Snowfall and Christmas Magic

Tonight was simply magical...

Jessica and I are sitting in my room, drinking hot chocolate, doing homework, and complaining about seeing pictures of snow in Oklahoma while there was none here in Strasbourg. Pulling up her weather app, Jessica dictates the predicted temperatures for the week and sadly notes that there is little to no chance we would be getting snow any time soon. Minutes later, as I turn back to my computer and reload Facebook, my Strasbourg classmate's post screams loudly at the top of my newsfeed: "Il neige!!!!! It's snowing!!!!" I gasp and tell Jessica as I run to open my window - and discover that it is indeed true: many small snowflakes are floating down from the sky. Jessica and I giggle and squeal excitedly like little girls opening their first Christmas presents of the year. Jessica leans her head out my window and exclaims to the world, "IT'S SNOWING!!!!!"

I run downstairs (it's time to eat dinner anyways) and run outside, joyously looking up at the snow falling onto my face, laughing and smiling irrepressibly. As I walk to the cafeteria, I see my dear friend Vanessa - I grab her by the shoulders and we start jumping up and down together as we repeat "Il neige, il neige, il neige!" in sing-song voices. The man in the front office laughs at our silliness but we don't care because we're so ecstatically happy from the little pieces of white, sparkly heaven drifting down from the dark night sky.

By the time Jessica and I finish dinner, the snow has almost stopped. It's lighter and not as easy to see. I'm still happy but my excitement is slightly dampened by the fact that the flakes got smaller and not bigger, as I was hoping. Another hour of homework later, I head out to meet some friends at a café. As I step outside, I am greeted by huge, fluffy snowflakes everywhere. My "short" walk to the café ends up taking twice the amount of time because I stop to (attempt to) take photos of the gorgeous snow and the cathedral in the background... My phone gets wet, my fingers are freezing, and the white flakes are sticking to my eyelashes, coat, and hair, but again my child-like wonder and cheek-to-cheek smile isn't dampened one bit. Only minutes after I arrive at the café, the snowflakes are again small and hard to see. I think God did that specifically for me... to bless me because He knew it would make me incredibly happy.

I enjoy a coffee and good conversation with my sweet classmate-friends as we celebrate Yasmina's birthday. Afterwards, as we walk to the tram stop together, we cross through one of the main squares in downtown Strasbourg, Place Kléber. Still in the process of being decorated for the huge Christmas market that starts on Saturday, all the Christmas lights on the surrounding trees are strangely already lit. We take multiple pictures and enjoy walking through the square, and right as we get to the other side, all the Christmas lights turn off. I don't know if they are testing the lights to make sure they work, or if they just turn off at a certain time, but either way I'm again astounded at God's desire to make me smile. Those lights didn't have to be on right at the moment I walked through the square...but they were. And that made my evening all the more magical. :) (Thank you, God). :)

We sing "Happy Birthday" to Yasmina and then part to go our separate ways, and as I walk back to the Foyer where I live, I sing Christmas songs under my breath and smile up at the sky. Now I'm in my room writing this with a mug of Apple Spice tea in my hands, my mini-Christmas tree lit and Josh Groban's Christmas CD playing softly in the background.

Never lose that childlike wonder. It makes life so much happier. :)

Que Dieu vous bénisse,
Marie

Les Aventures des Vacances de Toussaint - Fall Break Adventures!

Bonjour everyone!

I just got back from fall break and thought it'd be the perfect time to update my blog, since I haven't in awhile! We had an absolutely wonderful time. It was very tiring but I wouldn't trade the experience for the world! :) Jessica's good friend Makenzie flew in from the States a few days before our break, so she got to experience Strasbourg for a little while before heading to Italy with us. She loved it! And we were so glad to have her with us throughout our journey :)

Day One (Saturday, October 19): After a pleasant day exploring Strasbourg, we finally packed and prepared for our voyage. We already had tickets booked to take an overnight train from Strasbourg straight through to Nice, France, and were looking forward to having an overnight train adventure just like in White Christmas. Unfortunately, we missed our train by a couple minutes, and had a stressful night trying and finally succeeding to rebook our tickets for the next day.

Day Two: With our extra time we got a good night's sleep and got up bright and early to make sure we were on time for our morning train! We arrived at the station an hour early and enjoyed relaxing in a cafe there with croissants and coffee before hopping on our train to Nice. Nearly 10 hours later, we arrived in Nice just as the sun was about to set. It was at this point that we realized we had never looked up directions from the station to our hostel! And even though France is covered in cafes, most do not have wifi, so we wandered a few minutes before asking someone where we could go. Thankfully there was a place across the street and we were able to look up directions and be on our way. Upon arriving at Hostel Meyerbeer, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hostel! It was extremely clean and nicely decorated, and the young lady at the front desk (who of course spoke multiple languages, including nearly perfect English) was very helpful. After settling in, we walked down the street to Rue des Anglais - the huge, brightly lit street running along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, only a 5-minute walk from our little hostel. We stopped at a restaurant and shared a pizza, and then spent an hour sitting together on the stone-covered beach, listening to the waves roll upon the shore.

Day Three: Because of missing our train, we unfortunately did not have as much time as we would have liked to enjoy and explore Nice. So we got up early in order to have some time to enjoy the beautiful city. Jessica and I decided to go for a dip in the chilly Mediterranean Sea, and we greatly enjoyed it! It was very cold so we didn't stay in much longer than 10 or 20 minutes, but it was an unforgettable experience. The water was so smooth and soft, and clear enough that we could just barely see our feet below us. Its deep jade-blue color was breathtaking as the glassy smooth sea reflected the little bit of sun that was peeking through the clouds in the overcast sky...Unforgettable. Completely unforgettable. After this swim and then sitting on the beach for awhile longer, we returned to our hostel, gathered our things, and headed to the train station to catch our next train to Cinque Terre, Italy.

This is where I must make a break, as the second half of our day was quite a different experience. Because we wanted to make the most of the time we had in each city, nearly all of our train tickets had us arriving at each new destination in the evening. After this night we realized that was perhaps not the best decision, but nonetheless we made do. I will explain. When we arrived at La Spezia Centrale, one of the train stations close to Cinque Terre (a set of five tiny Italian villages on the coast of the Mediterranean), it was already completely dark. We attempted to follow the directions the hostel had provided us, and found ourselves waiting at a somewhat sketchy bus stop for a ride up to our hostel. After a crazy and seemingly life-threatening ride through the unlit, dark streets up a windy mountain road (during which I was praying for the safety of our lives as our bus driver swung around each corner with reckless abandon), we (miraculously) arrived safely at our hostel in the tiny, 400-inhabitant mountain town of Biassa. After setting down our things, we walked down the street and had an amazing dinner at the only restaurant in town! Later that night at our hostel we met an Australian who had just graduated high school and was taking a year off before college to travel (freaking amazing. Why aren't Americans mature enough to do that?? Haha) as well as a group of three college guys from Montana who were traveling during their break just like us. They are doing a study abroad program where they study half the semester in Athens and half in Rome! So, SO boss!

Day Four: After getting up early, we took a short ride in the hostel's shuttle down to Riomaggiore, the first of the five towns of Cinque Terre. After an interesting hike down the very steep town roads, we made it to the shore and enjoyed taking pictures and simply looking out at the beautiful view of the deep blue Mediterranean. We then enjoyed a coffee and pastry at a cafe where we bumped into all four of our new hostel buddies, and we all hopped on the train together, which Makenzie, Jessica and I rode for two or three minutes before hopping off at the next of the five towns, Manarola. (Side note: If you Google Cinque Terre, the most common image you'll see is a view of this town. It was absolutely beautiful and exactly like the pictures.) The train dropped us off not far from the hiking path, which we took outside of the city, turning around to see the breathtaking view that is so popular for photos. After snapping quite a few shots, we continued down the trail until we found ourselves once again at the shore of the Mediterranean. We sat there for awhile before returning back to town, where we bought a few souvenirs and then waited for the bus to take us back to our hostel. This bus driver was much kinder with our lives than the one the night before. Haha. We then took a train to Venice, arriving there at 11 PM (and this time we had booked a hostel right next to the train station so that we wouldn't have to worry about experiencing anything crazy in the dark again. haha. It was significantly more expensive but worth it for the safety factor). Venice was still alive with activity at this time of night, which was so fun to see, even though we were quite exhausted. We went straight to our hostel and upon arriving at our room, were shocked as to why it was called a hostel and not a hotel. Our room was incredibly nice and also private, so that was a very nice surprise. Makenzie, who traveled throughout Europe for an entire month back in May, assured us that we were not experiencing true hostel life with any of the hostels at which we had stayed up until that point. We were blessed. :)

Day Five: We enjoyed finally having the chance to have a slow morning, eating breakfast at our so-called "hostel" and then getting on the waterbus to head to Burano, a neighboring island filled with adorable colorful houses! If you Google it, I can assure you that they are just as colorful as the pictures show. We wandered around the town, looking in the many cute shops that were scattered along the streets, and enjoyed a super delicious pizza and coffee at a restaurant right next to one of the most picturesque spots of Burano (can I just take a moment to say that Italian coffee is literally the best coffee I have ever tasted?). An adorable little Italian man came by and sung a few songs with his guitar to all of us tourists eating at this spot, and behind him we saw the stereotypical Italian woman leaning out her second-floor window to hang wet clothes out to dry. It was exactly as you'd imagine it. We then returned to the main island and to our hostel to figure out what we wanted to do for the evening, Makenzie and Jessica deciding to explore St. Mark's Square and me deciding to attend a small classical strings concert. Upon arriving at the small, beautiful church where the concert was to be held, I was escorted to the front row where there was one seat available. Because the church was so small and there were so many seats packed in the small space, up close and personal is an understatement as to how close I was to the musicians. It was awesome. :D As the talented string players proceeded to play Vivaldi, Bach, and Mendelssohn, I was transported to a state of complete happiness - pure, unadulterated contentedness at sitting in a beautiful old church in the middle of Venice, Italy, listening to classics that had perhaps been composed in that very city many years ago. It was amazing, and easily the highlight of my entire trip, along with the dip in the Mediterranean :)

Day Six: This morning we decided to explore the main area of Venice, going back to St. Mark's Square in the daylight and entering the breathtaking St. Mark's Basilica, a Byzantine-style church which is one of the few of its kind on this side of Europe, whose intricately designed golden mosaic ceiling took hundreds of years to create. It was incredible. We then chased pigeons out in the square, and enjoyed delicious coffee at one of the restaurants there, where we were served by a classy bow-tied waiter who told us to call him "James Bond." Venice was undeniably as romantic, mysterious, and beautiful as everyone claims it to be. I wish we could have had more time there. Its intrigue and romance truly infiltrated the entire city. 

After our pause de café with "James Bond," we headed back to the train station with our things to visit the last town of our journey, Verona. We arrived in the late afternoon and again were astounded at the hotel-like quality of our hostel, admiring the cabin-like wooden ceiling and the cute balcony which was right outside the windows of our bedroom. Jessica and I then wandered around the streets near our hostel looking for a place to eat, and landing at a hip, chill-techno-music-playing restaurant where you merely bought a drink and then payed 3 euros for a buffet of delicious food. It was a brilliant deal and we enjoyed our meal very much. Then we all laid low for the evening, watching The Count of Monte Cristo and going to bed early. The next day we walked to the Arena, a Colosseum-like structure in town which is considered to be one of the best preserved structures of its kind, built in AD 30 and now used for many opera and dramatic performances on a regular basis. We then walked to the courtyard where Juliet's Balcony is located, and I toured the inside of the home as well. Then we all walked down the street and stopped at an outdoor market, buying a cup of fresh fruit and sitting at a restaurant to eat delicious Italian pasta. After our long week of running from place to place, we decided to have a laid-back evening again, picking up a pizza to share and eating it in our room while watching Pride & Prejudice (only the best movie ever). It was a nice, relaxing end to our journey.

Day Seven (Saturday, October 26): Our last moments in Italy! We all woke up early and walked with our things to the Verona train station, taking a train through the breathtaking Alps (my first time seeing a true, snow-tipped mountain range) and having a short stopover in Bale, Switzerland. During our stopover we of course had to step outside of the train station to take a picture, and to be able to say we'd officially been in Switzerland. Then we each bought some super delicious Swiss chocolates before getting on the last leg of our journey back to Strasbourg (8 hours on the train in all). On this last portion we didn't have assigned seats, so we merely hopped on the last car and settled ourselves in, only to find out one stop away from Strasbourg that we had sat in First Class (our tickets were for Second). Thankfully, just as I was pulling out cash to pay the difference, the ticketmaster let us go, and we didn't have to pay after all! But we did stand out in the corridor between the cars for the last 15 minutes till we got to Strasbourg. Haha.

All in all, it was an unforgettable, magnificent journey! Italy is truly beautiful and I would love to return some day. It's cool to say I've been in Verona, but I probably wouldn't return there. However, I'd love to go back to magical Cinque Terre to explore the other three villages, and Venice is definitely calling my name already as well!! Truly an absolutely amazing trip. 

Thanks for actually reading this far! I hope you were entertained and get to live vicariously through my photos and blog posts! Check out my album on Facebook to see all of the images from my trip.

Bisous! 

Que Dieu vous bénisse,
Marie

An Adventurous Day!

Definitely had an adventure of a day today with Vanessa and Jessica!! 

First Jessica and I slept in, which was lovely, after which we had a delicious lunch at a cafe right in front of the cathédrale :) 

Then, we ran to the tram and just barely made it, jumping inside right before the doors closed. We went to a meeting for internationals at our university, and then met up with our new French friend Vanessa to take the bus into Kehl, Germany, where we went grocery shopping, had dinner together, and almost got attacked by a homeless man...well, not exactly, but he did have a can attached to the end of a fishing pole which he thrust at us (with a smile), frightening us a little bit. Haha. Then we went back to the bus stop, where we waited in the cold for about 30 minutes before realizing that the busses weren't running tonight due to a workers' holiday or a strike or something like that. So we took a taxi instead. Then, when we were just about to enter the Foyer (where we live), we were approached by two young men, one playing the guitar, and both wearing labcoats (and nothing else besides the labcoats, mind you). They were high school students from a biology program who were trying to raise money for a field trip. It was very strange, but kind of hilarious. 

Needless to say, we were very glad that Vanessa was with us during the crazier moments, or we would not have known what to do. But now we do :) Now just to learn enough German to actually find what we need at the grocery store next time...haha. 

Que Dieu vous bénisse, 

Marie 

Reality

I'm so excited to go to France...but at the same time it doesn't seem real to me. I feel like I'll still be here doing the same old things in a few days, even though I know I'll be all the way across the globe experiencing a new culture...and I think that my brain's not fully grasping the idea that I'll be in a foreign country simply because I've never really experienced it before. I've never been overseas, never been to Europe, never been to France...so my brain is having difficulty picturing myself there, imagining myself there, comprehending what I'll do and what it'll be like and what I'll see. It's as if, because my brain has no experience with it, it has difficulty picturing this trip as reality.

I think perhaps the same is true with us and heaven. We read books about it, we see paintings with an artist's interpretation of it, we may even dream about it here and there. But our brains cannot truly grasp the magnificence or the reality of the experience that we will have there when we arrive. It's something we have never experienced before, and unlike France, it's something that we can't and haven't even come close to experiencing here on earth. We have literally no idea of how it will be. Therefore, we go on living our lives from day to day in a very earthly mindset. Our brains can't grasp the reality of another world towards which we are always working, and therefore pushes the thought away because it cannot grasp it. This causes us to forget about our true purpose here on earth...to forget about the eternal souls that are around us, souls that may be going to hell if we continue to sit back and do nothing about it. We forget that everything we do, whether it's flipping a burger at McDonald's, preaching a sermon in a small church, or being the CEO of a multimillion-dollar Fortune 500 company, that it's all for something - Someone - higher and greater and more transcendent than all of us put together. We're not working for our own glory. We're working to glorify the One with Whom will we live for eternity once our life on this earth has come to an end. So why do we allow ourselves to forget these things? Life in heaven is hard to grasp, hard to visualize, hard to imagine as reality, but we have to keep meditating on it, keeping it ever present on our minds, in order that we may live to reflect those principles and that love that brings people into that eternal, incredible, and yet incomprehensible life with our eternal God. 

Que Dieu vous bénisse, 

Marie 

Visit www.gofundme.com/emariebaker to see how you can support my semester in Strasbourg, France.

Applying!! :)

Finishing up my application for the University! Hooray!! :D

I still need $7,000 in order to get there! Please help by donations and/or prayers :) 

Visit www.gofundme.com/emariebaker to donate and keep track of my financial progress. 

Que Dieu vous bénisse, 

Marie 

Study Abroad Packet!

Mes amis! Just un petit update on my week and study abroad plans!

The other day I turned in my study abroad packet to the study abroad advisor - hooray! Now I need to make some changes based on her corrections, but I won't be able to meet with her until tomorrow - which is also the day I need to turn in the final version. Soooo...tomorrow may be a little hectic. Prayers for time and wisdom would be fantastic! :) Once that is complete and approved by the ORU Study Abroad Council, I have the go-ahead to register for the University and purchase my plane tickets! I'm very excited.

This week I also had a friend give me a donation towards my trip! It was such a blessing and totally unexpected. I've gotten many donations so far, and I am truly blessed. So far I have 15% of my goal - just enough to purchase my round-trip plane tickets! :) My next goal is 30% - which will give me enough to register for school.

Making progress, with God's help...Thanks for reading!

Que Dieu vous bénisse,
Marie
P.S. Help me get to my goal! Visit www.gofundme.com/emariebaker.

Voilà une photo de l'école où j'étudierai - here's a photo of the school where I will be studying.

My Semester in Strasbourg, France

Bonjour tous mes amis - hello all my friends! :)

I decided this morning that it'd be a brilliant idea to start a blog as I prepare for my semester studying in Strasbourg, France! If you'd like to hear about it and all the details of what I'll be doing while I'm there, check out my other site at www.gofundme.com/emariebaker, and keep checking back here as I'm sure I'll post updates and pictures while in Strasbourg!

This week will be really intense but exciting as far as planning goes. My Study Abroad Proposal packet is due to the Study Abroad board, who will look over everything inside (my plans, my financial estimation, my potential classes, where I'll live, etc.) and hopefully approve it. Once they do that, I'll get to purchase my plane ticket and apply for the school and get all the details together before I leave the States in September!

Jessica (the ORU French student I'll be studying abroad with) and I have met up a few times to work on planning. We've had a super fun time talking and researching different places in Europe that we can visit during our breaks! Two places we're considering are Cinque Terre, Italy, and Bavaria, Germany:

Cinque Terre - five towns off the Mediterranean coast. I have heard that you can't even drive all the way into town, you have to hike the last twenty minutes! That's not bad, and I just love that it's somewhat secluded from the rest of the world!

The Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. This castle was the inspiration for the Disney/Sleeping Beauty castle! When I googled Bavaria, the images that appeared were simply beautiful - mountains and castles all scattered about. Bavaria is only a four-hour train ride from Strasbourg, so Jessica and I might be able to take a weekend trip for a visit. 

Keep praying for me as I finish up this paperwork and continue working and saving money to go! Your prayers are always appreciated :) 

Que Dieu vous bénisse,

Marie

P.S. I'm at 15% of my goal of $10,000! Help me get there! www.gofundme.com/emariebaker