Just in case you're wondering where in the world all the teaching (and input sessions and observations and feedback sessions) took place over the past month... here are a few photos of the Pole Information - Chambre de Commerce de l'Industrie. On our last evening of teaching, the students gave us each a bottle of Alsace wine and served us snacks and cider.
During my time in Strasbourg, I managed to find a couple of quiet corners to sip tea and read a book. It was such a busy month that those moments were few, but special. This cafe was in Petite France overlooking the River Ille. While I watched the world go by, a man began flycasting just across the river...
This one's for Lolo... Aside from Paul's home-cooked meal, this has to be the best food I've eaten in Strasbourg thus far. I spotted this cozy little restaurant on Place St-Etienne as I was looking for a different restaurant. But the thought of a good French crepe propelled me across the plaza and though the doors. I was immediately charmed by the menu, each copy of which was printed inside the front cover of a children's book. I ordered the Printaniere: salad, egg, tomato, anchovy, olives. And then of course how could I not order a chocolat citron crepe for dessert? Heavenly!
One of my classmates, Paul, hosted a barbecue for the class at his home in Colmar. A 30-minute train ride south of Strasbourg, Colmar is a pretty town with tiny canals. Unfortunately, it was raining, so no wandering about for us. Barbecue was moved inside and we had a lovely time.
L to R around the table: Me, Nicholas, Xuan, Hal, Sian, Cathy, Stacie and Paul. We were missing 4 people, but otherwise it's a good snapshot of the class.Did I mention that Paul's been to cooking school? :-)
Postcard photographers must have no problems getting good snaps of Strasbourg. Everywhere you turn, you see another perfect vignette. Sorry for the lack of captions, but the wifi in the dorm is a bit shaky. I'm uploading in small batches whenever the connection seems good.
Blink and you might miss it, but it's locatedin a very nice neighborhood near the Botanic Gardens and the University.
The Rhone River delineates the border between France and Germany and does run along the edge of Strasbourg, but when you are living in the city center, it is not the river you are concerned with. Instead, your world is bounded by the River Ille. Since today was Sunday, and I had my homework under control (I hope), I took a walk along the Ille to see a bit more of Strasbourg than the inside of my dorm and the inside of the Pole Information (where the classes are located).
Almost every night, there's a lesson to plan or another piece of homework to complete: a language analysis or a phonetics exercise, for example. True story: I had to cross one example off the phonetics chart. The Brits keep using "cat" as an example of the /ae/ sound. But it's actually the sound in shot or got or hot. The word 'cat' is not a helpful cue for us Americans! :-)
Dinner this evening was green salad and cheese and a simple white wine. Les fromage de France est incroyable. Ask my sister; I was never a huge fan of cheese as a child. But if I had grown up on French cheese... that would have been different, my friends!In the second photo, Xuan begins working through his lesson for tommorrow's Teaching Practice.
