One of the things I always try to do is to maximize our time and enjoyment, and thus added a few extras into our itinerary and experience as I saw them fit. None of them cost any money and ultimately increased exposure and learning. We went to visit the EU Parliament, presented our Sustainable Tourism assignment in front of local tourism business students, had a royal farewell dinner, and attended a Paris Fashion Show (I'll talk about that one under the "Paris" tab)! All for free!
the european parliament
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Strasbourg's multiculturalism, multilingualism, tumultuous history and rich culture were reasons why the EU, in its infancy stages, decided to make Strasbourg one of their three parliamentary locations (the others are in Luxembourg and of course in Brussels). Strasbourg is also home to the EU Court of Human Rights. The bus ride from the Chateau to the EU location was a mere 12 minutes including one bus change, and the admission was free. How could I not try to get the group in even though technically we were well into the two-week cut off time? It can't hurt to ask, can it? Sure enough, I immediately got an email back from someone who opened up the online registration platform just for us, and I was able to register all students for a visit five days later! The students got a great presentation by one of the employees about the EU itself, its political affiliations, what it means as a governmental body and its jurisdictions. We even had great fortune that parliament was in session and so we were able to sit in the press gallery high above while listening to the action. We were given headphones so that we could follow simultaneous translations into English, as each politician spoke in their native tongue. What was more interesting even was the fact that it was the day Romania took over the one-year presidency of the EU and a question period was scheduled where other members of parliament could bring forth questions and concerns. Well, let's just say those politicians did not mince words to the great surprise of the students. Romania is known for its history of human rights abuses, and there were some very vocal opponents of Romania guiding the EU for the next year. The questions were very strong, very critical and to the point. It was a huge eye-opener for the students and definitely not boring! |
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meeting local tourism and hospitality business students
Growing up, I was always exposed to student exchanges, both as an exchange student myself, and by hosting them in our home on several occasions. My first time as an exchange student myself was at the end of grade 7! I had chosen French as my first foreign language, and our super engaged teacher took us on a three-week exchange with another school in Vienne, south of Lyon. We stayed with host families and went to school throughout the day and had some excursions. I was only 13 years old then and admittedly, it was tough being away from home for so long, spending evenings and weekends with perfect strangers who weren't speaking my own language. But the experience was so good that I decided I wanted to have a pen pal personally (you know, letters, envelopes, stamps ...) and after a two-year correspondence I visited her in Paris for the first time to spend the summer there at age 15. How did that go? Well, we are still friends to this day, and she came to Strasbourg for a weekend to see me!
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Why am I telling you all this? Because I think making a connection with local youth in the same boat is eye opening, and so I was looking for an opportunity to have my students enjoy that same privilege. I reached out to Omnis, a local tourism school that operated similar programs to those at Humber College, and whose interns were in fact working at the Chateau. I was met with great enthusiasm from the teachers there and within a few days we had agreed on a date and time for our students to visit and do their assignment presentation on Sustainable Tourism topics in front of their students!! Bus line #15 brought us door to door from the Chateau to the Omnis Business School. The interest from the local students was tremendous, and their understanding of the English language made the endeavour a seamless operation. They even baked cakes and served refreshments! |
A Royal farewell
We live in a castle and we had seen weddings, political events and family celebrations take place in the Grand Salon, but no Grand Ball yet. I decided that needed to change! I went to the wonderful Fred and asked if we could serve our last catered meal in the Grand Salon for a change. He checked with the owners, with the calendar, and we got the green light. I asked for secrecy as I thought this to be a nice surprise. All I told the students was that they had to dress to the nines for the meal, as much as they could with the wardrobe they had brought along. They were slightly confused and kept asking .. how fancy do you mean? I said as fancy as you would if you were to meet the Queen. They still didn't believe me, but I could see the wheels spinning. The surprise was pulled off nicely, and Uli and Harald even sent enough bottles of "Cremant" the Alsatian version of Champage, to make it very festive!
PARIS FASHION SHOW AT GALERIES LAFAYETTE
How can you go to Paris and not see anything related to fashion? Galeries Lafayette offers weekly fashion shows on Fridays at 1 PM, and in the winter they let you in for free if they are not sold out (10 Euros normally). I managed to get a bunch of us in there for free and it was a great way to spend 30 minutes! Plus, Galeries Lafayette is a famous Parisian sight and the rooftop offers amazing views!
