Playing Catch Up

                Remember that lovely week I had off when I went to Lyon, Geneva, Strasbourg, and Aix-en-Provence? Well, I’m now making up for it with a double week of classes, so I have been very busy with school this week – namely, six hours of class per day (international business – 3 hours; valuation in emerging markets – 3 more hours), two papers, a group presentation, and a comprehensive three part finance project (which luckily isn’t due until a little later!).   It’s not terrible, and I enjoy the classes.  The only thing is that the weather has become absolutely perfect here so all I want to do every day is just go lounge around by the Garonne. 

                Last weekend I went ice skating! I went with some amazing friends and had a great time! The coolest part of the night was teaching some French girls how to spin – in French! It was an interesting experience. I’ve taught people how to spin before but always in English!

                I’ve also started experimenting with new ways of cooking.  I’ve experienced success so far.  I’ve learned how to fry chicken and zucchini on a hotplate, both of which turned out to be pretty tasty.  I also found barbecue sauce at the supermarket (on the international foods aisle, of course!). 

 If you know me, you probably can guess that not having an oven is terribly disappointing as I love to bake… all the time… My favorite cooking story here so far involves my attempt at baking truffle brownies a couple weeks ago.   My friend who lives across town magically had an oven and graciously agreed to let me come over and bake brownies.  Super excited to be baking again after much too long, I mixed up the batter (without measuring cups or anything – I have gotten pretty decent at eyeballing!).  Much to my chagrin, the oven which I thought had been pre-heating the whole time, wasn’t even on.  After spending about half an hour trying to figure out what was wrong with it, both my friend and I gave up, so I decided to be creative.  I was actually able to bake the brownies in the microwave.  They weren’t quite as good as oven-baked brownies, but they were still good and a huge hit with my friends! The entire pan was gone by that evening. 

                This weekend, I am planning to go to Montpellier and hopefully the beach with a few friends! I’ll probably post about our little weekend trip sometime next week!

Freshers' Weekend: Ski and Spa!

Raclette Dinner

                 Last weekend was the integration weekend for all of the Erasmus hosted by our fabulous Welcome Team! Friday evening, we all boarded a charter bus and left for the Pyrenees.  After leaving late, getting lost, eating lots of snacks, and playing some interesting games on the bus, we finally arrived.  We stayed at a resort accommodation that was perfect for our large group.  The rooms were like small apartments.  We met that evening in “the great building of stone” as the President of the Welcome Team called it for a raclette dinner!  Raclette is a type of cheese that you can heat up and eat with various meats and vegetables.  It was something new to me and very tasty!

Beautiful Sunrise!

                The next morning, we all woke up bright and early to go skiing.  The first thing I noticed when I walked out of my room was the sun rising above several mountains surrounding our little resort.  It was beautiful, and it had been so dark the night before that none of us had noticed that the terrain was even different from Toulouse!   After breakfast, we headed out to pick up our ski gear and hit the slopes. 

Skiing!

                I had a fantastic day skiing! I had skied once before when I was in the sixth grade, but I was a little rusty.  I started out on the bunny slopes just to get the hang of it again.  Although I fell almost immediately after putting my skis on, I actually got the hang of it pretty quick.  It reminded me a little of ice skating which I think it’s safe to say I have a little bit of experience with!  I spent the rest of the morning on the only hill next to the bunny slopes.  The entire group met for lunch, and afterward I went up the mountain with the rest of the more advanced skiers.

View from the top of the mountain!

                The mountain was sensational! It felt like I was in the middle of a painting. Everywhere you looked was absolutely beautiful.  And the skiing was fun too! I stuck to the blue slopes.  I only managed to fall once; however, falling was definitely not the source of my embarrassment for the day.  After skiing down my first blue slope, I hopped on the next ski lift.  On my way up, I spotted some of my friends below me skiing down a terrifying, extremely steep side of the mountain covered with moguls.   I thought to myself “They are crazy! There is no way I could do that!” When I finally got to the top I was at the peak of the mountain.  All I could see was a sign indicating a black slope, and I panicked.  I was terrified that the only way down the mountain was the way I had seen my friends going down earlier.  I couldn’t move to get off the lift so I stayed on as the bench whipped around the corner to head back down the mountain.  The operator instantly stopped the lift and started yelling to me in French that I had to get off.  I responded in French asking if there was another way down.  He then pointed to the blue sign that I had missed and helped me off the lift and back into my skis.  After apologizing profusely, I went on my way.  Meanwhile, every French person around me was laughing hysterically at the incident.  Needless to say, I was indescribably embarrassed. 

                Despite my incident on top of the mountain, the day was a huge success.  We all returned to our accommodation that evening for dinner and a party.  The next day we went to Ax-Les-Thermes and went to a spa.  It was fantastic! There were hot tubs, saunas, waterfalls, and steam rooms on two floors inside and outside.  It was so nice and relaxing.  After that we ate lunch and headed back to Toulouse.  It was a fantastic weekend!  

Food!

                It has been brought to my attention (primarily by my family) that I have yet to discuss my gastronomic adventures in France.  So to make up for it, I have decided to devote an entire blog post to one of my favorite things – food!

                First, I would like to make clear that this post is not about me tasting frogs’ legs or snails. In fact I have yet to even have the opportunity to try anything like that.  While I have eaten at a few restaurants (mostly while traveling), I typically eat at my apartment.  Our kitchen consists of two hotplates, a sink, and a mini-refrigerator.  It definitely took some getting used to as I pretty much use the oven any time I am in the kitchen, but I’m getting there.  So far, I’ve made things like fish, toast, eggs, crepes, chicken, pasta, rice, and potatoes. 

                Grocery shopping has not been too challenging so far.  There is a nice store that is about a 5 minute walk from my apartment.  I also like going to a larger store on the metro.  It’s enormous - maybe even bigger than Wal-Mart – and it has everything from olive oil to shampoo to kitchenware and electronics.  I find it amusing to walk down the international foods aisle and find taco kits, peanut butter, and Bisquick.  One thing that is much different here is at the check-out counter.  In America, you are given as many bags as you want, even if you only have one item.  Here, you have to pay for each individual bag so most people just bring their own reusable ones from home, a practice that I have happily adopted!

                Another great place to get food are the markets.  There are so many open air markets with lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, bread, honey, etc.  I’ve been to a couple while traveling, but have yet to go to any in Toulouse (it’s been so cold!).  It’s starting to warm up so I plan on going sometime in the next week!

                When I don’t eat at home, I typically eat cheap.  There are a lot of small restaurants and street vendors all over the city that have inexpensive and normally pretty tasty fare.  Typically you can find somewhere that sells paninis, sandwiches, croque monsieurs, or crepes and delicious pastries and desserts.  Another thing that is very common is kebab.  I think my favorite so far are the crepes.  They are so tasty!

                As for general updates, I am going skiing in the Pyrenees this upcoming weekend with all of the other exchange students and the welcome team.  We are skiing all day Saturday and going to a spa on Sunday.  It should be an incredible weekend! 

Exploring France

                Right now, I am sitting in first class on a TGV train from Strasbourg to Aix-en-Provence.  I have spent the past week traveling around different parts of France and Switzerland – Lyon, Geneva, Strasbourg, and Aix-en-Provence – by train with several friends.

                Why am I exploring France this week and not going to class?  For those that don’t already know, my course at the Toulouse Business School is designed as a series of week-long international business seminars taught by different professors from around the world.  The school was unable to schedule a seminar this week so we will have two seminars during one week in the future.  That will be a tough week, but it was nice to have some time off to travel!

                Our first stop was Lyon, the second largest city in France.  Many say that Lyon has the French charm that Paris once had.  That is very evident.  The city was beautiful and had features similar to those of Paris.  We spent most of our time exploring and wandering about the city.  We found an open-air used book market (Which of course captured my attention! I left with a book of French fairytales and a copy of Around the World in 80 Days), climbed up the Fourvière hill, visited the Place des Terreaux and Hôtel de Ville, saw the Roman Theater ruins, spent some time in Place Bellecour, and wandered the narrow cobblestone streets of Vieux Lyon.  My friend and I also got some traditional Lyonnais food!  It was very good!

                The next stop was Geneva, Switzerland.  The train ride was exquisite as we approached the Alps.  The terrain began to undulate as we passed through tunnels and French countryside.  When we arrived we had a beautiful view of the surrounding majestic snow-capped mountains.  The day was lovely and we explored the city on foot seeing the cathedral, the Reformation wall, and the famed flower clock which is literally a clock made out of fresh flowers. That afternoon I bought some delicious Swiss chocolate and walked to the United Nations offices on the other side of the city. My only two complaints for the day would be (1) the fact that we had no hotel and had to carry our luggage with us all over the city which wears you out much more than you would imagine and (2) the high prices of literally everything – especially food!  It was difficult too because we were only there for one day and didn’t want to end up with leftover Swiss Francs which are pretty much useless anywhere else. 

                After Geneva, my roommate and I returned to Lyon and left the next morning at 6:00 a.m. for Strasbourg.  We were unbelievably exhausted and had gotten virtually no sleep.  We slept on the train and got coffee as soon as we got to Strasbourg.  Bolstered by a little rest and a lot of caffeine, we explored the beautiful city of Strasbourg that afternoon.  It was probably my favorite part of the trip so far.  It was so charming and relatively slow paced.  We saw the cathedral, La Petite France, and the covered bridges.  We also found an open air flea market to explore and had dinner at a traditional Alsatian restaurant.  It was absolutely delicious!  Today, we saw a little more of the German influenced parts of the city which are completely different from the quaint, charming French centre-ville.

                Now, I am on my way to Aix-en-Provence before returning home to Toulouse.  I feel very ritzy on the second floor of this TGV in my oversized first class seat (first class was luckily the same price as second class for us!).  I absolutely love the French train system.  It’s so easy to travel! You can literally show up one minute before the train leaves.  The TGVs are amazing too! They feel a lot smoother than normal trains and go so much faster!

It’s been nice to see all of the different parts of France.  Each region really does have a certain uniqueness about it.  I’m glad I got to see these other cities, but I am glad I live in Toulouse! It’s such an ideal place for students!    

An International Education

I have officially started classes in France.  It’s been over 11 weeks since I have been a student in a classroom.  Honestly, I am extremely happy to be back.  I feel a lot more productive and finally have assignments and deadlines.  I know.  I am so strange.

            I thought I would use this blog post to describe how classes work here.  My school is part of the French “Grande Ecole” system.  It is extremely different than the American education system in terms of timing and evaluation.  After lycée, the French equivalent to high school, students take an exam called the baccalauréat, or simply “le bac,” to go on to higher levels of studies.  About 80% of students take the bac.  Students can then choose one of three options – (1) Specialist Schools (similar to technical school or an associate’s degree), (2) Universities, or (3) Grandes Ecoles.  The main difference is the concept of the Grandes Ecoles.  These schools are very competitive and require two years of post-high school preparatory studies prior to admission. 

            The Toulouse Business School is one of these schools.  After admission to the school, students spend one year studying basic concepts and subjects.  The next two years are considered the “Masters Programme” where students actually get to specialize and study a particular field of interest.  This is the program that I am in.  There are two parts two our semester – the OAP (9 weeks) and the OAC (4 weeks) – followed by Artemis which is a short management simulation at the end of the semester. 

My OAP and OAC are both International Management.  It’s been really interesting so far.  We have a different topic and different professor from another university from somewhere around the world every week.  This week our professor was from Argentina and the seminar was on Sustainable Development and Inclusive Business.  The course is a little challenging because it basically crams what you might do in several weeks or a whole semester into one week.  This week I have already had to do a lot of individual reading, a group presentation, and a 5-8 page paper.  I also have an exam tomorrow morning.  It’s very different from what I’m used to, but I enjoy it.  It’s really cool to get to work in groups with students from around the world.  I feel like I am getting a much better global perspective of the world.

Aside from class, I haven’t done much this week.  The weather is getting much warmer, and it feels like spring.  I have gone down to La Garonne (the river that runs through the city) a few times and just sat and talked with friends.  It’s a lovely place to relax, hang out, or have a picnic.  I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of time there this spring.

Le Canal de Brienne

La Garonne

Another thing that has been going on here are the campaigns.  Unlike at the University of Arkansas where you can make virtually any kind of club you want, the Toulouse Business School has a set number of associations.  That doesn’t mean that there aren’t a lot of different organizations though.  During the month of March, all of the organizations campaign to be one of the school’s official associations, and it is insanely competitive.  The organizations provide free breakfast and lunch, will run errands or cook for you, bring you food, throw massive parties, etc. for the whole month.  It has been quite nice so far.  I really enjoy the free breakfasts – unlimited pain au chocolat, croissants, pound cake, muffins, crèpes, juice, and coffee.  Life is good!