Entries tagged with "study abroad"
So viele verschiedene Arten Spatzen! (Montag/Lunes)
posted by srah on June 30, 2008 12:12 PM
Tags: 30 rock, in german, in spanish, language week, memes, study abroad
(Ich wünschte, ich könnte schreiben diesem Post in den Sprachen Deutsch, aber ich kann nicht sprechen diese Sprache überhaupt, so bin ich mit Google Translate Ihnen sagen, dass ich werde schreiben, die Post in spanischer Sprache statt.) En los programas de televisión y las peliculas, los estudiantes que estudien en el extranjero no son serios. Por ejemplo, Shannon en el programa "Lost" dice que pasó un año en Paris, pero no habla francés por que ella se emborracharon y no estudio. Lamentablemente, esta es una opinión típico de los estudios en el extranjero y tengo que luchar contra esta creencia...
In which I get all boring and political and make fun of abbreviations
posted by srah on May 13, 2008 6:22 PM
Tags: politics, study abroad
Three days ago, I sent a personalized form message through my professional association's website to my state senators asking them to support the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act, which, to boil it down, would establish a foundation with the goal of increasing participation in (and funding for) study abroad and increasing diversity both in study abroad destinations and in the demographics of study abroad participants. This bill has been working its way through the system for a while and will expire if it is not passed by the Senate this year. This morning, I received a reply from...
Kind Captain, I've important information
posted by srah on November 6, 2007 12:16 PM
Tags: beer, clowns, coffee, fashion, hot chocolate, ice cream, lists, lyrics, makeup, memes, music, nablopomo, nablopomo 2007, study abroad, super powers, three dog night
I have been tagged, so I bring you: 7 Random And/Or Weird Facts About srah When I was in elementary school, our music teacher, Mr McDonald (who had an imaginary friend named "Boo-Boo McGillicuddy") was the one who introduced me to Oliver! (and therefore to my first fictional-character crush) and I have the impression that he had us sing an awful lot of Three Dog Night. I don't know if it was part of the district-mandated curriculum for elementary-level music classes, if it was in our music book, or if Mr McDonald was just a huge fan of Three Dog...
My future, I hope, will be/ In the home of a brave and free male
posted by srah on November 1, 2007 5:20 PM
Tags: international education, nablopomo, nablopomo 2007, study abroad, women
As you may know, if you are stalking me and/or following me on Twitter¹, I went to Indianapolis for a conference last weekend. At the conference, I went to a session about why more females than males study abroad, and how this can influence study abroad marketing efforts. This session has been bothering me ever since, because the presenter had interviewed female study abroad students and had discovered that one reason a lot of females (at her university, anyway²) study abroad is that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do so. This is one thing that we try to point...
I shall call them...
posted by srah on August 23, 2005 4:22 PM
Tags: grenoble, study abroad
I don't know why I just thought of this, but now it's rattling around in my head and refuses to leave until I blog it all out: When I lived in Grenoble, oh so many years ago now, there was a sign somewhere on the bus route from my house to campus¹ that pointed the way to the couvent des Minimes. The Minimes were, undoubtedly, an order of monks who had lived in the convent years ago². But every time I read the sign, I giggled a little inside at the thought of a whole convent full of Mini-Me. –...
Deobfuscating the blog game
posted by srah on August 25, 2003 7:01 AM
Tags: grenoble, jeopardy!, london, porn, study abroad, travel
It is time for the answers to be revealed. At last you will know the truth! And the lie! You won't care, but you will know! And knowing is half the battle. Shut up, srah, and just tell them the answers already. Most people recognized that story #2 (College Jeopardy) was true. That's because this story sucked. I do appreciate that you were so willing to believe that I couldn't come up with anything interesting to say about myself, though. I'm going to go cry in a corner, even though it is true. The other 'story' I came up with...
Obfuscation: The Blog Game
posted by srah on August 22, 2003 10:08 AM
Tags: grenoble, jeopardy!, london, porn, study abroad, travel
Here are my three stories. Two are true and one is false. I will warn you that I have a reputation for being quite good at this sort of thing, although when I've done it as an icebreaker it's usually a factoid rather than a story. You may pick which you think is the true FALSE (oops - forgot to change that when I changed from 2F/1T to 2T/1F) story, leaving your guess in the comments. If you'd like, I'd also be interested to know why you think one or the other is true or false. On Monday I'll post...
A Year in Isère
posted by srah on August 21, 2003 1:37 PM
Tags: grenoble, study abroad
I have recently had great demand for stories about my time in Grenoble. Not to mention demands, some of them quite violent, for actual content on this blog. Once upon a time, I had planned on making a webpage bringing together pictures and stories from my year in Grenoble. Parts of this have been created and are actually online, although nothing on my site links to them because the project isn't finished after the two years since I returned. If it hasn't been finished in two years, it ain't gonna get done. I've decided to kill two birds with one...
Le royaume des kirs
posted by srah on August 13, 2003 11:48 AM
Tags: alcohol, host family, study abroad
I wrote in the cheese story that I refused my host family's efforts to get me drunk, but I realize that it isn't quite true. When I had Christmas Eve lunch with them two years ago, we had Kir Royales (champagne and crème de cassis) as an apéritif. I've never particularly liked champagne, so I don't drink much of it. With crème de cassis, however, the champagne was delicious. What I didn't realize, having avoided it before, is that champagne hits me a lot harder than regular wine does. My host family saw that I liked it and kept refilling...
Would you like some Fourme d'Ambert with that St-Pourçain?
posted by srah on August 8, 2003 10:17 AM
Tags: assistantship, cheese, food, france, study abroad, wine
Before I left for Grenoble, I would tell people I was going to live in France for a year, and they would inform me that I was going to return full of valuable knowledge about wine and cheese. I did eat some cheese and drink some wine during the year, but not huge amounts of either. I never knew what I was eating or drinking because it was whatever was in the bottle or the cheese box at my host family's house, and it didn't make much difference to me. I found a cheese or two that I liked and...
Alpine longing
posted by srah on February 22, 2003 10:53 AM
Tags: alps, grenoble, study abroad, travel
I don't miss things when they're gone. I miss them in advance and I miss them retroactively when I see them again. To some extent, it's the same with people. Every time I come back to Grenoble, I find myself missing the Alps again. One of these times, I'm going to steal them in the dead of the night and take them with me....
"How do you know he is a Gustav?" "'E looks like one!"
posted by srah on November 23, 2002 7:23 AM
Tags: assistantship, gustav, study abroad
I have a serious problem with people who are not named Gustav. When I was in Grenoble, there was a Swede in my class named Gustav, who was very pale and blue-eyed with white-blond hair. When I met this year's French assistant at Albion, I kept wanting to call him Gustav as well, because in addition to his fair hair and blue eyes, his name is Gauthier. Gustav, Gauthier. Close enough. Now I have a student with a Scandinavian last name and pale hair and blue eyes, but who insists on being called Guillaume rather than Gustav. What is with...
I'm cleaning out my clawzit under my bed
posted by srah on September 10, 2002 12:49 AM
Tags: french, grenoble, in french, study abroad, subjunctive
I found my papers from Grenoble while digging around under my bed. I looked at one of my assignments, which was to write an imaginary break-up letter, using various subjunctive-triggering phrases. This was the result: Salut: Comme dit Serge Gainsbourg : je suis venue te dire que je m'en vais. Tout sympa que tu as été, j'ai trouvé un nouveau petit ami. J'ai voulu t'écrire une lettre pour te dire tout ce que j'ai dû supporter pendant les quatre jours que nous avons passés ensemble, pour que tu puisses corriger les défauts de ton caractère afin de trouve une nouvelle...
Graduation countdown: 8 days
posted by srah on April 27, 2002 11:36 AM
Tags: bastille, graduation countdown, grenoble, study abroad
8 days. Last year in Grenoble I went out for a walk one day with nothing to do. Cheryl was out doing something else and I was bored so I wandered around downtown for a while and ended up on the quais of the Isère, just below the Bastille, one of the smaller of the mountains around Grenoble. So I decided to climb the Bastille. It's not like I needed climbing ropes or something - it's just a zig-zag walking path up the mountain. But since I hadn't really planned the expedition, I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt,...
Today's graduation countdown: 17 days
posted by srah on April 17, 2002 1:03 AM
Tags: graduation countdown, host family, study abroad
17 days on the 17th. Huh. When we went to visit Denis and Sophie's cousin and her kids in St-Etienne, the six-year-old cousin Charles latched on to me. It was interesting because he'd seen me about a month before and had told me that his cousins were beautiful but I was moche. Well, little Charles. I was bored and lonely and bombarded with French. We can't all be looking our best under these circumstances. Poo on you. But on this visit, he followed me all over the place and wanted to sit next to me at dinner, sit on my...
Graduation countdown: 22 days
posted by srah on April 12, 2002 4:16 AM
Tags: graduation countdown, study abroad, travel
22 days. Over my February vacation last year, I was reading some French book and sitting by the bus stop to get the bus back to Nîmes and various people began to join me. Quite a few of them spoke English, but I was lost in my book and don't normally talk to strangers, anyway. I got onto the bus and sat behind two Americans. They were talking amongst themselves and I wasn't really paying attention, but I caught words here and there. Then one of them turned around and said, "Mademoiselle, vous habitez ici?" ("Miss, do you live here?")...
Thoughts on Vera's email
posted by srah on April 8, 2002 4:06 PM
Tags: albion college, study abroad
Vera's leaving. Why? What do I care? I'm going to be gone too. But I do care. She's excellent and very supportive to the international students and ISU. Not to mention the Center for International Education. How does she handle it all? Maybe that's why she's going. I don't know why she's leaving. She didn't sound like she wanted to. I'm going to miss her... but I want her job....
Graduation countdown (on time this time!): 26 days
posted by srah on April 8, 2002 9:01 AM
Tags: graduation countdown, grenoble, study abroad
26 days. Last year, my favorite professor was Dominique. He was our main (sort of "homeroom") teacher in our three-a-week language classes. He had a very entertaining and mimicable way of talking and I miss him just thinking about it. He always went around the room to get answers, so everyone got a chance to or was forced to speak. On the last day of class, we bought him a card and a nice pen and he took us all down to the cafeteria for coffee and tea and to exchange addresses with everyone. We were all very sad when...
Graduation countdown: 31 days
posted by srah on April 3, 2002 4:53 PM
Tags: graduation countdown, iced tea, study abroad
31 days. The first time I ever had peach iced tea was sitting out in the back yard chatting with Denis. We had run out of Coke, so he got me a peach iced tea instead. I knew I didn't like iced tea, but I was thirsty and a year abroad is all about trying new things. I'm glad I did. I believe it was a Nestea. They don't seem to have peach Nestea anywhere around here. Peach Nestea is pretty impossible to find, at least where I've been shopping. It's also hard to find peach Lipton except by the...
Graduation countdown: 39 days
posted by srah on March 26, 2002 12:09 AM
Tags: graduation countdown, savoie, study abroad, travel
39 days till you can sing this to me. When she visited Grenoble in October of last year, Dr Guenin-Lelle gave us a few things to give to Pénélope, our former Native Speaker, when we saw her. Well, it took a few months, but I finally managed to pay Penny a visit in March. I stayed with her in her parents' home in Aix-les-Bains and she took me to spend the day in Annecy, drive around the lakes of the region and also on a side trip to Chambéry. Pénélope's family was extremely kind and hospitable to me. Their house...
Graduation countdown: 46 days
posted by srah on March 19, 2002 9:21 AM
Tags: graduation countdown, music, study abroad, tv
46 days. I prided myself on never watching Survivor or any such "reality" series and never giving in to popular American culture. Then I went to France and along came "Loft Story". It was the French version of Big Brother, with a twist that the last male and female who remained in the house had to live there together for a month. The contestants were young and beautiful. When the show first started out, Sophie and I were addicted and would watch all of the updates. Our interest waned after a while, but I have to admit that I was...
Why did I study abroad?
posted by srah on December 20, 2001 10:26 AM
Tags: france, french, grenoble, host family, my favorite posts, study abroad
French has long been my favorite subject at school. When I was 15, my French teacher took interested students on a trip to France and my parents thought that broadening my horizons was important enough that they helped me pay for it. We had a short family stay, then toured around the country in a bus for two weeks. When I was a senior in high school, I decided that I enjoyed French enough that would major in it in college. So I asked my French teacher how to look for a college with a good French program. The big...
Okie dokie
posted by srah on December 20, 2001 9:36 AM
Tags: france, study abroad
Okie dokie. Researchers aren't doing anything pesky like coming in to the library so I'm guarding the phones and the empty research room. Krista wanted to know why I went to France for a year rather than a semester. Well let's see now. That is a two part question, the first part being Why did I go off-campus at all? Or perhaps three, with Why France? So yarrrr, free hour, let's dig in. I still haven't done my off-campus program evaluation. Maybe I should just hand this in....
I had a clementine today
posted by srah on December 8, 2001 1:07 AM
Tags: clementines, grenoble, study abroad
I had a clementine today. They make me happy. When I was in Grenoble, I would sometimes have two or three a day and Françoise would make sure to have them in the house for me. She was so good to me. They all were. I have plenty of lovely memories of finally getting to my dessert-clementine long after everyone else had finished and sitting at the dinner table peeling and eating it while Denis and Sophie talked, fought, or danced around the kitchen with me....
I'm thinking of the only Thanksgiving
posted by srah on November 22, 2001 11:29 AM
Tags: grenoble, holidays, study abroad, thanksgiving
I'm thinking of the only Thanksgiving that really stands out as memorable. The others, in the same locations and with the same people, all sort of blend together. But last year's Thanksgiving dashes all over Grenoble in the rain and eventual Thanksgiving a la francaise were... quite different. Don't know if I'd say better, exactly, but different....
ON NE BOUGE PAS PENDANT LE JINGLE
posted by srah on November 8, 2001 6:04 AM
Tags: blogging, grenoble, study abroad
ON NE BOUGE PAS PENDANT LE JINGLE. I should have had a blog while I was in France last year. I'm sure I had some interesting observations that should have been recorded for posterity. It probably wouldn't have been as excessively updated as it is here and now. Or maybe it would have been. I did live @ Neptune. I miss Gilles....
