A Sunday in Strasbourg

Sundays are quite the bore in Strasbourg. Everything shuts down on Sundays (and I mean everything - grocery stores, restaurants,libraries etc). Sunday is supposed to be church/family day, so pretty much everyone just stays home. Although much to my joy I did discover that most of the art museums in Strasbourg DO stay open. So this afternoon I went to Le Mussé de Beaux Arts, my first European art museum, and saw my first art from the 1400's-18oo's. I've been taking art history classes for the past 3 semesters so it was cool to finally see some real art up close & personal - to really see the individual brush strokes & the way the layers of paint build up was just absolutely amazing. They had a few pieces by some famous artists (i.e. Rubens, Watteau, Ruisdael, Courbet, etc.), just not the pieces they are famous for. A lot of it was (as expected) depictions of Jesus & co., but they also had a variety of other topics- some mythology, still life, landscape, etc. I was glad I went on my own because it really made the experience more personal & allowed me to go at my own pace. I think this one was my favorite:

It's just so creepy! oooooo!

Yesterday I went to the library with my friend Jess & it was super cool! Oddly enough, most libraries in France require that you pay just to go in (this doesn't include the cost of checking out a book!) However the library I went to (aka la Médiatheque) was free & SO cool! It has its own cafe, and t.v.'s that you can watch movies on for free, and of course lots of comfy chairs. I will definetely be hanging out there a lot more. I borrowed 2 books in french that I don't think should be too hard. Often when I'm at home I find a just switch back to english once I'm in my room, so I'm trying to find little things, like reading books in french rather than english to keep my grounded in French.

In other news, I got the results of my language placement test. There are 4 levels that you can test into. Beth (trip coordinater) told us that she has in the 10 years of running the program only ever had one student place into the highest level. I should also mention that the test itself was HARD! I thought that I had totally bombed it & was actually really worried that I'd placed into the bottom level, and that finally the truth would come out & everyone would know how much I suck at French. But the strangest thing happened. I went to check my placement - starting at the lower levels & working my way up - and I couldn't find my name anywhere! Finally I glanced over at the final list and much to my shoke found that I placed into the highest level! This resulted in a mixture of surprise, pride, & dismay. Now, I am really not being modest here, but honestly I have NO CLUE how this happened. I think maybe I got lucky guessing on the listening comprehension, or maybe they got my test mixed up with Addison Sveeney?! Who knows.... Well anyway, I'm freaking out! I think the class is going to be way way over my head. I talked to Beth about it & she said it's a really painful process to switch levels. You have to present a case in front of the University, blah blah blah. But what if it's just too hard? I have my first class tomorrow so I'll see how it goes, but I am really really worried about it....

I started making a list of unexpected/interesting things about France/Strasbourg/French peopls, here's a sample of a few...
1. There is graffiti everywhere - some is political, but most of it isn't
2. Cheese is traditonally eaten after the entree at dinner, but before dessert
3. They are really enviornmentally conscious - low water toilets, no paper towels, etc.
4. French people really do eat A LOT of cheese & bread and still stay skinny, but how do they DO IT?!
5. Sex/Nudity are totally acceptable, but violence of any kind is completely abhored.

C'est interresant, non?