A semester abroad in the city of romance

Living in Paris would be a dream come true for you? Then take the chance and spend your semester abroad there like I did. Since I was a kid in China, I've heard that Paris is a romantic city of art and fashion, so I've always wanted to go there. I did visit Paris two or three times before, but only as a tourist. Based on the great experiences I had, I wanted to live in Paris even more. I am studying the B.Sc. International Management at ISM Frankfurt und it so happened that the ISM exchange semester gave me the opportunity to have three months of immersion in Paris. Although I have been to Paris several times and have seen the Eiffel Tower many times, it has always had a fascination for me. In this article, I will share my experiences of a semester abroad in Paris and give you some tips.

European Business School Paris

To be honest, the most important reason why I chose EBS was that it is in Paris. A friend of mine who spent a semester abroad at EBS told me that one of the EBS campuses is located right next to the Eiffel Tower and that there are several classrooms with direct views of the Tower through the windows. This reinforced my desire to go to EBS. During my three months at EBS, I was lucky enough to attend classes in those classrooms.

Paris Business School has 3 international campuses, each in different places. I must remind you that the orientation day is very important. One will be taken to visit the different campuses, shown the exact location of each campus and how to use the school's app to check the timetable, where to use the printer etc.

You can choose your own course of interest at EBS, I highly recommend French Culture and Civilization and Making Sense of the World. French Culture and Civilization is different from a regular history course, in that the teacher will take you on trips to see the old buildings and tell you their significance or history. In Making Sense of the World different topics are discussed and there are students from many other countries in the class, so you will get to know the thoughts of people from all over the world.. EBS focuses on teamwork and in almost every class, students work in groups to solve a case or give a presentation.

Apartment search

Renting in Paris is very expensive. This was my problem because I didn't look at the rental information in advance, even though the ISM teacher had reminded me about it. So I had to find accommodation on Airbnb, which cost me much money, but it was worth it. In the house I rented I had a direct view of the Eiffel Tower from my window. As I mentioned, I really like the Tower and walked there every day. My advice is to look for an apartment as soon as possible. As far as I know it's cheaper to rent in the north.If you live far away, the Paris metro is everywhere on the street. But be very careful, theft is rampant in Paris. Always keep an eye on your belongings on the metro!

Parisian food

Good food always makes me happy, the food in Paris is unforgettable.When we talk about French cuisine, we can not only think of cheese, caviar, foie gras, truffle, snail (I only like truffles and foie gras, and I hate snails). French cuisine has formed a kind of culture, just like our extensive and profound Chinese cuisine. Each region has its own distinctive agricultural products and dishes with different style and taste. Dining also pays attention to collocation, for example, different wines go with particular dishes, dining etiquette and so on.

In Paris, Chinese food is also very authentic. I also love Chinese food in French, such as Shujiuxiang, which completely reproduces the taste of Chinese hotpot and the medium spicy is enough, because the boss said to me: "I will give you a medium hot, if it's not spicy, I'll give you more!" then it comes out very spicy and refreshing! I’ll tell you again, how happy the students in Paris are!

Apart from Chinese food, when it comes to French food, it's fantastic. Oysters, when eaten raw, must be fresh in the shell and covered with sea water, they can be drizzled with lemon juice. Attention please! Oysters are ranked according to the quality and origin, which I won't go into here, but the origin and grade of the oysters makes a great difference. The best choice is to drive to the oyster producing area and then take the oyster from the sea floor... Not everyone can do this, of course.

Travelling

When it comes to travelling, most students can prepare a student card and a young card for train travel. For example, in the Paris region, you can pay more than 30 euros a month to get a student card for public transport. You can go anywhere in Ile-De-France, and with a youth card you can buy train tickets with a discount of up to 40%. In addition, you can choose to travel to other French cities, the smaller the city, the lower the prices will be. When I first came to France, I didn't think it was pretty. When I saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time, I thought it could not be uglier. However, I soon found that the scenery was really beautiful. To be honest, France's tourism resources are really rich: Normandy, Brittany Bordeaux, the South French Sea, the Central Highlands, the Alps, the Pyrenees and the mountains of Corsica have many hiking and cycling routes. The cultural architecture landscape is also diverse and has a long history.

In a word, the EBS Paris exchange was a meaningful experience for me. What’s more, I could enjoy the beautiful scenery and the richness of culture of Paris; explore the different artistic atmosphere as well as more professional knowledge.

Do you want to go to Paris for your semester abroad as well or do you have another destination in mind? Our International Office assists you in finding the most appropriate partner university and they are always there to help students who are currently studying abroad.

Author: Xiaohui Sun

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