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In the Land of Salt

Sam went to Salzburg, too! Featuring breathtaking pictures, Sam’s blog post ventures into the story of his travels in the Austrian city and an examination of how far he’s come. Check it out!

Salt, in my opinion, is one of Man’s greatest discoveries. Throughout Earth’s many, many years, people have figured out that excessive amounts of salt could preserve food, pinches of salt could enhance the flavor of your meal, and that one little grain could make a pesky slug shrivel up in fear and pain. When breathed in with humid air, salt can clear up your sinuses and leave you feeling rejuvenated (to an extent).

While I’m here at GTL, I plan on traveling every weekend – maybe every other weekend – to a new city. So far, I’ve only made it to Paris, but I spent this last weekend in one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to – Salzburg, Austria. The name, Salzburg, quite literally translates to “Salt Castle,” so I felt almost right at home, with the city’s given name being a combination of two of my favorite things: salt and medieval things! Since the dark ages, Salzburg has definitely grown, both commercially and residentially, into a hotspot for tourism, which is what I assume to be a result of it both being the birthplace of Mozart, one of the history’s most well known and most talented classical composers, and it’s direct link to the Salzberg, which translates to “Salt Mountain”. Luckily, I had enough time in the nearly two days I was there to explore both of these sites and more, while having the best time ever!

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Part of the main square in Salzburg

After a nearly seven hour trip, I arrived at the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof late on a Friday afternoon.  I was with two of my friends from GTL, and for fear of getting lost and spending too much money and time trying to figure out the bus system, we walked the two kilometers to our hostel (which normally would not be a problem, but there was about two feet of snow covering the sidewalks, and where there wasn’t snow, there was very, very slippery ice). Once at the hostel, the three of us checked in, got settled in our room, and recuperated for an hour or two before deciding on where to eat dinner. Landing on a local schnitzel hall, we made our way, following the lust of our rumbling stomachs, into a large, loud, smoke-filled old monastery that had been transformed into a place of drunk and merry Austrians. We went back to the hostel that night, our bellies filled, our spirits high, and prepared ourselves for the day ahead of us.

Early Saturday morning, another friend of ours made her way to the hostel to drop off her things and set off with us on another great adventure. We left at around nine or so and headed to the Hauptbahnhof to catch a bus to the very famous salt mines that lay about thirty minutes away, nestled deep in the Salt Mountains. Unfortunately, we got mixed up in the bus system, missed the original bus we should have taken, and ended up waiting another hour for the next one. We killed a bit of time walking around the small shopping mall right outside the station, and got some tea and coffee to keep us warm until our transportation arrived. Finally, after an hour of waiting in and out of the freezing Austrian weather, our bus came, and we were headed towards a day of salt and castles.

Once at the salt mines, we were instructed to put on these black, thick, canvas-like body suits over our clothes, and were given small audio translators for the tour. We all followed a group of people onto this roller coaster/train thing that drove us deep underground. At the end of the ride, we got off the train and walked over to a giant slide that was to take us even deeper into the mine. The whole lot of us was being led by a tour guide who taught us a lot of interesting things about the mine, including it’s history, the salt-extracting processes, and the importance of salt in the world, but more specifically, Salzburg.

During the tour, there was a boat ride, complete with really cool visuals and music accompaniment, over the beautiful Mirror Lake. The water was so reflective, that it looked transparent. It was definitely one of the cooler things nature has shown me. Learning about salt all along the way, we had one more slide to go down, an elevator to go up, and a short train ride to finish the tour. Afterwards, I found myself in the gift shop, buying a 60 cent box of salt, because I mean, that’s a 60 cent box of salt, why would you not buy it?

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The salt mine!

Later on that day, we spent about 2 hours touring the castle and Cathedral. The views from the upper courtyards were spectacular, and I felt like I was a great king looking over his great kingdom. Not really, but it was cool to pretend for a minute! My friends and I had nearly explored the whole place, when, alas, it was closing time. My biggest regret of the day was that we didn’t visit the castle earlier (but hey, I can always go back for Salzburg part two). After leaving the castle, we traveled back to the hostel to drop off souvenirs and get pro-tips on where to eat. An Australian who was in our room ended up going out with us, which was actually really cool because I had never met anyone and had a meal with them that same day!

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A wonderful view from the top of the castle

On Sunday morning, we checked out, headed to the Hauptbahnhof, and started our seven plus hour journey back to GTL. On the train ride back, I was reflecting over the weekend and talking with my friends about how much life has to offer us. Life is full of really cool experiences, and really cool people, and I feel that if you open your heart and mind just a little, you can take a glimpse at what this world has to offer you! This weekend forged some really interesting friendships, and it made my relationships with my friends from GTL even stronger. The whole point of this extremely long post is that Europe is amazing, and that people should travel young, especially alone or with a very small group of people, while their responsibilities aren’t too much. I feel like I have definitely matured and become more independent than I ever was before, and most of that is due to me jumping head first into an ocean of different cultures and languages. Life is good!

And without further adieu (get it?), I leave you with the French Word of The Week!

Jars (noun): gander, male goose

Example in a “Frenglish” conversation:

– Sarah: “Hey Sam, come look at this cool Jars! It has a really long wingspan!”

– Sam: “Glass bottles don’t have wingspans…”

Prague: From Defenestration and Communism to Capitalism and Tourism

Prague is a city of deep history and great beauty. Lina gives a quick look into that which makes Prague a bucket list destination.

Prague and its people have been through a lot throughout the ages. From the 30 Years’ War to World War I, then from Nazi occupation to Soviet occupation, the Czech people have seen it all.
Pulling up to Prague after 18 hours of train rides, sleeping in train stations, and avoiding the cold, the city seemed to glow with an aura of warmth. The city itself sports amazing architecture in basically every building, beautiful stone facades adorning the upper levels of convenience stores and the like. Despite the slight drizzle, our arrival felt like something out of a fairy tale.

Almost every corner of the old city looks like this, so historical and beautiful.
The fairy tale feeling continued the next day, after having some sorely needed shut-eye, as we ventured across the bridge to the castle. The streets were lined with cobblestones and winding between rows of low-lintelled shops and pubs. The castle grounds contained very interesting museums and sights, including the amazingly spired and flying-butressed St. Vitas cathedral. We walked along the Golden Way, which showed examples of what life was like for those who worked on the castle staff that weren’t members of the nobility such as seamstresses, or guards. Inside the castle however, we were able to see the high-ceiling rooms, as well as read up on the history of the place.

In the armory exhibit, we saw some cool combination axe-pistols used by noblemen.
One of my favorite parts of the castle was a small, unassuming room off the main throne room area. It was my favorite because it is home to one of the most famous defenestrations in history. (Defenestration is a word which means the act of throwing someone out a window.) In the castle there was to be a meeting between some important Catholic regents and some Protestant representatives. During the meeting, an agreement was not reached, and the regents promised that they would talk to their superiors to come to a solution. However, the Protestants, knowing that the Catholic leaders would not take kindly to their demands, decided to defenestrate Count Jaroslav Borzita of Martinice, and Count Vilem Slavata of Chlum, through a window with a 70 foot drop beneath it. Although they survived the fall, this incident is attributed to being a cause of the 30 Years’ War.

You can see the Prague castle right there in the distance.

 

In the old city, close to the famous astronomical clock, we stumbled across one of my favorite museums I have ever visited: the Communism Museum. The entrance way was adorned with posters of a cuddly teddy bear holding an AK-47 and the slogan “Dream, Reality, Nightmare.” During the post-WWI period, combined with the economic turmoil of the market crash and Great Depression, the Czech people voted their communist party into office. At the time it seemed like the only option. Soon every seat in the government was occupied by communist party members, and those opposed were falsely accused of crimes they didn’t commit and were imprisoned. In WWII, the Czech region was taken over by Nazis, and later liberated by the Soviet Union. That’s when things started to get really bad for the Czech people.
The Soviet Union, in liberating the Czech republic, was able to gain much support for establishing Soviet communism in the region. They had a non-uniformed police that would make sure that no one spoke out against the party. People were not allowed to leave the country, and those who knew that people were defecting to other countries were imprisoned for not speaking out. Political enemies were tortured and burned alive, their ashes used to melt the ice on busy roads. The new communist system did not allow for imports and exports, and therefore basic essentials like food, soap and other goods were nearly impossible to find in stores. Media was controlled exclusively by the Soviets.

Here is the St. Vitas Cathedral.
It wasn’t until the late 60s, that groups of undergraduate students began to speak out against the party. Using techniques such as self-immolation, doing the work that strikers refused to do in Soviet-organized strikes, and having marches, they were able to spread their message of freedom. The government responded with violence, with secret police infiltrating and beating the protesters. It wasn’t until 1991 that they became truly free of communism and began their capitalist lifestyle.

The museum was cool because it showed a Prague citizen’s perspective on such violent events that were happening in his lifetime. Prague only became free six years before I was born. It was amazing to read about and honor the people that fought to make their own home country a better place for their children, and for tourists like me that can visit now but couldn’t thirty years ago.

Portes Ouvertes and French Education

As a part of Metz’s “Portes Ouvertes,” GTL hosted French middle and high school students, and Sam is here to let you know part of what they learned – how schools in the U.S. and in France are different.

Over the past weekend, our very own Georgia Tech Lorraine took part in a program for French high school students called “Portes Ouvertes,” or “Open Doors.” This involves French students being able to visit places of higher learning, including us, all over the city to get a glimpse into what it’s like to be a student at different universities and institutions. The event works like an open house where the students get to tour the facilities and hear presentations from college students and faculty on research, daily life, and other things pertaining to higher education and to the school in particular. This is a great opportunity for French students to preview universities, similar to how we do in the United States.

In my personal experience, as a high-schooler, I decided not to apply to any schools in my home state of Washington and, due in large part to that, I was not able to tour any of the colleges I wanted to attend. However, not everybody is as lucky as me to go in blind and love the school they chose. I believe that the more information students are given before they make such an important life choice, the better.

Something that amazes me about French students is their grasp of multiple languages. Almost every student can speak English quite well and most have some knowledge of a third language as well. This is due to the way language teaching works in the French school system. Through some research I found that French students choose their first language at age 11 from either English or German (with 90% choosing English). Then, two years later, students may select another language, this time with Spanish included. As a result of spending their years from age 11 to 18 learning two other languages, most French students are very linguistically skilled. Although English has become one of the biggest world languages today (behind only Chinese and Spanish), I wish our school system would stress learning a second (or third) language more, if only to improve cultural awareness among American students.

Another difference in the French school system comes with higher education. French universities tend to be quite small in comparison to those in the U.S., and most middle-sized French cities will have 2 to 3 universities – and even more specialized institutes. France also holds over 100 international universities, which is defined as a college where some or all studies are taught in a non-local language, which tends to be English most of the time. In fact, in Austria, I met a pair of American students who were studying at the American University in Paris, which is apparently an international university with campuses in multiple countries outside of the U.S.

And of course when it comes to tuition, French students also have it good. Public universities in France typically only charge from 150-700 euros a year, as higher education is state-funded. This allows French students to obtain a master’s degree for as little as €1000. Meanwhile, I’m here paying $30,000 a year tuition. Oh well, we can’t all be winners. I’m glad GTL is doing its part to help the local community and work to further public education.

Salzburg: A History of Generally Salty People

Where in the world was “The Sound of Music” filmed? That’s where Lina went this weekend – check out why its people are known for their salt.

Salzburg translates quite literally to Salt Mountain. Why is this beautiful alpine city where The Sound of Music takes place called salt mountain, you ask? Well, throughout history, the Salzburg area has been sustained through salt mining and trading. In 1517, exactly 500 years ago, some lucky miners found a salt deposit inside a mountain. Salt, a traditionally valuable and difficult substance to obtain, put the region on the map.
We started our trip to Salzburg with a traditional meal of wienerschnitzel and gulasch. Then it was early to bed to wake up for our bus to the Berchtesgaden salt mines. After missing our bus, one could say I was a bit…hem…salty…but we made it in time for our tour. The mine, 500 years old this year and still active today is located in a beautifully snowy area of the Austrian-German alps. At the beginning of the tour, we were all provided with some coveralls and an English audio guide for the area.

I’ve got salt, but I’m not salty!

We began by boarding a small train, where you straddled a bench and hold onto the person in front of you. We zoomed through about a mile of narrow tunnels so small that if you leaned even 6 inches to the side you would hit your head on the tunnel wall. Once in the main area of the mine, you slide down a 6 story wooden slide to reach the bottom area.
Over the course of the tour, we learned that salt is produced by drilling large cavities in the tunnel floors and filling them with water to leach the salt out of the surrounding rock. Then the sludgy brine is pumped to a facility about 100 km away to be super-heated and treated to produce to the pure, white table salt that we eat today. We have used this technique of drilling and flooding since the mine’s foundation in 1517 (although we have become considerably more efficient and high-tech since then).

Mid-slide into the depths of the mines, my companions and I are having a great time.

The town of Salzburg itself is perched between soaring mountains. The old city feels like it is one giant building full of a spaghetti-like mess of tunnels, alleys, and tiny-hole-in-the-wall bakeries and breweries. It seems to be purposely designed to confuse and hopelessly befuddle tourists. One of my favorite things to do in the city was travel up to the city fortress. In addition to amazing views of the city, the fortress contains a museum that details the entire military history of Austria, starting in Roman times, going all the way through World War II.

The view from the Fortress.

As a huge musical theater nerd and Julie Andrews fangirl, seeing the city’s Sound of Music images was awesome! The fountain, the Dom Cathedral, and the Abby made me sing “The Hills are Alive” at the top of my lungs pretty much constantly, much to the chagrin of my traveling companions.

This is the inside of the Dom Cathedral.

Even though it was freezing cold, the trip to Salzburg felt really culturally immersive. I would highly recommend it if you have been traveling to a lot of big cities and want to have a more colloquial experience. That’s all for this post. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen and goodbye!

Dorm Room Cooking Hacks

It seems food is on the brain. Lina has some suggestions on how to make easy AND delicious meals – no matter what your dorm style.

I live in Aloes, which is great in its proximity to Cora and GTL, as well as its reasonable price. The only drawback is the fact that you have to use the communal kitchens for cooking. They are often a bit too crowded, and let’s face it, I am a bit too lazy to carry all my pots, pans and cooking supplies down to the kitchen. So, as a resourceful young student, I have learned to make a few hot meals using a microwave, toaster oven, and tea kettle.
Ok, so Aloes rooms don’t come with toaster ovens and kettles, but you can buy both at Cora for under 30 euros. Definitely worth it!
Having a toaster oven effectively means that you have an oven. My favorite thing to make in my toaster oven is loaded potatoes. It’s quick, easy, and really good.
Loaded Potatoes
Ingredients:
  • New potatoes (that are small enough to cook in the toaster oven)
  • Olive oil
  • Cheese (I find that Cora’s 3 cheese blend is nice)
  • Tomato sauce
  • Canned corn
  • Chives
  • Optional: Add some crumbled up cold cuts! I had some leftover chicken that I sprinkled on top
Recipe
  1. Stab the potatoes with a fork and brush with olive oil
  2. Wrap in foil, and let bake in the toaster oven for 45 minutes, or until soft
  3. Take out the potatoes and cut a slit down the middle. Place cheese, tomato sauce, corn and meat inside.
  4. Put the loaded potatoes back in the toaster oven and bake for another 5 minutes
  5. Enjoy!


    Reheating one of my baked potatoes I made earlier this week.

Having a kettle is a great way to boil water without a pan and stove. I like to make hard boiled eggs, pasta and rice. If you are making pasta or rice, use a thermal bag (sold at Cora), to make sure that the pasta and rice on the heating element don’t burn up.

I drink tea every time I get back from school. I love my kettle. Her name is Roberta.
 
The other food that turns out really well in the toaster oven is quesadillas! Below is my favorite recipe, although you can make all kinds of variations of quesadillas.
Quesadillas
Ingredients:
  • Whole wheat tortillas
  • Mexican cheese blend
  • Onions
  • Green Peppers
  • Tomato
  • Salsa
  • Sour Cream
  • Chorizo (pre cooked, sold at Cora)
  • Rice
Recipe
  1. Preheat toaster oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Thinly slice onions, green peppers, and the tomato.
  3. Place a tortilla out flat, and on half of it, put a layer of cheese, peppers, onions and tomato. Sprinkle chorizo inside.
  4. Fold tortilla in half and place it in the toaster oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
  5. Enjoy with rice (as pictured below), cooked in a tea kettle!
For especially lazy days, Cora microwavable meals come in clutch.
 
Doesn’t that sound appetizing? I know right? My mouth is just watering writing this blog. Ok, ok, this recipe is absolutely mouth watering. I love popcorn, especially the caramel variety. It’s really impossible to find it in France though. This recipe is the perfect cure for homesickness.

Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup un-popped popcorn
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt + more for sprinkling
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda

 

Recipe
  1. Pop ½ cup uncooked popcorn and place in a large brown paper bag (sold at Cora).
  2. To make the caramel, throw the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and kosher salt in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute. After one minute, take it out and stir it and then microwave it again for 1 minute or until boiling. Be careful not to burn it!
  3. Add baking soda and vanilla to caramel and mix it up.
  4. Pour the caramel over the popcorn and stir it up in the brown bag.
  5. Roll down the top of the brown paper bag and place in the microwave. Cook on high for 1 minute. Remove from microwave, keeping the bag closed, and shake it vigorously. The microwave for another minute, and shake it up again.
  6. Pour some salt in the bag to taste and shake it up.
  7. Enjoy!

Paris: The City of Rivets

Dreaming of Paris? Take a peek into Lina’s itinerary this past weekend – and learn a few facts about the city, too!

Ah, the city of love. It is a place chock-full of art, architecture, and history. I mean, if you tried to read the entire history of Paris, you would be reading a book and not this blog post. Instead, I will let you in on some eclectic historical trivia that I encountered on my way through the city.
Upon arrival in Paris, after checking into our cozy bed and breakfast, my companions and I metro-ed over to the Champs-Élysees, which is a beautiful street populated with high-end fashion stores, restaurants and car makers. It is also the street on which the Arc De Triomphe is located. It was commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon, then emperor of France. He wanted a monument to represent the glory of France’s grand army. The Arc has been very symbolic throughout France’s history. Every time Paris is taken over, either by the Germans such as in 1940, or taken back by the French, such as in 1945, victory marches are led beneath the Arc. This occurred in World War I as well. Standing beneath it was truly awe-inspiring.

The Arc de Triumph is the perfect monument to show military prowess.
 
Would any Paris post be complete without the Eiffel Tower? The tower was initially built for the World’s Fair in 1889. The main architects for the project, Maurice Koechlin and Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, had previously worked on the Statue of

Pictured above: A small blonde blogger and about 2.5 million rivets

Liberty project together. It took 2.5 million rivets to hold the structure together. If you gave everyone in Atlanta 4 rivets, you still would not have enough rivets to build the Eiffel tower. The tower was meant to be temporary, and was scheduled to be torn down in 1909.  However, it was saved because officials argued that it could

be used as a telegraph tower. In World War I, it was instrumental in intercepting enemy communications.


 My favorite part of the trip was my visit to the Musee D’Orsay, home to the most impressive collection of impressionist art in the world. The museum contains paintings and sculptures all the way from the classical era to post-impressionism. Walking around the arrays of priceless paintings was simply amazing. My favorite area however, was the Hall of Impressionists. Containing famous Monet, Degas, Renoir and Pissarro paintings, this hall showed lots of

Here is my favorite Degas painting in the Musee D’Orsay.

priceless masterpieces. I especially love Degas because he usually paints and sculpts ballerinas as his subjects. As a ballet dancer, the way he captures the motion and fluidity of this style of dance really speaks to me.


Next, we visited the Notre Dame cathedral. This was an amazing experience for me. The cathedral began construction in the 1163, where local serfs and artists were employed to make the monument. It took 182 years to complete, and it is considered the epitome of French gothic architecture. It is also cited for being the first building to utilize flying buttresses in its design. Going inside and looking up into the vast space made me really emotional. All of the stones had been laid by hand, all of the sculptures carefully carved, every mosaic artfully decorated, by people whose memories would live on in the historic building. I, more than 500 years later, was seeing their work.

The most iconic example of Gothic Architecture.
One of my favorite parts of the trip was our meal at L’Encrier. The restaurant served classic French food in three courses, and my group was the only non-Parisian group inside. We couldn’t understand the menu (none of us spoke French well enough), so we each ordered something at random. I ordered a pork dish, which came with the best zucchini I have ever had in my life. Watching us try our best with the French, and listening in to our appreciative “mmmmms” the wait staff brought us an extra dessert and wished us well on our trip. It felt like a truly authentic Parisian experience, which juxtaposed well with our otherwise touristy trip. All in all, it was an enriching weekend.

Tourist-ing

Sam took his first weekend trip – and went full-blown, “selfie stick, souvenir-buying” tourist. Can you guess what his first destination was? Check out his blog to see if you’re right!

Notre Dame

Although we often stick out worse than a Shetland pony in the Kentucky Derby, sometimes just being an unabashed tourist is worth it. This last weekend, I went to Paris, one of the top 3 tourist destinations in the world and we decided to just bite the bullet and go full out Hawaiian t-shirt, selfie stick, souvenir-buying mode. We saw everything from Notre Dame and the Louvre, to the Red Light District and the Arc de Triomphe, to of course, the most iconic landmark in the world, McDonald’s. I do admit to feeling a bit uncomfortable when I feel like we’re broadcasting to the world: “Stupid Americans, right here!” but these landmarks are actually worth seeing. It’s mind boggling the amount of history behind this city and France itself. I’m currently living in a continent with recorded history dating back hundreds of years before anything was really written down in the Americas. The Notre Dame cathedral in particular literally stunned me into silence. It was a profound experience being able to view this testament to sheer human willpower and ingenuity.

However, there is another side to traveling. These famous buildings and pieces of art that Paris is known for are truly awe-inspiring. However, these things only make up the superficial layer of what the city really is. With only 2.5 days I can’t say that we really got to know Paris, but did try to get a feel for what the city really was while we were there.

Me being dumb in front of the tower.

While the daylight hours were taken up with trying to see every last famous piece of history in Paris, in the evenings we tried to relax a little more and explore the less touristy side of things. Despite how great the sightseeing was, I can say with certainty that my favorite part of our visit was Saturday night when we found a tiny little French cafe to eat dinner in. You know you’ve found something a little more real when you feel very out of place. We were most certainly the only non-locals there, and I could tell the staff was not used to serving people whose French closely resembled that of a 4 year-old ostrich. However, despite all that, they treated us extremely well and were the best hosts we could have asked for. We stayed at the restaurant for the better part of three hours, just enjoying our food and relaxing after 9 hours of walking (rest in peace, feet). Having conversations in broken Franglish with the locals while eating amazing French food was a truly great experience.

Musée D’Orsay

My first time traveling for the semester was exciting, humbling, exhausting, and incredibly rewarding. After so many hours walking in the bitter French cold, anything above zero degrees Celsius feels balmy and I’m fairly certain my feet no longer work, but I wouldn’t have traded that experience for the world. I can’t wait for a whole semester filled with traveling to interesting and historic places, and how much I will grow as a global citizen through it. Thanks for coming along on the journey with me,  and I’ll see you next time!

From Procrastination to Proactivity: How I Ended up at a Handball Game

Guess where the World Handball Championships are being held this year? Metz! And guess who scored a seat to a match? Our GTL blogger, Lina!

This past week, sitting in the student common area of the lounge, surfing the internet and procrastinating, I came across an advertisement for the handball world cup, which, don’t you know it, was going on in Metz. I shouted over to my friend if he wanted to go see the game, and in no time at all, I had impulse bought four tickets to the Spain-Angola game taking place later that night.
I have never played handball in my life. I didn’t know the rules, or even the object of the game, but I know that the sport is very popular in the European Union. After a quick Google search, I learned the basics: The object of the game is the throw the ball – surprisingly, about the size of your hand – into the opposing team’s net. You can take a maximum of three steps with the ball unless you dribble, and may only possess the ball for 3 seconds before throwing it.
That night, I set out on the Mettis bus to the stadium in downtown. After entering and finding our seats, the spectacle began. The game was fast-paced, high-scoring, and – best of all – exciting. Right in the first five minutes, Angola’s goalie (Ha! Try saying that 5 times fast), was injured and had to be replaced. About 15 minutes later, the replacement goalie had been given a red card, and the injured man was forced to return. Although he could barely walk, he still managed to block many shots by jumping in front of them.

Angola, sadly, lost terribly, scoring only 20 points to Spain’s impressive 42. Even though the game was definitely a total blow-out, it was still an amazingly immersive experience to be part of the crowd at such a traditional, celebrated European sporting event. This is what immersion is all about.

Changes (Not by David Bowie)

Sam has made new resolutions – and not because of the new year! Why is he making resolutions now? And what resolutions are he making? All your burning questions are answered in his blog post.

Anybody who attends our wonderful institute can attest to the various levels of insanity Tech is capable of driving its students to from time to time. I’m far from perfect, and after struggling much more greatly this past fall semester compared to my first year at Tech, I decided that I needed to change a few things. Psychologists have confirmed that switching locations, or making some other big change is the best time to attempt to change your daily habits related to work or hygiene or really anything. So, in order to fix some of the things I didn’t like about how I operate on a daily basis during the school year, I took advantage of this jarring move to Europe to change two simple habits that I hope will make a big difference.

1. Sleep Schedule

Photo couresty of GreenHead Alarm Clocks.

Although this doesn’t really. directly affect work habits, I think that this one is the most important of all of the changes I made. So far, I’ve stuck to the schedule of going to bed between 9:00-10:00 in order to wake up at 7:00 every morning. This is something I don’t think I’ve ever done in my life up until now, but let me tell you, getting 9+ hours of sleep on a weekday is absolutely game changing. I wake up much more refreshed, often before my alarm even goes off, and with plenty of time in the morning to make a real breakfast if I want to (sometimes cereal is just the way to go), take an un-rushed shower, and even spend some time reviewing the textbooks for class. (That last one is often dependent on how long that un-rushed shower ends up taking).

After such a relaxed morning, I find myself almost never feeling drowsy in class, which is a far cry from the freshman me who would nod off in Calculus II almost every time. This leads to better focus, better notes, and an overall better grasp on the concepts taught in my classes. I also get more time to do class work after I get home now that I don’t nap from 3-5 everyday! All in all, it’s worth sacrificing your weekday nightlife in order to get enough sleep to make it through the day. Besides, almost all of us travel 3 out 7 days of the week here at GTL, where we get plenty of time to pursue a social life.

2. Attending Every Class

At GTL, most classes require attendance, so this is a given for a lot of us students here. But typically in college many big lecture classes don’t keep track of who shows up, and some don’t even have things like quizzes to try and enforce attendance. For most of my college life so far, the temptation to be lazy and skip classes has been too great, especially when the professor is not exactly the best at teaching new material. However, I’ve decided to change that here, and the results, I believe, will show in both my academics and my psyche.

I’ve taken classes where, despite what the professor says during syllabus week, it is not really necessary to attend every lecture to succeed in the class. But I think that, as a student, there is more to it than that. When you attend all of your lectures for the week, you just feel good about yourself. I found it easy to slip into the mindset that going to class didn’t matter the more and more I failed to make it. It starts with just missing that one class that doesn’t take attendance and where “I learn better from the book anyway.” But I think all humans are a little OCD and there’s something about breaking your record of perfect attendance that just makes it easy to start missing your 8 AM when you wake up tired in the morning, or missing your 12:00 class because you haven’t eaten lunch yet. However, if you can manage to maintain the idea that you will attend every class and that it’s important, I mean, you’ll probably attend every class (kinda obvious I know). In my experience it’s been either zero or a lot, and this semester I’ve resolved to stick with zero.

If you’re a student reading this, I would welcome you to give these things a try, they’ve really helped me so far this semester. If you’re a parent, good luck making your college-age kids listen to you, even if you do like my advice.  If you’re a faculty member, I’m not sure how much you can get out of this (I hope you’re showing up every to class everyday) but either way thank you for reading, I’ll catch you next week.

First Impressions & New Lessons

Lina had one or two – okay, many – adventures upon her arrival in Metz. Read her blog about her first impressions of the city and how not to get lost!

Welcome to Metz! Beginning with a whirlwind of orientations, jetlag, a nasty case of food poisoning, and a few emergency trips to the colossus of a grocery store known a Cora, getting settled in Metz has been difficult to say the least. However, we simply cannot let sleep deprivation or projectile vomiting get in the way of finding our place in this beautiful city. We start in the Metz-Technopole area where we go to school, eat, sleep, and shop for groceries. Then, we venture downtown to visit the shops and restaurants and experience the local atmosphere.
In addition to its appealing centralized location, situated perfectly for easy travel to many destinations, Metz can also boast a rich 3000 year old history. That’s right! You heard me. 3000 years. 3000. Years. According to the official Metz tourism website, it all started in the 5th-3rd centuries B.C. Celts settled the region and named it Divodurum. Then, in 451, Attila the Hun burned it to the ground. Cool, right? (Or hot, I suppose.)
In the fourth century, the region was renamed Mettis. Sound familiar? In the 6th century, it became the capital of Austria and was renamed Metz: the name we all know and love today. Then, like pretty much the rest of Europe, it came under Roman occupation in the 10th century. Next came the crazy German-French turf war that the Lorraine region was subjected to until after World War II. France begins with Metz in 1552, but oh no, what’s this, Germany takes it over in 1871, but France – never to be outdone – takes it back in 1918. Germany, angrily and with

Bus map of Metz.

Nazis, takes it back for the brief period of 1940 to 1944, whereupon the Treaty of Versaille is written and everyone has decided that yep, Metz is French.

I had been itching to visit the main city of Metz since my arrival here. On a cold and cloudy Wednesday, an icy drizzle trickling down from the sky, I decided it was high time I acquired a cell phone plan that wouldn’t require me to sell my left arm to pay for the roaming charges. After weighing many options, I decided that Free Mobile was the right plan for me. After asking Elise (my wonderful French roommate) how to use the bus system I set out armed with my coat, hat, scarf and gloves to find the free mobile kiosk in the Metz city center. Asking my similarly food-poisoned friend to accompany me, we walked to the bus stop, bought our tickets and made our way into the city.
This is what the view from my dorm looked like the first night of staying at the Aloes dormitory. Pretty, right?

 

Here is a picture of me holding my handwritten directions in front of the Metz train station. Totally looks like a cathedral, right?

My confused, telephone-less, non French-speaking self accidentally exited the bus at a stop near the train station. Walking up to it, I thought it was a cathedral, with its soaring towers, tall arched windows and seemingly endless length. Despite the freezing rain, I simply had to get a picture.

On a sheet of paper, I had written down directions on how to get to the Free Mobile store from the station. What my internet search had neglected to tell me, however, was that the street signs are placed near the second story of the buildings. After a few minutes of cold and aimless wandering, I discovered this fact and began a victory dance that drew some strange glances. Nevertheless, I made my way, sans Google Maps, to the store.  
Here is what the main shopping street of Metz looks like. I love the classic architecture of the second story and up of the buildings juxtaposed with the modern storefronts.

After purchasing my SIM card, I wandered over to a nearby cafe to get some lunch. After clumsily ordering in broken French, (I said “Je voudrais le poulet,” which I think means I would like the chicken, and then I subsequently forgot that the word for sandwich is just…sandwich…) I had purchased a beautiful victory sandwich to enjoy before the cold journey home. Long story short, non-french speaking people, if you want to eat food other than chicken or sandwiches, it is a good idea to come prepared with the Google Translate app, at the very least.

Note from the editor: With Google Translate, and with other apps as well, you can download an entire language offline!