A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E - Colby-Sawyer College

Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is home
to the European Parliament, and its historic
city center was designated a World Heritage
site by UNESCO
I love it. I just feel like I learn
from everything I do. I like taking
the classes, but I wish I could just
spend the rest of my life learning
from being around everything
I’m around. I love France. And
the Chateau is wonderful. I like
it because we’re kind of in the
country here but it’s really easy to
get to the city.
–Kylie Dally, Vt.
Elise gently y tells
her mother that she can’t talk
now now, promises to to call later, later and
disconnects, smiling. What has she
learned about herself in the five five
weeks she’s been in France?
“I think I’ve learned I can actually live without my mother,
though she might not care to hear that,” Elise says. “I have one
of those mothers who likes to do everything for you, and now
I’m doing everything for myself. I’m proud of myself. I used to
rely on her for everything, but I’ve learned I can do more than
I thought I could.”
Hearing her voice, Jose Diarte, from Paraguay, and Miles
Wylie, from Massachusetts, wander down to join Elise. They
and the 12 other students in the France group left just four days
after the students bound for Florence, but they didn’t arrive at
the Chateau until Sept. 19. The group spent 10 days exploring
the treasures of the City of Light, then took five days to drive
to Strasbourg in Alsace, next to the German border. Along the
way, they stopped at Chartres Cathedral, chateaus, a fromage
tasting, museums and a concentration camp.
After the whirlwind of orientation on campus and then
two weeks of activities in Paris and on the road, it was
Photos (Left to right):
Maria Cimpean, Jayme Severance,
Hannah Odio and resident assistant
Nicole Morin ’11 explore Strasbourg.
The Château de Pourtalés is both home
and learning center for the Strasbourg
students.
David Hart, Miles Wylie, Mayra Padilla,
Greg Desgrosseilliers, Charlotte Doucette
and Jose Diarte take a break at a
Strasbourg café.
Wang Yu Jia from China works in her
room at the Château.
42 COLBY-SAWYER ALUMNI MAGAZINE
hard to settle into
a life
at the cha-
teau which more
closely close resembled
that of a residen-
tial college. With
two quiet weekends
end set aside for
the
students to
adj adjust to their
wo workload and
tak take a breather
in
their new
ho home, the
gr group in France
st started to get
aantsy
and feel a
bit like young younger siblings as
they y heard
stories of f the
Florence group’s indep independent travel,
even as the promise of f their
own travel adventur adventures awaited.
Not even two miles from the center of Strasbourg, the
Château feels a world apart from the busy capital of Alsace,
with its beautiful park setting and hundreds of acres of gardens
and trails. Strasbourg is close, though, and easily accessible
by bus with passes provided to students. In 20 minutes, the
Global Beginners could be studying in a library surrounded by
university students, or sitting at a café watching scenes unfold
before them, but many find it hard to leave the comfort of
the Château.
“It’s frustrating to have all this temptation around us
because we want to go out and experience things and travel and
all that, but we have to find time to do our work and balance
stuff,” Miles says, after being at the Château for two weeks.
Finding the balance early on may be hard, but it’s not
impossible. At that very moment, Maria Cimpean, a first-year
honors student from Romania, stops by to ask the three if they
will attend the first group dinner planned for that evening.