Tuesday, September 24, 2013

KEDGE Business School and a Little Humor!



Hello everyone!

Seeing as to how I am here for school, I suppose I should talk a little bit about it! I am attending the brand new KEDGE Business School for the Master In Management Program.  This school was made by the merging of two other schools, BEM and Euromed Management.  That means I am officially a member of the first class to attend this school! Also, the picture above shows a building under construction.  This is the new building our school is moving into in January.  So I will also be part of the first class to use this building. How exciting!!

At this school, we have sequences instead of semesters.  We take one class at a time for three weeks. The final is usually on your last Friday of that sequence, and then you move onto the next sequence.  I am very eager to see what this is like.  I think it will help to have only one subject to focus on at a time. Also, as my mother pointed out, if I don't like the class, I only have to take it for three weeks!

Yesterday, I finally started my first sequence.  The class that I am taking is a French Language course for beginners.  I am so new to this language, I feel as if I should have my own teacher! There are about 15 people in my class.  They are all either bilingual already, or have been exposed to some French.  I feel a little behind! But...I have enjoyed my first two classes very much and look forward to learning as much as I can. I just have to really put in a lot of work!

To get to the school from where I live takes me about 45 minutes. I live roughly five miles away...oh the joys of city living! I walk to one of the trams, get on tram, get off tram, get on a different tram, get off tram, get on a bus, get off bus...arrive at school!  It is quite the ordeal, especially because I am used to driving myself everywhere, but all the people and scenery make it interesting and time flies!



Since I do not know any French yet, I figured I would share some of my "language barrier humor."  Communicating can be very hard at times, so I try to look at the positives, learn from it, and usually laugh at it later. 

To start with, on the third day of being here I went to get my yearly tram pass.  The people I worked with were patient and we used a lot of gestures and hand signals.  When we were done with all the paperwork I paid my bill, which is a lot for a poor college student! The guy handed me my nice new card and said "Alright, you are good for one whole day."  He started to turn away, but stopped when he registered my large eyes, face of horror, and need to panic.  There was no way that I just payed that much to have him misunderstand me and only give me a day pass.  He realized what he had said and quickly reassured me "Year, year, I meant year!" We had a good laugh and I was on my way!

This next story is one of my favorites so far.  Upon moving here, all of the international students were required to open a bank account.  Somehow I managed to accidentally start opening two different accounts, with two completely different banks! I am pretty sure I am the only student to do that, ever! Seriously, the talent I possess just gets me sometimes! Only me..

Then there are the little things. Like when someone asks you to "come over here" and you mistake it and go the other way. Then there is the opposite, when someone tries to get around you and you just stare at them. And I can't tell you the amount of doors that I have walked into because I never know if it is push or pull. I just guess, and with my luck, I am usually wrong!




This is a picture of the Chateau I went to on Saturday! We had wine tastings and got to meet other international students! It was very pretty and a lot of fun!

Thank you for reading. I miss you all!

-Krysta

"You will never know unless you try."
-Disney


Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Some Interesting and Random Things!

(This picture is from my exploring the other day! This is a street along the river!)

Hello everyone!!

For the past few days, I have been meeting people and getting to know the city more.  Everyone in the school has been participating in a game called "The Quest."  There are 200 teams of 10 people competing against one another and doing a scavenger hunt all around the city.  It sounds pretty cool, but it was actually very boring and didn't really make sense.  That is alright though, I made some more friends and explored a little more!

Since being here, I have noticed many things and I thought I would share some right now!  They are random, but interesting and might answer some questions that people have!!

To start with, the cars in France have their driver seat on the left side of the car, and they drive on the right side of the road, just like America!!  The roads in Bordeaux are super small and hectic! The first full day I was here, I was being taken to my apartment and we side-swiped a car, simply because there was absolutely no room! Also, it is acceptable to give other cars a little tap on the bumper while parking.  I am not sure what the law says, but if you do this, no one will look twice! : ) There is just no room!! It is incredibly crowded!

There is a lot of American influence here.  I always hear American music and our shows are always on TV.  There are not many French television shows.  Everything I see is Friends, House, How I Met Your Mother, CSI...the list goes on.  They just have French voice over.  Right now, I watch the world news channels a lot because they are the only ones in English! As I start to learn French, I will watch more French television to hopefully help me! : )  I have watched some French shows already.  There is a dramatic reality show that I watch and put my own story line to it...it is quite entertaining for me!

I went to my first McDonald's today! It is surprisingly like American ones.  Unlike when I was in Japan, their McDonald's were very different.  Here, they have machines (with an English option!) where you place your order, and then wait for your number to be called.  As we were eating, I noticed that no one's sandwiches had ketchup on them! It is something that has to be asked for.  If you know a Weinberger, you can imagine my shock and horror!! ; )

In some downtime in my apartment I like to read or watch a movie.  Naturally, I tried sites like Netflix, Hulu, and my Google Play movies.  On all of them I got messages "Sorry, this has not been brought to this part of the world yet."  I was surprised at first!  Contrary to common belief, just because it is on the internet does not mean you can access it anywhere!! Other students have been asking about what sites are similar to Netflix, so I know I am not the only one.

Something else I found interesting here is work.  French are not allowed to work until they are legally an adult! Once they are done with their high school, they usually go to prep schools, programs, or universities.  Their education is usually really cheap or free, but they have a lot of work while attending, so they don't usually have jobs while in school either.  Their first jobs are usually an internship during a summer while in college or after they are done with college all together.  I have had a job since I was 13 years old.  In America, it is becoming almost weird if you don't have a job while in high school already! People here are interested in the fact that I have already worked so much and all the different work/experience I have gained! That is a big cultural difference!

One of my friends and I had the opportunity to talk and hang out for quite a while today.  She has traveled to the United States several times already and loves it there!! Her family loves to travel as does mine, so we were able to talk a lot about that!  It just so happens that we have both stayed in the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, TN, and have eaten at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville!! We thought that was pretty cool!

I could write a lot more, but I will save it for my next post! : )

Thank you for reading,

Krysta

"If you keep on believing the dreams that you wish will come true."
-Cinderella

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Exploring and Learning


Bonjour!

I have been very busy these last few days trying to settle into French life.  On Thursday I was able to venture out for the first time completely on my own (that was a little scary).  I went to the main tram station and got my yearly tram pass, went to the bank to open an account, and ordered a new cell phone.  Every place that I went to get these things done didn't have many people who spoke English. So let's just say it was quite the project, but everyone was so nice and patient!

I took the tram to school to make sure I would know how to get there and so I could time it.  I did a lot of tram riding that day to get a good picture of how the city was laid out, and now I can navigate Bordeaux pretty well already!  Then I went back to my apartment to make a plan to go find groceries.  Well surprisingly, I live right next to the mall! I still can't get over how convenient and awesome that is!

On Friday, I had almost ten hours of orientation.  I got a good look at the school and met a lot of the international students.  After we were done, my friend Luan and I went to get something to eat and explored a lot of the city.  Seriously, it is so cool! We then met up with the Swedish students  and a few French.  We went to The Cock and Bull to watch the big football match between Bordeaux and Paris.  I was able to order my first legal beers as a 20 year old! We had a lot of fun there! Also, it takes forever to say hello and goodbye to people because of all the kissing on the cheeks! : )

Today I went back to the mall to go to the store Auchan again.  It is a lot like a very nice Walmart.  It was my second time shopping there, but I am still nervous about it.  Not being able to communicate at all scares me yet, so I just do a lot of nodding and assuming.  The check out is the worst part because they usually ask you questions.  Today I bought a hair straightener/curling iron and the cashier asked me a question.  I assumed it was about a warranty for it, so I just shook my head no.  I was right about the question! I am starting to be able to pick up very few words here and there and at least guess at things!

Let's see what tonight brings in this exciting place!! : )

-Krysta

"Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."
-Babe Ruth

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Finally Here

Hello everyone,

These last two days have been quite interesting!

On my flight to Madrid, I had a window seat. As we were flying into Spain, I was able to watch the sunrise over the mountains. One of the prettiest views I have ever seen! There was a guy named Chris sitting next to me. He is from North Carolina and is studying abroad in Madrid, so we had a nice conversation! However, when I flew into Bordeaux, things started to follow the pattern that the last few months had, nothing seemed to go right!

My pick up service was a little late because they were so busy. I panicked a little but managed to keep my nerves under control.  Then I was told that the office at my apartment was now closed, so I had nowhere to stay.  The two people who picked me up, Nicholas and Nathan, then got a call that another student needed a ride from the airport so we turned around to go get him. His name is Luan. When we introduced ourselves he asked where I had flown from. So I told him my flight pattern.  He was amazed because we had the exact same flight pattern but didn't remember seeing each other. So I asked him what university he was from. He said the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay.  I am not even joking.  We had never met until now and no one had ever told us about each other.  Talk about a coincidence!

Nathan and Nicholas offered to let us crash at their apartment for the night, and they were super cool and nice with everything!  But getting there was an adventure I would like to never repeat.  Not only had Luan and I dragged our very heavy luggage through 3 airports for the last twenty hours, now we had to drag it through part of the city, onto a very crowded tram, then through the city some more, up three flights of stairs to their apartment, and up to the bedrooms, which were of course on the third floor of their apartment.  I was so incredibly tired and sore, I didn't think I would move ever again!

Today we went to the school, I started some of our administrative process, and met a few more people.  Me and two other girls, from Germany, were then taken to our apartments.  They were in the same boat as me with having issues with their accommodations, so I didn't feel completely alone.  The person who dropped me off couldn't stay because they were busy again, which I understood, but I felt so confused, overwhelmed, and alone.  So much stuff was thrown at me within the last 30 hours, I couldn't remember most of it. Finally, I got to my apartment and had a little meltdown.

And then the power to our building randomly went out. Seriously, it's just one thing after another! So I left my little pity party and decided to see if I could find my tram stop.  I ended up finding it no problem.  It is in a really pretty spot.  It was so cool there so I just sat for an hour and watched all the fun and interesting things going on around me until it got dark out.  I felt 10 times better after that and explored a little on the way back to my apartment (about a 15 minute walk from the tram stop.)

This city is so beautiful, and even more so at night!!  So now I am going to finally unpack, take a nice hot shower, watch a movie, and get a lot of rest. Tomorrow is pretty much open, so I am going to attempt to get a tram pass and finish the process to open my bank account.  Then it is just explore, explore, explore!!

I'm feeling a lot better, so no worries!

-Krysta : )

"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."
-Disney


Monday, September 9, 2013

Ready to Go!

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog!

In just a few hours, my parents and I will be off to the airport. These last few weeks have been crazy, but I think I have everything ready.  Last night, with much help from my mom and good friend Kari, we fit everything into my suitcase and carry on (which took some serious talent!).  My suitcase weighed 48.8 pounds, just 1.2 pounds away from the limit! I also have a carry on, that is quite heavy, and a large purse.  That is all I have for the next 9 months! 

I am very excited to get to France and start exploring and sharing stories! My goal is to post about once a week. But who knows, it could be more often!  I provided a spot below where you can submit your email address and subscribe to my blog!

Thank you everyone for all of your love and support! Next, I will write to you from France!

-Krysta

"The path to your destiny lies within the magic of your heart."
-Disney