Julie (Jackson) Schlueter

I spent Interim January 1969 studying theatre in Paris with kids from other MIAC colleges. In February, I headed to Avignon for intensive study of language, literature, history and culture with Mac pals Jane (Echternacht) Hallas, Linda Zieghan, Randy Knepper, Larry Doxey, June Noronha, and a handful of students from colleges all over the country. (My roommate was a Swarthmore student.) Part of each day we studied at the Collège Littéraire Universitaire with French students. Afternoons were spent soaking up sunshine on the central plaza before going home for dinner with my family and settling into homework. It was a great opportunity to discover the pleasures of Provence.

Sometime that spring I got news that my SWAP assignment would be in Paris (my first choice) working at 3M (Minnesota de France) with my sophomore year roommate and friend, Liz (Kiesow) Aase. Luckily, two of the girls from my host family in Avignon had studied in Paris and gave a lead for us on a room in an apartment in the heart of the Latin Quarter (complete with a quirky landlady). What could be more perfect? Our daily suburban commute entailed travel on the old prewar vintage Métro cars in which we were packed like sardines. I remember my horror at discovering that the French keyboard was quite different from the one on which I was reasonably proficient. My job for the weeks of my employment was to type letters of rejection to job applicants (no “white out” allowed!). Oh well, it paid for my expenses and we had evenings and weekends to explore. I remember the many Saturday afternoons moving from room to room in the Louvre at a leisure pace. Walking all over the city was a joy. We enjoyed the company of fellow Macites, Denny Falk and Bobby Anderson.