Third Week

This week has marked the beginning of my classes. The courses are more independent than at the University of Windsor. For most classes, I only have eight lectures at about 3 hours until the final exam. The final examination is also weighed substantially heavier. At the University of Windsor, a final exam cannot account for more than 50% of a total grade, which is quite different from the standard at Rouen Business School. Of the six courses that I am taking, the final examination accounts for anywhere between 70% and 100% of my overall grade. Additionally, you may take more or less courses on exchange than you typically take at Odette with the weighting system of grades around the world. The six courses that I am taking will ultimately be transferred over to five courses on my transcript at the University of Windsor. For your reference, the six courses that I am taking are:

1. Financial Analysis
2. Intermediate Corporate Finance
3. Derivative Products
4. International Finance
5. International Negotiation
6. Supply Chain Management

This transfer system isn’t a standard for all exchange destinations, but only for Rouen Business School. I have a friend studying in The Netherlands, and she only takes four classes that transfer to five courses at uWindsor; of course, the difficulty and work required in a typical course at my University and at her University vary as well.

My long weekend consisted of two day trips as well. For students that will be going to Rouen Business School in future semesters, keep an eye out for a University club called Cultures’ Connection. This club provides trips and events solely for exchange students at Rouen Business School. On Saturday, they organized three buses to attend a very popular tourist attraction in France, Mont Saint-Michel. The mountain houses a spectacular view and kilometers of sand that occasionally flood with water during high tide. According to Wikipedia,

The island has been a strategic point holding fortifications since ancient times, and since the 8th century AD it became the seat of the Saint-Michel monastery, from which it draws the name.

As always, click the link below to view my album of pictures from the trip.

Myself standing on the sand that surrounds Mont Saint-Michel.

Yesterday I also took advantage of not having any classes scheduled and took a day trip to Paris. Studying in France requires one to obtain a French Student Visa. While the process was a bit daunting and required a bit of paperwork to push through, the visa itself did not have any processing or issuing costs. However, traveling around France and experiencing its culture is more pleasant. As a French resident, I am admitted to most monuments and museums without an admission fee. With my visa, I was given free admittance to visit the Abbey in Mont Saint-Michel, the Louvre, The Centre Pompidou, and the Panthéon Paris. It was interesting to see these latter three landmarks in my past visit to Paris. The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world housing thousands of historical objects. The Centre Pompidou houses the largest modern art museum in Europe and the Panthéon Paris contains the remains of well-known French citizens. To view all of the pictures from my Paris trip, click on the photo below.

Pictured in the background is the famous glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures! I will be sure to write again next Tuesday.

Second Week

This second week in France has given me the time to adjust and adapt to my new environment. As exchange students from the University of Windsor, we are allowed to take courses from Rouen Business School’s Bachelor of Science in International Business and Master Grand Ecole level. While the BScIB courses began early last week, the MGE courses did not begin until today. As I aim to challenge myself, I registered exclusively in MGE level courses, and thus had the past week to explore around Europe. I quickly took advantage of this opportunity, and left Rouen last Wednesday and embarked on a quick backpacking journey to Amsterdam, Munich, and Prague.

The trip to Amsterdam was relatively pain-free. For €38, myself and two fellow Canadians that study at Brock University took a train from Paris to Amsterdam via Eurolines. The bus ride was expected to take eight hours to arrive to Amsterdam, but the bus was blessed with a flat tire and the trip was sidetracked by an additional hour. While in Amsterdam, we visited a number of places including the Anne Frank House, the Heineken Experience, and ventured off on a boat cruise in Amsterdam’s canals. The Anne Frank House was very moving as it allowed for the viewers to witness where the Frank Family had gone into hiding and feel for their situation. The Heineken Experience allowed tourists to visit a former Heineken brewery. The tour was set up very well and included a ‘drinking lesson’ in which an employee demonstrated to everyone on how to drink a Heineken beer properly. Most notably, Amsterdam was swarming with residents biking around the city. If you visit Amsterdam, it is important to note that there are two sidewalks. The red sidewalk denotes a biking lane, and it is important to avoid walking in this lane as you may be hit by a cyclist.

Holland is known for using bicycles as a main form of transportation.  Pictured above is a parking garage for bicycles.  Click the picture above to view my photo album from Amsterdam.

Upon visiting Amsterdam, I headed to Arnhem to visit Mickey, a fellow Odette student that is studying at Arnhem Business School. Mickey and I, along with three other students studying at Arnhem had rented a car to road trip to Munich and Prague. This was a different experience as I had only been exposed to public transit in the two weeks that I have been in Europe. For those that wish to visit Munich during Oktoberfest (as we did), be sure to plan the trip well ahead of time so that you can secure a hostel or hotel that is reasonable in price! We had lined up to enter one of the tents at around 7:30am, but we had lined up too late and were not admitted into one of the tents. Luckily, the weather cooperated and we spent our afternoon on a patio directly outside of the tent.

During Oktoberfest, the servers begin serving beer at noon.  Pictured above is David, Ryan, Sonya, Mickey, and myself.  Click the picture above to view my photo album from Munich.

My last location for this week was Prague, where we spent just under two days exploring the city. As I was born in Slovakia and can speak Slovak, I was comforted that I could also speak and communicate with locals in Czech. The ability to communicate in the country’s native language provided great reassurance for me as I traveled around the city. I can now truly understand the importance of bilingualism and hope to improve upon my knowledge of the French language while I am in France. Prague is a beautiful city to visit for its old architecture. We explored the city by taking a boat tour, visited the Prague Castle, Old City Centre, and my favourite – the Lennon Wall. The visit to the Prague Castle was very interesting; prior to visiting I did not know that it was the largest castle in Europe and one of the largest in the world. The Lennon Wall, my favourite stop has some fairly recent history behind it. According to Wikipedia,

In 1988, the wall was a source of irritation for the communist regime of Gustáv Husák. Young Czechs would write grievances on the wall and in a report of the time this led to a clash between hundreds of students and security police on the nearby Charles Bridge. The movement these students followed was described ironically as "Lennonism" and Czech authorities described these people variously as alcoholics, mentally deranged, sociopathic, and agents of Western capitalism.

The wall is layered with peaceful phrases and quotes from Beatles songs. As The Beatles are my dad’s favourite band, I had to visit the wall and take some photos for him to enjoy.

Shown above is a painting on the Lennon Wall. Click the picture above to view my photo album from Prague.

Thanks for reading. I will be sure to fill you in again on my adventures next Tuesday.

Paris! and other exciting adventures

I am in my second week now; it is incredible to believe at how quick this past week has gone.  Only eight days ago I had arrived at Rouen Business School, unfamiliar with my surroundings and curious as to how quickly I would adapt to the environment here.   While I will admit that I am still unfamiliar with a bit of my surroundings, I believe I have adapted fairly quickly. While my first class does not start until September 20^th, I have become quite familiar with my environment. I have attended orientation, participated in an intercultural seminar that lasted three days, set up a bank account in France, and purchased a bus pass for the city of Rouen.

Orientation was mandatory for all international students and provided for a great introduction to the school and campus life. While most of the orientation covered typical topics, the most memorable moment came when Stephen Murdoch, the Associate Dean (International) at Rouen Business School spoke to the class of international students.  During his speech, he discussed a bit about his past – the most notable of which was that he is originally from Windsor, ON and that is a University of Windsor graduate!  This proved to be a very meaningful connection to me; regardless of where I am, there is always some connection to home.

The afternoon following the orientation session was a Forum where students can purchase a bus pass and create a bank account with a local bank in Rouen.  It was fairly straightforward and the representatives spoke some English which was helpful.  For students who will be going to Rouen in future semesters, there are two options that you can select when you charge your bus pass: 

1. Ten one way bus trips for around €8.
2. One month of unlimited trips for around €24.

I opted for the first option, although I have since changed my bus pass to the second option.  With the Carrefour (Superstore similar to Walmart) a bus ride away and few restaurants or entertainment within walking distance from the school, you’ll most likely be using the bus on a daily basis. 

This past Thursday through Saturday all international students attended an Intercultural Seminar.  We were separated to groups of 7 students and had to present a topic to the class pertaining to a globalized culture.  My group consisted of five French students and an exchange student from Slovenia. It was interesting watching the different cultures and how we were able to communicate together to create a strong presentation.

Finally, Sunday was the first day that I had nothing scheduled at Rouen Business School.  I took quick advantage of it and went on a day trip to Paris. From the train station in Rouen, it is only a 70 minute commute to Paris making it a perfect location to visit during the day.  I went with two friends that I have gotten to know here, Emily (an MBA student at Odette) and Megan (a BBA student at Brock). Of course pictures provide much more justice than descriptions of where I have gone, so feel free to browse through my photo album by clicking on the picture below:

A view from the Eiffel Tower with Emily (left) and Megan (right).

 Thanks for reading! I look forward to sharing more exciting stories next week.

First Impressions

I have arrived at Rouen five days ago and have been slowly adjusting to the changes in atmosphere. I landed in Paris’ Charles De Gaulle Airport on Monday and ventured to Rouen Business School via the train system with a friend that I had met at the airport. While the University had organized taxis to take us to the city from the airport, the trip would have been quite costly. Instead, I opted to embark on a journey by taking three trains to Rouen, and as a result was quickly given the opportunity to witness the French railway system. Despite constantly worrying that I will be lost, I made it safely to the meeting place at Rouen Business School almost five hours after landing at the airport in Paris.

There are many residence options at Rouen Business School, and they are selected on a first-come-first-served basis via the school’s online system. The residence that I was given in Ango building is comprised of all International Students studying at Rouen Business School. Choosing to reside in Ango was an excellent choice as I have been given the opportunity to meet many great individuals in a similar situation as me from around the globe.  I was assigned the 9m² room, which is private with the exception that I share my washroom and shower with one individual. While I hope to share more exciting photographs in the upcoming semester, I know that I will be pestered by my parents to share the view of my room. Below are a few photos that I have taken a few minutes ago:

Above is quick snapshot of my bed. Some of the residences are provided with a pillow and linens for your bed, but not this is not the case of all residence buildings.

Above is the sink that I have in my room.  The door on the right leads to the shared bathroom and shower that I share with one other room. Ango also has the option of a 16m² room with a private bathroom.

My room also has a hotplate and a mini fridge. Not all residences have hotplates in their rooms; some have communal kitchens instead.

Above is a picture of my desk and chair. My desk also has two shelves underneath that I use to store school supplies and food.

After unpacking and settling into my room, I went into explore the city with some fellow exchange students. One of the first differences between France and Canada that I had noticed was the mass prevalence of smoking in France. While I do have some friends and classmates in Canada that smoke cigarettes, the habit appears to be substantially larger in France. The Tobacco Atlas from the World Health Organization confirms this observation. While 19% of adults smoke in Canada, the habit is almost twice as prevalent in France (36.6%).

Additionally, it is good to be aware and open to cultural differences while traveling abroad. Prior to departing to France, I had researched some cultural differences that occur in France. Cheek kissing, a greeting similar to our handshakes or hugs is a common practice in France. While I did read up on this cultural convention, I must admit that the first time that this had occurred to me I was caught by surprise. I was approached by a friend and while I thought she was approaching me to give me a hug I was instead given two kisses on the cheek. It is wise to remember that there are different rituals in different countries; one should not scorn or frown upon other individuals who act differently.

I do hope to travel somewhere within the next week, and share some pictures in my next blog as well.  Thanks for reading!

An Introduction...

Hello everyone, and welcome to my personal blog about my international exchange!  I am a third year student at the Odette School of Business with a concentration in accounting. During the next four months, I hope to write on a weekly basis about my experience.  I hope that this blog will allow you to live vicariously through my adventures, or convince you to embark on an international exchange of your own!

This primary decision to embark on an exchange abroad is the experience that it will provide for me.  While some students may opt to attend a university outside of their home city, I believe that an exchange truly allows one to experience freedom while attempting to balance it with responsibility. I will be able to witness the challenges of living in a foreign country – while being a resident rather than a vacationing tourist. I believe this experience will prove to be especially valuable for business students, as some international experience can prove to be a valuable asset for businesses. 

There is a wide range of exchange opportunities that are available for students if they are interested in studying abroad.  The University of Windsor has partnered with various universities around the world for students who wish to participate in a semester or two of exchange. Students can choose to learn in either English or the country’s native language.  I am attending school at the Rouen Business School in Rouen, France, and will be studying in English.  This is especially helpful as my knowledge in French isn’t particularly strong – although I am hoping that it will improve when I return in late December! Business students can view the different destinations at the exchange website here for more information.  

The academic process at this point has been fairly straightforward. An advantage about the exchange process is the ability to experience a wider diversity of courses. With preparation ahead of time, most courses are transferable to credits at the University of Windsor and count towards your graduation.  The process of preparing involves finding course equivalencies at the University of Windsor, which consists of filing out a course form from the Exchange Office and submitting the course syllabus to the dean’s office at the faculty you believe the course would transfer over to. They will then evaluate the course, and provide you with a similar matching course or a generic course number for the transfer of credits and grades.

As I had mentioned before, the city that I will be residing in is Rouen, France.  It is about an hour and a half from Paris, and is the historical capital of Normandy. The background picture for this blog is a panoramic view of part of the city that was kindly borrowed from photographer Thierry Selva. In preparation for my trip, I have purchased a tourism book that covers the history and “must see” places in Europe.  I have learned that there is a great deal of history in Rouen.  For example, Joan of Arc was burned for hearsay in Rouen in 1431. I will write about other interesting facts and hidden secrets that I discover about Rouen during my exchange.

I hope to write my second blog article within the next week and discuss my travel to Rouen and orientation that the school has set up for international students. Thanks for reading!