WELL, it’s over. I feel like I blinked and I have made such great friends, shared great memories, and now I’m boarding a plane! I can’t express how great this reciprocal exchange has been.
Firstly, it was a small group of only 13 people attending the summer program. This made us instantly depend on each other and form a bond. I really enjoyed becoming so close with every single one of my classmates. From riding the buses together, eating lunch, spending evenings, sharing dinner to even sharing our weekends with each other – I had an amazing time.
I quickly had to overcome a few obstacles, one of which being the cultural differences here in France and the other was being “American”. French people are a passionate population, some regions differ from others, but here in Nice it became apparent that the language barrier was a struggle. Many people understand and speak?english, but prefer to speak french. Many times I was given looks and judgements when speaking english in public, but after asking program coordinator?at EDHEC I learned it had less to do with my language and more to do with my tone of voice. The French not only dislike speaking english, but they absolutely cringe at loud speakers. Of course American’s are naturally very loud speakers! So I quickly learned to be more respectful and that turned my experience around!
Being “american” unfortunately has a few disadvantages, and I learned quickly to have tough skin and be respectful. Being the only american born student in the program this year, I was the joke through many of the class discussions. This was expected and welcomed, all fun and games! The problem with being the only american is that every student knew more about american politics than I knew about their home country’s politics. I had many instances of attacking questions regarding the presidential election, gun reform, and our historical abuse in the middle east. I was asked very detailed questions, and it was very difficult giving a neutral answer. My recommendation – tell them you are not a diplomat for america, you are just a citizen. America has a history, as does every other country in the world. The most important advice I can give is to stay away from your natural instinct to be defensive, it will only make the situation worse. If I had a euro for every deep debate that was spurred by a gun reform question directed at me — well, I’d be rich. It was a challenge that I’d say you should know is coming, and can’t be avoided.
Other than these challenges, I had a few advantages. One of which being the fact that France drives on the right side of the road! I was able to rent a car on our off-weekend, and drive to Italy and Monaco while taking in some once-in-a-lifetime views of the coast and mountains. I highly recommend trying to rent a car (fairly inexpensive, especially if you split it with friends) and explore, regardless of the city!
Academically the program was better than I could have imagined. Our first professor came from Germany (a powerful EU member) and through teaching us about the EU, was able to give us the german perspective and his knowledge of other large EU perspectives. Our second professor was from Moldova, and through her lectures regarding eastern europe’s struggles with the post-soviet transition and the EU/Russian intervention, she was able to give us first hand recollection and experiences with these topics. Most importantly,?all of the students came from different countries?(America, Australia, China, Japan, Angola, UK, India), so not only did we learn from the professors, but also from each other. During each debate, simulation and even general class discussion, each student brought in examples from their own home-country.
I know if I don’t end this post soon, I’ll have written a book. Plus, my flight it about to board to Barcelona. Off I go to a celebratory mini-vacation to Spain and Italy! Hope you found this blog post interesting. Au Revoir France!
Here’s a few photos from my last day in Nice!
