her. However, based upon the groans of the rest of the class I don’t think I was alone. The class itself isn’t that difficult-my professor is fairly easy to understand and she repeats things if necessary. My most difficult class in that regard is Renaissance Literature, in which the professor does not speak loudly enough.
Last Saturday (12 February), most of the Erasmus Exchange Students took a trip (paid for by the University) to Markstein, which is a ski resort about an hour away in the mountains. We were originally supposed to cross-country ski to a little restaurant/farm about 5 kilometers away from Markstein, but there was little to no snow on the ground so we ended up walking the whole way. The food at the restaurant (la Ferme du Haag) was traditonal Alsacian fare called Fleischschnacka, which is essentially beef rolled into a snail-like shape. It and the blackberry pie that followed were fantastic. Eating as much as we did made the walk back to Markstein very difficult but it was quite an enjoyable trip. After I got back I met up with Caroline and her friend Pauline and we went to one of the local movie theaters and saw “Black Swan”, which I have wanted to see since it came out.
Last week was spent attempting to get my internet working and arranging this weekend’s trip to Basel. Thursday night a few of us went to the movie theater to see “Rien à Declarer” (an actual French movie!) or “Nothing to Declare” in English. It was quite funny and was worth going to see. Friday night two knew exchange students arrived from Spain so some of us went to a local bar to meet them. I got to have my first Guinness, and it was quite enjoyable. The two exchange students don’t speak French so the night was spent speaking English, because everybody who was there can speak it to some degree. There were two native English speakers, one non-native speaker who studies in Scotland, and the rest have all studied English at some point. Many students in Europe are apparently required to study two languages, and English is often one of them.
Yesterday (19 February), Marilena (from Romania), Karolina (from Poland), and I took a train to Basel, Switzerland for the day. We left fairly early in the morning so we would have a lot of time to explore the city. The train ride is about 30 minutes and I must say that it does make going places much easier! The most difficult thing of the day was the language barrier-Basel is in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and none of us speak more than three words of German. Fortunately the people who work in the train station (where we needed the most help) speak French as well. We visited the Basel Münster cathedral, the oldest portions of which were built in the 9th century. I tend to get very excited over buildings that are more than 400 years old because unlike my European friends, I don’t get to see that type of architecture on a semi-regular basis. All of the oldest and most famous buildings in the United States have a basis in architecture that originated in Europe, and I find it fascinating to visit these old buildings. We also visited the Rathaus, or the town hall of Basel. It was constructed over time between 1501 and 1901. We spent the rest of the day walking around the city, arguing over directions, and taking enough pictures that we compared ourselves to Japanese/Chinese tourists (the jokes have apparently made it to Romania and Poland). Overall, it was a fun day, though very tiring. One would think I’d get used to walking for hours, but so far I haven’t. Hopefully I will soon as I intend to go on more trips!
I have no idea when I’ll post again, but if I don’t post soon, feel free to leave me a message here, on facebook, or by e-mail-I promise to respond!
À bientôt!
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