Paris, où la vie sera toujours belle (Paris, where life will always be good). Past Review
By Jarrett J (French, Grinnell College) for
France Study Abroad Reflections: Comprehensive Reviews of Past Programs
This verified that France is a wonderful place to learn and experience URBAN French culture and that Paris will always be a place I hope to one day live. I can't quite articulate all of what I know I could or would like but just know that the experience was downright invaluable and was definitely probably THE highlight of my college career (I'm a French major also so, y'know).
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The French grading system is generally markably different from what it is in the United States (Grades are assigned on a scale of 20 but an 11 or 12 is considered to be a pretty decent grade within the B range). At the university I attended, I found that work I would normally consider pretty above average was merely average. Workload was manageable, the assignments that made up the final grade for a course at the French school were few - only 2 - meaning it was very important to do well overall in the course. |
|
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I was very much pleased with Sweet Briar's administration all in all. They were very open to hearing you out if you needed something and they all had a very great deal of experience with EVERYTHING. The on-site director of the program herself was indeed Parisian and she had a very strong relationship with all of the program course instructors and anyone who helped out with the program in any sense. She was also very understanding if you ran into a problem and would work her hardest to mitigate any issue you came across. Kudos to the entire SBC JYF administration! |
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
SBC arranged all housing arrangements with host families. In fact, housing placement is one of the things SBC JYF is known for. Fortunately, I was indeed placed into a household that meshed well with my desire to be independent. However, in my case, I was not convinced that my host mom truly cared about hosting a student. Sometime she was very stand-offish and once all she gave me for dinner was a slice of ham and pasta...with no sauce (this was on a day she was out and prepped a meal beforehand). In retrospect, I was very happy to have the arrangement that I did but I also know that it could have been better if my host mom was a little more caring. As far as treatment goes, she treated me as if I was one of her kids, which was definitely very nice. Although I was a guest, if I ever needed anything accommodation-wise she was happy to oblige (but this rarely came up) |
| * Food: |
It's Paris, all was well! |
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
SBC did a great job of organizing orientation events for the Fall semester students as there was a 2week pre-program arranged in Tours. During this time the program had lots of things planned but when we got to Paris, they organized some events but it was spread out over the course of the semester and they didn't intrude too much on your life. They even said that they wanted to encourage students to get out into the city and do things on their own so that was very nice. To encourage such immersion, they even reimbursed the price of a "cultural" event up to 30euros, marvelous! |
|
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
|
| * Safety: |
Again, its Paris so pickpocketing and tourist mugging happens somewhat often but as long as you learn ways of being vigilant, all was okay. Many women in the program, because of a very sexist culture in France, were catcalled on their homes a lot and many cited instances where men would even follow them home...nothing bad ever happenned though (to my knowledge). As far as health issues go, I did not get too sick at any point so I didn't have to go to a "pharmacie" at all but I heard they were pretty okay to get you something that helped. I brought my own US meds with me and I would suggest that for anyone going abroad because you don't know what you can and can't get where you're going. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
|
Finances
|
* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
|
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
|
| Language acquisition improvement? |
The program administrators (with whom we came into contact with daily) very much encouraged the speaking of French in ALL affairs, unless a student was in a very stressful or emotional situation and needed to speak in English to better explain oneself. |
Other Program Information
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
|
| * What could be improved? |
|
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Students who are rather independent need be at the forefront of all others. The program is good for any type of person but at the end of the day, you get the most out of everything if you can identify what you want and need for yourself. |
