Tips on studying abroad in Paris

While sitting in one of my classes last week, I started to realize just how different the classroom environment is at my school here in Paris compared to UMass. In this post, I will be talking about some of the differences that I see and how I feel about it. Since most of my classes are in one building (Halle aux Farines), this is the only building I can write about because I haven't walked around and explored the other buildings. I'm not used to having all my classes in one building because, at UMass, it would at least take me 5 minutes to walk from one class to another.  In this building, men and women share the same bathrooms. Yes, there are separate bathrooms but students at the school decided that there's no need for separate bathrooms so anyone can go where they like, which is pretty cool and different! Another difference is that most professors at Diderot don't give out a syllabus, so you have to pay attention the first week of classes to know and und...

Budgeting is probably one of the most important things I recommend everyone to do before studying abroad. This will help you decide what you want to prioritize and if you actually have enough money to do everyone you want to do. Before I left, I told myself that I would spend around 20 dollars a week on food/snacks, and I do spend that much a week but somethings I decide to spurlge and I end up spending around 50 a week.  Budgeting takes time and you really have to think about everything and take EVERYTHING into consideration. Remember that you don’t have to have the exact numbers but make sure to be at least realistic and reasonable.  For example, if you want to travel you can’t just think about the price of the ticket. You also have to think about where you will stay, what you will eat there, and even souvenirs you may want to buy. The problem with not budgeting is that you can start spending money on random things and when you don’t count where the money is...

Taking the Ouibus, FlixBus, or any other bus to a destination of your choice is probably the best thing for your wallet.  I was planning on going to Nancy via train to see my aunt and cousins because it’s only 1h30-2h but realized that it was about 50-100 euros for a one-way ticket. So I opted to see what other options I have to go there. I didn’t know much about the ouibus but I saw that it was the cheapest transportation to go to Nancy that day. But, there was a downside to taking the OuiBus, it would take me 4-5 hours to get there and I would be stuck on an uncomfortable seat next to someone I don’t know. So, i decided to write this blogpost to tell you guys the pros and cons and all the information I learned while taking the OuiBus. Pros: Probably 2x cheaper than taking the train A lot of leg room // you can recline your seat Depending on when you go, you might get lucky and there might not be someone next to you.  You can bring luggage ...

Taking classes in French with French students has been the best part of my study abroad experience so far because I am being challenged everyday.  French students at my university usually take 12-13 classes a week and they only have 3 years instead of 4 years.  Picking my classes was quiet hard at the beginning because I didn’t know if they could count but I made sure to email my advisors at UMass and make sure that the economy classes I was taking will count towards anything.  My economy course are my favorite and I specifically chose them because learning  political and economic terms because that was one of my mail goals aside from becoming fluent. My future goals consist of moving to France, which won’t be much of a huge change and problem for me because i have a lot of family members here, and hopefully start with a traineeship for the European Union and go to graduate school afterwards.  I hope that by coming to France and studying economi...

I had my first quiz last week and I was actually quiet excited to be taking a quiz in french with french students and seeing how I have improved. The test was for my europeenne econonie class and it was basically facts so if you studied, you should get a good grade.  Just like for all my quizzes and tests, I made flashcards and went over then two times a day. I even brought them everywhere with me just in case I would get an opportunity to study even 1 or 2 flashcards. I studied on the metro and RER most of the times. The professor for my class told us how the format of the quiz would be: 4 short reponse questions on anything we learned so far and gave us a few hints on what to study for the most. He made sure he made it clear that we have to know all the treaties, the date they were signed, who signed them and where. Good thing I listened.    When I turned over the quiz, I had to take a few minutes to think and make sure I understood the question before I started w...

Before I came to Paris, I thought I would be traveling all the time but I haven't gotten out of France yet and I'm not mad about it. People were telling me that traveling in Europe is not very expensive but as a matter of fact, it is quite expensive to be traveling all the time.  I have the money to travel but if I want to go somewhere, it has to be someplace that I will really see myself enjoying and not go just because of the Instagram pictures or because everyone else is traveling.  Before getting here, I wrote a list of all the countries and cities I wanted to visit. Looking at the list now, there are only about 4-5 countries that I still want to visit: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands and maybe Switzerland or England.  I have already booked my flight and bus ride to go to Spain, Portugal, and Amsterdam in my Spring break in April and I am beyond excited to explore it these countries with my friend. I only chose 4-5 countries because I also have to ...