Bonjour again!
This past month has been one of the best months of my life. ?I have slowly eased into the European lifestyle and feel comfortable calling Nice my home base. ?I have even gotten a Euro haircut and a jacket to blend in with the French. ?While the city and the culture have become familiar to me, the language still perplexes me. ?I have begun a beginner French course. ?This class is very difficult because I have no foundation so I am starting from square one. ?Everyone within our program and school speaks english as well so I do not get much practice with the French language other than class and with uber drivers. ?When I try and speak French with people they instantly realize I am American and speak english. ?While this is convenient to have english speakers, it is frustrating that I have not excelled in the French language at the pace I had expected.
I have already finished 1 class and am closing in on finishing 2 more. ?Because of this school has slowed down significantly and I am beginning to have longer weekends to travel around Europe. ?No complains over here. ?Class is not very intensive so far and it requires a lot of group collaboration for projects. ?I enjoy this style of learning rather than being lectured for 3 hours a day. ?EDHEC aims to use a hands on approach with learning and I have found it very effective. ?However, I have to force myself to focus at times because it is pass or fail and my GPA doesn’t transfer over.
With all this extra time from some of my classes coming to an end I have travelled to Florence, Venice, Murano, Rome, Eze, Monaco, Ville-Franche Sur Mer, and other small cities along the French Riviera. ?In Florence my girlfriend and one of my best friends studies there so I had my own personal tour guide. ?I got to see the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Florence Baptistery, and other sites while walking by the Uffizi Gallery, the Palazzo Pitti and more. ?While the sites to see in Florence were breathtaking, the thing I enjoyed the most was Italian food. ?I was introduced to many different Italian pastas and pizza that will never be forgotten. ?The next week I went to Venice with Garret to meet up with one of our A&M friends who studies there. ?She showed us an awesome time and we saw the Grand Canal, Saint Mark’s Basilica, the Rialto Bridge and much more. ?Venice is a very small place so we saw the city within a day. ?Three days was honestly too much time in a place that small so on the 3rd day we took a day trip to Murano, the glass island. ?We were privileged enough to see glass being made and all the antiques on the island. ?The next week we went to Rome and it was absolutely incredible. ?Garret and I chose to do the hop on hop off bus because it dropped us off at every single popular site to see in Rome. ?We saw the Colosseum, the whole Vatican, the Spanish Steps, the Moses, the Roman Forum, Trevi fountain, and many basilicas. ?I have never seen such a historically rich city and thoroughly enjoyed the 3 days I spent there. ?I also did some quick day trips the week after Rome along the French Riviera. ?I hiked up Eze, enjoyed the beaches of the Riviera, and explored Monaco.
I am almost halfway finished with my time here in Europe. ?The time is going by way too quickly. ?Everyday is a new challenge and adventure and I can’t wait for the rest of my time here.
Bonne journ?e!
