Hello, it’s me.

It has, inexplicably, been roughly one month since my last blog post. I wasn’t sure how this happened until I started mentally listing the things to write about in this entry. Since my last post, I’ve been skiing in the Swiss Alps, visited a place where the official language is Luxembourgish; met with European Council and Committee members in Brussels, and gone on a nighttime cruise of the Seine while in Paris. How is this real life? Since I’ve been so busy andI’m sure you’re all anxious to catch up, I’ll dive right in.

February 20:

Saturday was judgement day; the date of our long-awaited Alps trip! I can say that literally every time I had skied before had led up to this… to be honest when I woke up at 5 AM to catch the bus I had a moment of “what the heck are you doing?!”. I have been skiing 4 times in my life before, and now I’m about to ski down the ALPS?! In true Emily fashion, I shrugged and headed out the door. The group of skiers and sledders excitedly took to the bus and we marveled at the mountains which we were passing as we entered Switzerland, but it became apparent on the Bergbahn in Grindelwald that the weather would not be cooperating. Visibility was near impossible, as we got our ski gear on and headed to the slopes it was difficult to even see the people in front of you!

These near blizzard weather conditions made the Alps a little more reassuring for a skiing newbie, as I couldn’t see just how high up I was, or really how fast I was going. The only way to describe the weather was white. The sky was white, the snow was white, the air around us was white… it was a huge bummer that we couldn’t see any semblance of the gorgeous Alpine vistas that Grindelwald is known for. A huge sightseeing disappointment, however the fun of the day was unparalleled. I really impressed myself with my skiing abilities; I was able to keep up with my friends in the afternoon and go down the blue runs (easiest) as well as the reds (medium difficulty) all day! Not too bad for the fifth time on skis! I guess Slamans really are natural skiers.

It was nice to have a relaxing Sunday in between the Alps trip and our next field study to Luxembourg, Brussels and Paris. Since the weather was in the low 50’s with sunshine, I went for a hike with my friend Sean and tried to work out some of the soreness in my muscles from skiing before our 6 hour bus ride on Monday! Walking through budding Freiburg was a treat; it was a lovely preview as to what will be coming when spring fully arrives here in the next few weeks.

February 22: Off to Brussels (via Luxembourg)!

Early Monday morning we were off to Brussels and Paris for the week! We had 2 stops on the way to Brussels, the first was at the Saint-Avold military cemetery, which is the largest American military cemetery in Europe, and the second was in Luxembourg for lunch and a visit to the European Investment Bank. The stop at the cemetery was very sobering; it was amazing to see the Arlington-esque rows of crosses and stars of David headstones that lined the field. Humbling to think that sixty years ago American students our age came to Europe not to study, but to fight for their country and that most of them never made it back home. On a lighter note, seeing the American flag flying high and proud on the grounds brought a tear to my eye and a homesickness to my heart that I hadn’t felt before on the trip. It felt good to see the familiar stars and stripes overhead.

Lunch in Luxembourg was quick stop, and the talk at the Investment Bank was not as dry as I had anticipated. Did you know that the EIB funded the Chunnel (tunnel under the english channel between Britain and France) and the highway connecting Denmark and Sweden, as well as helping finance the Panama canal? I learned that at the Investment Bank!

Brussels

At long last, we arrived in Brussels on Monday night. Brussels, along with Strasbourg is a capital of the European Union, and the city definitely felt like it. Brussels felt a lot like Washington DC, which was a consensus among my classmates and I. Many young, international professionals working on an enormous scale: Brussels was a very promising city. Walking around dressed in our business professional attire I actually felt like we could run the world.

Most important in Belgium however, was the free time. On one sunny afternoon after our meetings, some of my fiends and I walked around the city and found a Belgian waffle truck in a gorgeous park, and stood eating Belgian waffles and watched dogs playing. These were the first friendly dogs I have seen since home (German dogs usually keep to themselves), so I did shed a tear when one jumped up on me in the park. No mom and dad, I did not take him back to Freiburg with me!

I feel like we really hit all the major points in Brussels: ate waffles, fries, mussels and oysters, and drank some famous Belgian beer while talking EU politics! And how could I forget the Belgian chocolate that was worth every euro? Brussels goes high up on my cities list after this trip.

Paris

Parîs! Ooh la la! Not my first trip to Paris, but every bit as exciting as when I first visited last summer. Paris is so huge that there was no shortage of things to do, even for a second time around. On Friday we had some discussions with foreign policy advisors and a reporter for Politico Europe, which was very cool, before getting on an evening boat tour of the Seine! Pictures along the Seine at night really didn’t do the city justice; you truly understand why they call it the city of light! After the boat tour, a few of my friends and I went to the Louvre before it closed to poke around and see some famous artwork. Afterwards, we enjoyed wine, crepes, and creme brûlée in true Paris fashion.

Saturday morning there was a tour of Versailles organized by IES. The grandeur of the palace is so amazing; it’s hard to believe that anyone legitimately lived there! The Hall of Mirrors is definitely my favorite part of the palace, and since the weather was nice we had ample time to explore the gardens before the bus headed back to Paris at noon. As soon as we returned to Paris my friends and I decided to visit the L’Orangerie, where Monet’s Water Lillies are. Monet is definitely my favorite artist, so seeing the scale and serenity of his original works was really something. Afterwards, we got hot chocolate at Cafe Angelina, which was literally molten chocolate with thick whipped cream to dilute the cocoa! On Saturday we also saw the Musee d’Orsay and the Catacombs before meeting up with other friends for an authentic French dinner.

Unfortunately, we left Paris early on Sunday morning. I would have loved to stay another day, since I didn’t have time to get to Notre Dame or the Champs d’Elyse on this trip, but the train tickets to stay till the night were too expensive. Freiburg is only 3 1/2 hours by train from Paris, so it wouldn’t be out of the question to do a weekend trip!

Just writing this post has worn me out, and I really don’t know how I’ll be able to recover for midterm assignments this week and next! The hardest part of study abroad is definitely remembering that you are still going to school, and not on a four month vacation, no matter how much it may feel like it!

Tschuss!

 

Location: Paris, France