If you are considering an international exchange, it is wise to research about the different courses that are offered at the schools you are considering attending. Specific universities may have some courses that may be of interest to you, and most universities tend to be known and recognized for one of their concentrations. As I am hoping to familiarize myself with finance, I opted to attend Rouen Business School. Some universities also have classes that are focused on a particular topic that isn’t taught at many other schools. At Rouen, a popular course for international students that falls into this category is “The Economics and Culture of Wine”. While I have been taking advantage of the ease of traveling, it is important to remember that you are a student first, and that it is an academic exchange.
This is my third week of courses. One of my largest fears was not being able to understand and communicate well with my professors. However from my first day, I became very impressed at how well the professors can communicate in English. While some of my professors have a bit of a French accent, the courses are taught entirely in English. At my school, there is the opportunity for students who wish to improve upon their French to take courses that are taught in French for those that might be a bit more daring. There are also some Universities that teach exclusively in the country’s main language – see the uWindsor Exchange Website for more details. A course website similar to uWindsor’s CLEW is also utilized at Rouen so that we can look over the PowerPoint Presentation and other notes from the lecture.
The finance courses that I am enrolled in are taught similarly to courses at Odette. The courses are primarily lecture based, with some student involvement through some simple problems. International Negotiation however, is taught in a much different manner than my past courses at Odette. Each lecture is 3hr and 15min in length, and is split into two parts. One part consists of a similar lecture style as I am used to at Odette, however the other half of the lecture is a roleplaying exercise. In last week’s exercise, we were paired into a group of 6 students and were to negotiate on a variety of issues with a second group of 6 students. In our exercise, we were told to act in a certain manner and what objectives we hoped to reach in our negotiation. Through this roleplaying exercise, we witnessed the difficulty in negotiating between cultures, and were later told that the exercise was based on a real life negotiation between General Electric and Hitachi. While this method of learning is certainly different, it is also very engaging for all of the students.
Finally, I couldn’t conclude this week without arranging a few trips. This weekend was dedicated to experiencing the cities nearby Rouen and Canada’s involvement with France during WWII. Last Friday I had visited Juno Beach. For those that don’t remember, Juno Beach was one of five sectors during D-Day that lead to the Allied control of German-occupied France. As a Canadian, this site is of significant importance as this raid was performed by Canadian troops.
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| Seeing the Canadian Flag for the first time in a month made me a bit at ease. Click on the photo above to view my Juno Beach album. |
On Saturday, my second adventure was to visit Dieppe. Dieppe is also a historical location during WWII, where the devastating Dieppe Raid occurred, which consisted of predominately Canadian troops. While this raid resulted in significant casualties, it is a symbol of Canadian’s desire to fight for what they believe in.
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| Pictured above is me with a view from the Dieppe Castle overlooking the beach. Click on the photo to view my Dieppe album. |
Thanks for reading. Be sure to come back and read my blog next week as I have some exciting travel adventures planned!
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