Tenth Week: More Traveling!

Hi everyone!  I’ve been having some problems with the WiFi on residence; I apologize for not writing sooner. 

If you’re interested in participating in an international exchange, there's some work for you to do on your own in preparation of studying abroad.  If you’re interested in studying in France, you must apply for a French Visa to study.  If you’re interested in studying in another country, you may have to research to see if you will need a student visa.  For Canadian students, you must apply for a French B2 Visa.  The process is fairly daunting; be sure to have a look and start the process 2-3 months prior to your departure.

Purchasing your airfare is also a significant step in the exchange process.  University of Windsor students can sign up for an ISIC (International Student Identity Card) free of charge at the UWSA’s office in the CAW Centre, which serves as a discount card abroad.  The ISIC card serves as a discount card for students with discounts around the world. I haven’t personally had any use for the ISIC card, but it may be useful during your exchange.  I purchased my airfare three months prior to my trip, and found that the flight costs were typically cheaper when purchased round trip as opposed to two one-way tickets. My suggestion is to shop around and to compare prices between various websites to find the best deal. 

At Rouen Business School, the past week was our reading week. During this time, I was a host to two friends who had come from Canada to visit me in Europe. As soon as they arrived we quickly began our travels and headed to Berlin and Geneva.

Berlin was a very welcoming city with many places to see and history to rediscover. My friends and I avoided the typical sightseeing tour and instead opted to rent a bicycle and explore the city on our own. Our biking expedition consisted of various stops, including the Brandenburg Gate and the East Side Gallery.  We also took a guided tour 35km outside of Berlin to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It was very shocking to think of the horrific events that occurred so recently in history.

The Brandenburg Gate served as one of eight Berlin Wall Crossings during the postwar division of Germany. Click on the photo to view my photo album of Berlin.

Our second stop was Switzerland.  Geneva previously served as the home to the League of Nations and is the current home for the United Nations Office at Geneva. We resided in Geneva but took day trips to Montreux, a community of 90,000 located at the foot of the Alps. Montreux surprised us with a peaceful and quaint atmosphere of the Swiss Alps.  Montreux was filled with countless activities to occupy our time, such as visiting the Château de Chillon and hiking one of the various hiking trails in Montreux.  While exploring the environment, we noticed that Montreux was a popular paragliding destination, and so we researched paragliding expeditions that we could take.  Although a bit pricey, we arranged to paraglide off one of the Swiss Alps, which measured in at a height of 1432 meters above the ground.  While I was a bit nervous prior to the flight, the fifteen minutes in the air elapsed as if I was only airborne for a few brief seconds.

A photo of me as I'm dangling 1,400 meters in the air.  Click on this photo to view my other photos from Switzerland!

  

In case the theme hasn’t been evident throughout my past nine blogs: my international exchange has become one of the most extraordinary experiences in my life!