France

Andrew Marshall
MU Summer in Paris and IES (Partner Program) in Paris, Summer and Fall Semester 2003

"I spent a very hot summer and a very rainy fall studying with IES in Paris, France last year.  During the summer, my program was the MU Summer in Paris program affiliated with IES, and I took French 230: Introduction to Literary Analysis and French 206: Advanced Conversation and Composition.  The staff and the professors were excellent—quite Parisian, but much more agreeable than the American stereotype of them.  I lived with a host family in the 13th arrondissement during the summer and continued to live with them until 6 weeks before my program ended.  I felt like and was treated like a member of the family, and my experience there was excellent on the whole.  I decided, however, to live in a "chambre de bonne" associated with another host family in the rich Neuilly-sur-Seine neighborhood just west of Paris proper for my last six weeks.

"During the fall semester, I enrolled in two political science courses at IES, as well as their translation and literature courses.  The professors were easy to understand, reasonably clear about expectations, and patient with students whose level of French was below average.  The academic experience was very good on the whole, but the thing that really boosted my level of spoken French came from the girlfriend that I met there while clubbing in July with my host mother's daughter and her friend.  She was a Moroccan who spoke perfect French and fluent English—her English came in handy early on in our relationship when my French still wasn't quite up to par!  Despite the many challenges and difficulties I faced during my time there, of which I could appropriately say, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," the fulfillment and experience I have gained from my stay in Paris are worth more to me than anything else I could have spent my 7 months on, and the longer I am in the United States, the more I tend to keep only the many GOOD memories.

"If you are interested in studying on either of these programs in Paris and want to know more, please drop me a line: le_roi_lezard1971@hotmail.com."

Megan Spurgeon
MU Summer in Paris, Summer Semester 2002

"Getting bored with good ole Columbia, Missouri?? Wish you had something exciting and different to look forward to other than the same old weekend plans or work schedule?? Do you ever wonder what the real world is REALLY like?? If you answered yes to these questions, maybe you should consider studying abroad!! My name is Megan Spurgeon and I found myself getting bored and even resentful of my usual, monotonous life here in Columbia. I heard about the Summer in Paris program offered over the summer, and I thought it was my chance to escape for awhile. Not only was it a great opportunity to see other parts of the world, but because it was a summer program, it did not interfere with the heavy workload of my major, Microbiology.

"While I was in Paris, I took two courses in grammar (FR 206) and contemporary issues (FR 353). I lived with a host family, which although tense at the beginning, turned out to be one of the most memorable parts of my trip. The group of students from Mizzou that went included 13 people. Even though we were all different in MANY ways, we left Paris as a group of close friends. It's not everyday that you get to have a picnic under the Eiffel Tower or visit Jim Morrison's grave with friends! Not only is the cultural experience EXTREMELY enriching and eye-opening, but the changes that studying abroad will create in your own personal image is amazing. I grew up in a small town, go to school in a small city and was extremely overwhelmed by the size, number of people and transportation systems in Paris and Europe. However, as time went by, I found myself gaining confidence and a great deal of independence. After having been thrown into a situation where I was surrounded by people speaking a different language who had different views than most people from my country and after having been forced to branch out and meet people, I feel much more comfortable with myself as a person and am more confident about any situation I find myself in.

"All I can say is that you should take EVERY and ANY opportunity to study abroad. It will change your view on life and yourself and will create life-long memories. How many people do you know who can reminisce about days spent in a foreign land, drinking and talking with friends (natives or other students) who have experienced a different way of life?? Not too many-but you could be one of them!!!! Take advantage of the world around you---don't settle for rotting in Columbia, Missouri for the remainder of your studies! Be daring and explore and experience the benefits of study abroad--you won't regret it!!!!" E-mail: mesf82@mizzou.edu.

Eve Cann
MU Summer in Paris, Summer Semester 2002

"I am a psychology major and French minor at MU. I started taking French here because I knew that I wanted to study abroad in France. I started looking into different programs and going to the study abroad fairs and all that stuff my freshman year, but it never really fit into my schedule until this past summer. Looking back, I wish I had studied abroad for a whole semester, but I felt I would miss too much here. Six weeks was a nice amount of time to spend in Paris, and the first 2 weeks were especially great because it wasn't too hot and there weren't a whole lot of tourists there yet. As the summer progressed, the weather got warmer and there were thousands of tourists. I was thankful that we hit all the major tourist attractions before all the tourists actually got there. I took 2 classes while I was in Paris: the equivalent of French 230 and French 353. Everyone I talked to before I left said that they would be the easiest French classes I would ever take, but I found this to be almost the complete opposite. I'll be honest, the classes were hard; there was a lot of reading, particularly for 230, the literature class. And finding an English translation of the works was hard, and when I did find them, they were expensive!

"Though my program only lasted 6 weeks, I stayed around for an extra 2+ weeks because my uncle lived there, and I had a free place to stay. This gave me an opportunity to explore the city on my own. My original plan was to travel those last 2 weeks, but being the middle of the summer, all the student-priced tickets to anywhere were sold out, and the hostels were booked. My advice is to buy a Eurail Pass if you're planning on traveling at all (besides London, which is not included). That is my one regret. Another piece of advice: bring shoes that are comfortable to walk in and a really good umbrella. It tends to rain with little notice in Paris, so make sure you always have it on hand. Oh, and if you're claustrophobic, the metro might not be the best place for you, especially during rush hours! We had to force our way onto the trains in the morning in order to get to school on time. Oh yes, if you know anyone going on the same program as you, see if he or she wants to request to live with the same host family as you; it makes life and adjustment much easier; plus there's always someone to walk home with at night from the metro station (very important if you're a girl), and someone with whom you can speak English also.

"Studying abroad is an awesome experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. Even if you are not taking any language classes, you can find a program in any country you want to go to that doesn't have any language proficiency requirements. Just remember that it might not be through MU. Also, take advantage of all the financial aid available; there is a specific summer loan that MU offers that is really helpful when you're just going abroad for a short amount of time.

"Feel free to e-mail me with any questions about the Summer Paris program!" E-mail: Eviemu03@aol.com.

Beth Phillips
Northwestern University (Non-MU Program) in Arles at College Saint Charles, Summer Semester 2002

"I am a junior at Mizzou, and I studied abroad this past summer. The program I went on was through Northwestern University, and I traveled with a group of 20 Northwestern students and 2 other non-Northwestern students. I heard about the trip through a friend of mine who attends Northwestern. I spent 7 weeks taking classes in Arles, France-a city in southern France that could not be more beautiful. The really great thing about Northwestern Programs (I think there are at least 7 other programs that visit other countries) is that two Northwestern professor come with the group and teach the classes. I took two classes: one on Roman history and one on French Linguistics. Both my classes were in English. French 2 (I am not sure if it is equivalent at Mizzou) was also taught by a teacher from Paris -- this was a very intense class for those who took it. So, I had classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-12 and had the rest of the time free. We ate lunch as a group together everyday at various restaurants that the teachers had already coordinated with. These lunches were already paid for. Every weekend we traveled to a different city, and we also had two free weekends (one for three days and one for five days). We traveled to Marseilles, Nice, Moustier (where we went on a 7 mile hike), Aix-en-Provence, Nimes, Glanum, Orange, Avignon-and a few other smaller cities we just visited for a day. The weekend trips were fabulous. During the days we had some group activities learning about the history of the cities and looking at paintings, but we always had the evenings free. For the free weekend, my friend and I traveled to St. Tropez with some friends we met on the trip. That was absolutely amazing! Other people went to London, Paris, Germany and other places. We stayed in a small family-run hotel for the seven weeks in a cute part of the city. Arles is a rather small city but is filled with Roman history (it has one of the best preserved Roman Arenas and theaters) and many cute cafes and shops. It truly was amazing to be learning about Roman arenas in a Roman arena. I strongly encourage anyone to study abroad, and the south of France is so incredible. I really enjoyed this trip particularly because of all the traveling we were able to do. The Mediterranean Sea was near every city we visited and only a 10-minute bus ride from Arles. Please, please, ask me if you have any questions!!" E-mail: elpb2a@mizzou.edu.

Jaclyn Huff
MU in Lyon at the Universite Jean Moulin-Lyon III, Winter Semester 2002

"Hi! My name is Jaclyn Huff. I'm a junior here at Mizzou, and I'm majoring in speech pathology. When people ask me about my semester abroad, I never really know what to say. How do you explain 6 months worth of new, incredible experiences to someone? You can't! Living in a foreign country is something you must experience for yourself in order to understand completely. However, I'll try to give you a brief overview of my experiences abroad.

"On January 4th, 2002 I found myself walking down the streets of my new city-Lyon, France. I remember being completely amazed that I would be living in this beautiful city for the next six months. Lyon is divided by two rivers: La Rhone and Le Soane. They form a sort of peninsula in the middle where you'll find great shopping, cute cafes, museums, and great nightlife. I think that one of my favorite things about Lyon was its market on the quai of La Soane. Every day there was a GIANT open air market. My friends and I used to love to go there, buy lots of fresh fruits, veggies, cheese, and bread and then go make a picnic or feast! Cross over Le Soane, and you'll find yourself in old France (also known as Vieux Lyon). There, the windy streets are made of cobblestones. Hidden within them are little shops, bistros, English pubs, Roman ruins, and of course, two beautiful cathedrals. If you cross over La Rhone, you'll find a more modern Lyon., where the universities, library, mall and other commercial buildings are located.

"While living in Lyon, I stayed with a family. They were very nice to me and were extremely excited to teach me about the French lifestyle. It was there that my French really improved. The university I attended was called L'Universite Jean Moulin, Lyon III. The university system was an experience in itself. Coming from Mizzou, I was used to a very organized school system. In France, however, you'll see that organization does not really exist. The first few weeks were interesting, to say the least, but I managed in the end. The majority of my classes were in French and were quite challenging at first, but I saw much improvement as the semester progressed. I also found that the majority of professors there are pretty willing to work with foreign students.

"Although I attended classes daily, I learned just as much outside the classroom. When you're in a foreign country, you are constantly learning something: a new word, a new lifestyle, or even a new food. I made so many great friends from all over the world with whom I will keep in contact, and I was able to travel to many new countries and see so many amazing sights. Most importantly, I learned a lot about myself. I am a much more confident, independent, and culturally sensitive person than I was before. I highly recommend studying abroad to anyone-- you'll make new friends, see and learn about the world outside of the US, and become a stronger person in the end.

"If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me." E-mail: jlh70e@mizzou.edu.

Shelby Schroeder
MU in Lyon at the Universite Jean Moulin-Lyon III, Academic Year 2001-2002

"Hello, MU students. My name is Shelby Schroeder, and I am a senior with a dual major in social work and French. I had a wonderful year abroad in Lyon, France last year, 2001-2002. Before leaving last August for Paris, I had never left the United States. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I was determined to go abroad. I had been taking French classes since elementary school, and I felt like I needed to go see what France was all about. I also knew that I wanted to speak fluently, especially since I had taken French for so long, and I still didn't feel confident with the language. I think that now, after a year of being immersed in a foreign country, I am a lot more confident with speaking French and with myself. I think that being abroad has helped me be more confident about myself and more curious about the world. I met a lot of other exchange students in Lyon from all over the world, which really made me realize how similar we all are to one another. I made a lot of good friends and had a lot of good experiences. I also had the ability to travel to many other countries, which was also an awesome experience. The opportunity to go abroad and travel the world is an unbelievable journey. I definitely recommend studying abroad to anyone who is even slightly interested. Studying abroad is a wonderful learning experience that is tons of fun, and it can change the way you view the world." E-mail: scs302@mizzou.edu.