March 6, 2017
Hello again from Nice!? This past month has been incredible.? I feel very comfortable living in Nice now as I know my way well around the city and feel very comfortable with the culture.? Unfortunately, learning French has been more difficult than I expected.? I am in a beginner?s French course and do a little studying via Dual Lingo on my own but it is very difficult to practice.? Our entire group of exchange students all speak English together even though there are only three Americans.? Even when I try to practice French with a French person, they immediately recognize that I am not fluent and start to speak English with me.? This has made it hard to progress but I am slowly making progress none the less.
My school schedule has slowed down significantly.? I had a time-intensive course the first month of my exchange but now that that class is over, I meet for class maybe three times a week.? This is great for going to the beach and for traveling!? Each one of my classes involves a group project. ?In the two months I have studied at EDHEC, I have done more group projects and group presentations than I have in my two and a half years at Texas A&M. ?There are also very few grades at EDHEC.? Our final grade in each class is usually comprised of one or two group projects and a final exam.? This system is nice because it removes all the trivial homework assignments, but it is also a disadvantage because I will not know how I perform in each class until I receive the final exam grade at the very end of the semester.
The weather in Nice is slowly warming up and I am spending more and more time at the beach.? The beach is not like the beaches in Texas.? Instead of sand, there are smooth stones about the size of your fist.? There are other beaches along the French Riviera I have visited that have normal sand as well, however.? The Mediterranean Sea is also beautiful and the water is a vibrant blue.
I have also been busy traveling.? So far, I have skied twice in the French Alps, visited Amsterdam, Venice, Rome, Orvieto, Monaco, Eze, and various other towns along the French Riviera.? Traveling like this has been completely new for me but I have loved every second.? I also have a 10 day break coming up where I have trips booked for Paris and Dublin for St. Patrick?s Day.? In the coming months I also have a spring break and trips booked for Germany, London, and Spain.? I am very excited to take on these adventures and share my experiences in my next post.
I am close to being half way finished with my exchange now.? I feel like I have been in France for longer than two months but I also do not want this trip to end by any means.? Every day is a new adventure and I am extremely excited for what lies ahead.
