Suède et Danemark

Bonjour tout le monde!

This week I was planning on taking a different topic for my weekly post, but considering that I was able to do some really cool things this past week, I thought that instead I would share! This past weekend me and my friend Pheobe were able to go to Gothenburg, Sweden to spend time with a Swedish family. It was an incredible experience to have meals, spend time, and learn from such a kind and helpful family!

Firstly when we got there, I did not know who we were meeting because it was my friend's friend. She showed us around her town all day and that evening she allowed us to have an Easter supper with her family. For me, not only did they allow us to spend time in their home, but during the meal they made a huge effort to make us feel welcome and included. While there we played games, went on a treasure hunt, celebrated Easter, and, of course, ate Swedish meatballs.

While there, it did not feel like we were two outsiders of the family, but just apart of the family. I know it sounds clichque, but they all made an effort to speak in English, the games they played included things about America, and they all asked us questions and made us feel extremely welcome. On top of that, that night, our friend's mom suggested that we went to Denmark for a spontaneous trip! It was like a three hour drive and then we spent the day in Copenhagen! It was the most incredible spontaneous trip I have ever taken. We were able to take a road trip and listen to road trip music. Not only did I fall in love with Copenhagen, I was just extremely happy that these people we met were so kind!

I suppose my purpose of this blog is to point out how nice and kind people can be and never lose hope in that. I think the importance of people in our life and our world is often forgotten. People make a person, people make a place, and people make the world.The importance of people and how we treat each other is much more then just effecting one person. Because of how lovely and kind these people were, my views of not only them, but about an entire place also become more better just because of how awesome they were.

Á la semaine prochine!

The little mermaid statue in Denmark.

A beautiful windmill in Copenhagen.

My spontaneous travel buddies for the weekend.

Nyhavn street.

A smaller version of the lock bridge.

Some sweets in the street.

Haga street in Gothenburg, Sweden.

A CART OF SWEETS!

Just some of the architecture.

The most beautiful cinnamon roll ever.

My adopted family for Easter dinner!

Just the Sweden flag and some flowers.

The Easter egg that they got for me!

My favorite picture from Sweden.

Des Frites, de la Bière, du Chocolat, et des Gaufres

Bonjour tout le monde!

This week has been very busy and fun! I started off the week with an excursion for my International Relations class to Belgium, Brussels. While there, we were able to explore this spectacular town as well as learn about useful things about the European Union.  Our first place we visited was at the German Marshall Fund. We were able to talk to three women who work there and have really impressive jobs and talked about their job detilas. Our second visit was to the European Commission and visit with people about how the European Union handles economics and migration. I absolutely loved learning, from an objective standpoint, the problem of illegal immigration and what they are doing to handle it. The last place we visited was United States Mission to the EU. This building had many US institutions in the building so they can create this stronger bond with the US and the EU. It was a huge honor to be able to see all of these places through a class!

            

Because I also enjoy giving my personal thoughts on the cities I visit, I decided to give my take on Brussels: easily said, I loved it. I should also say that it also depends on personal preference, but in my own opinion it was amazing. There are certain things that make me prefer a town, and that is summed up as accessibility, culture, and architecture.

On accessibility, if it is easy to move around without walking over ten miles, or taking the subway to go every place. It saves time, and makes for a lot less stress. The next part, culture, is not very hard to find in every European city, because they all have a different way of doing things, which make it a culture experience. It was unique coming here because the two common languages that were spoken, French and German; it make for a nice hybrid of many their cultures. It was a good place to continue speaking French, but it also didn't feel required to; which also added less stress to the situation. Also, as entitled as my post, it was great going somewhere that was known for its food. In particular, fries, waffles, chocolate, and beer; and all four live up to their high expectations. The last thing was the architecture. I will open with saying that I am in no way knowledgeable in this category, but being able to see these beautiful types of buildings, shops, and cathedrals are set up in a town, really give it an aesthetic detail.

 The last part about Brussels that I loved was how everyone was very kind and friendly. Even though we were only there for a short while, the impression it made on us is very sustainable! We returned Tuesday night from this trip. I had a full day of classes on Wednesday and half of a class on Thursday, and I flew out to Norway to visit my friend, Phoebe, who is from UND, blogs, and studying abroad in Norway! I will keep you updated on our adventures in Scandinavia! 

Á la semaine prochine! 

Just a pretty little house!

Japanese cuisine! 

Camp de Milles

Bonjour tout le monde!

             As I mentioned last week, I decided to talk this week about Camp de Milles. I do not aim at getting political or anything, I am just going to briefly explain what this place is, where it is, what I learned about it, and why we are talking about it. A week or so ago me and two of my friends chose to visit this place and I thought it was a very unique and educational visit so I felt like sharing!

            Firstly, what is Camp de Milles? Camp de Milles was an internment camp that opened in September 1939 in a village called Les Milles, which is just outside of Aix. It used to be a textile factory, but now it is set up as a memorial of sorts. It is served as a museum. I found it to be unique that the museum was inside the building. It made for the experience to feel more personal and realistic.

            There are many things that I learned from Camp de Milles. Not only did they provide a lot of history of World War two, from France's perspective, but they also add something else that was new. They had an entire section of the museum, one-third of the museum, dedicated to explaining how a country goes from acceptance to genocide. Of course it was all in French so I did not understand everything, but by explaining the process that this takes, I fell it provides a "what next" aspect to a historical place.

             In my generation, we are often taught about World War two and the things that occurred, but as time goes on people forget, simply because we were not alive during the time of the war. However, by remembering the travesties that struck the world, hopefully we can learn from these past mistakes and be able to move forward in the future. You can still walk straight and look behind you, and by doing so you can move forward with the knowledge of the past in your vision.

            In conclusion, I found this place to be very educational. It provided a great historical overview of things that took place in Europe, France, and Milles. It also added a different aspect that I have not seen as much, which is the preventive piece. It added an aspect which tried to get people to think about themselves in the present day, and how we can improve us, which is something that is extremely important .

Á la semaine prochine!

The picture attached are from the hike at Mount St. Victoire as well as the Gorges du Verdon.

At the Gorges du Verdon.

Gorges du Verdon. 

Gorges du Verdon.

A view overlooking a small French town. 

On top of Mount St. Victoire. 

Views. 

An awkward pose of me on top of the mountain. 

Another view of the small city.