The Dream

I survived my first week at BSB which was filled with the most amount of classes I will have in a week all semester. The scheduling is very strange over here and I do not have set days and times for class so every week will be different. 

Yesterday I spent 6 hours with the same professor learning about food and wine tourism and wine marketing. He is extremely knowledgable and is easily already one of my favorite professors.  While 6 hours of one class sounds like a lot, it went by pretty fast. The first segment of class which was an hour and a half long we literally talked about the best restaurants in Dijon, Borgogne, and all of France. He explained all of the deals at lunch time, the best wines for their price, and what the traditional meals were in each region of france. He also talked about the best Michelin 3 star restaurants in france which yes, I will be eating at at some point this semester. No I don't care if it costs me 250 euro. It will be worth every penny for the experience. 

The next segment makes me wish time away because we discussed the field trips we will be going on this semester. The first trip is to Beaujolais with other international wine management students where we will visit an estate and a distillery, eat a traditional French meal, and taste the crus from the 10 estates of Beaujolais. The next trip will be only for the 8 students from EcoGasrronomy and will be to Jura, a town about an hour from Dijon. Here we will have a very expensive traditional French meal prepared for us by a friend of our professor. We are fortunate enough to experience this because we are such a small group of students. We will also do sausage tastings, chocolate tastings, cheese tasting and pairing, and spirit tasting. This is all in a span of 1 day and is the day after our 5 day field trip to Germany for a Wine Festival. I think I am in heaven. The last major field trip for this class is to Southern Champagne. Here we will visit a small and a large estate, have sausages for lunch, partake in cheese tastings and champagne tastings. 

Well if that doesn't sound like exciting enough, in two weeks I will be visiting my other professors estate that has been around since the 1400's. 

One could say I am bouncing off the walls. 

Pics from the greatest pastry shop in Dijon. Not sure why I haven't been until today. 

Beingets 

Baguettes on Baguettes

Cheese and Olive Pretzels Yum 

Chocolate chip baguette. That happened during my lunch break at school today 

I can't begin to put this experience into words and I haven't even left Dijon yet. So surreal. I really am about to have the semester of a lifetime. I am so privledged to be here. Thank you mom and dad for supporting my dreams! 

Time is a weird concept to grasp over here. My weeks go by slow but my days go by extremely fast even though I wake up at 7 every morning and go to bed extremely late. By the end of my day I am extremely exhausted and have zero words to describe the life I have been living. It still does not feel real to me. Except when my friends and I try to book flights and train tickets in military time. We should honestly make this trip into a reality show because it's just too funny. We can't go anywhere without being super American. We talk extremely loud all the time so obviously we stand out. 

The weather here is not what I anticipated. When I looked it up at home I thought I would be living the life in 40 and 50 degree temps. Well uhh try 35 degrees when it's raining and dark out all the time. I can honestly say I have seen 10 minutes total of sunlight since I arrived in Dijon. But at least I'm not missing out on a beautiful day when I am sitting in the same class for 6 hours at a time. Yes that's right. The same class for 6 hours. It's wine and chocolate pairing though so how hard can that be. I also can not wait for the 18 pound box from home to get here because I obviously did a horrible job at packing my life in two suitcases. You're the best mommy! 

Oh and I got stuck in a bathroom stall tonight and that was probably the most traumatizing experience I've had in a long time. The doors and walls of the stall are attached to the floor and I legitimately got locked in. I was so close to climbing over the top of the stall with the 6 inches available. But once I stopped freaking out  after about 5-10 minutes I made it out haha. 

Hopefully I'll have more to share this week. Hope everyone has a great week and weekend! 

There is nothing else I can say other than sitting through French class is extremely difficult. Also that it gives me nothing less than a headache. I don't think I will ever learn or sound like I know what I'm talking about. But hey, at least I survived my first day of class and my train to Paris is booked! 

So today is my first day of classes at the Burgundy School of business and their way of scheduling classes is way different than what I am used to. My classes can change everyday so I always have to look up my schedule to see what time my class is at and the location. This has been difficult as I have been trying to plan trips around Europe. It is also 5:00pm right now and I am supposed to have my first French class at 5:30 but I have no room assignment. So Stressed! Entrepreneurship was very interesting this morning and I think it will be a fun but busy semester! 

Sundays in Dijon are very quiet but I took a nice walk around the city with the girls. All the shops are closed but museums are open and free to the public and some restaurants are open as well. There was a piano on wheels in the city center that people could just sit and play on which was very relaxing. But all in all we kept today very low key and made our first family dinner which was delicious! Classes start tomorrow and I can not wait :) 

Beaune

Today was one of the best days I have had since I have been in Dijon. The field trip to the wine regions of Beaune was amazing. I got to see a private vineyard and explore a beautiful town. I definitely left a piece of my heart at the vineyard today. 

The international group from my school  called the melting pot was so much fun on the bus ride home. We sang a lot of French songs as well as the national anthems of each of the 21 countries that were represented on the trip. One thing I learned today is that the French love to eat and drink no matter what the price is. There are very few laws regarding

alcohol service and people drink at all hours of the day...even on the streets. We went to an Irish pub during happy hour and ordered a few beers and in return they give you free food during that time. 

Well since I have yet to travel anywhere I guess I will just share more of my favorite food moments with everyone. After all, I am here to study gastronomy. Tonight before heading out to meet up with the girls we met from Oklahoma, we grabbed a quick bite at Dr.Wine. Let me tell you, this was by far the best dinner I have had in my life. The girls and I made a toast to a great semester and enjoyed this amazing cheese and charcuterie board. 

Wine

I found the most amazing wine shop in my adventures today. It was recommended by a woman at school and the owner is said to be extremely knowledgable. He also welcomed me to stop by any morning and talk about my research project. I am beyond excited. 

Here are some pics! 

Today I went to a cafe to get a cappuccino and I was feeling confident speaking basic French. What came out was "un cappuccino por favor". Well I guess it wasn't quite French but I tried! 

I don't even want to know how many baguettes I have eaten since I have been here in Dijon. They are TOO good. 

Food

The food here is incredible and everything is just so fresh. Today I went to the market and picked up some fruit, veggies, a baguette and some Brie because going out is getting expensive. The pictures below are from the market. They have a little bit of everything. It ranges from produce, to meats, Charcuterie, cheeses of all kinds, and pastries. They did have some pretty unusual things that were kind of a shock to see. The chickens were available whole with necks and heads attached as well as some feathers. We saw a cow head being butchered, and also the brains of animals being served. I have noticed that the French like to use as much of an animal as they can. But all in all I have not had a bad meal yet and I always have an appetite. 

So today has taught me to appreciate how privileged we are back home in the states. The cleanliness here is no where near the same, as there is dog poop all over the sidewalks, no toilet seats on certain public bathrooms, no hand soap, and often times no toilet paper. It has been extremely difficult to communicate with the locals over here because the majority of the people only speak French and I feel really bad for many reasons. One is because many of the shop owners try very hard to understand and speak english to us. The other because I often can make out what they are speaking in French but have absolutely no idea of how to respond. I only have access to wifi when I am in my apartment or at school which is completely opposite of back home. Although it is nice to sit back, relax, not be attached to your phone and enjoy learning about another culture, it is still a huge change and hard to get used to. But at the end of the day I am thankful and Excited I can come home and talk to the important people in my life and tell them all about everything I have been experiencing.

Food

I had the opportunity to eat this amazing charcuterie board today at the cutest restaurant in town. The cheeses were one of the best things I have ever tasted. The Brie especially(on the left). I think I will be okay here in Dijon! 

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Wow the dijon mustard here is so amazing. I found this really neat shop today where I got to taste a bunch of different flavors. They just look so beautiful. 

Well it has been a long two days but I arrived safely in Dijon and finally have wifi access. It has been a crazy adventure already and it is definitely an adjustment living in a city in a foreign country. But despite the long day of travel yesterday I had a great day today exploring Dijon, meeting my professors, and enjoying a traditional French dinner as a welcome. This whole trip is all about going out of my comfort zone and I tried salmon and caviar for the first time ever. The hardest part about being here is the language barrier. It is frustrating that I can basically make out what people are saying to me, yet I have no idea of how to respond. It is also uncomfortable being the tourist for once and feeling totally lost and out of place. But today I learned some extremely exciting things about my semester. I'm going to be going on a field trip to the wine regions on Saturday, and to a three day wine festival in Germany in March! My classes will be learning about food and wine and how it integrates with the French culture. What this includes is a lot of cheese tasting, wine tasting, wine and chocolate pairings, and other fun things. Needless to say I am way too excited to start classes on Monday!  It's 2am here so I need to catch some sleep before my long day tomorrow! Missing everyone back in the states!

It's Time

Today is the day I have been looking forward to for almost 3 years now. In just a few short hours I will venture out to Boston to get ready for my departure tonight. I can't believe its finally here... and there is no turning back.
See you soon America <3

Packing

for those of you who know me, you know I am not one to pack light. Just for one semester at school I brought probably close to 40 pairs of shoes and a quarter of my wardrobe, which if you have seen my closet you would understand what that means. So packing out of just two suitcases has presented a challenge for me. Everyone who studies abroad says no one ever wears everything they bring. But how am I supposed to know what the weather will be like especially when I will be traveling all over Europe? My solution....pack everything.

All week i have been saying, "Time to pack" when really it consists of me laying on my floor just looking at my suitcases because I don't want to leave my things home. I just take things out and replace them with more clothes, then refold my clothes every way imaginable to make more space for myself.

What I am learning though, is the experience I am about to have is worth more than what you pack so who cares if you wear the same thing everyday or you have to leave something home. I'm about to travel a part of the world and this kind of opportunity doesn't present itself everyday. So heres to 3 more days of determining the necessities because whether I am ready or not, I will be on a plane in 3 and a half days to take on my journey in Dijon.

Off to the post office to drop off some letters to my beautiful friends. You are all amazing and I already miss you so much. Check your mailboxes when you get to school and have a great semester :)

The Countdown

Wow. Just 5 days left until i leave for the trip of a lifetime. These past few weeks have been emotional for me as I am about to leave everything i know for 4 months. I am extremely grateful and excited to have the opportunity to travel around europe and I couldn't be more thankful for my family and friends supporting my dreams. While my excitement outweighs every other emotion, I am still sad to be leaving everyone I love, and I am of course nervous to live in a country where I don't speak an ounce of their language. But with that said, I am excited for the opportunity to be placed outside my comfort zone because the experience will build me as a person. I cannot wait to come home with memories and share all of my stories and photos.

See you soon, Dijon!