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.