2003-07-30
l'Universite Spatial Internationale

6:44 a.m.

4.5 hours down, 3.5 to go. Usually I try to stay for my Russian class, which is 12-1, but I think that today, I am just too tired. I guess that's what happens when one averages 3.5 hours of sleep a night for three nights in a row. I also have to go to the store and buy dog food. Last night, the dogs ate chicken, bread, and dog biscuits for dinner. Healthy.

4:51 a.m.

I am going to the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France. Click HERE if you want to find out more about it; don't worry if the link doesn't work as sometimes it goes down so try again later. It's an eleven-month program, and the end result will be a Master's of Space Studies (MSS), which is the only degree that they offer. There are about 40 or so students in the entire program. ISU also has a ten-week summer program that travels from place to place; last year it was in California, this year it is in Strasbourg, and next year it will be in Australia. (The NASA Academy that I went to at Goddard in the summer of 2001 was modeled after that program.) Students come from all over the world, and from all different backgrounds - space agencies, industry, military, universities, etc.

I said that the program is eleven months. That is true. However, only eight of those months will be actually spent in Strasbourg, taking classes. The other three will be spent somewhere else in an internship. Past students have done their internships here at JSC, other US space centers, international space agencies, universities, industry, etc. - anything is okay as long as it somehow relates to space. After the internship, we return back to ISU and finish things up and graduate. I am hoping to do my internship at the European Space Agency (ESA). They have several locations for their various projects, and right now it looks like I might be able to work in the Columbus Control Center (Columbus is the name of ESA's module for the Station), located just south of Munich, Germany. The internship used to be mid-February to mid-May, but starting this year it's May to July. So, if you want to come visit, please plan accordingly!

How did this all come about? First, last fall I told my management et al that I wanted to apply and we looked at the how, when, and why. At the time, I was assigned to working STS-114/ULF-1 which was to fly in March, and STS-118/13A.1 (what would have been Columbia's first mission to the Station, and with Barbara Morgan - Christa McAuliffe's back-up on the ill-fated Challenger mission - onboard) which was to fly in October of this year. So, it meant that I could work ULF-1, but not 13A.1, but as that was all I was assigned to, that was not too difficult to rearrange. I was given their blessing, and on January 31, 2003, I sent in my application. The next day, Columbia. However, since everything was put on hold, this turned out to be the perfect time to go as I would miss a minimal amount and be back when things were starting to ramp up again. I was accepted. Yay! Then I received a notice that they would pay half of my tuition. Double yay! I still had to come up with 11,000 Euro, plus living expenses. Ouch. I applied for the JSC Fellowship, which, if I received it, would pay the rest of my tuition and my salary for one year. To my surprise (I honestly didn't think that I would receive it), they gave it to me! YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY! That meant that not only were my finances no longer a concern, but that they would help me with all of the things I needed, like passports and visa and pictures and translation and whatnot. It's really scary to think that in less than a month I'll be in France! I have never visited Europe, much less lived there.

In between all of my intense studying, I plan to travel as often as absolutely possible. Nick Skytland, a friend of mine who also works at JSC and who is also going to ISU, already is planning to head to Paris the first weekend that we're there, and we want to go visit Cinque Terre in Italy (we've been told that the only time to go is when it's warm, and we won't have many opportunities for that) once we are settled in our respective lodgings with the whole residence permit thing figured out and before school starts; I'll be arriving about a week and a half before school, and Nick will be there a few days later.

Can I babble on or what?

Anyway, that's the Story of Going to ISU.

Along those lines, my last French class was last night. Do I know any more than I did before? Maybe. I feel like I do.

In other news, I have seen four movies in the last week. Me, who averages about one a month. The first was Pirates of the Caribbean. I LOVED it! I want to see it again. It was funny, stars Orlando Bloom, has a great soundtrack, was very entertaining, stars Orlando Bloom, and they even managed to work in the "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me", as well as several very recognizable scenes from the Disneyland/Disney World ride. Did I mention that Orlando Bloom was in the movie? He was very handsome as Legolas, the elf from Lord of the Rings, and he's just as good-looking as a pirate. Becca, you're going to have to fight me for him! This was my favorite of the three that I saw.

Then I saw The League of Extroardinary Genltmen with Sean Connery. It was good, better than I expected. Lots of action. I thought it funny that the man for him his character worked was called "M". Unlike James Bond's boss, however, this M's identity is revealed later on; I won't tell it here, but let's just say that it fits in with the rest of the characters.

I also saw Alex and Emma. Nice little romantic comedy. I think Luke Wilson is a good actor (and very cute, as well).

The third movie that I saw was Seabiscuit. I said that Pirates was my favorite of the three, but this one was close. It wasn't as entertaining (in a comedic way), but it's hard to compare because it's a different genre. It was more of a drama, not a comedy (although there were funny scenes), and was very inspirational. It's based on a true story. I read the book, and it's incredible. I think that they did a good job of sticking to the basics of the book; some things had to be changed, of course, so that you can turn a 400-page book into a 2-hour and 20-minute movie, and I think that they chose well what they had to leave out/change. They stayed true to the main story.

Well, that's enough for now. They're not all going to be this long!

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