My sweet Pays de Bray, I can't wait to see you again !

As it is the end of the semester, as it is the end of my Erasmus year in Graz, as I come home in exactly 12 days, I would like to finish this blog with a preparation for coming back home. I will present you where I live and I will show you how it is wonderful to see. 

I live in the region of the Pays de Bray since I'm a child. First, I have lived in an appartment above the restaurant of my parents in the city of Forges-les-Eaux. Yes, my parents had a crêperie !!! And yes, I ate two nutella crêps prepared by my father everyday after school ! It was delicious and I wasn't able to miss it. During 15 years, my parents had a restaurant where they worked hard because Forges-les-Eaux is a very touristic city which attracts a lot of British people and other tourists from France. During the weekends and summer, I didn't see often my parents. Bu anyway, it is not the topic ! Forges-les-Eaux is a very charming small town of 5000 inhabitants. There is a casino, that's why it is so famous by the way !

For 5 years ago, my parents sold the restaurant and bought a old farmhouse in the countryside of the Pays de Bray at 9 kms from Forges. They did a lot of work in order to the farm into a house and now my family and I live in the old stable of the farm. The initial house has been renovated in order to make a cottage for customers who take holidays in our region during one week. As we live in Normandy, we have a lot of visitors from the UK. It is really pleasant to live where I live and the region is really relaxing. 

The Pays de Bray is natural small region of North West of France. It is a band of 10 kms large and 80 kms long. The landscape is a bocage and it is characterized by its greenness. That are kilometers of fields cultivated or not and it is really beautiful.

Home sweet home !

So now, it is soon the end of my semester so I would like to say you good bye ! It has been a pleasure to meet so many austrian students and I will remember you ! I hope you had liked to read my posts, I tried to make it more personal than cultural because this blog was for me an opportunity to show you how I liked my year spent in Austria. See you guys and do not hesitate to visit me in Pays de Bray or in Rouen !

Blandine

The Pays de Bray !!!

My friend is a singer

As I already told you, I have a friend who is producing herself in front of thousand people. I met her during my first year of bachelor in the University of Rouen. She is also studying languages applied to economy. We get along very well with two other friends and we share a lot of things together !

Bio

Her name is Elisa and she is 19 years old. Her name of scene is Elisa Jo. Since she is a child, she plays piano and takes singing courses. Her carriere starts for 5 years ago when she starts to write songs with her music teacher. All together, they worked out and in 2010, she started to make some concerts in Rouen, where she is born.
Once she was doing a concert in theater of Paris, a famous compositor and singer Benjamin Biolay noticed her. He asked her to make a collaboration and they started to work together for her first album, which is now out in France for one month. For three years, she multiplied concerts, festivals and other events in the whole France. She made first parts of Yael Naïm, Coeur de Pirate and others famous french artists. She started to be produced at the television and she also made a collaboration with a english rap band for one particular song,"Back Around". She has a wonderful broken voice looking like the one of Kate Nash.
I saw her play for the first time in a very small theater in Rouen in company of her family and other friends. I was so surprised by her performance and I knew that she will go very far with her music.

The thing I love is that she doesn't change herself at all, she is exactly the same as I met her : friendly, inteligent, stylish and lovable. I spent so many great times with her and it is not ready to end. I am just so proud that she managed to reach this success. This summer, she will participate to a lot of festivals in all France and I hope she will have time to come back to Rouen in order to see her friends & family.

It is a person who knows what she wants. She is always wearing coloured clothes and she is a very positiv person. She really has her own personality and she doesn't care about what people can think about her. It is exactly what I love in her. 

She is an artist, my friend and I love her !

And now, let's discover Elisa Jo

Enjoy

Ireland and American culture project

Last week, I had the privilege to listen to 10 presentations about American and Irish culture.
First, I went to 3 American presentations : The first one was about San Francisco and the Bay Area by Marina Margeta. It was very interesting because she spoke very freely about her topic and was very confident. She showed us a lot of images in order to make us discover this area. She went there so maybe that's why she managed to make it so interesting.

Then, I watched the Two More For Mount Rushmore presentation from Katharina Pelich: I also liked it as I learned more about the important presidents in the USA.
For the third presentation, I had the honor to learn more about the dangerous prisonners groups in the USA, with for example, The Aryan Brotherhood. She brought a lot of knowlegdges in this hard problem and it was very interesting.

In the evening, I watched 7 presentations from students in Irish culture. There were the Irish Film Industry by Dunja Deveci, the Ireland' contribution to the world of video games by Arthur Shefer, the Abortion law in Ireland by Andrina Dolinsek, which was very interesting, How the world sees Bobby Sands by Alexandra Pasca, Reek Sunday on Croagh Patrick by Katrin Wiesinger, The drug scene in Dublin by Lisa-Marie Vido and the Fleadh Choil na hEireann by Sabrina Michelitsch.

I think that these Culture projects presentations are really a good idea because you can have a lot of different knowledges about one particular culture. We don't have this kind of things in France, where everything is so well organized !

In this article, I will focus on one presentation particularly because I really liked it. It is the Abortion Law in Ireland. When I went to Ireland, especially in Limerick, I saw a lot of young women with a baby carriage. Furthermore, there were a lot of children in Limerick. So I asked to some friends I met for more informations and an African boy who lived in Ireland for 5 years answered me that Abortion in Ireland is not allowed by the government. I was very surprised because I thought that every developped countries in Europe had this law. The scandal about the woman who died because doctors refused to make an abortion while she was doing a misscarriage make me really astonished. They didn't want to make her abort because the foetus was still alive.
I really don't understand this behaviour. We are in 2013 and we all know that as soon as a girl has period and sexual relations, she can have a baby if she doesn't protect herself. When we are 17 or even 20 years old and if we don't have any job, we are not ready to have a baby. Unfortunately, accidents happen and it is at this moment that Abortion is needed. Sometimes, pills are not reliable so an accident is quickly arrived.

So even if Ireland is a very catholic country, the government should support Abortion in Ireland because it is not a matter of religion but of society and quality of life. I think it is a serious problem...

My home city, Rouen

Enough speaking about Graz and Austria, I would like now to come back home ! I would like to introduce you my home town where I studied during the two first years of my Bachelor. I initially come from the countryside so for me, even if Rouen is quite a small city, it was really a new experience!

Rouen is located in North-West of France and crossed by the Seine. There are 111 000 inhabitants. It is a very nice medieval city with a lot of history as it is the city of Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc).

Joan of Arc was a young girl born in 1412 coming from a very catholic family. From the age of 17, she hears some voices which say that she has to deliver France royalty from the British presence. She leaves to Chinon in order to speak about these voices to the the king Charles VII. As the king believes in her and asks her to transfer the British, she goes to Orleans where she wins the victory against the British. But later, she is captured by the Burgundians (Bourguignons) who have shared France with the British. They take their revenge and she is sold to the British in 1430. She is burned on the Old Market place in Rouen (Place du Vieux-Marché) in Rouen on the May, 30 1431. The King Charles VII didn't try to defense her while she helped him to ascend the throne in 1428.

This old event is not very pleasant to remember, so now I'm going to tell you what to see in Rouen. 

Let's start from the trainstation:

The trainstation is, according to me particulrly charming and beautiful.

If you follow the street down from the trainstation, you will arrive 10 minutes later in the center of Rouen, with her Courthouse. If you go to the left, you will find the Old Market place (la place du Vieux-Marché) where there is a church in honor to Joan of Arc. From this place, if you go to the left again, you will find the Joan of Arc street which is the main street of Rouen with her numerous shops and her golden big Clock (le gros Horloge) which is one of the symbol of Rouen. If you keep going in this direction, you will have the privilege to admire the wonderful and famous Notre-Dame cathedral. If you then go to the left, you will reach the district with the Town hall and his garden.
Finally, if you go on the right side of the city, you will find the docks and the river "La Seine".

The old Market place

The Notre-Dame cathedral

The big Clock

The town hall of Rouen

The town hall garden

Rouen: docks and the Seine

The streets of Rouen come from the medieval period and have a lot of history. It is really a wonderful old architectur !

My favorite street in Rouen : The street "Eau de Robec"

Last week, there was a huge event in Rouen which is called "L'ARMADA DE ROUEN". It lasts two weeks where old boats from the whole world come to the harbor of Rouen. There were a lot of concerts from famous international bands, like Amadou & Mariam, Pony pony Run run, Madness, Mika... It happens only every 4 years so I was a little bit sad to miss the event as all my friends were there and they had so much fun!
One of my best friend who is a singer played in this event in front of 10 000 people. I missed it but I will see her in two weeks again so no matter ! By the way, I will introduce you to her in a next article.

So, I think, you all have now an overview of my lovely homecity ! I hope it will tempt you to come!

I really like this city because it is small and I feel good there with my friends !

The Schlossberg of Graz

I was still not arrived in Graz that I already saw the Schlossberg on picture. The Schlossberg is the first thing of Graz I saw when I typed the name of the city "GRAZ" on google. It was just after I had the confirmation of my departure in September ! I was so happy that I already wanted to discover the city !

When I arrived in Graz, I was really exited when I saw the Schlossberg for the first time. The first thing I did was climbing on my own the 300 stairs ("Kriegssteig": the soldiers used this access during the WW1) before reaching the "Uhrturm" (clock tower).

Literally, "Schlossberg" means "castle mountains". It is a hill of 123 meter dominating Graz and there are several ways to reach the top: stairway, lift access, cable railway (Schlossbergbahn).

History

In 1809, the Schlossberg has been occupied by Napoleonic forces during the settlement of the city. After the "Peace of Schönbrunn", the castle was given back to the residents of Graz and in 1839, it has been turned into a public park on account of Ludwig von Welden.

The clock is the most important symbol of the city and it dates from 1560. Moreover, when you are on the top of the "Schlossberg", you can see a wonderful view of the city of Graz. The numerous orange roofs of Graz are very well seen from the hill.
You can also se the mountains in background of the picture ! Under the hill, there is a huge system of caves constructed during WW2 by nazis in order to make a bunker which could host more than 40 000 people.

In Schlossberg, there is also a wonderful garden wery well kept and if you walk around the hill, you can see these several different monuments :

Die Stallbastei

Die Schlossbergbühne i nden Kasematten

Der Chinesischer Pavillon

Bischofsstuhl

My sentiment regarding my experience in Austria

I couldn't do a blog about my Erasmus life without telling you what dit it bring to me. I would like to divide this post in several main points I estimate important in my experience's review.

• Learning of an other language and culture

I think you would directly think about it but these points are for me the most important in this experience.

My first goal in coming to Austria was to improve my skills in German language. It is not just because I'm studying it but rather because I love this language since I'm 10 years old. It had been the first language I learned in school and I had a very good teacher who gave me the passion for this language.

I also already went many times to Germany during a long period in High school time (16 to 18).

So going to Austria was for me the opportunity I didn't have to miss.

Contrary to most of Erasmus student, I didn't take a room in international dorms but rather I choose to share a flat with two Austrian girls and also a Czech girl and a Tawanese. I get along very well with my Austrian roommates and I could, thanks to them, improve German language more than I thought at the beggining.

I think it is very a luck for me to speak this language fluently because it is not a language spoken by a lot of people. That's why it is very good for my profesionnal life. 

In a second step of this paragraph, I could argue that during this year, I really learned more about the austrian culture, something which makes me particularly happy because it is always good to know an other culture. I didn't see a big difference with French culture because we are all influenced by European culture but some life's details are different. Sometimes, my family asks me what are these cultural differences and I always answered that they are more serious than us, French people !

One example could be the fact that they respect waiting to cross the road when it is red while there is no car! It is really something I find surprising because in France, we cross the road even if it is red. I think it gives a good image to kids to not crossing the streets when it is red but on an other hand,  I think it is a waste of time!

An other example can also be the fact that they always use the bike. You would rarely see bikes on roads of cities from France, at least not in my hometown. Sometimes, it gets really dangerous to bike in Graz because bikers are very fast ... I did my own experience with it as I had an accident... Fortunately, there was more fear than hurt but I had to pay 60€ to fix my bike again !

The legislation is consequently very strict regarding biking and I also did my own experience with it: I received a fine because I crossed the road with my bike while it was red... 

So now, we can relate these two cultural living: Some austrian people told me that if you crossed the road at 2 am while there is no car at all, if the policy is here, you will have a fine !

That's terrible!

• Meeting international people

An other thing I really liked here was to meet many people from everywhere in the world. At the beggining, I was asking myself when I will meet people because I came alone and exept my roommates, I didn't know a lot of people. But as soon as Erasmus parties began, I started to meet people, for example in Office Pub. Then, I started to meet a few people and we formed a very nice group going together partying, hiking or travelling. 

However, I have to admit that it is not always easy to get to know other people, especially during winter time. I didn't want to go out because it was freezy and so I started to stay more and more with my roommates. And actually, it was such a good idea because I had so good time with them. Furthermore, when you have exams, for example, during this time of the year (june), it is not easy to keep going out too late because then I would be so destroyed to study... So some weekends at the end of my stay were a little bit boring, even if I enjoyed my studies and still get out ! 

When you have met so many people during one year, at the end, you feel like tired of meeting new ones... I'm not especially shy but sometimes it is just hard.

I would conclude in saying that the only people I really tied were my roommates.

• Visiting new places and travelling

One of my best souvenirs from this year in Austria are my weekend journeys in Austria and around. I travelled to Bratislava, Budapest, Prague, Maribor... One of the thing I really liked was that for some of these travels, I left alone to join my friends from France who were doing an Erasmus year in this capital city. One other thing which I really liked was to go very fast with the only goal visiting all wonderful monuments in the city. I like walking very fast just with my bag on my back and my camera as well as my map in each hands in the pursuit of the wonderful places of these cities ! I called it Sport-tourism and I want to study tourism in my master so it was such a good experience ! :)

I also travelled a lot in Austria (Vienna, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck...) and I did every corners of Styria (Grünesee, Schwarzlsee, Thalersee, hiking around Graz, Kumberg, Schöckl, Bärenschutzklamm and more...)

Visiting Austria helps me to know more about the culture and the story of this lovely country.

• My personal improvements

I think that this experience is very good regarding maturity and personal changes. I had been more able to look after my administrativ stuff and also I had been able to manage it on myself.

It also allowed to be able living alone far away from family and friends (& boyfriend) and to know more exactly what I want in my future life. 

I see now the life from an other point of view than September 14, 2012.

And now this time is over... 

I had actually a lot of things to say about this great experience and I could say more but I don't want to make my post boring! 

I hope it gaves good ideas to some of you and maybe it would tempt you to study abroad during one year! But I precise "studying" which is not the same as travelling during one year long...

Blandine

A beautiful city called Salzburg

As you probably know, the typic Erasmus student likes to travel a lot, either inside the coutry where he lives, and also around the coutry he lives !
For this first article about travelling, I would like to share with you the experience I gained from visiting the charming city of Salzburg.

First of all, Salzburg is a very green city because of its several gardens through the city and its small mountains covered by forest. One of these garden is called the Mirabell garden.
The thing I prefered is that you can see a lot of dwarfs everywhere in the park! They are in a way a little bit scary but very sweet !

Secondly, the catholicism is very present in Salzburg. For example, if you climb some stairs, you will reach the old Saint Peter church, which belongs to the monastery Saint Pierre. This monastery is the oldest monastery for men build in germanic Europe in 1130.

You can also see a lot of religious statues which are always in "cage". That surprised me a little bit but it is again typical from Austria because we can also see it in Graz.

I also visited the Saint Peter cemetery where the part of the Mozart family was buried. It is in a style that I never saw before in a cemetery...

Then, there are a lot of churches in Salzburg with overall the famous Saint Rupert cathedral. The style Rococo is really represented in this church and the decoration is very impressive. It was reconstructed 3 times, especially after the second world war.

Finally, it is important to mention the charme and the preservation of the wonderful streets of Salzburg.

In the main pedestrian street, the architecture is really beautiful and every shops kept the vintage signboards in order to give an athmosphere of oldness. I really liked it ! 

In this same street, you can see the famous yellow birthhouse of Mozart. What was a little bit a shame is that they replace the ground floor of this house by the supermarket Spar... Of course, the signboard is also decorated in an authentic way but still I found it weird to make from a house belonged to a so important artist something very common and commercial. Now this house is also a museum.

In a conclusion, I really liked Salzbourg because I had the feeling being in an other period of time when I was there. Furthermore, the monuments are wonderful !

Even if you are an Austrian, you really should go again because it is after Graz the most beautiful city in Austria, according to me of course.