Alright. I know I've not blogged in forever, so I am going to do this in 3 parts. Part 1, describing before spring break, part 2 being the first half of spring break, and part 3 the second half. Here goes part 1.
On the weekend of April 12th I went to Dublin with two friends and the following weekend was our final school excursion to the Normandy beaches.
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The Castle
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Bizarre things everywhere...
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Dublin: a really cool city but a single day and night there would have been enough. We ended up talking ourselves out of going to the cliffs of Moher because we wanted to really experience Dublin. In retrospect, I would have enjoyed the cliffs and scenery much more. There were the pubs, the Book of Kells and library, the pubs, bars, fish and chips, clubs and did I mention the pubs and bars? We had fun going out and met some really cool people. Just a warning: although the drinking age is 16, there is often a 21 and up limit for the clubs. I was very disappointed to discover this and hated being treated like a kid again after I have gotten so used to always being old enough for anything in France. Overall I spent way too much money and should have gone to the cliffs, but we still had a really good time and Dublin is a beautiful city.
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Great street art all over!
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Most famous pub in Dublin
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Nightlife
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Live Irish music in every pub!
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Oldest book ever?
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The next weekend was Normandy. It was interesting to see how the French viewed WWII in this museum we visited. They were very thorough and objective about things for he most part and I think that made the exhibit that much more impressive. The Holocaust exhibit was amazing and more in depth than I have ever seen. The American cemetery we visited next was very touching. I was amazed at how obvious it was that we were on American soil. Everything had sharp edges, all the headstones and monuments were in the classic white stone that Americans are so fond of. I really did feel like I had been transported back. In comparison, we also saw the German cemetery which was much more natural looking. I don't think either was better than the other, it was just interesting how distinct the differences were. We also saw on this trip some fields filled with craters where they'd been bombed. That was really awesome to see; they were huge and definitely put in perspective how destructive war can be.
School is going well; it is kind of slow though. For as much time as we spend in class, I think we should be accomplishing more. Classes here are super laid back, it is not like in the States. You still have to do the work, but there isn't much to be done. I much prefer meeting people and practicing talking about normal things or having discussions in class. It was really cool the other day when we started talking about more controversial issues and comparing our different cultures in the class. I have learned so much here about many more cultures than just French, it's amazing. I love how much I am absorbing just being here.
Well that is all for now. In a day or so, I will post a blog about the first part of spring break! I had a blast and can't wait to talk about it.
The next weekend was Normandy. It was interesting to see how the French viewed WWII in this museum we visited. They were very thorough and objective about things for he most part and I think that made the exhibit that much more impressive. The Holocaust exhibit was amazing and more in depth than I have ever seen. The American cemetery we visited next was very touching. I was amazed at how obvious it was that we were on American soil. Everything had sharp edges, all the headstones and monuments were in the classic white stone that Americans are so fond of. I really did feel like I had been transported back. In comparison, we also saw the German cemetery which was much more natural looking. I don't think either was better than the other, it was just interesting how distinct the differences were. We also saw on this trip some fields filled with craters where they'd been bombed. That was really awesome to see; they were huge and definitely put in perspective how destructive war can be.
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