Hallo everyone!
Today began as any other for me, with cereal. Despite my host family's fear that I am not eating enough variety for breakfast, I have reassured them that I love cereal and I eat it every morning (and kinda all day) at home too.
Then we packed our lunches into backpacks and set off for school. I, being the cool kid I am, get to ride the bus (and I have my very own bus pass with my very own name on it)!
Oh look, another country!
Frau and Katia enjoying our amazing bus
We then arrived at school to take the awesome double decker coach bus (because Germany has no yellow school buses) to Strasbourg, France.
EU Parliament building
Once in Strasbourg, we toured the EU parliament for a little while. To be quite frank, our tour guide was a bit too French, quiet and prone to long repetitions of synonymous words for my taste and we didn't get to see much of the building. However, we did get to sit in the main parliament center room and I understood about 5% of his explanation of how the delegates are seated which seems to be by party instead of nation. This way, they fight for their values and beliefs instead of they country making it truly beneficial to Europe and not just some states.
The main Parliament room
I'll note here that the tour guide was pretty salty (bitter for those not in tune with Jugendsprache (young people slang)) about the recent Brexit and affirmed to us that the UK is still a part of the EU until 2019 and hinted that perhaps the decision may be rethought by then.
This double helix style staircase was designed so that people see each other but never meet (I don't find that overly peaceful or unifying but it is a beautiful stairway nonetheless
After our brief tour of the EU, our bus got a bit lost but we eventually walked to a cathedral and had an hour to find food, souvenirs and wander until our meeting time.
It was a scorcher today so my priorities told me to eat my gelato and eclair (yes, Mom and Dad, Eclairs remain my favorite french food) and forgo the delectable picture so here is Frau with her scrumptious gelato from the end of the day:
After we cooled down in the cathedral, we met for a boat tour of the city which features a large canal. While we all broiled on the boat, we were informed about the city's conflicted history as a prized place, torn constantly back and forth between France and Germany. While both country's constantly squabbled over the region, they each endeavored to make it more and more beautiful each time they regained control. With numerous churches (many thanks to their early acceptance of protestantism), beautiful German and French architecture, and a unique situation as a hub for European unity, it was an extremely worthwhile Ausflug (field trip).
The canals had old time locks to allow boats to go from high to low water levels
After the boat we got back on our bus for a three hour ride back home which we passed by playing heads up with Frau and rap battles (p.s. Sorry to anyone who tried to sleep).
Once home I was treated to another spectacular meal of gnocchi like potato (maybe) noodles mixed with sauerkraut and bacon. Then, my host partner, Caroline, and I walked up a hit behind her house to watch the sunset over the Rhine and Switzerland (as one does when one lives here).
I have to say that my blog day has always seemed a million years away, as has this trip. But now that my day is coming to a close, I can truthfully say that it has exceeded all expectations and will be full of highlights in my memories forever.
- Maeve Plunkett
P.S. Sorry if there's too many pictures, but it's so hard to select from all of them. And if you want to see more follow our hashtag #acadaustausch2016 because I've got at least 600 more pictures on Facebook and I'm not alone in that.
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