International Week: A Blessing, A Curse

This past week, the ESC-Rouen campus was a buzz with activity, mimicking Bloomington during Little 5 quite a bit!

In France, we have two official breaks – whether you’re in elementary school, high school (called lycee), or college. One is in February, when I was lucky to travel to Italy and Greece, and one is the week after Easter (Paques), where I’ll be in the lands of kilts and Guinness.



However, some students have a third week off during ESC-Rouen’s International Week. Let me explain: Among the many academic programs ESC-Rouen offers, there is MGE (Master des Grandes Ecoles – their version of an MBA) and IFI (their version of an undergraduate degree). During International Week, MGE students typically have finals, because they are on quarter systems. IFI students usually have year-end presentations, worth 25% of the year’s grade, and various conferences to attend. However, international students can take MGE or IFI classes during their time at ESC Rouen (aka Rouen Business School/RBS), but are not considered fully-enrolled students so they do not have IFI year-end presentations. Confused yet?

Moral of the story, if you are an international/exchange student and are enrolled only in IFI classes, you get another week of vacation! I, however, was not that lucky (not that that’s a bad thing, because I am trying to stick to a budget!). Because I am taking 1 language class, 2 MGE classes, and 2 IFI classes, I had a final last week and this week, in addition to two reports and a final next week as well. But before you start to feel any pity for me, starting the week of April 11th I will be down to just two classes that meet Monday and Tuesday mornings! Ah, c’est la vie francaise.
So here’s a pretty frank review of how my International Week went.

The Good:
Monday evening I went to a “liste” party. Essentially, it’s elections time on campus for student government; and groups of 25 create a list (“liste” in French) of those on their ticket. And competition for votes is intense! Remember my free car ride to school? They do stuff like that! And if I were a true student with voting ability, I could text anyone in any list requesting something, “I need a ride to the mall,” “I want a bottle of wine,” and they’d do it! This party was at a friend’s house, and it was quite intense. For ESC-Rouen’s small size, about 3,500 students, the time, effort, and money vastly outweighs that put into Indiana University’s IUSA elections in relative terms.



Also, the weather has been gorgeous! Of course, there is some rain: This IS Normandy. For instance, I was walking home two days ago, the sun was out and shining, I was happy as a clam, and BAM – the rain clouds opened up. Good thing I had my umbrella. But truly, spring really has sprung here in the North of France, flowers are blooming, windows are opening, and it couldn’t be more perfect.

Lastly, campus is bursting with energy! Liste events have taken over campus during the week, so there was a DJ pumping music behind the school’s Chateau (main office building) every afternoon. Free food and drink = quite pleasant! Everyone is in a good mood, for the most part…

The Bad:
Exams! And papers! And lots of other catch up work and things to work on for the coming week, summer, and 2010-2011 school year. Partly, this is my fault: I did just enjoy a 5 day trip to Italy, right? I shouldn’t be complaining. But this week has been a lot of work on the computer and a lot of studying. And who wants that when Spring Fever has hit?

Plus, exams, and classes for that matter, aren’t structured the same here as they are in the US. Whether you like it or not, in comparison to France – and most of the world except for Northern Europe – the US is extremely Type A, organized, and clear. Here’s a example: Up until an hour before my final in International Economics last week, I had no idea where my exam was being proctored. I looked up online, checked all the normal bulletin boards, but no luck. Finally, in desperation, I went into one of the offices and explained in broken French to a secretary what was going on. She logged into an administrators’ file and sent me on my way. Apparently, they had posted the exam site: But in a random location on the 3rd floor of the B building. Welcome to France.



Another example of the French style of higher education? For my most recent exam in Cross Cultural Issues, the directions very clearly stated, “Choose I or II, and III.” I took that to mean write responses to either I and III OR II and III. I chose II and III. But 50 minutes into the 3 hour test – all essay questions – the proctor said in French, “I talked to the course director and everyone who has Prof. Rabasso must answer numbers I and III, all other students must write II and III. Well, I have Professor Rabasso. I went up to explain what happened – I had worked for 50 minutes on the wrong question – but they gave me no pity. I was simply out of luck. So I had to scramble to finish questions I and III in the remaining two hours. So it goes.

But don’t think that these negatives outweigh the positives. They haven’t. And from what I’m gaining from reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People right now, it’s not always the situation I can change, but I can decide how I react to it!

Dingleberries, nuggets, and other fine things from northern Italy

I realize that I am extremely blessed to have the friends that I do. But I’m even more blessed that so many of my friends are studying abroad in Europe at the same time as me! Last week, I spent an extended weekend visiting my best friend Nic Perfetti, in his locale: Bologna, Italy.



My trip to Bologna started on Thursday, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that my flight would be a bit delayed. Our plane barely arrived to the airport at the time it was supposed to lift off. However, I passed the time by chatting with a new friend I met in the airport. His name was Romain, and while he was from France, he has spent time living in the U.S. and Italy. The three hour conversation that lasted the wait in the terminal, the flight, and the bus from the Bologna airport to the downtown was – surprisingly – in French about 80% of the time. For me, that was a bit of a confidence-boost! Topics ranged from religion in France, to American film, and the pros/cons of living with a host family.

But we soon reached Bologna, and after a quick search I found Nic. He promptly commenced a tour of the downtown Bologna area; and I must say, his excellent tour guide abilities throughout the weekend made me realize I need to brush up on Rouennais and Parisian history.



Thursday evening included a trip up the Asinelli Tower – a huge tour in the center of town that provided a great view of the city. We also went to the Basilico di Santo Stefano, a beautiful church near the downtown area. As the sun was going down, I truly enjoyed sitting on the steps of the San Petronio Basilico overlooking Piazza Maggiore. And for my benefit, a street performer was singing a few classic tunes in English. The day ended at Nic’s favorite pizza place, which was absolutely delicious! I was extremely tired Thursday night, but that didn’t stop me from the partaking in the highlight of the day: Baking chocolate chip cookies back at Nic’s! I had been craving them since I got an e-mail from Insomnia (a Bloomington cookie delivery company) the week before. So the day concluded with sharing our chocolate chip cookies with Nic’s really awesome flat mates, Giuseppe and Angelo. Perfetto!



On Friday, we started with a visit to Bologna’s art museum before heading to another one of Nic’s favorite restaurants for lunch. The restaurant is a Bolognese favorite, and it’s known for its selection of 3-4 pastas that are made fresh each day. I just couldn’t get used to the food. As much as I love Rouen and France, Italian cuisine is my favorite. Then, we hiked up the 3.5 kilometer portico (a covered walkway) to the Santuario della Beata Vergine di San Luca. Looking over the city of Bologna and the beginning of the mountain range, we couldn’t have found a more perfect place to have a mini-picnic.

Once we got back, we were pretty beat; but we each got a pizza (and they were huge!) at a neighborhood pizzeria before heading to Nic’s neighbor’s graduation party. It was a combined party for 5 students who had recently graduated, and I am fairly certain I was the only one there who didn’t speak a word of Italian (Other than Buon giorno, that is)! But I had my trusty translator with me, and quite a few of the students spoke some English. The party was a lot of fun, despite the language barrier!



The next morning, we woke bright and early to meet Nic’s friend Caroline at the train station for a trip to Milan. Despite a bit of rain, Milan was a very enjoyable city. It started off a bit rocky when the receptionist at our hostel refused Nic’s stay because he didn’t have his passport, forcing us to go to the central police station for some sort of approval. But it didn’t take long to sort out, and soon we were headed to the Duomo, Italy’s only truly Gothic cathedral. A huge, ornate, pristine cathedral right on the main square, I found it almost unbelievably impressive. We climbed the tour to the roof of the Duomo for a great 360 degree view of Milan. The only downer: Taking a fall down the stairs on the descent! An Italian, on seeing my ungraceful tumble declared, “Che volo! (What a flight!)”

We finished up the day with a stroll around Milan’s 15th century castle, the Castello Sforezco. After that, we were all so tired we went back to the hostel for a nap. But before we fell asleep, we couldn’t help but share a laugh at the awkward “ensuite shower.” Essentially, right next to the TV was a shower in our room! So we had to take turns showering that night while the others waited in the lobby. Bizarre, non?
The day ended with another great Italian meal. I promise, I’m not exaggerating the food! Pizza with the most delicious crust, a couple of glasses of red wine, and topping off with a dessert of panna cotta filled us up easily. Once we returned to the hotel, where we chatted with a couple of guys from Washington & Lee University, we got a good night’s rest.

Sunday morning, Caroline headed back to Bologna but Nic was kind enough to head to Venice for a 2nd time for my benefit. And silly me I thought Venice was just a seaside town with a few rivers running through it. No, it’s actually a series of lagoons where the roads really are canals! No cars, not even motorcycles, whatsoever. I loved our stroll around the city – around every corner was a great view (and a great place for gelato)! The most humorous part of the day was when we sat down in a park near the seafront. Joking about awkward statues, seeds of trees which we nicknamed “dingleberries” and “nuggets,” and other silly topics, it was great to relax and joke around.

We got back to Bologna around 10pm that night. Good timing too: His roommates were just about to order Chinese food! So I filled up on veggie fried rice, leftover pizza, and the last of the cookies – quite a delight!

On Monday morning, we slept in a bit before I went with Nic to his 400-level Italian literature class at Europe’s oldest university, La Universita di Bologna (founded in 1066). I tried to pay attention at the beginning and write down words that I recognized, or that had similarities to Spanish, French, or English, but I got tired of that pretty quickly. For two hours, the professor was explaining the meaning of an epic poem that was written in Italian’s version of “Old English.” Nic said the poem was pretty interesting, but it was all [Italian] to me.

After that, Nic and I enjoyed some pizza-by-the-slice at Pizza Altero and 2 last scoops of gelato before I needed to head for the airport. Despite a delayed flight, and a bag that barely fit size and weight requirements, I arrived at Gare St. Lazare train station about 45 seconds before the next train to Rouen departed. Good timing!

Rouennais hitchhiking (and other modes of transportation)

I realize that the title of this post most likely made my mom’s stomach drop a little bit. Not to worry – I will explain.

This morning, I made my way over to the Morin bus stop for the #8 bus. I have two options for taking the bus: The 4 and the 8. The 4 is a bit faster and runs more often, but it’s about a 5 minute walk from my house. The 8 is only a 1 minute walk. As such, when it’s cold or I’m lazy, I take the 8. Today, I got to the bus stop only to see a sign posted explaining that the 8 bus is cancelled today due to road construction, and it pointed me to the nearest 4 stop – Barrieres St. Maur.



Even with the slight delay, I wasn’t in much risk of being late to my class (which shouldn’t be a concern anyways, because I estimate with all sincerity that typically 50% of the students – and usually the professor as well – arrive late to class). However, as I was waiting – and it was cold this morning! - for the 4, a car pulled up and the driver started asking me something in French. Perhaps it was too early for me, or he spoke to fast, but I didn’t catch it. And he seemed to be offering me a ride (and not the other person at the bus stop). His car was also fashioned with a piece of paper in the rear window labeling it some sort of taxi. Needless to say, I was skeptical, so I just said, “Non. Non, merci.”

Finally, he got a bit exasperated and said: “Do you speak English? Do you need a ride to ESC?” He must have seen the official lime green and black ESC bag I was toting. Finally, I realized that he was a student so I hopped in the car. He explained that this was a free, informal carpool service offered by one of the student groups in order to garner support for upcoming student elections. Sounded good to me! I soon learned that his name was Alexandre, we switched to French, and I had a very pleasant and FAST ride up to school. Hope I come across more of these free ESC taxi services in the future!

On that note, I’ll use this experience to further explain my day-to-day transportation. When I first arrived here in Rouen, I pledged I would walk the ½ hour to school each day. Well, it’s a bit cold here in Normandy, and since the walk is all uphill, I soon switched to the bus (except on particularly sunny days when I’m not rushing). I also didn’t enjoy showing up among my very posh, put-together French classmates looking like I had just completed a mini-marathon. Moral of the story: I take the bus to school, and Rouen's 10-15 bus lines can take me almost anywhere I need to go in the city and surrounding suburbs. Rouen also has a small metro line, which I’ve only used once. However, if you want to cross the Seine to the other part of town in a jiffy, the Metro works marvelously.

Other than that, I do a fair share of walking, and I really enjoy it! Since I’m in a suburb just northwest of Rouen, I can get to the downtown historical area (site of Jeanne d’Arc’s burning at the stake, the Rouen Cathedral) in under 15 minutes. My favorite walk is the one to the Vieux Marche for fresh fruits, veggies, cheese, flowers, etc each Sunday. Afterwards, I typically stop in the Café de Rouen for a café and to spend some time translating Le Monde and pretending to be French :-)



Lastly, I live a short 5 minute walk from La Gare Rouen Rive Droite (our train station). Every 30 minutes to 1.5 hours, there are trains to Paris, Le Havre, and many other cities in Normandy. I'm quite fond of the SNCF train system, and I especially enjoy the 50% discount with my Carte 12-25. What I don't enjoy? Getting fined 20 euro last week on the way to Paris because I forgot my Carte 12-25. Whoops.

Tomorrow, I don’t have class, so I will “faire une promenade (take a stroll)” downtown to run a few errands. That’s a good plan too: Bus drivers are striking tomorrow in Rouen!

"The Spanish Police are Beautiful" and other tales from a Madrileno weekend

Thursday night, I arrived into Madrid and quickly found my host and one of my best friends, Scott Berger, there at the airport waiting for my arrival! I’ve been so lucky lately to be sharing my travel with my some of my closest friends.



Scott very kindly made me a late dinner that night and we spent some time catching up. I went to bed shortly thereafter - Estaba muy cansada!

The next morning, Scott and I journeyed out for a café con leche and a croissant – and a stroll around el Parque del Oeste before he headed to class and I explored La Gran Via. After window shopping a bit – The biggest and nicest H&M I’ve ever seen – I went into a little restaurant for some tortilla espanola. Don’t let the name fool you, it’s similar to a cheese and potato quiche. While enjoying my desayuno #2, someone came up to me asking for directions on how to get to el Prado, Madrid’s famous national art museum. So with my 15 hours of being in Madrid, my tourist map and his, and my rusty Spanish, I was able to point him in the right direction!

Later on Scott and I enjoyed lunch – patatas bravas and a huge bocadillo (sandwich) – near his apartment. After requesting a coke and getting the check (una coca and la cheque are easily confused?), we headed off to check out el Prado. We arrived at el Prado about ½ an hour later when I realized: I do NOT have my wristlet on me! Keep in mind, it had my credit card, debit card, driver’s license, cash, everything in it! I had it just 10 minutes before when taking a photo, so we backtracked twice looking for it. Nowhere to be found. You can imagine how distressed I was.

After discussing the problem with a tourism staff member, who pointed us in the direction of the central police station, we headed back to el Prado once again. Then I asked Scott, “Should I ask them if there is a lost and found?” After agreeing it was a good idea, I went up to a nearby cop car and saw my wristlet in their front mirror! I freaked!!! In my broken Spanish, I said “Habla usted ingles? No tengo mi bolsa rojo!” When they discovered it was mine and how happy I was, they kept repeating, “The Spanish police are beautiful, yes?” I wholeheartedly agreed!!! I went from an emotional low to an emotional high within about 30 seconds.



Since going to el Prado was deemed to be bad karma, we headed to Reina Sofia – Spain’s Modern art museum, before going back to Scott’s to get ready for…an authentic flamenco show! His roommate, Audric (from France, but living in Spain) knew someplace to go that wasn’t one of the tourist spots, so it was great to see true flamenco in a nice intimate setting. It was a deeply emotional and intoxicating show – their voices filled the small, but crowed, bar. (And on a side note, I found it much easier to converse with Audric in Spanish rather than French during the evening. O well!)



The next morning Scott and I rose early to explore el Palacio Real. However, there was a line about a mile long and since I don’t like lines or big, crowded tourist spots for that matter, Scott gave me a personal tour – filled with interesting facts about the city – around Old Madrid. I saw the city’s ancient wall, the world’s oldest restaurant, the beautiful parks around the palace etc. We also visited La Ermina, a beautiful church whose walls and ceiling are covered by Goya’s frescos and also the site of the artist’s tomb. I really liked his work in comparison to others: I found it much softer and potentially a precursor to early impressionists like Degas? After that we hopped into a restaurant for my last paella dish (absolutely delightful) and then we were off to find churros!



Our quest didn’t fail us, because within 15 minutes, we were in an awesome indoor Mercado (market) where we got a set a 4 churros and hot chocolate to dip them in. Delightful! They were gone within 3 minutes. Shortly thereafter, we head back to Scott’s so I could participate in a phone interview. After that, we successful made it to el Prado, where I saw the famous 2nd and 3rd of May(s), as well as Las Meninas. The day ended with Scott and I (but mostly Scott) making delicious sandwiches at his apartment, which we complemented with potato chips and a cana of Spanish beer. With a viewing of The Office, my last night in Madrid couldn’t have been better!

Today, I woke up early and we made our way to the first metro at 6 am – when everyone else was just coming back from a night out! Despite how tired I was, I think I had my act together better than many of my fellow metro-ers. I made it through the airport without a hitch, although I did have to shove my backpack into a cage-like contraption to prove it would fit on the plane.

I grabbed a big lunch at a place called the Indiana Café upon my arrival in Paris. Serving tex-mex, it did not remind me at all like food from home, but I did enjoy my vegetarian enchiladas. The highlight of the meal was the company I found: Sitting next to me were two Austrailians who had been friends since university (one works in Zurich, the other London). We had a nice time discussing Americans’ acceptance abroad, freedom fries, the French educational system, and trying to find their way back to Gare du Nord. I was pretty proud of my direction-giving ability, although my attempt to demonstrate my French proficiency left the waitress giving me a blank stare in front of Steve and Steve. Whoops!

Got back into Rouen at about 6 pm after a 3 hour (when it should have been 1.15 hour) train ride. Welcome to the French public transportation sytem. But now, I’m headed to bed: Bonne nuit!

Parisian football nights and sunny Montmartre days

These past few weeks have certainly been a whirlwind, and the adventures continued in Paris over the past 24 hours. A few weeks ago, I bought tickets with 5 friends (Nathan, Joey, Alicia, Jake, and Natalie) to go to the France vs. Spain national team game at the Stade de France, just outside of Paris in the St. Denis area for last night. The game was a “match amical,” or friendly match, in preparation for Le Coup de Monde coming up this May in South Africa.



Upon our arrival in Paris, I immediately headed north on the 13 to meet with a friend from my church at home, Elle Stephan, who very kindly let me crash with her last night. After filling up from a “Kebaberie” near her place and catching up on her Parisian life, I headed over to the Stade de France. Reminding me a giant spaceship – one with a capacity of over 80,000 – it’s very impressive (and it’s the 5th largest in Europe).



I was a bit surprised by the atmosphere of the fans: People for the most part where pretty quiet and subdued. Perhaps, if we had actually scored, it would have been different! But I think this can be attributed to three things 1) Europeans take their football seriously, so everyone was focused on the game 2) it was a “friendly game,” ie not a world cup qualifier, and 3) security and crowd control were intense!

We ended up losing 0-2, but it was still a ton of fun! I cheered, “ALLEZ, ALLEZ, ALLEZ! (Go, go, go!)” as best as I could, despite currently recovering from a sore throat. I also tried to represent Les Bleus well by wearing my French soccer scarf, bright blue pants, and my Dwight Football Club (from NBC’s The Office) t-shirt.

I got to sleep in until almost 9am today, which felt wonderful! Then I compiled a great breakfast in Elle’s area of Paris, the 17th, by grabbing a baguette, 2 bananas, and an apple, all topped off with a café from McDonald’s. And I picked an excellent McDonalds: Free-wifi! So I got a good amount of work done for a couple of hours.



But the best part of the day was slowly walking along Boulevard de Clichy – even passed the Moulin Rouge - and coming across Montmartre’s Sacre Coeur. It always looks so stately, yet so welcoming. The sun was shining, and I sat on the steps in front of the church listening to the gorgeous music of a harpist. I listened to a beautiful melody of songs such as “Yesterday,” “Canon in D Major,” “My Heart Will Go On,” “La Vie en Rose,” etc. Words cannot describe how great the music was: So luckily – I found a youtube video of him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZKiW_6rnrk



Then I slowly made my way through Montmartre, stopping at the painters’ square where I will most certainly take visitors and do some personal shopping in the future. Being at Montmartre again since December 2008 with Renee was a bit surreal, I remembered specific streets and even a little jewelry/accessory store! After that it was back to the Square de Clichy area, where I made my way over to Porte de Maillots for a bus ride to the Beauvais Airport (of course I napped the whole way), and a 2-hour flight, I arrived in Madrid just about 3 hours ago! Scott Berger, one of my best friends from IU, is my host for the weekend, and I’m so excited! Tapas, Flamenco, el Prado, etc – I will update again soon!

Why the French Love to Strike

As I sat in the Paris-Orly airport on Wednesday, I did a bit of internet browsing and came across an article I found particularly humorous. It was titled, “Why the French Love to Strike.” This was amusing because at that time, I was delayed in the airport due to French air traffic controller strikes. After an early-morning flight cancellation and a two-hour delay on the 2nd flight, I arrived in Barcelona at 1am, only to arrive to my friend’s apartment at 3am. Still can’t figure out the time discrepancy? That’s because my plane flew around French airspace, making the flight 3 hours instead of 1.5!



So why do the French love to strike? The article attributes it to, “France’s leftist-driven insurrectional tradition, which snakes from the Revolution through the Paris Commune, into the Resistance and beyond May 1968.” And while uprisings against the political system are heated, they are partly caused by its dislike of the country’s ties to free market capitalism. Additionally, France has one of the smallest amounts of unionized workers among developing nations – 8%. The USA’s is 14%. It’s very probable that strikes are one of few means in order for individuals to make their points of view clear.



Strikes in France manifest themselves in different ways. Farmers in protest of reduced subsidies block highways with their tractors in order to immobilize the country’s transportation system. Employees fighting against job cuts will “kidnap” their bosses by locking them in their offices for a night or by mobbing their car as they exit the job site. French fisherman set up a blockade of ports in retaliation against fishing quotas. And French airport controllers cancel flights in protest against “[integration] of air traffic control systems under an initiative called the Single European Sky. Their unions fear the changes will result in job cuts and the loss of special civil servant benefits,” according to a New York Times article. So it goes.