An Apology and Wait....I'm Here to STUDY???

Ok, yes, I know. I didn't write an update last week and I'm late this week by a day. I have had midterms for the past two weeks and I wanted to focus on them...

Yeah, you're right, that's a pretty lame excuse...I'll level with you: I got lazy and I apologize to those of you who wait on the edges of your seats to hear about ma vie en France.

But in all seriousness, I did have 4 midterms over the past two weeks and studying for them did take up a significant amount of my time, much to my chagrin.

BUT FALL BREAK IS NEXT WEEK!!!!!!

No, I'm not excited. At all.

As I finished my final midterm today, I realized that I haven't filled you in on the part of my life in Aix that just so happens to be the reason I'm here: school.

So without further ado...here's what many of you might be curious about! I promise that I am indeed going to class everyday. I've only missed two classes total...for Amsterdam, so it was worth it.

First, school is going really well. I love all of my classes and professors. Yes, my grades are up where they should be and I'm learning a lot in all of them.

I think I'm beginning to regain a love for learning that I had kind of lost a few years ago. Sure, I loved getting good grades and seeing the effort (well the little bit of effort I put into my classes), but I didn't enjoy the act of gaining new knowledge.

To you intellectual types (AKA Dad) reading this, I promise you that it's changing as I'm typing this.

Now, I'll give a nice, in-depth rundown of all four of my classes that I am taking this semester.

French

I'll start with my French class. It's called French 102 --> 201. If that sounds pretty basic to you, that's because it is quite basic. I hadn't taken French in over a year before I came here, so I figured that I would take an easier French class....That turned out to be somewhat a mistake.

This class is probably too easy for my level of French, but hey, who doesn't love an easy A?

So far, we've just reviewed a lot of the stuff I learned Junior and Senior year of high school. I will say that it has helped me navigate around Aix, though. And that is what matters most about my French class, as far as I'm concerned.

Philosophy

This one is definitely my most reading-intensive class. Philosophy a reading intensive class? SHOCKER.

The class is called Ethics: From the Ancients to the Moderns. So far, we have analyzed the Gospel of John and read "An Apology for Raymond Sebond" from The Complete Essays by Michel de Montaigne.

This class has proven to be extremely interesting. We haven't really gotten into the ethics part of things yet, but analyzing such classic literature on a high level with an extremely intelligent professor and a very interested group of students has almost made me dread going back to certain classes at DU.

Of course the material in this class has been absolutely amazing and extremely interesting, but beyond that, my critical thinking skills are getting a major work out. Entirely too many of the classes that I have taken at DU do not require much critical thinking or analysis (that's the nature of the beast with a lot of business classes, I suppose).

In many ways, I have desperately missed classes that required critical thinking and high-level analysis. At the beginning of the semester, this class was a major struggle. I was getting lost in a lot of the conversations and the rhetoric my professor was throwing at us.

After a couple of weeks, I started to gain a foothold in the class and started engaging in the conversations and in-class debates.

The one part of this class that sucks is the fact that it's my third class of the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:30. Most days, to keep myself awake and alert, I have to do things like this:

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know...I'm in class, I should be focused and all that jazz, but honestly, if it wasn't for my sharpies and empty notebook, I wouldn't be able to stay awake in class.

Plus, I've actually been able to pay full attention while creating such amazing masterpieces (HA, right. I create artistic masterpieces...).

International Intercultural Management

I'll admit, I signed up for this class just to keep the business part of my brain up-to-date. But the amazing part of that is this has turned out to be an AWESOME class.

First, there are five students in this class. Yes, FIVE. And that's only where the awesomeness begins.

My professor is literally one of the coolest people I've ever met. He is of Middle Eastern descent, but he has somewhat of an Irish accent combined with a Middle Eastern accent. Until I got here, I didn't even know that was possible.

But the class itself is amazing too. Professor Mobed realizes that we are here for study abroad and that we do have pretty active lives outside of the classroom, so he tries to keep the work in this class in the classroom.

The only homework we have is a case study every couple of weeks. In fact, for the midterm last week, he let all five of us work together on it. In fact, he was very enthusiastic about us coming up with that idea.

On top of that, the course itself has some great material. Of course, it is rooted in your basic management class. You know, stuff like MGMT 2000 (DU Business Students will know exactly what I'm talking about).

But there is a very international slant to it. So far, we have discussed issues such as how can a multi-national corporation make as little splash as possible in a country while maintaining profitability and how a given multi-national company should operate in a third-world country.

This isn't stuff they teach you in a basic management class. And that's why I love it. This class is teaching me things that I would not have learned without going abroad. Classes like this one make this whole experience very much worth it.

Muslim Presence in Europe

Now, here is my favorite class by far. Yes, just looking at the title, I know you're interested in this class. And I could talk for DAYS about how awesome this class is and about how much I'm learning in it. But I'll try to keep this section as short as possible.

To start, my professor is my favorite professor here. She is from the Middle East and speaks almost perfect English. On top of that, she knows more about Islam than many of us Americans knows about any given popular religion.

I have learned more in this class than I have in any other one since being here. Coming into this class, I knew next to nothing about Islam except that it is the fastest-growing religion in the world.

I promise I won't go into a lesson about Islam here. But I will say this: Islam is a religion VERY much worth researching. Its history and the turbulence Muslims have experienced throughout history is absolutely fascinating.

I am so glad that I'm taking this class in France though because this issue is so prevalent even now. There are about 15 million Muslims living in the EU currently and about 5 million of them live in France. That's 1/3 of the ENTIRE European Muslim population.

It is no secret that I didn't come here to earn any Accounting credits or any business credits at all. If anything, I came here to get a 4 month break from business classes before I get back and my life becomes 100% Accounting.

Classes like this one are why I am so incredibly glad I came here. There is no way I would have taken this class even if it was offered at DU. Essentially, after freshman year, if the class wasn't part of PLP or if it didn't take place in DCB (Daniels College of Business), I wasn't going to take it.

So there you have it! This adds up to 15 credits here and 22.5 at DU. Because I'm here for a semester instead of a quarter, I receive credit-and-a-half for the courses I take here.

I am really pleased with how my academic part of Study Abroad has turned out. I enjoy every single one of my classes and professors immensely. I can't say that I've experienced something like this since junior and senior years of high school.

Not that DU doesn't have the capability of that, it's just that I haven't liked ALL of my classes AND professors during any given quarter at DU.

Now, I guess since I haven't written a post in two weeks, I should let you know what I've been up to the past two weeks.

Well outside of midterms, I didn't do a lot. Though, last weekend I did travel up to Roanne to visit a couple of family friends who live on a barge and travel throughout France via canals, Debby and Randy Komisarek.

Debby worked with my mom at KPMG when she worked there before moving to Colorado Springs and before I was born. So when I found out that they were one short hour and a half TGV train ride away from Aix, I knew I had to go visit them.

It was actually a fairly relaxed weekend and we didn't do a lot except sit, talk, drink wine, and eat. But that is why it was one of the most amazing weekends since I've been here. Yes, it was on the same level as Amsterdam. Not quite life-changing, but definitely as far as fun goes, it was equal.

It was really nice to be able to have true intellectual conversations with people who have some life experience under their belts. I have my own conceptions about the world and I love hearing what other people think about certain things.

That was what this weekend was. Every conversation we had was on a level that I could not really have with any of my peers. And that's the way it is supposed to be. My peers and I have a very idealistic and perhaps unrealistic way of seeing the world.

I think that is why I found this weekend to be so refreshing and so much fun. Talking to Debby and Randy about things that I really can't talk to my peers about on such a high level was absolutely amazing.

But beyond that, it was an awesome change of pace from what I've been doing in France. I was finally able to slow down and really enjoy the company of other people instead of always asking what we're doing next.

To be honest, I really wish I could have been able to have more than just one weekend in Roanne. But I was definitely happy with what I was able to have!

Thanks again, Debby and Randy for such an amazing weekend!!

Before I say au revoir, I must give you a quick disclaimer about next week: it's Fall Break. I'll be in Spain all week. Barcelona and then Madrid.

What does this mean for you? This means there won't be a post again next week. I'm not going to bring my computer with me and I won't be near a computer at all next week.

But I promise to give you a nice long update in two weeks about how amazing break was (err will be).

So until then, have an awesome two weeks! And I'm off to Spain!!!

The Weekend That Changed My Life

As you know from last week's blog, I traveled to Amsterdam with some friends over this past weekend. To say I had fun would be the understatement of the year.

Those of you who actually read what I post on Facebook know that I desperately want to move there in the very near future.

Now, I realize EVERYONE says something similar to that when they visit a city they particularly enjoy and then the novelty wears off in a few days.

It does not truly capture the emotion I felt walking around the city when I say I fell in love with Amsterdam. I fell harder for this city than I ever have for a person, city, or a sport...yes, I fell harder for Amsterdam than I ever did for baseball or hockey...

As many of you know, I am an Accounting major at the University of Denver (I have so much pride in one of the top 10 accounting programs in the country!!!). I plan on spending a few years after I graduate working for one of the Big Four accounting firms.

Why does this matter, you ask?

As soon as I returned to Aix, I started looking at the Big Four to find out if they have offices in Amsterdam. What did I find? I found that the firm that has been at the top of my list for a few months now (you're welcome, Mom and Dad) has a major branch located in Amsterdam and its headquarters are located in Amstelveen...just south of Amsterdam.

That is what I mean when I say this past weekend changed my life.

So, fine, I had a life-altering experience while abroad? Who doesn't?

I have been thinking about that fact nonstop since returning to Aix on Sunday.

I've been asking myself this question for the past 72 hours: WHAT MADE AMSTERDAM SO DAMN SPECIAL?!

One answer I came up with is that it 100% changed my study abroad experience. I'll be totally honest, before this weekend, I was starting to question the value of study abroad. I was thinking, "Great, so I'm going to school in a city that is different from Denver. Had I gotten in to Notre Dame, I would be doing the same thing there..."

However, I don't know what happened, but while in Amsterdam, something clicked and I thought to myself, "Oh! THIS is what study abroad is all about! Learning to get along on your own, traveling alone/with others, and finding out truly how independent you are; this is what it's all meant to be!"

I was satisfied with that answer for about 5 minutes. Then I realized that it didn't answer my yearning question as to why Amsterdam was so great.

I don't know that I have found the real answer as to why I fell so hard for the city yet, but I will walk through everything that I thought made it so great and maybe it will help me come to a real answer to that question.

I'll start by giving you a quick rundown of everything we (there were 12 of us in two different hostels) did while in Amsterdam.

To begin our trip, we spent Thursday night in Eindhoven, a city about an hour train ride outside of Amsterdam. This night gave us a nice preview to what was in store as far as a Dutch city goes. Eindhoven was very clean and VERY well-kept.

That night, we went out and went to a street with 58 bars on it. Yes, 58 bars. I promise I'm not exaggerating. That night was fun, but we all knew that it was no Amsterdam.

The next day, we boarded our train and headed to the greatest city on Earth.

As soon as we got out of the Amsterdam Centraal station, we were struck with just how great this city is. Huge, gorgeous buildings lined the main streets and very northern European buildings lined the smaller side streets.

Yes, everywhere we went, we smelled it. What is "it" you ask? It's Amsterdam. Do you really need to ask that question?

The first thing we did was find our hostel, which was 2 miles south of Centraal Station (yes, that's Dutch for Central Station. It's a really difficult language...).

After we found our hostel, we decided to indulge in the local legal delicacies that Amsterdam had to offer.

We got pretty tired after that...traveling to Amsterdam that day really took it out of us. So we went back to our hostel to take a nap before heading out for the night.

Because we didn't know exactly where to go, the nightlife was nothing to write home about. I am sure it is much better than I'm giving it credit for, but we just didn't experience it.

The next day, Saturday, was when I really fell in love with Amsterdam. On Friday, I stepped up to be my group's navigator of the city, so by lunchtime on Saturday, I knew the layout of Amsterdam just as well as I know the layout of downtown Denver and remember, I was a delivery driver in Denver this summer.

After lunch, we went to the Anne Frank House which moved all of us to tears. If I had to choose one highlight of the trip, I think I would have to say this is it. I have never before felt as though I was hit by a bus when reading something until I read a few of the select quotes from The Diary of Anne Frank on the walls of the museum.

The one quote that hit me the hardest was this: "The English radio says they're being gassed. I feel terrible."

In the moment I read that, I realized that words cannot really capture emotion.

After the Anne Frank House, we wandered aimlessly all over the southern part of the city trying to get a grip on the sadness we all felt. Finally we decided to add a direction to our wandering. We went to Vondelpark, a GIGANTIC park on the southwest side of the city.

It was a gorgeous park and it was well worth the time we spent there. It is a park that anyone could spend HOURS during day just walking and thinking about life (just another reason why I want to go back) while never seeing the same part of the park.

After that, we went to another coffee shop (yes, a coffee shop in Amsterdam is different than a cafe) and indulged again in Amsterdam's delicacies before heading to dinner.

After dinner, we went back to the girls' hostel and played a drinking game before heading back to our hostel to turn in early...after all, we did have to wake up early to head back to Aix.

Now, onto figuring out why I fell so hard for Amsterdam:

In a sense, I think the emotions I felt while in the Anne Frank House helped me to realize the emotions I was feeling for Amsterdam as a whole.

Obviously the emotions I felt in the Anne Frank House were different than the ones I experienced while just walking and leading my group around Amsterdam, but the degree of emotion I felt was quite comparable.

BUT WHY??

The answer that I keep coming back to is far more simple than I thought it would be: I simply adapted more quickly to Amsterdam than I have to any other city. The way the canals and the streets are situated just clicks with my brain, I suppose.

I wish I could give you a deeper, more philosophical answer than that, but I can't. I fell in love with Amsterdam because it just clicked.

As far as I'm concerned, that's definitely a good enough reason to want to move to a new city.

If there is one thing I can promise you now because of my study abroad experience, it is this: within the next 5-8 years, I will be living in Amsterdam, if it is only for a few years.

This weekend changed my life. This weekend changed my study abroad experience. In fact, this weekend changed what I am looking to get out of life as a whole.

Experiences like these just don't come around very often. I am not taking this one for granted.

AMSTERDAM, HERE I COME!!!

Rijksmuseum: the museum we had to walk through to get to Downtown Amsterdam.

The "I AMsterdam" sign in front of Rijksmuseum.

Rijksmuseum and the park in front of it at night.

Amsterdam canal at night...See why I want to live here???

Colorado? That's on the West Coast, Right?

One of the central questions that any study abroad student will receive (and ask) is, "So, where are you from?" I mean, it's probably one of the most routine questions when trying to get to know someone you've just met.

Seems like one of the easiest questions to answer and proceed into the rest of the conversation, right?

WRONG.

Let me give you a rundown of how one such interaction occurred a little over a week ago. The name of the person I had the conversation with has been changed to avoid embarrassing a friend...

Martha - "So, Nick, where are you from?"
Me - "Denver, Colorado."
Martha - "Oh!! Colorado! You have all the mountains and the skiing, right?"
Me - "You're spot on!"
Martha - "I've never been. Is the skiing good?"
Me - "Oh man, you have no idea. I've been spoiled for the past 17 winters of my life."
Martha - "That's awesome! I've always wanted to see what west-coast skiing is like!"
Me - "What do you mean?"
Martha - "Colorado? That's on the West Coast, right?"
Me - "NO. NO IT'S NOT."
Martha - "Well it's west, so it's basically on the West Coast."
Me - "There are THREE states between Colorado and the Pacific Ocean. We are NOT on the coast."
Martha - "Oh, whatever. You're not in the east, so you're on the West Coast."
Me - "This conversation is over."

First, I think this says more about how ineffective American geography classes are. I mean, as far as geographical knowledge goes, Americans are the laughing stock of the world. I have met far too many Europeans who know more about the geography of America than many of my fellow American students do...and that is quite embarrassing, if you ask me.

I wish I could say that I embellished parts of that conversation. I mean, it'd be one thing if this conversation was with someone from Europe, but this was a conversation with someone from the Northeast; someone who presumably should know their American geography.

Sadly, there have been multiple interactions like that one since I've been here. I am much more accepting of geographical mistakes when I'm speaking with a European who hasn't been to the United States.

There are no excuses, however, for someone who was born and raised in the USA.

So just to clear things up, let's have a quick western-USA geography lesson:

States that border the Pacific Ocean:
- California
- Oregon
- Washington

Believe it or not, but these are the ONLY states that make up the West Coast.

Utah? Nope. Nevada? Try Again. Wyoming? Way off. Colorado? Hell no.

Now that this has been cleared up, it does beg the question: in what region of the USA is Colorado? This is a question that has infected my soul, curved my spine, and has kept the country from winning the war (if you got the George Carlin reference, you have become one of the coolest people I have ever met....or not met, depending on the current state of our relationship).

Colorado isn't on the West Coast, as we have very obviously cleared up; it's not in the southwest (but, is it?); and it certainly isn't in the midwest (we're a bit too far west). So where does that put us?

As a solution to this conundrum, I've simply told people that we're just in the West. It has been the easiest solution to the problem while also giving people the sense of where Colorado is.

At least for those from America....

What about for the Europeans who have no idea that there is a difference between California and Kansas?

To solve this problem, generally, I give them a quick crash course in western USA geography. Everyone knows where California is, so I just walk them through the fact that there are two states between California and Colorado. That usually clears all the confusion right up.

Anyway, enough of my rant about the lack of knowledge of USA geography...allow me to update you on my life here in Aix-en-Provence.

As I alluded to last week, over the weekend, I went to Nice with a friend of mine. Unfortunately, the weather didn't really cooperate too well with what we had planned: a weekend spent on the beach. Thankfully, it didn't rain until the day we left (and boy did it rain hard).

That didn't derail much in the way of fun, though. We still spent a few hours at the beach on Saturday and that evening, we walked throughout the city, she shopped for some boots, we stopped for a cocktail at a nice bar, and then ended the night with dinner on the beach.

I must say, the highlight of the trip was dinner on the beach. It was a lot like any meal on the beach in Southern California, but it was a French meal, so the food was MUCH better. I had the "Penne au 2 saumons." That translates to Penne with 2 salmons, as I'm sure you guessed. It was a pasta with a creamy sauce topped with both grilled and fresh salmon. It was one of the best meals I've had since coming to France.

I greatly enjoyed the weekend away with a friend in a gorgeous and upscale city.

However, that pales in comparison to my excitement for this weekend as I'm heading to Amsterdam tomorrow with a fairly large group. Among the huge list of things we're going to try to cram into one weekend are visiting the Heineken factory, seeing The Anne Frank House, visiting the Van Gogh Museum, and of course trying some of the Amsterdam delicacies...safely of course.

That being said, I think I'm going to sign off and start to pack for my trip tomorrow. I can't wait to update you on everything we do this weekend in my next post!! See you all next week!!! Well....sort of....

Looking west from the restaurant where we had dinner.

Looking east from the restaurant where we had dinner.

AMAZING Nice sunset.

From our table looking at the Mediterranean.

Post-dinner look at the coast of Nice.