Time, treasure, and talent — these are three areas of stewardship that often come to mind. But my dad always reminded me that there are other areas of stewardship, including one’s body, mind, spirit, and relationships. He told me not to underestimate the importance of relationships. As C. S. Lewis famously said in The Weight of Glory,
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. . . . Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.
College students naturally have many opportunities to build relationships, whether with peers, professors, RA’s and RD’s, administrators, countless facility workers, or with the wonderful people at MAP and Hicks and the Student Union who prepare our food.
BBQ Dinner: We cooked for our French friends and invited them to the ESC at the beginning of the semester.
One of the special joys of being in France this semester is having the additional opportunity to build intercultural friendships. Our program is structured to encourage these intercultural relationships, as the American and French students have a weekly class together at ONIRIS, our partner school in Nantes, and then go to dinner together nearby.
This year, the cross-cultural class challenged students to think about the ways cultural differences can be a barrier as well as a stepping stone to advancing intercultural communication. Oftentimes we have projects and discussions in class, allowing us to get to know each other better while learning the course material.
I am definitely a fan of the weekly dinners after class. We order in French, get our food (cafeteria-style), find a table, and eat with our friends. Most of our conversations are in English, though my friends were curious about my progress in French and this week asked me to try saying a few things — and were quite pleased that I could do so, even though I have very limited grammar and vocabulary.
Some of our class projects are quite fun.
We also had a Christmas party at the study center and are invited the seventeen French students to come as well. It was such a blast!
Anyone contemplating the program should consider the value of making friends with students from other cultures, as it is something that is highly encouraged. Depending on one’s involvement at our church, it is also possible to get to know students from many other countries as well. The church also hosts an international student’s ministry which serves people from all over Asia, Europe, and Africa.
I’m grateful for the experiences I have had and hope to spend these final weeks valuing friendships even as I finish some big assignments and take final exams.
In the last post about the Archaeological Conservation trip to Sardinia, the Mont’e Prama Project was explained. You were introduced to what conservation is exactly, and the people involved. That post was only a snapshot into all that the Grove City students did while there. This post will give you a little bit more detail.
Our Little Town of Cabras
We did our work in the local Cabras museum, or Museo, as it is in Italian. In the United States, we are used to walking around museums that are huge, that could take literally days to fully explore and appreciate. The Museo in Cabras is minuscule when compared to our museums here in America. The entire Museo was built around a central courtyard, which is where we worked on the fragments. Visitors to the museum would walk through and watch us work. It was exciting and fun to get to see their fascination.
Our average day in Cabras contained a lot of walking, which was a good thing. Maria, our personal chef, kept us well fed on pasta. So none of us had an issue with walking some of it off. We would wake up in a little apartment, which we shared with our fellow students, put on our CCA work shirt, and walked 25 minutes to the Museo through town. Some days we would walk through the little town, but most days we would enjoy the sight of the lake as we walked along dirt roads to work. Once at the Museo, Francesca and Gian Mario – two young, funny, and friendly conservationists – would go over our tasks for the day.
The Daily Work
At the beginning, there was a lot of instruction with the dusting of fragments and their categorization. Later, our tasks included piecing fragments back together, and doing a detailed cleaning of the fragments with mild soap, mist, and scalpels. Most of the dirty work, dusting fragments and chiseling dirt chucks off of them with wooden sticks, was done outside under a white tent. While the sun could get extremely hot, the temperatures we had were just right,
We would work from 9 to about 10:45 a.m., and then get a 20-minute break to go across the street to get a coffee. This was also a great chance to use what little WiFi we could manage to find while abroad. At 1 in the afternoon, Maria would come deliver our lunch. Some days it was as simple as a sandwich, and other days (the best days) she brought us dishes deliciously complex, like fried eggplant lasagna.
Our afternoon work was the most tiresome, but often the most rewarding. There are few words adequate enough to describe the peace that comes from diligently working on a project while having a warm breeze blow against your cheek. It was a soothing routine which allowed one to enjoy the fresh air, sunshine, and company of those around.
At 4:30 p.m. we would start cleaning up our projects and putting everything away, storing the fragments in the Museo’s basement to stay secure, and washing up. We walked back home to the very welcome arms of a hot shower, and then headed over to the apartment of Dr. Nardi and all the staff for dinner. Sometimes we would skip the shower and head down to one of Sardinia’s exquisite beaches. It will always be exciting to say that I have swam in the crystal clear waters of a Mediterranean Island.
Evenings in Sardinia
These relaxed outdoors dinners were the best opportunities to converse with Dr. Nardi, Andreana, Francesca, and Gian Mario. Maria treated us to some delicious food, which usually came in three or four courses. After we were satisfied, and had enjoyed the fresh peaches, apples, and apricots, Dr. Nardi would tell us stories about all his different conservation projects. He spoke of how ISIS and Radical Islam were destroying art, statues, and architecture all over the Middle East. Dr. Nardi also talked about the work the he performed on art pieces. These pieces were in immediate threat of destruction. The students were given more detailed lectures on the finer points of this conservation.
After the discussions with Dr. Nardi, we walk back to our cozy little apartments to go to bed. Sometimes we would go out around town and enjoy all that Cabras had to offer. Our days contained so much more than I have written here. The moments spent working at the Cabras Museo were special, and they hold a very joyful place in my heart.
Grove City College offers its students many different, and unique opportunities to not only better themselves, but to experience unique adventures. Many of these adventures take place on United States soil, but several of them are abroad. Unique partnerships with international institutions offer GCC students exceptional opportunities to explore their vocational interests, obtain outstanding job experience, and gain appreciation for new professions. In this post, one of the more unique opportunities Grove City College offers will be explored — Welcome to archaeological conservation in Sardinia, Italy.
Now, I’m sure you have several questions probably rolling around in your head. They may include:
“Archaeological Conservation? Is that when they dig stuff up from the dirt?”
“Sardinia…I’ve never heard of that. Where in the world is that? Is it really part of Italy?”
“Great, so you’re going to tell us about how you dug up rocks all summer? Sounds like so much fun.”
The subject might sound as dry as the rocks we worked with, but you might be surprised at how you are wrong. First, what is archaeological conservation? Archaeological conservation is the preservation of items which make up our history. Conservationists repair structures, art, pottery, sculptures, mosaics, and so much more. Yet they also work with museums, governments, and private individuals to clean, categorize, reassemble, and display ancient pieces which were discovered in archaeological digs. Every statue that you see in a museum, every piece of pottery, has been preserved by a conservationist.
There are very few conservationists around the world, and opportunities to experience their work are few and far between. This makes the fact that Grove City College offers a month long archaeological conservation trip all the more exciting. The school sponsors students to go, in a group, to Sardinia to work on the Mont’e Prama Project. Dr. Nardi is a world renowned archaeological conservationist who not only is very good at what he does, but also is extremely kind and friendly. He loves meeting students, working with them, opening their eyes to a new world, and building community with them. We handled pieces of art which were thousands of years old, and were extremely delicate. If a paintbrush pressed too hard against a stone, there is a high possibility it would crumble away. Considering how fragile these artifacts are, the Italians never gave anything but patient, level-headed instruction.
The Project of Mont’e Prama
The research assignment we worked on was called the Mont’e Prama Project. We studied two different types of figures; the Giganti, and the Nuraghe. The Giganti, or the Giants, are eight-foot-tall warrior statues made out of sandstone. The Nuraghe are primitive castles figurines which vary in size. Some were small enough to hold in your hands, and others were big enough to need a truck to move. The Nuraghe models are believed to be based off of full size ‘castles’ which are scattered around the island.
While both are important groups of artifacts, the Nuraghe models have been found across the island while the Giganti have only been discovered in one small piece of land. A farmer found these artifacts while plowing on the archaeological site. The Giganti were in an ancient graveyard, but their purpose is unknown, as is the purpose of the Nuraghe models. The archaeological dig site itself unearthed the fragments we worked with in the 70’s. There were 27 crates of fragments that we students worked with. The crates contained anywhere from one large fragment to 80 small fragments. It is estimated that by the end of the month, we handled over 500 individual fragments — quite the number.
Conclusion
All in all, the experience was amazing. I developed an appreciation for how much work truly goes into, not only the archaeological process, but the curation and museum work that goes into preparing and presenting a piece. I was also astonished at how many fragments and pieces are not on display. For every piece you see in a museum there are hundreds of pieces not on display, and thousands of unidentified fragments sitting in the basement. I learned patience in the process, and I got to see first-hand how much passion for the subject is required from those who chose it as their profession.
Holly Ahrens, ’18 is an English Major with a Technical Writing minor. She interned at Armory Publishing Groups LLC during the summer of 2016.
1.Where did you intern last summer and what was your position title?
My internship was at Armory Publishing Groups LLC in Aurora, Colorado. Armory Publishing is a small company that publishes Christian books as well as markets their materials. The company also organizes meet and greets and book readings. As a General Intern I managed the social media accounts, read books for publicity purposes, and also helped plan publicity events.
2. How did you secure your internship?
The owner of Armory came to my church and spoke about one of her books on missions. She connected with my parents over their shared interest in missions and mutually I was connected with her. We talked, exchanged emails, and eventually I was offered the internship.
3. What are some of the top lessons you learned while interning?
I learned that a lot of publishing is not just about reading and editing books, but mostly publicizing materials. I was also educated on the publishing industry as a whole.
4. How did your Grove City classes prepare you for your internship?
I took a Technical Writing course that helped with writing my resume and securing my internship. In addition, through my English classes, I learned how to write well and fast as well as have good grammar and write intelligent, critical book reviews. My Humanities classes, specifically Speculative Mind, helped me to think about and compare ideas about missions. I also completed Introduction to Visual Communication and Design, which helped me design social media banners for promoting the book.
5. How will your internship experience serve you in your career search?
Because of this internship, I know what I do and do not want to pursue. In addition, I have gained a new perspective on non-fiction Christian publishing, which gives me a clearer sense on what I like and do not like about the genre. I also know how the publishing industry works as a whole, which is the career that I plan on moving into.
One of the most unique aspects of Grove City College is that we have sororities. Not many Christian colleges have sororities on their campuses. This can either be something that attracts you to Grove City or it may be a concern you have with coming here. When I chose to come here, I had never really thought about whether I would want to join a sorority or not. In the end, I chose not to join a sorority and I am glad that I did not, however, I deeply love the sororities on our campus.
We have all seen the college movies that perfectly depict what college life is like. Or do they? In the movies, the sorority girls are perfect. They have the perfect boyfriend, perfect hair, and perfect wardrobe. Meanwhile, the independent girls have no friends, are geeks, and date the weirdest guys on campus. As rush started my freshmen year, I started to get worried. What if I became that independent girl in the movies? What if all my friends join sororities and I have no friends left? I feared the sorority girls because all I could picture were the movies with the rich girls who were rude to everyone else. All of my fears were so wrong.
My junior year, I was placed as an RA on a sorority hall. I was so nervous. In the end, they have become some of my best friends. They have disproved all of my previous thoughts on sorority life and I am so thankful that God placed me where He did. Living on a sorority hall is so fun: the drama, the friendships, the constant laughter coming from all of the rooms, and the food that is always left out for everyone to eat. The sorority life is beautiful. So do I regret not being in the sorority? Not at all. I have gotten to know girls in every sorority on my campus. I have friends in most of the sororities and I see nothing wrong with most of the sororities. In fact, there are several that I would consider joining. However, I love being an independent. I love all my friendships with girls in different sororities. Now, of course, sorority girls are friends with girls from all different groups, but in the end, my loyalty does not belong to any particular group. I love being able to connect with underclassmen and mentor the girls who didn’t join a sorority and now feel left out. I LOVE doing all I can to bridge the gap between sororities and independents. That comes in both encouraging the sorority I RA for to reach out to the independents on my hall but also helping independents to see the beauty in sorority life.
Girls and I from the sorority I RA for
I would not trade the independent life for the sorority life. Being an independent has taught me so many important things during college. However, as you get ready for college and consider whether you would ever want to join a sorority, know that I, as an independent, think that sororities are wonderful. In the end, you must make a choice that is best for you. If you want to join a sorority, go for it, but also maintain relationships outside your group. If you want to remain independent, do it, but never judge the sororities based off of false pretenses. Both “lives” are great and you must find the life you believe you will thrive in most.
Do not let the sororities scare you from choosing Grove City College. The sororities are wonderful groups of girls and all of the things you see in movies, may not be true.
Baja is a club composed mostly of Mechanical Engineering majors. Members build vehicles and race them at competitions across the country, competing against international teams. I talked with Paul Kenney, who is an avid member of the Baja Club to learn more about the club. Baja Racing is a competition sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and is an awesome extracurricular that helps apply the skills students learn in a fun, tangible way. Baja cars are built from scratch by Grove City students and then taken for test drives at our test track located on campus. After months of fine tuning and careful building, the cars are transported to competitions in New York, Kentucky, Illinois, Florida, and other states to compete. Cars that can survive the most laps and drive the fastest win. The tracks at the competitions are designed to test the durability of the vehicles.
At Grove City, there are two cars that are available for competition. The club is also building a new one this year, which will replace the older of the two cars. One of the member’s favorite parts of Baja is being able to race the car in the competition, against dozens of different schools and being able to drive the car on the test track on campus. In addition, Baja is a great way to develop one’s engineering skills through design and construction. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is a prestigious organization that has a broad network across several different engineering fields, including the Aerospace, Commercial Vehicle, and Automotive departments. So while Baja racing is a fun activity, it is also a great tool to build your professional profile as an engineer. Many employers are impressed with one’s involvement with SAE and are eager to work with students who have build Baja cars.
Julie Dieffenbach is a winter graduate of Grove City, graduating in three and a half years, rather than four years. She is a Psychology major with a Business minor.
How did you graduate early?
I completed several heavier semesters, with 18 credits, rather than the normal 16 credits. In addition, I took a few intersession courses, which are courses that are offered in between the fall and spring semesters. I was surprised at how easy the process was to complete all of my required classes. The intersession courses were easily integrated into my normal schedule. I am glad that I was able to graduate early, because it saved me money and also allows me to get into the real world faster. I am extremely excited to get a job and enter into adulthood.
What are some of your favorite things about Grove City?
I love my friends. Many of them I met three years ago, on my freshmen hall, and we are still extremely close today. In addition, I was able to be a part of Young Life, which was an awesome opportunity and ministry experience. I was a leader at Sharon Middle School, and was able to make many close friends within the community of Young Life. I also like how my relationships and opportunities helped me grow closer to God.
What was your favorite class that you took at Grove City?
My favorite class was Wellness Promotion and Programming. It is an Exercise Science class that I just took as an elective, but it turned out to be one of my favorite classes that I have ever taken! The class was taught by Professor DiDonato and taught me so much about leadership and good communication.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m moving back home to Downington, PA. I plan on continuing my ministry with Young Life there. I eventually want to be a guidance counselor at a high school or middle school. I’m excited for what the future holds, but am still sad to leave Grove City College. It is definitely a bitter-sweet transition.
Abigail Cunningham, ’17, is a Communications major from State College, Pennsylvania. She interned at Hope for New York in New York City during the summer of 2016.
1. Where did you intern last summer and what was your position title?
I was the communications intern at Hope for New York in New York City. Hope for New York is a nonprofit that works to mobilize financial and volunteer resources to different charities around the city. People can donate to Hope for New York, and the organization disperses that money based off of needs to different deserving charities across the city. In addition, if an individual, group, or family wishes to volunteer, but they do not know how to get in touch with charities, Hope for New York will connect those volunteers with organizations of interest. The company works for a lot of different demographics such as risk adolescents, teen moms, children, un-incarcerated men and women, and the homeless. As an intern, I worked on the blog, worked on increasing the company’s social media presence, and wrote thank you letters to donors. I also worked on two big projects throughout the internship and presented a new strategy for their Instagram as well as a proposal on how to reach millennial donors more effectively. I also had the opportunity to present this proposal to the staff and communications director. It was a really cool experience to see how my suggestions on how to change their website and Instagram were taken into account months after my internship.
2. How did you secure your internship?
When I started looking for internships, I knew that I wanted somewhere that I would not have to pay for housing. I have some family that work in NYC and they offered me free housing in exchange for nannying for them part time. My sister-in-law is an event planner at Redeemer Church, which was started by Tim Keller. Redeemer started Hope for New York and shares an office with the organization. My sister put me in contact with the communications director and we chatted back and forth. I later went in for an interview, and they gave me the position.
3. What are some of the top things you learned while interning?
I learned that emailing is such a vital form of communication in the professional world. My internship emphasized the importance of writing emails, having proper wording and grammar, and responding quickly and efficiently. I also learned how to be flexible with people who come from a different background. I also learned how to have an honest and understanding dialogue others of differing views. I also observed difficulties within the non-profit arena. Part of the difficulty results in working for the Kingdom while also catering to the demands of this world.
4. How did your Grove City Education help you?
My college experienced helped me prepare me for hard work. There are a lot of people on this campus that work really hard and our professors as well as peers expect us to do our best, not slack off, and set a high standard for ourselves. Going into my internship, I had that mindset of hard work that I realized is not as evident in other places. Grove City also equipped me to use my gifts to the best of my ability and for God’s glory. The Communications department, in particular, helped me form cohesive and systematic thoughts and arguments.
5. What was your favorite part of your internship?
My favorite part of the internship included the office environment. It was cool to be around other Christians in an office setting. They worked really hard and did a lot of work, but at the end of the day, they really cared about each other as people and were working towards serving the Lord.
Crowds are curious things. As I have navigated many in airports, train stations, and other public places in France this semester, I’ve been surprised at how a path through the crowd that my friend took ahead of me, a few seconds ago, is not necessarily the path I should take. People are moving constantly and I need to keep moving as well if I do not want to lose my guide.
Dr. Cory Boatright, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Grove City College, has done research on crowd simulation since 2011. Crowd simulations are usually of pedestrians, and are defined by giving hundreds or thousands of virtual agents a starting position and a destination. When the simulation starts, individuals begin to make their way through the ever-changing crowd. While visualization is not required, it is helpful for understanding. Below is a screenshot from Dr. Boatright’s work:
While working on his Ph.D., Dr. Boatright’s research focused on using a data-driven approach to crowd simulation, instead of a procedural or geometrical take, with the intent of making the simulation faster. This past summer, two Grove City students worked on updating the framework used for the simulation. When that project is completed, it will be easier to set up simulations to research other things.
“The nifty thing about crowd simulation,” Dr. Boatright noted, “is that it crosses a lot of fields — everything from massively parallel computing to law enforcement.” One interesting application explored in a paper [1] is using software to process a video feed of a crowd, update a live model of the crowd, and predict destinations of pedestrians. The software could then flag unusual behavior, like someone in a lobby who has been wondering about and is not taking a direct path anywhere.
A second research interest for Dr. Boatright is vectorizing raster graphics. A raster image is essentially defined by a grid of pixels, where every pixel has a defined color. Photos, for instance, are raster images. A vector image, on the other hand, uses shapes or paths to define what is seen. Thus a vector image has infinite resolution. Vector graphics are generally used in design, while raster graphics are used for photos.
So when might one want to vectorize a raster image? Boatright referenced Wendell August Forge, which often makes ornaments based on photos provided by customers. This requires an artist to take the photo and trace the important paths in a vector format. If this task could be completed with software, it would save a lot of time.
Boatright has always been interested in large-scale problems and squeezing as much performance as possible out of a computer. Although crowd simulations and IBM’s Watson do very different things, Boatright’s simulation can handle thousands of virtual agents on his personal PC, while Watson fills a room.
Anyone interested in computer science will find that GCC professors, like Dr. Boatright, have a wealth of interesting research to draw on — and some of the research areas present opportunities for students to get involved.
1. Boatright, Cory D.; Kapadia, Mubbasir; Shapira, Jennie M.; Badler, Norman I. (2012). Pedestrian Anomaly Detection using Context-Sensitive Crowd Simulation. In First International Workshop on Pattern Recognition and Crowd Analysis.
Ask any student, and they will tell you: Grove City keeps you busy. For the most part, it’s a good thing and a natural result of being at a rigorous school that also has many extracurricular opportunities — from clubs to IM sports to competitions to speakers to concerts. I am a tiny bit jealous, for instance, to have missed out on Os Guiness and Keith and Kristyn Getty. But only a tiny bit.
Of course, the main cause of the busyness is classes and associated assignments — which is a good thing, because students are in college to learn.
Grove City understands, however, that from time to time what we need as students — more than another paper to write or exam to take — is a nice long break. It’s actually a biblical idea:
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1, ESV)
In the fall, the big break is Thanksgiving break, and it lasts a week. The dorms close and everyone goes somewhere, usually home. (We also get a few days off earlier in the term, but the dorms remain open so a small minority of students stay on campus — usually those for whom travel would not make sense.) In the spring, we have a short and a long break as well; this year, Easter is the short break and we have the week-long spring break in early March. It’s a time to relax and see family and friends, and maybe catch up on some work if needed.
When I came to France for the semester, I knew I would miss Thanksgiving at home. But I also knew I would get the opportunity to see more of Europe. It proved to be a most extraordinary break.
* * *
It all began Friday morning with a quick run to the laundromat. I’d had an extremely busy week, culminating in a Control Systems exam the day before. Dr. Bright, our department chair, had been with us the entire week and so the electrical engineers had some class exercises to do with him that we hadn’t been able to do remotely. On Wednesday, Dr. Bright took us on a field trip to La Rochelle.
Unfortunately, I gave my traveling partners a little scare, as they checked to see if I was ready to go and found the room vacant. It all worked out, however; I folded and packed my laundry and was ready to roll in short order, and somehow did not forget anything important.
We started our break in Munich, Germany. The flight there was uneventful, though we had a layover in England and the folks there were confused as to why we were going to Germany and not the motherland. We said nothing of the Revolution. In fact, I would have loved to visit on a weekend trip, but it didn’t pan out; when I heard my friend Sam, who had taken some German in high school, was planning a trip to Germany, I knew I wanted to tag along. I have heard great things from friends about Germany, and it was definitely a good choice.
By Friday at 11 p.m., we had found our Airbnb and made a game plan for the next day.
Over the next three days,we hit a lot of highlights in Munich: We dined at the Hofbrauhus, visited the Dutchess Museum, saw the BMW Welt, walked through the Olympic Park, and visited the concentration camp at Dachau — a sobering experience. (The entrance to the camp proclaims, in German, “Work will set you free.”)
Strolling through Olympic Park in MunichI’m a big fan of Christmas markets, and got this German sausage with sauerkraut and a pretzel. Delicious!
On Sunday, I went with one of my friends to Munich International Community Church. It is always encouraging to me to see faithful churches all across the world — the pastor certainly didn’t pull any punches unpacking the second half of Colossians 3. Afterwards, I joined some of the young people at that church for dinner at the nearest Subway. We came from all over the world, but shared a common bond in Christ, and had an enjoyable hour together.
On Tuesday, we went to Neuchwanstein, a castle that inspired Disney. For this day, we met with four other friends who were passing through Germany. The trip took all day, as we had to take a train to Füssen and then a bus to the castle. It was definitely worth it! I found it particularly interesting to see how much Ludwig II had been influenced by Wagner; he was obsessed with the Ring Cycle and a surprising amount of the art in the castle reflected this style.
Behold Neuchwanstien Castle!
On Wednesday, our traveling band of six was cut in half. We all had different plans for the rest of break. I was with a group of three headed for Salzburg, where we arrived around 10 a.m.
Salzburg was my favorite city of the semester. The city is literally set in the Alps. It is also where The Sound of Music was filmed. (Of course, we had to watch the movie the following evening!) We spent the day walking around: We spent a good bit of time in the Salzburg Cathedral, which I think was the most elaborate cathedral I have ever seen; we stopped at the Christmas market, where we got some great food and I got a Christmas ornament; and we took a little hike up into the mountain, which afforded a beautiful view of the city, and of the surrounding mountains.
An afternoon view of the city of SalzburgWe watched the sun set behind the Alps.
That night, we took a train to Vienna. We arrived to our Airbnb at a reasonable hour, and spotted the Aldi a block away. The weather was not great on Thursday, but we walked around the island and I got some pictures. On Friday, we went to an art museum, and I could not believe my eyes: three self-portraits of Rembrandt, a room filled with Pieter Bruegel’s works… it was almost too good to be true!
Later on Friday, our friend from Italy arrived and we prepared dinner for everyone at our Airbnb before heading out for a concert.
On Saturday, I left my camera behind. I forgot it and remembered just down the street, but decided to leave it behind; there is more to a memorable break than a camera could ever capture, anyway, and sometimes it is more of a drag than an aid. I do not want to always see the world through the lens of my DSLR.
We went to Schönbrunn Palace and then visited some other spots. As evening came, we visited one of the Christmas markets, where we got dinner (spätzle for one of us and sausages for the others) and did a little gift shopping. I found some nice things for family members.
On Sunday, we flew back, but took advantage of our layover in Brussels. It was a little crazy, but we managed to get from the airport into the city and then back without missing our flight. One person on the trip knew two high school friends who were studying there and were happy to show us around. If we had figured out the luggage-storage spots or the ticket machines faster, we might have had more than an hour downtown, but it worked out and was certainly more fun than sitting in the airport for a couple hours. Plus, who doesn’t like adrenaline?
Of the three Thanksgiving breaks I’ve had during my time at Grove City, this was certainly the most unconventional. There was no family, no turkey, and no football. But what a break it was!
However, I’m also glad to be back: As I write, I have just less than two weeks here in France. I’m committed to making the most of it! I’ve got homework, yes, and finals… but also thirteen more days to say bonjour, to go downtown, and to thank God for this incredible opportunity.
