Since we have been in Luxembourg we have done much exploring! Wednesday we had our first class with Professor Jaan Valsiner, for now on I will refer to him as Jaan. He is the coooolest! We have had a ton of readings assigned to us so far, but generally half of them are pretty interesting, while the other half are either quite boring or extremely theoretical. The basic premise for the class is that we will each pick a topic that we want to examine how they represent a part of the European culture in each area we visit, as well as in the US. Some people have picked parks, benches, parking lots and such. Diana is looking at how parents deal with potentially embarrassing situations their young children put them in. Eugene is looking at restaurant culture, comparing prices, who eats there, if there is an outdoor menu and whether its in French, German, or English. Allie is looking at the red light district in Amsterdam, and sexuality. I am looking at the socialization of gender and sex appeal as it is used in the advertising and media. So basically while we are traveling we are just looking for examples we can use to talk and write about our topic, and taking pictures and such. So I've taken close to 300 pictures and I have been here for less than 3 days..... Needless to say, I need to sort them all out before I can post any online that would be fun to look at.
The first night Mikal (who is one of our trip leaders, he was a student on the trip last year and is good friends with Liz Magier) took us on a walk to France! It's about a 20 minute walk to the border, which is amazing! But the border is not very glorified at all, which seems to be the trend around here, there are usually just basic signs that say which country you are entering. I think there is more excitement when crossing state borders in the US... haha Anyways, we went to a gas station market (which is actually pretty nice inside) and I bought a little chocolate bar.
Yesterday after class we went into the City of Luxembourg (about a 20 minute drive from Mondorf-les-Bains, where the Klouschter is located). We all went on a 1 hour guided tour, which was interesting. The coolest thing I leared about the city that I didn't already know is that during World War I and II Luxembourg was used as a part of the power struggle because it remianed nuetral, and didn't have an army, so other countries just tended to take it over. But while the French took over Luxembourg they built huge fortress walls in order to keep others out, and to keep from being taken over. The fortress walls are all around the older part of the city, and they are generally 35 feet tall or higher, (I have a lot of pictures of these.)
Anyways the guided tour was interesting, but it was much more fun to walk around with my friends and get a feel for the city. We went shopping a little in the newer part of the city. And we walked to the train station to buy our train tickets to Amsterdam, Bussels, and Paris. That was actually kind of difficult, but we got it all figured out.
Today during class Jaan sent us to the French border and back to observe Mondorf. After class we went on a field trip to several different locations. We only spent 15 t0 20 minutes in each place, which wasn't very long for some places. Most of these were small rural French villages, and were absolutely beautiful!!! We ended up in Remich, which was my favorite place! It was more like a city, and lots of nice places to walk around shops to walk into. I think we may go back soon to spend more time there. The bus that comes into Mondorf goes there, and it seemed like it was only about 20 minutes away!
Tomorrow we will have class, and then leave for Amsterdam!!!!! I can't wait!
Fun facts: In order to use public bathrooms you have to pay, and it costs more to use a toilet than a urinal. Crazzy! All shopping closes around 6:30, and restaurants do not open for dinner until 6:00pm. And you can shop with your pets! haha
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