As the sun made her wispy escape, I had another great realization on the bus outside of the Milan airport: here you are, taking the world by storm. Not just a tiny lightning strike, but a torrential downpour. Here you are melting icy exteriors, one interaction at a time. Lately I have relied strongly on the direction of kind strangers. If you dropped me off in any city and asked me to get somewhere, I will one hundred percent of the time end up heading off in the opposite direction. I give myself ample time to mess up, but still always end up needing a helping hand, which the world has always kindly offered. After a panini lunch and wandering the streets of Luxembourg prior to my flight to Italy, I met Tanya, a South Sudanese college student in a pink and purple paisley print skirt, who led a frantic me to the bus stop that would take me to the Luxembourg airport. She double checked the destination, kindly requesting the driver to give me a heads up when we arrived. I couldn’t thank her enough after she walked me all the way to the bus stop and waited for the right one to get there.
In Scotland, I stood at a crossroads, holding up a map printed off for me by the concierge from the wrong location of the hotel chain I booked a stay in. With two locations so close together I wandered my way into the wrong address, but with a map in hand I still couldn’t seem to figure it out. A woman approached me jovially on the street, asking if she could give me directions anywhere. After a few minutes of explanation I had a clear idea of where I needed to be and what I would pass on my way to Queen Street, but I was still taken aback by her warmth and willingness to help to the point of approaching me. She and her husband sent me off with a “Cheers, best of luck!” And as I made my way to check in, I realized that I have such immense gratitude for kind strangers, they make the world turn.
I am constantly reminded that if you reach out a hand, the world will once again feel like something you can hold in the palms of your hands. We love because we have been loved before, passing forward the chain formed lifetimes ago.
When in doubt: hop in a moving vehicle. Wait, maybe not literally. I am a big proponent of changes of scenery, and there’s something particularly comforting about seeing some new faces and watching trees pass from a moving window. Something about galavanting through the world on public transport makes you feel limitless, just unstoppable.
Many of you know this by now, but public transport in Europe is far and wide. As current GTE students gear up to start our spring breaks, let’s talk a little more about the modes of public transport you’ll be frequenting as a student and how to navigate them! As with anything, understanding train lines, bus routes, and flight terminals take time, but doing a little bit of reading ahead of time will definitely ease some of the anxiety.
Shuttle: On Monday evenings, GTE has a personal shuttle waiting at the bus stop in front of Cora for students to catch back to campus after their weekly grocery shop! While I don’t frequent Cora any longer (see: C’est pas drôle from a few weeks ago) and favor the much smaller and more palatable Auchan, the benefits of having shuttle waiting to take you back to campus with a week’s worth of groceries instead of making the 20 minute trek back can really make a difference for your shoulders after a long day of class.
Buses: The GTE campus and primary dorms are situated nearby many of the city’s bus stops running routes to places in downtown Metz like the train station, the Centre Pompidou, Metz Cathedral, and other neighborhoods along the way. Most bus routes can be found on transportation apps Moovit and Omio, but I’ve found Google Maps to be linked to the routes and times perfectly. When you get on the bus, you’ll tap your bus card, a blue pass with options for 1-way, round-trip, 10-way, and monthly passes purchased through Le Met. You can grab a 1-way or round trip pass directly from the bus driver when you enter the bus, or purchase a 1-way, round trip, or 10 way pass at any bus stop downtown! You can also purchase unlimited monthly passes at Le Met’s store downtown, but seeing as how I haven’t quite figured that one out yet, I’ve found the 10-way passes to work best for me. Make sure you remember to tap your card as public service workers frequent buses with a scanner to check that passengers all have valid bus passes that they used to get on the bus. If you haven’t tapped a pass, you’re subject to a hefty fine!
Trains: My personal favorite! Trains run far and wide and Metz is the perfect location to easily get to different countries and cities, especially with a Eurail pass! It takes less than an hour to get to Luxembourg, my first stop to catch a flight on my spring break adventure, and under 5 hours to get to cities in Belgium, Amsterdam, Switzerland, and Germany! With Paris just an hour away, you’re free to hop on and catch the Eiffel Tower sparkling after class (just make sure to get a reservation beforehand!)
Be aware that while Eurail passes essentially function as train tickets across Europe, there are high-volume cities and countries you’ll need to reserve seats for! France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal are included in the places that require seat reservations for an extra fee! You won’t be able to board a train to major destinations in these countries without a copy (physical or digital) of your reservation alongside your Eurail pass.
Flights: It’s no secret RyanAir and EasyJet have European college students in the palms of their hands. With strongholds in smaller airports, expect a bit of a trek to and from these cheap flight hubs. RyanAir runs in several airports in France, but the one you’ll probably see as the most relevant is the airport in Beauvais. A tiny little thing with just 2 terminals, I spent the day exploring Beauvais prior to my flight to Scotland and left a little piece of my heart in the city. You won’t need to get to the airport any more than an hour to an hour and a half ahead of your flight because it’s so small and there’s really only one restaurant inside and another little shop with snacks and magazines next to it. Many tend to lean away from this airport as it is two train transfers away from Metz, but I loved the city too much to have anything bad to say about it. It has a similar small French town charm of Metz with a breathtaking cathedral and tourist stops along the way. Many favor the Luxembourg airport for its proximity, but I’d recommend taking just one flight out of Beauvais if there’s a destination you’d like to go to that flights out of Luxembourg don’t reach!
It’s no secret that the accessible, well-managed, and often clean methods of public transportation make Europe a well-oiled machine. With enough patience and willpower, you too can soon be on 15-hour long train journeys to Prague or Rome! Me on the other hand, I prefer to swap off between trains and airplanes based on time and cost efficiency. Happy traveling!
As I’m writing this, I’m sat on the train back to Metz from Paris, watching the sunrise and thinking back on my first month abroad. A month, over already, gone in the blink of an eye. I never want to leave. I want to go back this instant. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a dozen times. we are truly capable of so much just as we are. Weeks ago I could barely string together the words to introduce myself in French and while I’m most definitely stumbling around, I’ve only ever used English two or three times in particularly stressful situations, favoring the immersive style of language learning. I’ve met people from Scotland, Japan, Canada, and different ends of the United States across my travels so far and it reminds me that the world isn’t quite so big after all. I’ve always heard it told to me that fortune favors the bold, but recently I’ve figured the opposite. Fortune doesn’t favor anyone, the bold favor fortune. I’m pulled to believe that we’re all given a sacred few chances that set the course of the rest of our lives, if only we muster up the courage to take them. The things that have proven most useful to me the past few weeks are research and advice- to know and be aware is far more useful than I would’ve thought prior. So much of life is white noise, focus on the things that strike a chord in you. Soldier on and forge your own way, Better if it’s off the beaten path because that’s what makes it your own. And for future study abroaders and GTE students I’ll give you a few tips for reading through my musings:
1. Bring a card holder and only carry essentials! Your student ID, credit card, phone and bus pass are all you really need on any odd day out in Metz or traveling. If you’re here during the early spring or transition months, add an umbrella! The weather is much more overcast and rainy in Metz than many originally planned for!
2. Bring a reusable bag. Shops often charge for disposable bags or don’t have them at all! Purchasing reusable bags embossed in french grocery store emblems is a bit of a shared GTE experience, but I was thankful my mom sent me off with a big post-christmas reusable bag from Bed Bath and Beyond. I’ll always have a piece of her reminding me not to buy the unnecessary trinkets I always end up rummaging through.
3. Give yourself lots of room to mess up! What I mean by this is to pad your travel time with time to transfer between trains or metro stations, budget time for getting lost or possible delays along the way (at least the first few times, metro and bus stations in new areas can be difficult to figure out! Coming from someone who has taken the wrong line one or two or four– too many times to admit). Public transit in Europe is far and wide and much better than the MARTA could ever dream of being, but it’s not foolproof and there are often strikes and delays. Try not to let a freak accident stop you from catching a connection or flight to a new place!
4. Be cautious with new foods and favor cooked and familiar foods when possible! While some of us have the stomachs for escargot and steak tartare, it’s always tough to tell how you’ll react to unfamiliar ingredients and cooking styles, especially in travel. When in doubt, look around at who’s in a restaurant or street food stall, read reviews, favor fully cooked food, and gauge freshness and cleanliness before taking the leap. As someone with a very weak stomach, I’ve been lucky (knock on wood) to make it this far without a bout of food poisoning, but I’d advise caution! You don’t want a reaction to an unfamiliar food stall to ruin a trip. Along those lines, spend money on what’s important to you! If it’s a bit of a higher end restaurant, shopping in a popular district, or a nicer hotel, make sure you prioritize because this semester can quickly shape up to be not very budget-friendly.
5. Don’t be afraid to venture out on your own! Being a Georgia Tech student is intense to say the least and many follow the motto “work hard, play hard” to a certain extreme. If you’ve read any of my posts so far, you know that I’m a big proponent of solo travel (as long as you’re being safe and have done the proper research on safe places to stay and people to check in with) it’s easily the best way to really immerse yourself in meeting new people, understanding the lifestyle in a new town, and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. In my case, I find it easier to talk to locals and meet new people on my own. I find a greater sense of accomplishment in feats done on my own and I tend to have a stronger desire to do things at my own pace and based on my interests. don’t be afraid to say no to things you know you won’t enjoy, especially if it’s with people you’re not sure you feel totally comfortable with!
At the end of the day, this experience is all about finding your footing and it really is what you make of it. I’m a strong believer that you get what you want out of new adventures if you do your due diligence, and what I came in search of is time and space to navigate my young adulthood as I come into my own. About a dozen marketplaces, bookstores, and museums later, I find I’m really liking who I’m shaping up to be.
Suddenly you’re 21, looking out onto a lake, gentle ripples forming along its surface, with your best friend on the phone and you feel it in your heart: you’re making some place home.
I’d have to say this is the first week I’ve started to fall off the wagon a little bit and onto the very heavily beaten path. As I stared into my phone on a WhatsApp call near midnight and watched my sister celebrate the start to a new year of her life, I felt a pang in my heart when she asked if I could come back now. She had caught a severe cold on the eve of her 6th birthday, a phenomenon that makes Murugappan daughters quite the handful, and I was reminded of all the times I was able to see her with just a moment’s notice. I missed her, of course I did. And I missed my mom more than words could describe. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that this experience was groundbreaking in my life and journey to creating myself and I knew I’d have to be dragged out of this country kicking and screaming to leave sooner than my time. After a series of unfortunate events this past weekend I learned to take things at my own pace and really savor each moment, studying abroad is not a race and visiting countries is not a checklist. To all those who can run from train to train to bus to museums to restaurants to attractions to nightlife, I applaud you. But when exhaustion hits and things start to feel like a checklist, they give me less fulfillment, and I’m glad I found that out about myself this past weekend.
Onto the more recent epic fails, this is the closest to hell week I’ve gotten since I got to GTE (one too many weeks of just turning in a homework assignment here and there got me too comfortable). I had two subpar presentations in my elective courses, came back on Wednesday nights and turned my stovetop too high, burning my dumplings which then set off my fire alarm (an event that I have never experienced before) followed by a physics exam that I was quite ill-prepared for. In the words of Newton himself, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. To every misfortune, goodness is at its corner, if only one remembers to look. My partially burnt dumplings turned out crispy for the first time, and now I know to turn down the heat of my stovetop and pass on the splash of water I’ve been adding- they’ve been soggy for so long. And I set off my fire alarm, but in the midst of the chaos my ramen turned out just the way my mom makes it- not too soupy and not overcooked, springy noodles with the perfect amount of bite. While I could’ve studied more for the exam, I was surprised to see familiar concepts and problems similar to old practice tests. And I was surprised at the amount of healing a familiar voice carries when I called my best friend to give her a big catch up of the first full month here. This is not to darken your day with toxic positivity down your throats, but a simple reminder to myself that cloudy days make the sunny ones shine brighter. See: The Scotland Post (aka the trip that changed and set the course of my life.) I needed to know what else was out there in terms of travel and have some not great experiences in order to appreciate the better ones and plan for the future. I needed to learn how to balance travel and schoolwork, which was shown by my first big checkpoint in the semester. And most of all, I needed to hear from the people who cared about me most when I needed them. In the words of one of my very best friends, find one good thing about the day. And watch your perspective change. But if that doesn’t work, I mean there’s always RyanAir (not sponsored, but if a rep from RyanAir is reading please subsidize a trip to Greece).
In any case, I’ll leave you with one last thought. You fall and you get back up again. This is life, and you will survive. And not barely, you will thrive.
With all the international travel going on, I’d be mistaken to count out Metz as a destination of its own. Situated perfectly between a few major European countries, Metz is rich in history and in landmarks, as taught to me in INTA 2221. If you’d asked me for a few of my recommendations I’d tell you to go to:
The Centre Pompidou
A modern art museum with changing exhibits, the Centre Pompidou has a partnership with the Paris branch, of the same name, and showcases pieces that are too large for its Parisian counterpart. With exhibits like Mimesis (A Living Design), focused on biocentric pieces that evoke thoughts of sustainability on our planet, and A Gateway to Possible Worlds, an exhibit focused on the intersection between art and science fiction, I found myself entranced in the self-proclaimed futuristic, contemporary art center. Regularly choosing thought provoking, outside the box, future-focused exhibitions, the Centre Pompidou is definitely a must-do!
Ammè Thè
A little boba shop tucked away in downtown, Ammè Thè provided me comfort after a long day spent solo adventuring around Metz and refuge from the everlasting rain. With a large selection of drinks and reasonable prices, this place reminds me a lot of cafes and boba shops in and around Atlanta. With a jasmine green milk tea, 50% sugar, no ice in hand, I look forward to spending more hours in the home-y little shop journaling and people-watching as new customers come in. And with my new loyalty card, I’ll soon be a regular!
Muse
I didn’t think I’d say this, but shopping in Europe is undeniably one of the coolest, most interesting ways to learn more about the everyday European. Most small stores in the mall are set-up similarly and boast a collection of double breasted wool coats in muted tones, simple knitted sweaters, straight leg jeans, handbags, high heels, and accessories for every occasion. The everyday Frenchperson puts a good amount of effort into looking effortless and with this mall nearby so can you! A personal favorite of mine has to be Primark where I scored a very cute cream hoodie for 10 euro and found two stems of fake flowers, white roses and pink chrysanthemums, that make my room feel a little more like home. I wouldn’t count out small accessory shops either! Shops decked out from ceiling to floor with jewelry, handbags, shoes, hair scarves, and perfumes also see a lot of traffic and have great collections.
All in all, downtown Metz is a city of hidden gems behind every street corner and anyone is sure to find their next favorite place just a block away!
Mom, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry. It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right? The question I needed to answer for myself this week: If you’re alone, are you ever really lonely? Recently I’ve fallen in love with traveling alone and witnessing the world for the first time. While there were times I wished I had a companion in particularly closed off, unwelcoming areas in Paris, at the end of every road I look back with nothing but crazy admiration for this body and mind of mine. While solo travel isn’t for everyone, and reasonably so, I’ve always been a limit tester. It’s the reason I studied abroad in the first place. And there’s always been a desire at the bottom of my heart to adventure alone. The sheer freedom and ability to go anywhere, anytime, do anything, to turn around and strike up a conversation with people from different corners of the world felt unparalleled. Now that I’m beginning my 20’s, I’m teaching myself to be more independent and selfish with my time and energy. This is the only decade I feel like I’ll truly be able to live for myself, by myself. At the end of this experience I want to see myself as inherently capable of anything, someone who can tackle any problem with confidence knowing I’ve navigated situations in foreign countries and had the types of adventures that people write movies about.
While the goal of this trip was to see keshi, one of my favorite artists (top 2 on my Spotify wrapped, second only to a very intense phase I had in early 2022 with Mandopop artist, Eric Chou) The main reason the trip was non-negotiable in my eyes was the fact that my mom deems Scotland her favorite place in the world. It’s high praise coming from the homebody of my household, and I just had to see what made the city shine so bright in her eyes. And as soon as I got there, I knew. The people are kinder, the air is warmer, the sky is clearer, the water feels softer, the sun shines brighter. Scots are truly a warm and cheery bunch, the ones that remind you that life is gentle and kind. And they open their arms to the weariest of travelers, visitors who seek refuge from their abysmal, monotonous lives. In both Glasgow and Edinburgh, I felt safe, I felt comfortable, and I felt unstoppable.
I’ve always considered myself a bright and outgoing person, but after arriving in France I found myself suddenly fearful of the European eye. There’s something that makes you want to shrink under the microscope of mispronounced words and unfamiliar social cues. I talked softer, gestured more, and walked straight ahead without meeting strangers’ eyes. But in Scotland, I felt the smile come back into my eyes. I met perfect strangers who became costars in the Scottish movie that was being written before my eyes, and I’ll always look back on them with such fondness. Ryosuke, a 3rd year Japanese Computer Science student from the University of Tokyo who was on a year exchange at the University of Glasgow, gave me a little tour of the campus after a chance encounter at the Hunterian museum and let me sit in on his Information Retrieval class. Then we wandered through more exhibits at nearby museums before he walked me to the subway station with a list of Glaswegian recommendations. Seungah, a Korean international student studying Graphic Design, and Safiya, a Glasgow native of Pakistani descent and recent graduate of the University of Glasgow, two girls who stood behind me in line at the keshi concert, quickly became good friends within just an hour of meeting. We grabbed post-concert fish and chips at midnight and got Korean food for lunch the next day. Being in college and having the opportunity to venture out and meet others of the same age with similar goals is such an incredibly unique experience, and one that I wouldn’t trade for the world.
If you asked me to sing the praises of Scotland, I would all day long. But at the end of the day, this trip taught me to take chances. I had researched, read, and checked all the boxes to make sure I’d be safe, but at the end of the day I left it up to fate to see how this trip would go. And I realized that life gives you some crazy opportunities if you’re bold enough to take them. And I’ll spend my whole lifetime chasing the feeling that this trip gave me. Scotland is truly where the soul grows and glows, and this trip couldn’t have gone better if I had planned it to.
With just a little over two weeks of living in France under my belt, I like to think I’m adjusting quite nicely to the new landscape. Waterways are plentiful, I’m encountering much fewer unfriendly French people than expected, and I’m picking up the language quite quickly, if I do say so myself. But, as we all know, with any new change comes its learning curves. Enter Cora. Supermarket extraordinaire, reminiscent of a super Target meets a Walmart, maybe throw in a Kroger for good measure. If there was one thing I wish I’d heard about Cora before I got to GTE, it’s how absolutely overwhelmed I would be as soon as I stepped foot in the store. I like to think of myself as a decently resourceful person. Prior to my first official visit and tour of the store, I made a grocery list and checked out their online selection to prepare me. Little did I know, nothing could prepare me for that experience.
After more than 2 hours in the store that first go-around, I was frazzled, confused, and couldn’t understand any of the answers I was getting to the poorly phrased French questions I was asking. The exchanges would go a little something like, “Perdon, j’ai une question, où est fromage.. Uh le mozzarella (Where is the mozzarella cheese)” or “Perdon, j’ai besoin du lait (milk)” to which I would get rapid fast answers in French and I’d respond with a weak “merci” and a crinkle of the eyebrows, before deciding to wander the store in hopes of stumbling upon what I was looking for on my own.
I quickly realized I couldn’t go on like this and began tracking down other students as resources. There’s something noticeable about the GT students in the store. It’s hard to pin down what it is exactly, maybe a combination of general confusion and lack of awareness. Maybe also the fact that we huddle together and walk a bit more clumsily, running into the everyday French person on their daily grocery shop and standing confusedly in the middle of the aisles. I’d find familiar faces and ask where to find the oil with a frantic look in my eyes and would be met with an answer and an equally frantic question asking about rice. The first few trips to Cora were less than exciting, especially considering the time crunch. GTE has a shuttle to take us straight back to our dorms at 7:30pm on Monday evenings, but with a class ending at 6:15 and a 20 minute walk there, it’s my weekly dose of distress.
I will tell you that I hold near and dear to my heart the one and only success, in which I asked a sales associate timidly, “Perdon, où est le ruban adhesive (tape)?” And expected to not understand what she’d say back to me. She gave me a once-over, saw the confusion in my eyes and responded slowly in French, “Le petit ou le grande?” “Le petit,” I responded, adding a small gesture with my hands. After all, I wouldn’t need a roll of duct tape to tape some receipts and ticket stubs into my journal. She nodded with a gentle smile and responded with the first French words I had made sense of in days. The tape was in the paper aisle! Two aisles over! I could hear the heavens calling out to me, I’d make it in this country after all. Alas, the walk of victory back to my friends after that experience was short lived as I later realized I had mistakenly picked up sweet and sour sauce after being too overwhelmed to read the labels in the pasta sauce aisle. Spinach and cheese ravioli coated in aigre douce was a sour ending to a sweet experience. More on that failure later. First, let us revel in the glory of success.
Enchantée! I’m Swati, a third year Computer Science student at Georgia Tech! Some quick words to describe me: storyteller. memory-collector. people-watcher. reader. stargazer. sunset enthusiast. I feel most at home in bookstores and art museums. I also love learning languages, drinking tea (and hot chocolate), writing, and exploring new places. My number one plan of business in anywhere I travel: find the local gems! Throughout my time in Europe I hope to catch some sunsets, visit museums and historical sites, and stumble into serendipitous adventures. I’m so excited to take you all along for the ride as I explore France and the nearby European countries for the first time! Join me as I fumble my way through multiple countries where I have an elementary proficiency of the languages, navigate my early twenties on a new continent, and try to soak up the opportunity of a lifetime! As the French say, Ce n’est pas la mer à boire (It’s not as if you have to drink the sea. Yes, I looked that up.)
Here’s to taking baby steps and starting now!
Indubitably the best things on planet Earth: freshly bloomed flowers, waterways, chocolate chip cookie dough, strawberries, ginger ale, dangly earrings, wool trench coats, citrus flavoring, the color lavender, keshi, the smell of bookstores, and a cup of hot tea in hand after a long day.
Paris, I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Je t’aime de tout mon cour. I love you with all my heart. I love you not only for what you are but for what you’ve unlocked in me. I could tell you about every interaction I’ve had with a French person, or the relief I felt at finding a familiar face from Georgia Tech. But as I look back on my first week at Georgia Tech Europe, I can amount this experience thus far with a few of my internal thoughts: I can’t believe I did that. I can’t believe I’m doing it. I’ve always been a limit tester. How far can I push myself? How much can I grow? At any moment I’m always asking myself, “Am I getting too comfortable here?” Those were the questions that unlocked this adventure and even now I can’t believe I boarded a plane across the world all alone. I’m sitting here with a cup of tea, made with microwaved water from European pipes, admittedly a bit odd tasting, but I realize that pieces of familiarity can be found anywhere. At this moment I feel invincible. I retell stories with a hint of humor to friends back in Atlanta, knowing that at the moment I felt so out of my element in a country I’ve grown more accustomed to. But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.
Upon my arrival, I could only string together a simple: Bonjour, je m’appelle Swati, enchantee. But within hours of arriving, I was stringing together poorly formed sentences from words I caught on signage and eavesdropping at the airport. Pardon, ou est le baggage? I mumbled to an unsuspected border patrol agent who explained I’d have to get through border patrol first. Hm. Guess I’d conveniently forgotten about that one. Pushing down the embarrassment from that interaction, I wait patiently in line until I get a stamp on my passport and head over to grab my suitcase, pleased to find it waiting for me as I walk up to the carousel. The pieces are falling in place so smoothly, it’s a bit unnerving. For my life at least, it’s been a bit more tumultuous than most, entirely due to user error. Luckily I found a new friend by baggage claim, Hugh, who thankfully was able to navigate us over to the airport shuttle that took us to our respective hotels. I’ve never been so glad to show up a day early for something. Moments later I found a group of ten GTE students sitting in the lobby of the Ibis hotel. After locating 2 other students who had early check ins, we piled our suitcases in their rooms and set out for the heart of Paris. It still didn’t hit me. It didn’t hit me for hours. It didn’t hit me when I saw signage in front of stores all in French. It didn’t hit me at Notre Dame. It didn’t even hit me when I stutter out “Un pain au chocolat s’il vous plaît,” to a French bakery owner who responds in English, “Cash or card?”
Then suddenly we’re walking along the Seine and it hits me all at once. This is the city of love stories and songs, where youth flourishes and shines juxtaposed against the cloudy, rainy city in the winter. This is the city where I will spread my wings. And here I am. Standing with a group of strangers that might very well soon become my new best friends. Haphazardly snapping pictures, taking in the streets, the sights, the smells, the sounds, everything I can possibly cram into my brain. It’s in moments like these that I wish I had photographic memory. On our long wandering of the streets we look out at an overpass on the Seine as a piano accordion hums in the background. Nothing has ever felt so French, or quite so sweet. We see the green street stalls filled with art and books and trinkets that fold neatly into locked boxes overlooking the Seine and wander our way over to the Louvre. The Louvre. Filled with art from thousands of years ago, long acclaimed, long loved, long admired. The Winged Victory is mere feet away and I feel the same way she does. Sat in front of the glass pyramid, I feel triumphant. Victorious. The outside of the Louvre is almost as beautiful as I’m sure the pieces of art are inside. The smoky French air and traces of conversations in Italian and Korean and English remind me of how far this city’s influence reaches. In my wanderings, I swear to come back for the street berets and the list of art and history museums I’ve had saved for ages. For now, I’m pleased to take it all in through the looking glass. Next comes the rookie mistake. We trek the 3.5 kilometers, a little more than 2 miles, over to the Eiffel Tower, a journey that leaves me a little worse for wear. About halfway there my feet start throbbing, and there’s nothing I would like more than a steaming cup of tea or hot chocolate, but nevertheless we persist. Upon reaching the great monument, I find it a bit lackluster, but only from the tiredness settling into my bones. I grab a dark, semi-sweet hot chocolate at a cart near the Eiffel Tower and it satisfies the #1 goal of my first day in Paris. After a successful bout of staying awake for a little more than 36 hours, we hop back on the metro headed for our hotels and some sweet, sweet sleep. And showers. We need those.
I’ll admit it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, it’s neither of those two things. How is it possible that it rains almost everyday and I have yet to see a rainbow? Regardless, it’s cloudy and rainy, sleepy and romantic, cozy in its own way. Paris, and later Metz, remind me a lot of Seattle, cozy and calm, sleepy towns full of possibilities, that have each stolen away pieces of my heart. And to the greater European landmass: I accept the grand adventure that awaits me.
As a last hurrah to end my semester studying abroad, my friends and I decided to head up to Tromsø, a Norwegian town located in the Arctic Circle.
In Tromsø, we were closer to the North Pole than France!
We spent the first day exploring around downtown Tromsø, shopping for souvenirs, and visiting their local Christmas market. By the time 2pm rolled around, the sky was completely dark; it was absolutely crazy to see! We also stopped to grab some hotdogs, and we bought Norwegian groceries to make ourselves dinner for the Friday and Saturday we were in Norway.
Iconic Scandinavian hot dogs from a food cart in downtown Tromsø made of reindeer and beef. This picture was also taken at 2:30pm.
We woke up the next day bright and early to cook ourselves breakfast and then we rented ice skates at a local outdoors store in downtown Tromsø. We walked uphill for thirty minutes to Prestvannet Lake which by this point in the year has been completely frozen over! The ice was at least 10 cm (about 4 inches) thick, and there were dozens of Norwegians skating on the ice. A group of college aged students played hockey in one corner of the lake and speed skaters of all ages zoomed around the perimeter of the lake. While some parents taught their kids how to ice skate, parents with younger children opted to glide nonchalantly across the ice pushing a stroller, baby in tow. Norwegians are exposed to ice even before they learn to walk! Even weirder, every once in a while, a person on a bicycle would zoom across the ice instead of biking around the lake.
This time of year, Tromsø experiences the Polar Night where there is light for only a couple of hours in the day. Even then, the sun is too low to see it above the horizon, so there is a permanent sunset and sunrise at the same time. This casts some of the most gorgeous colors across the sky. Once it started getting too dark to safely skate (which was around 2:30pm), we returned the skates and grabbed some authentic Norwegian lunch.
The breathtaking colors of the Polar Night. For reference, this picture was taken at 12:30pm, but it looks like it could be 5pm.
Afterwards, we headed to Fjellheisen: a cable car located on the mainland that takes you halfway up the Tromsdalstinden Mountain and provides a good viewpoint of the city. We spent that time going aurora hunting— they were not too difficult to spot!
The city lights of Tromsø from the top of the Fjellheisen.
The Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis, are formed through the bombardment of solar radiation with the Earth’s atmosphere. The Sun releases charged particles called solar winds from its upper atmosphere or corona. The Earth’s magnetosphere protects the Earth from these charged particles like a shield; however, some of these charged particles are trapped in the Magnetosphere’s Van Allen Belts and are funneled towards the poles through the Earth’s magnetosphere. These ions then collide with particles in the Earth’s atmosphere causing polar auroras. These interactions usually occur at a height between 90-120 km, and the color of the aurora is dependent on what altitude and what atoms the solar winds collide with. In the North, the Polar Aurora is called the “Aurora Borealis”, and in the Southern Hemisphere, it is called the “Aurora Australis”.
Because of how the Polar Auroras are created, they are largely dependent on the Sun’s activity. The Sun cycles every 11 years between solar max (where solar activity is at a maximum) and solar minimum (where solar activity is at a minimum). Fortunately for me, the Sun is approaching its Solar Max in 2024, so we are approaching an increase in solar activity— i.e. we are more likely to encounter the Aurora Borealis! While technically they are happening all the time, they can only be seen when it is dark enough, so ideal conditions are during the Winter month nights when there are no clouds in the sky and very little light pollution. Additionally, the Northern Lights only exist at high latitudes, and because of Tromsø’s location in the Arctic circle, Tromsø is an ideal location for potentially spotting them!
The first time seeing them was invigorating. Early in high school, I attended a NASA camp where I designed my own NASA mission centered around heliophysics and the Van Allen Belts. I spent the week-long camp learning anything and everything I could about the phenomenon; I was completely hooked. This camp (and the topic) kickstarted my entire engineering career and fascination of space. To see these in person, my heart would not stop beating at a mile a minute. I couldn’t help but smile, laugh, and dance with my friends in the night. They would appear suddenly in undulating lines streaking across the sky growing in strength and color over time. They would shimmer and dance amongst the stars, and then they would disappear just as quickly as they appeared. As we hiked up the mountain, we found a secluded valley that blocked out the lights from the city. We laid on a frozen lake and spent time watching the auroras. At one point, the entire sky above us was covered in them. It was mesmerizing. Not to be dramatic, but the Northern Lights are the culmination of my career and seeing them was the perfect send off to this semester. This trip will go down as my favorite trip this semester.
