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A program guide to a journey that never ends...
Kugelman Honor Program, The University of West Florida and www.globalizedu.com
The Village 2014vil·lage ˈvilij/ noun a group of houses and associated buildings, larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town, situated in a rural area. synonyms:
small town, hamlet;
More
a self-contained district or community within a town or city, regarded as having features characteristic of village life.
The Village Program
1 Place du College
Pontlevoy 41400
France
Only one person does your learning.
That person is also in charge of your traveling.
The others may have a hard time waking up for petit dejeuner.
Your roommates may hate your Journey course hostel.
Professor Kaufmann may seem to get you lost in Tours.
Professor Siesling might be too enthusiastic for early mornings.
Dublin might make you forget how much you loved Paris.
Krakow's Central Station may have no coffee for you at 7 am.
Your feet may be blistered. Again.
Professor Anglin may have more energy than your whole family.
Matt Starns may always dress well.
But there's only one person in charge of all that you see and do.
Who decides every day to relish the The Village?
You.
There are times to "travel heavy" in life. The Village isn't one of them.
You'll find yourself moving from a plane to a train to a metro to a ferry to walking, everywhere. (That's just one day.)
Try laying out everything you want to take to Europe. And then have a friend remind you how much you hate some of the things you laid out. Ditch those things.
Then when you've paired down your pile to fit in a backpack and a small rollbehind, say aloud: I will be the only person who will carry my stuff over there, ever.
Travel Philosophy.
When you're walking to a hostel in one of our cities, you'll want to be able to pop into a cafe and lay your burden down without causing a calamity. (Paris rewards you for taking a load off and sitting with a book and a coffee. So do Dublin and Berlin.)
Have you seen the misery on people's faces when they know they've overpacked? And they've got nobody else to blame?
Traveling lightly is traveling well. Because then as your coffee becomes a second and you're conversing excitedly with the people at your table about your new city? Your heart is in play with your head. And your back and shoulders won't be sore from the schlepping of excess bags. Which will also mean that you never have to pay a supplemental fee on a plane or train because you brought too much to carry on, easily.
Things you carry.
A backpack can be a super way to get your stuff to Europe.
You'll see students all over using them.
Don't worry about getting a huge one.
Or an expensive one.
In fact be audacious and get a smaller one and a cheaper one.
It will work well.
And if you bring a suitcase, try finding a small and cheap one.
20" suitcases almost always work on European airlines.
22" suitcases sometimes do and always do on flights from the US.
Larger ones never work as carry-ons anywhere.
So a big suitcase usually means paying a surcharge.
Bring only what you love and what you know you will wear.
And then buy things in Europe as you travel, to augment what you brought.
Try getting your rig packed and walking with it up and down stairs.
Are you good with what you've got after 45 minutes of lugging?
Your Rig.
Some of us aren't organized by nature. On The Village, we ask you to be.
Our classrooms may stay put for awhile, but then they may also move nearly every day.
It's your responsibility to know when and where class starts every day and to come prepared to engage.
Remember your jacket if class is mobile and outdoors. And your umbrella. And shoes you can walk in all day, especially during your Journey Course.
Tired and grumpy? Saddle up for a double espresso. Then fake a good mood until a real one settles in.
Say aloud: I will never miss a class. And I will never be the problem or the complainer unless I just can't help it.
You. All sorted.
Where's your passport? Start being able to answer this question without any pause before you leave the USA.
Call your bank and credit card company so they now you're going to be traveling. Tell them where you'll be in Europe and how long you'll be gone. (Then they won't decline your charges.) Write down your credit card numbers and the phone numbers to call and give these to your family in case you lose your wallet. (They can help you by making calls if you need this.)
Make sure you've paid all fees to West Florida and to Globalizedu.
Plan your communication with your family. Let them know you'll be less available by far than usual. Have them follow you on Facebook. And let them know you will send an email when you've arrived in The Village.
Any meds you need? Get enough so that you're good for three months and pack them.
Getting set to go.
You'll need a small lock to use in your hostels, so you can lock up your things when you go out in the city for the day.
You'll need to learn to live well with everybody you meet, even when you're tired or maybe in a bad mood. The best attitude you can muster on a bad day is your calling card to the world as a traveler. How tough are you when three or four challenges happen at the same time? The Village will know.
You will need a travel converter to charge your US phone and computer. Get a universal one that will work in both the EU and the UK. You won't need a transformer, btw, just the plug converter shown here.
All the small things.
Tech liberates and also imprisons. (You've heard this.)
Part of being efficient means having some combo of tech and old-school communications. So you can stay connected and also punch out your work on The Village. This is all good. Note: Be patient when The Village's wifi crashes. (It will, and sometimes for a few days.)
And think about why you're on this journey. It is to Skype every night with friends or family at home? Or to go everywhere with earbuds in and your jam on? Or use Facebook through all your classes? (We mostly don't let you do this, btw.)
Because there are bells and sirens and accents and the warning sounds of trains, trams and bikes for you to hear. Fish mongers galore are calling in the streets.
Hear these new things. Then post about them later, when you're killing time on a train to Prague.
Re-wired.
..I'm usually not that person who gets out front of school stuff. But for this program I did. I knew how much I wanted to travel and do over there. So what would I recommend?"
Download all course materials in the USA.
Start reading for courses a week before you leave.
Download required films and save them to your laptop. Start watching.
Get city maps app at http://res.ulmon.com/
Set up a blog at http://wordpress.com.
Google European museums. Get a battleplan.
Getting ready to learn...
When you land in Paris, be sure to get everything you carried on with you collected as you leave the plane. Where's your passport? It needs to be ready but also safely tucked somewhere.
Off the plane you go, and your first task will be passport control. Is your best "Bonjour" ready to roll? Use it now and then head toward baggage claim to get your suitcase. Voila!
Now you have your gear and are ready to head to the large Sortie signs. Since you've got "rien a declarer," just follow the green signs and leave the secured area.
Now look for signs almost everywhere, pointing you toward the "Gare SNCF,' which is where everybody will be meeting to catch our group train down to the Loire Valley. So walk to the Gare SNCF and head down the escalators. Look for Matt Starns and other Village people in front of the cafe, just to the right of the large ticket office (billeterie). Everyone has different arrival times and terminals, so don't worry about being early or late. Just come find us!
Question: How will we ever recognize Matt Starns, our fearless program coordinator?
Answer: Matt will be waiting for you right by the cafe at the CDG Gare, just next to the ticket office. And he will look then much like he does in this picture. He carries the lime green cup with him everywhere.
If you arrive and your bags do not?
Or if you realize that you left something on the plane? This isn't fun or a great way to start The Village. But it's also not a huge deal. Stay calm, swallow hard and remember that you'll be fine.
Right by the baggage area you will find a help desk run by the airline that you used. Tell them what happened and give them this address so your bags can be delivered:
Abbaye de Pontlevoy
1 Place du College
Pontlevoy France
41400
Click the link right here for other questions or issues about CDG airport.
Bags lost or delayed?
The Village will be here at the Gare TGV
Our train from the CDG Gare leaves at 2:07 (you will notice that French times are given on a 24 hour clock, so 2:07 will be shown as 14:07) If you arrive in Paris early, just take the RER out to CDG and find us at the Gare TGV.
If your flight is badly delayed and you miss our train, just take this in stride. Send a Facebook message or call us on one of the phone numbers we will post on Facebook before you travel so that we know. Alternatively--
Then come to the train station and buy a second class train ticket for a trip to Montrichard. There are trains leaving at: 14:49, 16:21 and 18:08. Be sure to check where you need to transfer trains. Our group will change just once, at the Tours TGV station called St Pierre des Corps. But some of the later trains require two changes. Check how many connections you have and when they are, and then set your phone alarm so you don't sleep through a stop. Before hopping on your train, be sure to validate your new ticket by using the yellow composting machine.
Your train to the Loire Valley
How much did this ticket cost?
How many adults can travel on it?
Is it a first or second class ticket?
What date is the trip and where does the traveler start and plan to end?
When does the train leave and when does the traveler get to Metz?
What's the number of the second train the traveler will catch?
How long will the wait be for the second train?
What train car will the traveler be in on the second train?
And what seat/place will the traveler have in the designated train car?
What does NON FUM mean?
Hmmm...no seat or train car assigned for the first train? Why?
Because this is a small and slow train, and you can sit where you want on these as long as you sit in a second class car if that's what ticket you bought.
Your ticket as text: what does it say?
So what about that yellow machine that makes my ticket valid?
NOTE: Be sure to always keep your tickets--train, metro, RER and even Bus--in your pocket, safe, while you travel. You can have a conductor or a metro officer ask you at any time to produce your ticket. If you threw the ticket away, you'll be fined. Bummer.
When you head toward the platform to catch your train at CDG or anywhere else, check the monitors to verify that you're waiting on the right platform. You will also see a monitor that will show you the "composition de train," which will show you where along the platform to wait, so that you're standing very close to the train car that has your seat.
As the train rolls in, verify which voiture (car) you are supposed to get on. Then hop aboard once everyone getting off has done so. If you've packed smartly and lightly, this won't be a bone crushing moment. If not, you will have stories to tell.
Stow your bags in the areas provided at either end of the train car or in the middle, where there's usually another stowing area. And keep your carry on with you, to tuck above your seat. Find your seat, settle in, and marvel at what you're doing!
Aboard!
When you get to Montrichard with the group or on your own, we will be there to meet you with a van. From the gare in town, it's about 10 minutes to Pontlevoy.
You will be checked in and given your room key and meet your roomate(s.) Take some time to start unpacking and put some music on. Check out the views from your room. And the vintage furniture (all made with 200 year old Oak).
Your professors and program staff will be on hand to answer questions and to give you a tour of the historic campus that's about to become your home.
The evening will be perfect for a light supper at Cafe Le Commerce and then a gentle collapse into your bed.
Arrival in The Village.
Your first days in The Village will be special.
You will meet the town and the historic abbaye.
You will meet each other.
Your first walks will happen through the vinyards of the Loire Valley.
So will your first meals at Le Commerce.
You will find the grocery store.
And the ATM.
The pharmacy.
And where to get the best coffee in town with the oldest dog to help serve.
And you will go to Montrichard to shop, too.
And we hope to have a surprise there for you, hidden far underground.
And maybe more than just that one surprise?
And on Sunday you'll make a small pilgrimage as a group.
To where daVinci lived his last years and is burried.
You will get your bearings slowly, and we will help you to do this.
Arrival Weekend
Your home is a listed monument that will be 1000 years old before you turn 35.
The majestry and charm of the abbey are always brilliant.
The building's operating systems show their age sometimes, and this can feel frustrating.
Especially when the Wifi is also down.
And it's raining.
And your family either forgot your birthday or your care package got hung up in customs.
Your calling card in The Village will always be less about how you handle your best days than it will be about how you handle the hard ones.
You don't need to be a stoic. Or somebody who radiates sunshine in a deluge.
Just be honest. And find a way to remember that the systems will all work again, soon.
And that the sail on your ship might be the great days, when the old Abbey is perfect.
But the keel that keeps you moving ahead is something under your surface.
Attached to strength, character and self reliance.
When The Abbey does breaks down at times, remember that The Village never does.
And The Village will always be around you, when you need it.
You. At Home.
You won't ever forget your Abbey room.
Though it won't be especially big.
Or luxurious in any measure.
But it will be your home in Europe
Where you will share sleeping and living space with 1-2 people.
And look out over a formal French garden.
Or a 200 year old Cedar tree.
Or a medieval sundial on the wall of a 12th century cathedral.
You will have a small armoire for your clothes.
And an Oak bunk to sleep in.
Your pillow and duvet will be filled with comfy goosedown.
You'll have a sink and shower in your room.
In many cases, you'll have a toilet, too.
You'll have rules on the floor to follow, which Matt Starns will enforce.
The Village is serious about these, especially our Quiet Hours (after 11:00 PM).
And about being super respectful of everybody else on the floor.
Who, just like you, won't ever forget their Abbey rooms.
Abbey Living.
Village classes are all Honors classes, which means that they are meant to be intense, dynamic and active.
You will be required to attend class every day, ontime.
You will also be required to participate in all required elements of The Village Lab.
Your faculty will expect you to read the works you've been assigned.
Your learning will feel traditional at times.
And often if will feel new and sometimes even uncomfortably new.
Because your faculty may take your class for a walk in the rain.
Out to see the Druid site beyond the edge of town.
Where local legends meet Village learning.
And you may not understand much of the French you hear spoken to you, as the sheep farmer tells you which of his flock get into the sweater business and which are bound for the food service industry.
You will be busy with classes Monday - Thursday every week of term.
You will have excursions, service and projects related to The Village Lab on many Fridays, though most of these will end before 2:00 pm and terminate at a local train station.
So you can travel most weekends if you want, leaving early on Friday afternoon.
School.
Schedule of classes
Every one of your courses will have an active component.
That's The Village Lab (TVL).
TVL will include a variety of excursions. These will be required or not, depending on which classes you're taking.
TVL will also include service to Pontlevoy and some conservation work in and around our abbey.
And TVL will further include very practical kinds of work on the cultural/radio show that will be our group project for 2014.
As well as work with a woman who was a child resistance fighter in France during World War Two.
And similar work with a Holocaust survivor, who was deported to Auschwitz in 1944 as a 15 year old.
Do you want to read poetry onair?
Or be the person who translates it from French into English?
Are you a musician? A writer? Or someone who likes business and wants to market?
TVL will grab you and ask you to do things you've not done before.
Our TVL will be History, Psychology, Literature, French, Art History and you, all live from The Village.
The Village Lab.
Nobody who sees Chenonceau can forget it.
The chateau of women and of the Renaissance.
The bridge chateau.
The chateau that was also a hospital for American soldiers in the Great War.
On the Friday ending your first week of class, you will come here to learn.
And then TVL will have you hopping a train for Tours.
Which is one of the greatest college towns in Europe.
And also a city that the Romans helped put on the map.
You will study here, too.
At the Museum of Fine Arts.
And then inside the Gothic cathedral.
And in the streets and parks.
Before dropping your bags at our hostel.
Because The Village will be staying for the night.
So you can meet Europe properly and toast your first week.
The Village's nearest train station is in Montrichard.
This little market town on the Cher River is about 5 kilometers away.
Still overlooking the town is its battered and massive castle.
Which was a decisive fortification in the Battle of Pontlevoy.
And was also a notorious dungeon in the middle ages.
TVL will teach you here your second day in France.
So you can see over the river and view history and art from on high.
And then we expect TVL to surprise you.
With history and art and much more, seen and experienced from below.
Way below.
You might pack a hoodie by the way, even if it's hot when we start.
TVL: Montrichard and Blere.
The Romans came to Orleans.
So did 13 year old Joan of Arc.
Jean Calvin studied and wrote here.
So will you.
When TVL brings you here after travel break.
And art history, history and architecture will come alive.
So will you.
When you feel the energy of many thousands of students.
Who've come from all over Europe to learn here, too.
Spend the night, go back to The Village?
Or travel on?
TVL: Orleans.
There are picturesque places.
And melancholic ones.
And there's Oradour.
It's close to Limoges.
And in June of 1944, its citizens were martyred by the Nazis.
With just a few exceptions, everyone French in Oradour died in a single day.
When the citizens who worked in Limoges came back on the streetcar, they found smoke and corpses.
The old town was never rebuit.
It was left as a desiganted ruin to last for eternity.
Oradour is France's "martyred village."
You will come here with TVL, to consider history, psychology and memory.
And to see the town where 642 people died on 10 June 1944.
The new town of Oradour looks down on the ruins from a safe distance.
So do the rest of us, who come from all over the world to remember.
TVL: Oradour.
France is known for food. You will soon know why.
Lunch will be part of your learning, and Mon-Fri each week that will put you at Cafe le Commerce. The plat du jour or salad of the day is included for you at no cost.
You will buy your own drinks at the Cafe, so set up a tab like the French do!
Dinners will be your own exploration.
The grocery store in Pontlevoy has odd hours. You will learn them.
Ditto the bakery.
You'll get things to cook in the abbey's old kitchen on many nights.
And on some nights you will eat cereal or salad or cheese and bread.
For breakfast: the bakery will become an addiction.
For afternoon coffee and a treat: the bakery, again.
And for a special night or two? The Restaurant at Hotel de l'Ecole in town awaits.
So you will grab something in the morning.
And feast each weekday for lunch.
And make something work for dinner.
While you wait to travel, and find the very best street eats that Europe has on offer.
Food.
You will use every conceivable mode of transportation on The Village.
Your first trip will be by train, and so will many other trips.
To help you to leave Pontlevoy for weekend trips and to get back to it, The Village will schedule a train station drop and pick up each weekend with our van.
You'll sign up for this service no later than Thursday at noon each week.
We'll schedule only 1 Sunday pickup time, in the evening. You'll know this time and schedule your return to the Loire Valley around that time. (Or you can arrange a local taxi on your own if you want to come in later.)
For the excursions we do on TVL, we will use vans, trains and coaches. You will always know well in advance when and where to meet for these trips. These will mostly be on Friday mornings, and they will allow you to hop on a train to start your weekend travel no later than 3 on Fridays and earlier in some cases..
Local Transportation.
Nobody in Europe ever misses a chance to get a deal on travel.
Every European country offers students and others under the age of 26 the chance to travel on most trains for as much as half price.
Every person under 26 who travels in Europe takes advantage of this gift.
You should too.
Bring an extra passport picture over with you to The Village.
And if you're waiting at the CDG Gare on arrival day, go ahead and buy your Carte Jeune 12-27 on your first day. Otherwise, get it our first Saturday in Montrichard or Sunday in Amboise.
You will spend 50 Euros on this card. It will repay you ever single time you travel on a train, anywhere.
Train Discount Cards.
Your family or friends may want to join you in The Village.
This can be a terrific thing for everybody.
You will want to choose the best time for you to have such a visit.
It can be great to have visitors come to Pontlevoy.
This is best done either the week before Journey courses.
Or the weeks after break.
If you choose the latter, think about how you will be tired after break.
This might mean that the week JUST after break wouldn't be best.
Also think how you are likely to feel the very last week.
In terms of wanting to really nest for a last time with your friends.
This might mean that the final week is also not the best.
Either the second or third week back after break could work best?
Otherwise, you might decide to travel with your visitor(s) for break.
Students have done this and loved it.
It's your decision.
Visitors.
Winston Churchill called it their "finest hour."
The hour he was referring to was the Battle of Britain.
Not only did the British almost lose the battle.
But to win it, they lost many tens of thousands of lives.
Journey Course will be your finest hour on The Village.
It will almost never be easy, and that's part of why it will be so special.
Your hostels will be centrally located, spartan and sometimes rough.
You will be staying with your classmates, together with other travelers.
Some of whom may become friends for life, if you're open to being open.
You will have sleeping cars on trains or cabins on ferries, so you can travel at night.
You will walk many, many miles and learn every day, all over the place.
Your classrooms will be outside, in the elements, and you will be tired sometimes.
And tested much of the time.
Active learning is hard. Its rewards are immeasurable.
And they won't just be academic rewards.
They will be personal rewards: pride, self confidence and self reliance chief among these.
Journey...
The Village moves around Europe and stays in hostels as we travel.
Hostels are very basic and simple places to sleep and recharge.
They aren't hotels and don't have a hotel's comfort or amenities.
Mostly, they have shared bathrooms in the hall.
Mostly, they have large bunkrooms to sleep a dozen people or more.
Mostly, they don't distinguish by gender in terms of sleeping rooms.
Many of them have a period each day when you can't use your room.
Because that's when the hostels are cleaned.
Hostels are almost always very centrally located.
And very safe.
Many of them have lockers you can use, to stow your things.
These lockers can accept a lock you bring with you, to assure security.
While you're out all day with class, or exploring on your own.
And doing what you came to do in Europe.
Sometimes with the random people you just met in your hostel.
Whose friendship can be both immediate and very lasting.
Hostels.
It's common to hear it said that today's college students aren't tough.
That their parents have handed them too many things.
While being too permissive and piling on the praise to the nth degree.
And in the process sugar-coating the truth about how hard life can be.
Maybe this is true.
But The Village believes otherwise.
Instead our mantra is that students will go hard, everyday, to learn.
And to feel what it means to be pushed and then to succeed.
Successes are so often very small.
Like ordering a croissant and using your French.
Or calling the taxi in Montrichard and being understood.
But the successes build up and multiply.
Like the day your class walks the cliffs to Greystone, just out of Dublin.
Or when you come back to Krakow after a day at Auschwitz.
Or when you're ready to set off on break to travel.
All of Europe is there to be seen. You'll need to plan carefully.
And make tough decisions every day on what to see and where to go.
Toughness.
TVL will bring you to Normandy to launch your Journey courses.
To get to the D-Day beaches, we will use a coach and leave early in the morning.
You will have taken your midterm exams the day before.
And you will be leaving Pontlevoy for about three weeks.
Because Journey courses lead directly into your travel break.
So you'll need to plan carefully to get ready to leave.
Laundy will need doing, and you'll have to pack with care.
On the coach, you'll have a pair of films to view.
To ready you (if anyone is ever ready) for Omaha Beach.
Where class will go in the afternoon.
Before going to the American Cemetery.
And the infamous Pointe du Hoc.
That night your Journey course will have dinner together in Bayeux.
And you will spend the night.
Before seeing the world-famous Bayeux Tapestry the next morning.
And then leaving again by coach. To spend a week in Paris.
Normandy.
Paris belongs in The Village because it has to.
No place is like it, anywhere.
You'll roll into the city on Saturday afternoon.
And check into our hostel.
Which is right in the heart of the Bastille neighborhood.
And you'll get some marching orders from your professors.
And perhas a neighborhood tour.
Before having the first of seven nights to fall in love with this city.
And the real start of your Journey course on Sunday morning.
Mostly class will be in the morning and early afternoon.
(Your other Village courses will all be on hiatus.)
As your small and mobile Journey course takes you all over the city.
Until you leave the next Saturday in the afternoon or early evening.
For London, by train and a night ferry with sleeping cabins.
Or by night train with couchettes, for Berlin and beyond.
Paris.
Break will start in whatever city is your Journey course's endpoint.
You will be free to travel on Sunday morning 26 October as early as you wish.
You will have a full week to travel.
The Village will coordinate pick up times at the Montrichard gare for Sunday 2 Nov.
We will also help you think about and plan this trip well before you do it.
So you can get the best voyage possible for the budget you've got.
And so you travel with the right-sized group.
And can be clear to everybody about what you want to see and do.
And so you have a strategy to travel with success.
Plus many small tactics on how to save money and reduce drama.
But then in the end it will be your experience.
Your own journey, together with new friends.
And the new skills you've learned will be on full display.
Together with all the character, toughness and self-reliance you can muster.
There will be tension points and stress when you take off on your own.
Thank goodness for that, by the way.
Travel Break.
There are three categories of trains in Europe that you're likely to be using for Break:
Slower trains that don't accept reservations, meaning that you just hop on and grab a seat. Higher speed trains that recommend a reservation but don't require one, meaning that if you're traveling on a busy Sunday or Friday and don't have a seat reserved, you may be standing or squatting with your bags for some of the journey. Sleeper trains and high-speed trains that require a reservation. These trains won't let you ride without a reservation. Reservations are a supplemental fee, ranging from 9 Euros for a seat to as high as 60 euros for a bed.You will want to purchase the carte jeune 12-27 to help your budget where train tickets are concerned.
Eurail passes are less advantageous for many students, because flights are so cheap and easy for longer trips. If you want a Eurail pass, you should buy it no later than 25 August from www.raileurope.com.
When you board a train, always let the conductor know if you're not sure your ticket is right or if you have questions. They will help you, always.
Trains.
Flying can save you time in Europe and isn't costly, especially if you have long distances to travel.
If you book a flight, be sure to look at departure times very carefully, so you don't have a conflict with any requirements of The Village.
Also look carefully at the airports you will be flying into and out of: how far out of your cities are these, and how will you get to and from these?
Check on bag restrictions, too. Europeans travel with tiny bags. Anything more and a flier gets charged extra.
Be sure you get e-ticket and check-in information.
Start your flight search here: www.ryanair.com.
Planes.
Let us know your detailed travel plans. Ditto your family.
Leave your earbuds/headphones out when walking.
Let us know immediately if you don't feel well.
When you go out at night do it in groups.
Know how to get back to your hostel, always.
Travel with friends during Acceleration.
Don't carry more cash than you can afford to lose
Trust yourself if something feels wrong. Forget being nice.
Adhere to our rules about locks and gates at and around The Abbey.
Keeping yourself safe.
Water is your friend. Drink it and carry it with you.
Coffee and hot chocolate are amazing in Europe.
If you drink alcohol, be moderate and safe.
Follow the Europeans and have food with your beer or wine.
Stay with friends if you're drinking. Leave when the night is done.
Don't accept drinks from strangers.
Learn and respect the "systems" for ordering and paying in each city.
Fluids.
Get a GPS app for the iPad/Kindle that doesn’t require WiFi. Honestly, don’t pack a lot of clothes. Do some of your reading BEFORE you head off for Europe. Speaking of which, the WiFi can be a bit shoddy at The Abbey and in the hostels. Download everything you need from iTunes and the Kindle (or Kindle for Mac app) before you leave the US. Food can be expensive or cheap depending on where you look. Spend your time and money on things you wouldn’t try at home – it’s worth it. There are plenty of places to go out in every city. Ask the professors, the people who work at the hostel, and some locals. Google places as well. Take out only enough money for a week and a half. ATMs pretty much dot the streets where you're going. Major commercial places will accept debit or credit cards, but it’s easier to pay for things in smaller stores and cafes with cash. Be careful in Amsterdam – bike lanes aren’t a joke. Bikers take their stuff seriously, so just be on the lookout. Fares for Berlin S-Bahns, U-Bahns, Ring-bahns, and trams are bought either on the trams or at the train station, where they must be validated. They aren’t checked all the time, but if you’re train hopping without a valid fare, you will get a penalty. Keep all addresses, phone numbers, and important details in a notebook. Use the Facebook group! Advice.
European cities and European travel are hallmarks of safety. Caution is still your best friend. So is being prepared.
If you feel unsure of your safety at any time, walk into a store, a hotel, a train station or anywhere that's populated. Then text us and look for police.
Stay away from political protests. They're usually peaceful in every way, but stay away anyhow.
If any geo-political issue arises while you're traveling, get to a wifi spot and send an email to your family and to our program staff. Also check in on our Facebook group. We will post instructions there.
Text Dr. Mackaman at 001-651-341-1806.
Emergency.112=911
anywhere in Europe
--Attendance is required at all lectures and visits.
--Nobody is ever late for class.
--If your conduct in any way seems to jeopardize the safety of others or yourself, you will be sent home from the program.
--Missing class three times can be grounds for sending you home from the program.
--Being late for class or a scheduled session by more than 5 minutes constitutes a missed class.
--There are no refunds possible in the event that you are sent home from the program.
--Excessive drinking that seems in any way dangerous to you or others can constitute grounds for being sent home from the program.
--Academic assignments must be turned into faculty in the format required by the dates assigned in order to count.
Rules.
Dr. Doug Mackaman
Director
dougmackaman@gmail.com
001.651.341.1806
Mme. Elizabeth Anglin
Manager
meanglin@att.net
French phone to add 8/29
M. Matthew Starns
Coordinator
matt.starns@gmail.com
French phone to add 8/29
M. Johan Jaffry
Director, Eur-Am Center
06.86.53.74.09
jjaffry@provisions.com
The Village Administration
Professor Elizabeth Anglin, Advanced French
meanglin@att.net
Professor Julia Elsky, History and Journey Course
julia.elsky@gmail.com
Professor Kathy Kaufmann, Beginning and Intermediate French
katharineelaine@gmail.com
Professor Doug Mackaman, French History
dougmackaman@gmail.com
Professor Mary McCay, Literature and Journey Course
mccay@loyno.edu
Professor Jan Siesling, Art History
sieslingjan@gmail.com
Profssor Sherry Schneider, Psychology and J0urney Course
sschneider@uwf.edu
Village
Faculty