First Day in Strasburg

Bonjour mon famille et mes amies! It has been an amazing first day! Here are a few pictures of our work on the quilt for the St. Etienne school:

Our students created the silhouttes and the qtudents teachers both glued them to the fabric. I sewed the top part of the flag, and one of our teachers at school sewed the quilt. It is amazing! Here are Kellie Kidwell on the left and Jordan McEwen on the right, two of our teachers on the bus ride fromFrankfurt to Strasburg. We thought it would be a train, but the school arranged it for us. We zill take the train to Paris later! . Today, Sebastien's mother took me through their beautiful village. It is called Ekbolsheim. The houses are extremely old and the archetechture is more German than French- hence the description Alsace-Lorraine.

Tomorrow I will get to see Sebastien's school, take a boat ride around the city, and tour their cathedral. I very much missed worship today, but perhaps I will get to go to their church before I leave.

There was a quaint village Easter fair not far from Sebastien's home. Cathie, Sebastien's mother, took me there. They have very similar traditions: the Easter bunny, colorful Easter eggs, and a childrens egg hunt. Other than the very old archetecture and MANY new foods to try, much here feels familar to me. They drive on the right! That goes a LONG way towards improving my comfort level. But... there is just one tiny, little thing- there are almost no stop signs!!!!! People fly about in these tiny little cars and zip through many round-abouts but seldom stop. There are occasional traffic signals; but there are very few. It is a good thing; though- Cathie is a very safe and careful driver! She does not speed and is very calm. I very much love it here- my family is wonderful, and in fact, let me dispell a couple of myths and generalities Americans make regarding the French:

1. All French people are rude. Utter bunk. Not one French person has said or done a single rude thing to me today. In addition to the village Easter fair, I attended a tremendous piano competition for Sebastien this evening. There were hundreds of people packed into a medium-sized auditorium. We listened for about 4 hours. (Collective gasp from les Americains who cannot manage more than an hour!!!) Yet they were extremlely attentive to each performer. Even the smallest children were admonished if they were too restive.

2. The French Fry is only in America. Sebastien says they regularly have French Fries in his school cafeteria! And they call them that!

I am bound to discover many more as I travel this beautiful country. What an amazing opportunity for our students! Our school superintentant has told us that we can learn about being "Golbal" by reading books and looking at maps. I must say, with no offense intended, that they are truly in error. There is no substitute for this kind of education.

I am really, really tired! So I will say good night for now. Sebastien has showed me how to upload the pictures, so I should be able to chronicle my travels well.

Bonne Nuit!

Bonnie