Salut tout le monde!
So I'm back again after quite a long break. Since the last time I wrote, lots of awesome things have happened, including the Grenoble Swing Dance Festival and a trip to Alsace. I'm still having a really good time here, but am very much ready to come home for Christmas. I think that getting in a break, and seeing friends and family will be a good recharge so that I can come back next semester refreshed, and ready to learn some more french!
Okay, I'll start with GSDF. It was actually a birthday present that I found out that I was no longer on the waiting list for GSDF, but could actually attend the classes. I was ecstatic, to say the least :) The event started off with a dance Friday night, followed by classes in the morning, and a dance at night on both Saturday and Sunday. It was such a cool experience for me, to be one of a few americans, and to get to dance with awesome dancers from all over Europe. The best ones were from Toulouse, Montpellier, Barcelona, and Berlin, and I'm probably leaving out a ton of places. Suffice it to say that it was an awesomely international event!
The classes were taught mostly by american profs, and in English, because that has become the universal language of Lindy Hop. I felt like the class sizes were nice- not too big, or too small. The material taught was good too, and I appreciated being able to meet a bunch of the dancers in my classes who came from all over. The dances were also really fun, they had live bands every single night. While they weren't the best I've heard, they were decent, and I had no cause to complain. Thankfully none of them were in that Buddy's Big Band habit of playing 6 minute songs that are hardly danceable :P
The only downside to the weekend was that earlier in the week, my bike got a flat tire (turns out I ran over a nail or something) and so it was unusable. Instead, I borrowed Priscilla's bike to get to and from the dances. The problem is that I'm 5'3" and Priscilla has got to be at least 6'! It was quite amusing/painful getting on and off the bike, and thankfully I didn't break any bones!
The next week I was quite exhausted from the inevitable sleep deprivation that always accompanies dance workshop weekends. Needless to say, I took lots of naps! The next weekend was quiet and relaxing, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous on Saturday, so I went for a hike with my swedish friend Louise.
The Thursday after that was Thanksgiving, and oh, how I love Thanksgiving! Our group of Americans had a traditional meal together, pot-luck style. I signed up to make Pecan Pie, because that's my favorite part, and so I got our family recipe from Memaw. (Thanks so much by the way!) I was nervous about making the pies, because a) I've never made a pecan pie and b) the ingredients were hard to find, and I had to get a bit creative. Corn Syrup flat out does not exist in France (all of their sodas are made with real sugar, and go figure- they taste better!) The recipe called for Corn syrup but I found online that you can substitute Maple instead. The only problem is that Maple syrup is ridiculously expensive here (well, everything is ridiculously expensive here) so I decided to make imitation Maple syrup. I was so worried the pies wouldn't turn out, but they came out perfectly, and were worth every minute I spent hunting down pecans (which are also very hard to find here). All in all, it was a very successful Thanksgiving.
The next morning, we left for our trip to the region of Alsace. The history of Alsace is a very interesting one, as it has changed hands between the French and the Germans 5 times over the past few hundred years. You can really tell, because the cities display both french and german influences. Many of the houses are in half-timbered style, and just oozing with charm. We spent Friday and Saturday nights in Strasbourg, and got to visit the Marchés de Noël (Christmas Markets) The whole city was covered in lights and Christmas decorations, and we all got really into the spirit. We also ate a TON! I had bratwurst with choucroute (sauerkraut) and flemmekeuche (a thin pizza-like thing with cream and onions and ham and cheese), and Vin chaud too. (It's like wassail, only with real wine)
We took a tour of historic Strasbourg, made some purchases at the Christmas markets, and also got a tour of the Kronenbourg beer facilities, and got to learn about how they make beer. It was very interesting, and at the end, we got to try out some of the beers. I tried a Christmas beer, and it was really good. I used to think I didn't like beers at all, but of the few I've had here, I've discovered they can be quite good. I think it's just American beer that I find disgusting. Oh, I almost forgot- on our way up to Alsace, we stopped in the Jura mountains to have a tour of a Comté making plant.
Sunday morning on our way back to Grenoble, we stopped for about 3 hours in the cutest little town that ever existed in the world. seriously. Colmar took up about 15 pages in my Rick Steves guide book, so I knew it would be good. I read up ahead of time, because I knew we wouldn't have much time to explore, and I made a list of what I wanted to see. Katie and I conquered the town in 3 hours, though I wish I'd had a couple of days :P We saw the Isenheim altarpiece, which is as famous for the Germans as the Mona Lisa is for the Americans. (Which reminds me- there were more German tourists in Alsace than Americans, a nice change) Then we saw the Dominican church, the other church, the canals, and then house after house of pure cuteness. I think now I can only leave you with some pictures!
cute cute Colmar:
yep, the whole town looked like this!
we saw a Stork in Strasbourg!
Went Ice skating! That's me and Becca in the middle spinning
at the Kronenbourg tasting... yum!
vieux Strasbourg
And me with my pecan pie, thanks Memaw!
