Happy first day of school! Sorry I can’t be there with you but I’m still galavanting around the world. I wanted to share with you some of my adventures because I’ve been thinking about you on a regular basis. It’s true! As I learn and experience new things I often think how I’d like to share them with you. Actually there were some cases where I thought how great it would be if I could take you there on a school trip. But alas, it’s too far away. So you’ll have to travel with me in this way.
French
In July I was in France for a week. These were some of my impressions:
It has been so good to be able to speak French while here in France. After having traveled in Turkey where it was much harder to get by not knowing the language at all, I felt so much more connected when I arrived in France and could read, speak and understand what was going on. The group I’ve been traveling with here is an Anglophone group and though some have certain French capabilities they keep commenting on how lucky I am to be able to communicate. Several ask me for help in translating. Speaking to the lovely madame at the hotel was most useful. She was able to help with what I needed, getting rid of the wasp’s nest on the balcony, providing me with packing tape for a package I was sending, and finally driving me to the train station a few villages over. I largely attribute this kindess to the fact that we were able to communicate well with each other.
The most fun French experience I had was when our group went on a tour of a winery. The professor who always does the translating for our group during tours was late in getting there and so I had to jump in and do the translating for everyone. It was fun finding the right words and expressions especially since I haven’t practiced my wine vocabulary in awhile. Everyone was very impressed and thankful, including the lady at the winery.
It’s also very cool to take part in some of their cultural activities. The other day I stopped at the market and bought a baguette from the boulanger and a lovely piece of cheese. The fromage called Munster is from this region, and although it’s a little stinky it’s very delicious. It’s so yummy and French to sit out on the patio avec le pain, le fromage et un peu de vin.
Voilà quelques photos:
This is the view from my hotel room in the little town we stayed in near Strasbourg. It's beautiful, agricultural countryside with many vineyards covering the hills. They use the grapes to make all sorts of different wines. 
This is a typical area in the city of Strasbourg. The old part of town is very beautiful and historical. The style of houses is still quite medieval. There are many tourists but there are also many people who live and work in this part of town.
This is a school I saw in Strasbourg. It must be a very old building. I thought it would be beautiful to go to school here. This is the view from the front.
This is the back of the school.
This is the front school yard. (Obviously they don't have a back yard!) I thought it was cool too that they have a vegetable and herb garden in their schoolyard, which you can't see here. It's to the left.Stay tuned for Ms Schemeit's next travel report on Ancient Civilisations coming soon to a school near you. :-)
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