Entries about beaune

With so much to talk about, I really don't even know where to begin to write this post, but I guess the title says it all. Time flies by so much faster than you ever think it will. I remember when I moved to Vail at the beginning of June this summer thinking, man, I have 3 months ahead of me of living in one of the most beautiful and most desireable places to live on Earth! This is going to be amazing! And then at the end of August, I began to realize how quickly that time had passed. Here I am now, with only 12 days left of my study abroad experience, and 4 of those will be spent in Agadir, Morocco, and one of those is the travel day home. So really, I only have one week left here in Dijon. I am absolutely positively ready to come home, but that's not without a bittersweet feeling of everything here that I'll miss. The people I've met here have been amazing, and the friendships I've made are incredible. I'm going to miss the moments and memories I've shared with every single person here, especially the wild travel adventures. All of that said, here's what I've been up to for the last couple weeks as well as everything that's on the horizon.

Paris

After I wrote my last entry, I headed off to Paris for a few days to join my family. I can't believe they flew all the way across the world to spend a week here with me. It was great to see them, spend time with them, and have them on this side of the great pond for a bit. In Paris we spent time seeing most of the major attractions, the Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs d'Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, Mont Parnasse Tower, Musée d'Orsay, as well as a few other highlights. I had a few interesting observations too. First of all, the Notre Dame in Paris is no doubt impressive, but I've seen plenty of Cathedrals in Europe now ("oh god, we're going to see another cathedral in <insert city name here> tomorrow?") because that's just the way Europe is and it is by no means the most impressive cathedral in Europe. My travel advice would be to see the cathedral in Strasbourg instead, which is much more impressive and equally as ancient... or old, rather. The Louvre was pretty impressive too, and the amount of famous artworks in there is phenomenal. The Mona Lisa? Not as phenomenal as everyone thinks. It's small, has a room dedicated to it, is dark, you can't get close, is behind bulletproof glass, and is surrounded by a horde of people. It was cool to see the world's most famous painting, don't get me wrong, and the thing is invaluable, but it's not nearly as impressive as I thought it would be. The artwork at the Vatican Museum in Rome or the Uffizi Museum in Florence is much more impressive to me. Everything really is better in Italy.

The Eiffel Tower was pretty cool to visit, and it's cool that I can now say I've been up to the top of it. We were pretty lucky to have such a great day for weather when we visited it too since almost every other day was foggy or gray. The disappointing thing with the Eiffel Tower to me was the sheer number of Asian tourists that were there. It's not really the Paris or France experience I was looking for. I'm really glad my brother can say he's been to the Eiffel Tower now though since he's always talked about it like it existed in some far off place. The Champs d'Elysées and Arc de Triomphe were also pretty cool, though we didn't go up inside the Arc. The Mont Parnasse tower was cool too but we had terrible weather so the view from the landing pad on top wasn't very impressive (and cold!). The Musée d'Orsay was probably one of my favorite things we did actually. The artwork in there from van Gogh, Renoir, and other famous painters was cool to finally get to see, and I got some awesome pictures from inside there too.

Dijon

After visiting Paris for a few days, my family and I took a TGV to Dijon, which was their first real train experience. It's kind of a weird thought to me since I've traveled all over Europe on nothing but trains, so the train station drill is normal too me. My dad has also never taken the Denver lightrail, so it was his first actual train experience too. I explained to my parents how gates are announced just 15 minutes before departure most of the time and is pretty normal in France, which is a totally foreign idea to us Americans who are used to getting to the airport hours before a flight and knowing exactly which gate to go to. We spent the next few days in Dijon, which was nice. It was actually kind of funny when my parents asked me what there is to do in Dijon and I felt kind of clueless because I've been traveling Europe so much this semester. I'm really only in Dijon when I have class or on weekends when I feel the need to stay here to get classwork done (which has only occurred in November). But it was nice, we did part of the owl tour around the town, visited a few cathedrals, yes, more cathedrals, and just kind of explored Dijon. We also rented a car, which was quite the experience... With all of the tram construction going on in Dijon right now, the entire city is screwed up for traffic purposes, so driving is far from ideal. We took the car out to the Burgundy wine region though, which was fun for the day, even if there were moments where I thought we were going to die. We drove part of the Rue des Grands Crus, and actually had a really sunny day for it, which was great. After a few days in Dijon, my parents boarded their TGV train back to Paris to fly out the next day. All in all it was a fun few days in Dijon and great to spend time with my family again.

What's Next?

I've spend the last few days since they left wrapping up school papers and projects and random ends trying to get ready for the end of the semester. I've said it already but I'll say it again, time flies and I can't believe I only have one week left here. I finished my last paper last night which leaves just a French language exam this week and a French Culture exam this week. After that, it's off to beautiful Agadir in Morocco for a few days with my American friends to send off the semester the same way it began and then a quick turn around in Dijon to Paris and a flight home. I have a few odds and ends things left to take care of here in Dijon like the OFII forms (that I was supposed to do months ago), close up my French bank account, and hopefully finally resolve things at the residence, but then it's time to go home. I'm going to miss this here, no question about that, but it will be nice to go home and return to a life and culture that I fully understand, and hopefully I can make use of everything I've learned here back home and in future adventures.

That's all I've got for now, and this may be one of my last real entries, but make sure to stay tuned for my blog that sums up 6 months into one word, which I'm planning to start working on today. I'm really pouring my heart into it in the hopes that others will be able to get as much out of it as I have writing and living it. Looking forward to seeing everyone back home soon!

Au revoir!

Pictures
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2755652452477.2148433.1292672395&type=1&l=a3693937bc

360s
http://360.io/EhT3vt Burgundy wine region
http://360.io/CkKFkE Dijon mustard store
http://360.io/jUZmMv Paris old military courtyard
http://360.io/2RzAn8 Near Napoleon's tomb
http://360.io/4vHKdv Standing under the Eiffel Tower
http://360.io/kaXxQ5 Standing inside the Louvre pyramid (my favorite!)
http://360.io/hHXhpx Standing outside the Paris Notre Dame

A lot of things have transpired since my last entry, so here's everything you need to know about what's changed and what's coming up in the next few weeks.

Dijon

Since my previous entry, I still have not managed to leave this country, or this town for that matter. It's been kind of weird not being constantly on the run with traveling like the first two months of my stay here, but definitely nice also. I was talking to one of my Filipino friends this week who traveled with me those 8 weekends in a row and the 12 day European Excursion (http://lavitabella.travellerspoint.com/29/) and he's been traveling every weekend still. It was interesting to hear him say that he's starting to feel a little "jaded" now with all the traveling going on. It's an awesome like and I wouldn't trade being able to travel like this for anything, but it wears on you more than you ever think it will. That said, resting in Dijon isn't half bad either. It's allowed me to go out to the bars and clubs more with friends here, which is a cultural experience in itself. I've also learned a ton about Dijon weather... Fog. And more fog. Since arriving home in Dijon on November 2, I have seen the sun twice. Today and two days ago. As a Coloradan, we get over 300 days of sun every year. You really learn to appreciate that sun when you don't see it for days and days on end. It was starting to drive me crazy even on some days when you couldn't see more than 10 meters in front of you. So, I'm thankful I don't have to live in places like San Francisco or Seattle.

Travel

My favorite part of every entry is writing about travel, so here's what's coming up since I haven't been anywhere recently. This week I am headed to Paris on Thursday morning to be reunited with my family for Thanksgiving. I think it has the potential to be the best Thanksgiving of my life to date, too. I can't imagine a better way to spend the holiday than with family and to have them fly around the globe to celebrate it here is incredible. I am so lucky and thankful for that, and I plan on giving them all a huge hug when I see them on Thursday. I'm spending the following few days with them around Paris visiting all the sites like the Notre Dame, the Louvre, and of course the Eiffel Tower, before heading down to Dijon for a few days here with them. In Dijon I think we'll just enjoy the little town and it's Notre Dame, do some wine tours of the Burgundy region, and possibly visit Beaunne, which is an absolutely awesome tiny little town outside of Dijon.

After they leave, I have about 10 days more of classes to conclude the semester and then my American friends and I are flying to Agadir in Morocco for a few days on the beach down there. This trip still blows my mind. I've never been to Africa. It will mark my 4th continent I've visited, it looks absolutely gorgeous, and it should be an incredibly different cultural experience than anything else I've ever walked or breathed in. So, I'm super excited, and the trip isn't even very expensive ($170 roundtrip plus hostels!). I am still slightly worried about safety and water and stuff, but the more research I do the more my fears are lessened. I'm pretty excited to end this study abroad trip the same way I started it to. Four American friends of mine and I spent 3 days in Rome together during our first week abroad, and we're ending it together too, complete with African beaches and camel rides to a wild bird reserve. Feels pretty awesome. It'll be pretty weird to travel from Africa to Europe on December 13, and then Europe to North America on December 15 too, 3 continents in 3 days. That blows my mind over and over again. That all said though, it's also time to start thinking about home.

Home

I can't believe it's already here. While I'm certainly ready to go home to familiarity and a culture and language I fully understand, I've enjoyed my time here too and learned a ton. I learned everything I didn't expect to learn and nothing I expected to learn. This past week, I've been in touch with my boss back home working out my schedule for work when I get home, which will be gladly welcomed since I'm starting to feel the pressure on my wallet after no paychecks since June 1. This past week I also registered for graduation. Good lord, how did that come up so fast?! I guess people really aren't kidding when they tell you college will be the best and fastest four years of your life. It's a surreal feeling, but also one of accomplishment and satisfaction knowing that I've made it this far and successfully completed the major and double language minor I aimed for the day I accepted my letter from DU. It's weird that now I have to start thinking about the future, the real world, and planning for the rest of my life. I won't rest until I find a job in the mountains somewhere working in the ski industry, but I don't know exactly how I'll get there yet. I've explored the ideas of coming back to the French Alps or Italy to work in the ski industry as well, but who knows where I'll end up yet. First up is completing the Colorado Trail this summer after graduation, a goal I've had for a long time. It's amazing how fast time really does fly sometimes. Only 25 days left until I'm home in beautiful sunny Colorado! Thanks for reading, and I'm looking forward to seeing all you all soon!

PS. I'm working on two epic blogs currently, one to wrap up all of study abroad with tons of pictures and my favorite experiences, and another to take the last six months of my life and sum them all up into one, simple, word. Props to anyone who can figure out the word!

Au revoir!

--Scooter

Milan Train Station in Italy

No really significant updates in this entry, just felt the need to write. Thoughts on paper. In an odd sort of way it's a great outlet for me, soothing, and just nice to get things out. I'll do my best to get things caught up since returning from Rome to the best of my memory.

Sunday

Sunday was a relatively nice rest and catch up day. Despite how awesome Rome was and all of the unbelievable things we got to see, I was ready for a day to relax and sit for a little bit. I basically spent Sunday on housekeeping related things around here. Still unsure if the bed bugs came from Rome or my studio here, I cleaned the entire place. Swept the whole room, cleaned the kitchenette spotless, etc. I found no signs of them here, but as of today on Thursday I still can't say I know where they came from for sure. Sunday I also wrote some postcards to friends and family back home, wrote the previous blog, skyped with my parents and skyped with my girlfriend, and so on. Lots of little things that just needed to get done, and seeing my family back home and my girl was great too, as always. The letter I received from my girlfriend the night I got home from Rome was a nice little treat also given how much I miss her here. Not a bad day, especially given that everything in France is closed on Sundays. Everything.

Monday

Monday was a very good and productive day. I had received mail from the bank here that my ATM card was available for pick up, so I went to get that, which was a huge relief. Not only did I get it on my first visit to the bank that day (great success), but it worked and I no longer have concerns for running out of money here in Europe. Both great things. That day also I went to the train station with the other American friends of mine to try to book tickets for future trips, but had no luck because I guess these trains fill up early, no matter where you're going according to the first guy we spoke too, so that was a bit frustrating. That evening I attended my first class here in Dijon, French Intermediate, which went pretty smoothly. The professor speaks no English, which might prove to be difficult at some point, but I understood nearly every word she said, and could speak better than some kids in my class while not as well as others, which to me says I'm right where I should be. The grading seemed pretty fair and relatively easy enough, so that's always a plus. Monday I also received my first care package from home, from my mother, which had my scale from home, a razor since I blew mine in the outlet the first time I tried to shave here, a wireless router since wifi is hard to find here in Dijon, and another converter and adapter for outlets. Amazingly, having not weighed myself in two weeks and eaten everything that looked deliciously European, I hadn't gained an ounce. Not bad!

Tuesday

Tuesday was a less than fabulous day here. I didn't end up doing much for most of the day, and when I did finally try to go do something (meet up with another international student from Germany at the gym), the gym was unavailable for use, which was disappointing. My wrist was giving me problems for most of that day, which was also pretty frustrating. I still think that something in there is broken or messed up, more than a sprain, but who really knows at this point. All I can do is hope it heals by the time I'm back in the States and if not, I'll have to get it professionally looked at along with my knee to figure out what's wrong. I also returned to the train station again that day with the other American students, to no luck with booking anything. That afternoon while relaxing in my apartment my bed broke for the second time also, so add that to the growing list of the many reasons why I'm already tired of this residence. Tuesday night I was back from class and realized that my International Law class which has been missing from my schedule and I'm told "isn't scheduled yet but will be shortly" is on my schedule, and is holding a 3 hour class session at 9:30 Wednesday morning! I swear this school sometimes... Anyways, seeing that I went to bed since I knew I couldn't sleep in, and I was frustrated with the day.

Wednesday

Wednesday turned out to be a much better day. I went to my first real International Business class in the morning for the Law stuff, which turned out to be alright. The professor is from Peru and is fluent in Spanish and French and good at English, although at times he turns to me for help since I'm the only native English speaker in the room. It looks like the majority of our grade in there is going to be based on the team project, which we began on Wednesday without even realizing it. I am in a group with four other students from Germany, Mexico, Pakistan, and China and our task is to find a common natural resources problem in our country and build a treaty around it with the others. Pretty cool to see it from a global perspective like this too, something I definitely wouldn't get in a class at DU. After class I went to try out the school gym, which worked out ok. Not having access to a legitimate bench press free weights machine for the next 3 months is going to be rough, but I was able to find enough things in there that I shouldn't lose too much strength hopefully. No one else was around while I was trying things out too, which was nice for me. I'm definitely sore today, but hoping to go back there tomorrow to give it another try. The last French class of the week last night was good, and not too much homework is given by this professor apparently, so that's always nice. I did it this morning so I won't have to worry about it while traveling this weekend, and it was super easy. Good start to the semester. Yesterday a light bulb burned out in my flat as well, which is not the biggest deal in the world, but mildly frustrating since I've only been here two weeks. You can add that to the list of frustrations I have with this residence also now, as well as still figuring out if I have bugs in my flat. The highlight of yesterday though was probably booking travel for my next two weekends with other students here. I've given that it's own section at the end.

Thursday

Today turned out to be a pretty good day. I was able to sleep in and relax most of the day, and then went to my French culture and societe class this afternoon. It turns out the same professor teaches the class in English and French back to back, which may come in handy. I definitely feel that my comprehension skills are lacking in the class which is in complete French, but it'll force me to pick up the slack and get better at speaking and listening to French, which is good. And I can't take the English version anyways to complete my French minor, so that's not an option. I understand most of what he says, but I'm worried about the key points he makes. Guess we'll find out in coming weeks where I stand. The grading is super simple and easy also, which is again a plus while I'm over here and would rather travel than do homework. After class tonight I met my French "buddy" who ESC set me up with, which was cool. She's really nice and speaks fluent English and French and had offered to be really helpful. She didn't stick around for too long when we met up, but I have her name and number which should come in handy at some point I'm sure. Tomorrow I'm hoping to visit the gym again, I have a class for International Management, and all International students in Dijon are getting to meet the mayor of Dijon tomorrow night, which means I need to find something decent to wear. Also, a friend told me before I left that "everyone in Europe wears leather", and now that it's starting to become cooler at night, it's becoming obvious that it's true. I'm super happy since I brought my real leather jacket over here with me, which weighs a whopping 6 pounds by the way, and I can't wait to wear it out and about soon. So, that brings most things up to speed as of tonight, except travel!

Travel Plans!

This weekend, my friends and I were able to reserve tickets to Strasbourg, France. It's a town on the edge of France and Germany, and while I'm not totally sure of everything to see there, we have about a day and a half to wander around and explore, so I'm sure we'll find something. We'll be heading out Saturday mid morning and returning late Sunday night, making a nice little trip. I'll be traveling directly with the two other guys from U of Kentucky, since the two other girls decided to go to Paris instead (mistake!), and a bunch of my friends from the Philippines are going to be there on the same train and same hostel as well. Should make for a fun weekend! And then there's next weekend....the real actual Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. Yeah, it's actually happening. I won't go into the details of how we're getting there, since 10 days out was last minute and we're taking about 5 or 6 trains to get there, but it's happening, and we'll be there for about 2 days. I'm pretty excited for Oktoberfest. I've never been drunk in my life, but this may be the time to try on that hat, since rumor has it the event runs 9-5 everyday and is all you can drink beer for 5 euros... Either way, it promises to be an adventure, and what pictures I take will be worth the lifetime of memories they'll create. I'll try to take plenty of pictures in Strasbourg as well, which I've heard has some pretty sweet Gothic architecture around the town. The weekend after that no formal plans have been made yet, but I'm thinking about heading to Switzerland. The other American kids want to head to Amsterdam for a weekend they'll never remember, and I'm not so much into that kind of thing, and Switzerland sounds much more fun and beautiful, so I think I may head there. Regardless, if I've learned one thing here it's that life is an adventure, you just have to go out and live it, so that's what I'm doing my best to do. Traveling the world certainly opens your eyes and teaches you a lot and you never really know what to expect, and every single minute of it has been awesome. I miss home a lot some days, but I wouldn't change anything about where I am and what I'm doing here today. I'm too blessed and lucky to have an opportunity like this, so I'm doing my best to make the most of it. Until next time, thank you to all you awesome people out there who read everything I have to say, and look forward to some awesome pictures and 360s from the travels and journeys that lie ahead!!

Au revoir!

So much has happened since I wrote last that it's hard to remember where I left off, so I'll start with Saturday. Saturday I went on a pretty cool wine tour of the Burgundy region. Unfortunately, it was more a vines tour sans the wine, but was nonetheless fun and exciting. It was an absolutely beautiful day with nothing but blue skies from start to finish, which made for phenomenal pictures all day. I also realized that 85 degrees, it was the hottest weather I had felt in a full 12 months thanks to Denver fall/winter/spring and summer in Vail. Not a bad way to live. I have attached a few pictures below as well as a link to the full gallery I posted on Facebook to the pictures from the wine tour. It's pretty unbelievable how much wine and vineyards there are here... It was almost as though I had traded a skyline full of mountains for a skyline full of vineyards as far as the eye could see at times. Pretty awesome. I got to see my first two castles here in France, which was AWESOME!! It absolutely blows my mind, still, to think about those. How long they've been around, how long they will probably still be here because of the protection and acknowledgement of their historic significance, how much they've probably seen, from wars to plagues and famine, to drought, harsh winters, etc, the architects that designed them, the fact that they were probably built by HAND over a thousand years ago, the wars they've fought and seen, so on and so on. It just blows my mind. So so cool, and they're everywhere over here! It's awesome. On the tour we also got to visit the Hotel Dieu in Beaune, which you may not know by name, but I'm sure you've seen pictures do to its famous rooftop tiles, and I took a 360 shot from inside the courtyard as well because I thought it was just too cool. We were then given a couple of hours to explore Beaune after visting Hotel Dieu, which is a very cool, cute, small town about 30 mins by train from Dijon. It's definitely on my list of places to day explore and also to take my girlfriend for a day when she comes here to visit in a couple of months.

Sunday was mainly just a lazy day. I didn't realize how much is actually closed around here on Sundays until I tried to find things to do here. I've heard from many that the French have a great appreciation and respect for the family and self time and long lunches and relaxing and so on, so everything was closed on Sunday. The one highlight on Sunday was the 9/11 service held for the handful of Americans who live in the city. The ironic part of it was that 9/11 is also the anniversary of the liberation of Dijon during World War II, so it was really more of a celebration than remembrance for us, full of a full band, soldiers, the mayor of Dijon, and so on. Pretty cool, and we got to see the inside of the town hall here, absolutely gorgeous as you would expect, and we got to be interviewed by a news reporter for TV as American students on our reaction to 9/11 then now. Cool fact related to that also, I have now been in all forms of news media: print, online, radio, and TV. Weird, but cool. No one I know personally can say the same. There are pictures of that as well in my gallery, Daily Life in Dijon, France, link is below.

Yesterday was another adventure, although stressful at times. It was a combination of more exploring, which led to more pictures of Cathedrals since they're everywhere and super photogenic and a new 360. I haven't fully explored it yet, but from the campus tour, the ESC gym is tiny. It makes me respect, appreciate, and miss the Ritchie Center SO much. I'll be looking forward to coming home to that, both for fitness and job's sake. As a result, I looked up a bunch of "home gym" body weight exercises and made a long list before going to work. I worked out for about two hours since it's been almost 10 days since the gym at home, doing everything from dips with a chair and my bed, to pull ups on the back of the door, to push ups, sit ups, and a variety of other things. It's going to be interesting for sure, but another kid I met from Germany wants to explore the gym too since he works out a lot at home, so maybe next week I'll give that a go with him. Monday was also a bunch of running around trying to figure out my bank situation. Long story short and many hours of walking later, I've been to the bank five times in the last two days, and I finally have money here. Just in time before my last meal was eaten too. Also yesterday, my girlfriend bought a ticket to come visit for a week over Thanksgiving break in the States. I am too excited and can't wait to have her over here. This has been a bit of a roller coaster ride and an adventure to say the least, but she and I are taking it step by step and week by week, and I couldn't be happier with that right now. I'll have to work out the timing while my family is here part of that week also, but I'm sure we'll find a way.

That brings things up to the present for now! Tomorrow morning I am leaving with the four kids from Kentucky and we're all going to go explore Rome for a few days before coming back on Saturday since "class" starts on Monday evening I think. I can't even begin to express my excitement to spend the next few days in Rome. Five years of Latin in high school and having just finished up 3 years of classes for my Italian minor, I am going to explode. Literally. My Osprey backpack I bought way back in April for 14ers is turning into an amazing travel pack also, and I couldn't be more satisfied with that also. I probably won't update again until I get back from Rome, full of pictures of every Roman place and artifact I studied about through high school, or at least as many as I can find while we're there! I'm hoping to get a 360 from inside the Colosseum also...so stay tuned for that!

Until next time, au revoir, arrivederci, et merci beaucoup for reading!

PICTURES:

Daily Life in Dijon (ever growing, so bookmark it!): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2394979315874.2138738.1292672395&l=e693c79b73&type=1
Burgundy Wine Tour: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2405930389644.2139035.1292672395&l=b843accb82&type=1

360s

(these look better if opened on an iPhone, by the way)

Palais des Ducs et des Etats de Bourgogne: http://t.co/lCij9eq
My flat in Dijon: http://360.io/Q2hnRe
Chateu Vougeot: http://360.io/PXeLpv
Hotel Dieu: http://360.io/aQWhxd

And the highlights!

I am taking my girlfriend here first thing for a date night out, and I can't wait.

Au revoir!