An Update

Sorry that it has been so long since I've updated. I'll try to catch you up on what i've been doing.
After getting back from Strasbourg, I had a full week of classes. They went by pretty quick but I did have a quiz in French and Art. Neither test was hard though. I have another French quiz today, actually.
On Wednesday nights everyone in the MUDEC program is required to attend an orientation session. Each week the session is different but in the past they have had a bunch of lectures. We played large group Spoons which was really fun. It got pretty competitive and maybe a little dangerous but no one got seriously injured. Afterward we got dinner at Fast Food Diff, which was delicious. It's one of only a few places where you can get chicken in Luxembourg.
Over the weekend I went to Cologne, Germany with seven other people. We decided to only spend one night there to try to save money so we took the train right after school on Friday, stayed the night, and then same back to Lux Saturday afternoon. Our hostel was the shadiest I have stayed in so far. They didn't provide sheets, and no one wanted to pay for them, so we all ended up sleeping straight on a mattress. I was grossed out so I laid down my coat and slept on that instead. Also, the walls had weird stains on them. I tried not to investigate those too close.
We ate dinner in some cheap steak house that was pretty good except for the water. They only had mineral water which pretty much tasted like dirt. It was cold though, so that's a plus. Carnival festivities are starting so the restaurant had clowns all over it. Carnival is the festival that starts before lent and it's basically just like a really extended Mardi Gras. I think the point of it is to get all the "sin" out of your system so you can be holy during lent. Seems like a pretty strange concept to me. Most cities get really into it- they all have festivals and take on a certain theme and the people dress up in costumes and paint their faces. Although I think it's weird, I'm not complaining because we get a full week off of school. We're going to Spain, so that will be awesome!
On Saturday morning, we went to a chocolate museum. It was really neat to see the evolution of chocolate and how it's made. Also, the samples were great as well. We got their early because we were told if you arrive early there is a chance they'll pick you to help make chocolate and you get to keep all your "mistakes", unfortunately we weren't chosen. Some little girl was having a birthday party so they got to help, lame.
For lunch we went to a German restaurant. I ordered Weinersnitchel. Much more authentic than my usually hamburger with ketchup only. Weinersnitchel is just breaded pork with a cool name. But I'd never eaten it before, so I'm proud of myself for trying something new. It also came with delicious potatoes. This time, I stayed on the safe side and ordered a coke. I'm not taking anymore chances with German water. If you were wondering, the coke in Europe is pretty much the same as the coke in the US except is has a little less flavor and a little less carbonation. It basically tastes like coke in a 2 liter bottle that has been left open for a few hours. Yum....
After lunch we walked to the Dom, which is really a cathedral. It was beautiful and huge. We didn't get to climb to the top because we planned our time horribly and had to catch a train. Four of us made it on one train and the other three had to catch a later train. It was a bit stressful, but we all made it home eventually.
It was nice to be home all day Sunday. Hannah, Jenn, and I went to the grocery with Danie and she helped us find things and read us the Luxembourgish labels. We bought a few essentials and the materials to make chocolate chip cookies. By the way, they don't have chocolate chips in Europe...or baking soda, or vanilla. We had to improvise but they turned out tasting pretty good. For the chips, we just chopped up a block of chocolate. I don't think our host family had ever eaten chocolate chip cookies before, but as far as I can tell, they liked them. We also got our laundry done and cleaned our room and just hung out with our family. At night I skyped with family and friends from home which was really fun just to catch up.
It has been snowing like crazy here. I feel like I'm living in a snow globe. It's not that there is a ton of snow on the ground (probably 5 inches), but the flakes are really big and so they're pretty and all the snow has been sticking to the trees. It looks like a winter wonderland. However, I am flying to Florence, Italy with my class tomorrow so I hope our flight doesn't get delayed or cancelled. Because of the snow, my professor is late to class. It was supposed to start ten minutes ago. It's a great day!