J'aime la Paris !!

Thank you University of Windsor for this AMAZING opportunity that I have been experiencing abroad. Although there are some really hard things about being away from home the experience has been an eye 

opener for myself and the differences different countries really have from one another.

Well as you all are probably wondering I AM BACK FROM FRANCE. I made it back in one piece but it was defiantly scarier being over there because every nice person you talked to always warned you about pickpockets. You always hear about that back in Canada, and how it happens around the world but to actually be in the situation and have people tell you it has happened dot them is a lot scarier and I was walking around with my hands on my purse the whole time.  Other than that France was amazing. The architecture out there is really mind-blowing. seeing all the churches and cathedrals, the old buildings, and of course the Eiffel tower you really look at these buildings and think to yourself wow the time and craftsmanship that went into the structure of these buildings is amazing. So to begin with the transportation to France, it’s crazy when you think about it but we drove the whole way. On a normal basis I drive an average of 3-4 hours to see my boyfriend and mom in Toronto and for the same time (a little more) we made it to a whole new country not just a different city.  Let’s start by taking you through our journey on a brief not from beginning to end;

When we first decided to go to France it was going to be us going to see Tom because he just got in from Windsor and is going to school in Rouen. Once deciding to drive to France we got another 2 people involved, quickly as more people started hearing about the trip more and more wanted to join and on a very fast note it went from 2 people to a group of 15 road tripping across the country. Our itinerary for the week was; Friday Sept 9^th drive to the town of Lille (This is apparently where Flanders field it). Now unfortunately I have class until 5:30 on Fridays so the group had to wait to leave until then. We got on the road a little early because I got out of class early. The plan in Lilles was to tour the city a little, and find a hostel to stay in that night with the intention ofk getting up early to make our way to Versaille. Slowly our plan started to fall apart….
The car ride was amazing though, I was in the car with four other girls and guess what we did, rocked out to some old school spice girls OH YEAH! The car ride in itself had to be one of the highlights of the trip 3 different cars following each other, singing, dancing and of course laughing very hard at all of mickey’s messes…So as some of you know I am kind of a clutz and a mess well of course since it was after class I was sooo hungry but no one in our car had food, so when we stopped I jumped out of the car grabbed my backpack in which I had stored 2 apple turnovers for the car ride. I was now so excited to eat these apple turnovers that when I pulled the bag open I dropped them everywhere and made a bunch of crumbs in this clean rental car OH GOODNESS!! But of course that is something everyone would have expected from me

Anyways we than made our way to Lille we had to stop on our way for food. What did we get you may ask… Well just take one guess. McDonalds!!! What a surprise having to stop on the highway and the only fast food around in every country around the world is McDonalds can you say major brand awareness everywhere. But moving along we finally made it to Lilles France and it seemed to be a beautiful, beautiful city. Unfortunately by the time we got there it was already dark outside so it was very hard to take pictures and see the buildings. We walked around the city for a bit and tried to find a place to stay. Since we did not book ahead because we weren’t actually sure where we would end up we got a little problem and realized it is a lot harder to find a place to stay for 15 people. Walked around the city a little more and took some pictures but decided since we were not going to be able to find a place to stay we might as well complete the next 2 hour drive and make our way to the city of Versaille.

Lille

Lille

Lille

Sketch Motel

We got to Versaille very later or early morning whichever way you want to look at it and figured from there it would be a lot easier to find a place to stay because it’s a bigger town and should have a lot more hostels; worst come to worse we can stay in the cars. When parked in front of a church in Versaille one of the girls decides to talk to some strange women who offers to take us to a cheap place to stay for the night. Further we go, I won’t lie kind of creepy following a stranger we are brought to a really old stingy looking Motel. That being said it was a cheap place to stay. The lady turned out to be really nice and actually has a daughter going to school in Quebec but from now on I think we decided asking strangers to take us to places not such a good idea (wasn’t my first choice in the first place). The rooms ended up being small but cheap so we got 2 rooms for 15 people and put 4 girls in one, and 3 guys in another while everyone else slept in the car. This is where it gets funny for me… I was sleeping in the backseat of the car with Sonya in one front seat and Ryan in another when I guess after I passed out, I heard a car door, I woke up in a jolt but when I looked at the back of the seat I saw a HUGE beyond HUGE spider. Of course I started to freak out like crazy, than Sonya freaked out, and Ryan just kind of looked at us like we were crazy. We took a flashlight to the car and looked for this spider but found nothing… So in the end I ended up crashing in the girls room at the end of the bed because I was so scared Sonya went into another car and I have been made fun of this whole trip for hallucinating a random spider in a car.

As the morning came we made our way to Versaille. This palace was the most amazing beautiful thing I have ever seen. As I said the architecture and decoration inside are beyond words (See the pictures for yourself)

After Versaille we made our way to our hostel in Paris (We booked these rooms the night before but were lucky enough they were like apartments and held 7 people each) The hostel (should not be called a hostel) was amazing. It was big and nice and was more than we could have asked for especially for the price we paid. We were about a 10 minute walk away from the train station which was amazing since we could easily get into the city center of Paris. We did just that Saturday night and all of Sunday.

We saw;

Museum de Louvre (Outside)

Eiffel Tower

Notre Dam

Arc De Triomphe

and Sainte-Chapelle
Pictures Say a Thousand Words!!!

Hard Parts about France

Travelling with so many people is defiantly a hard thing to get used to but something interesting that is going to be done throughout the next 4 months. You are constantly looking out for others, trying to please others, making sure everyone is there and accounted for, making sure everyone gets to do what they want as well as making sure no one gets lost in a foreign country. Even though it was very hard and at times very frustrating when you sit back and look at after the time the experience and people are so fun to be around. As well the pictures and memories you get are amazing.

Best parts about France

Well other than seeing the amazing sites and waking around the beautiful city the best part defiantly had to be the FOOD! (Beware this may be my favorite part about a lot of trips)….So what can I say I did last Sunday. I climbed 669 stairs up the Eiffel tower and then ate a large hot dog in a French baguette and an AMAZING AMAZING chocolate banana crepe in front of the Eiffel tower.. and you did?

I would love to talk more but to take you through the whole trip would be so much time but please enjoy the pictures

School

And my classes are finalized. Unfortunately I had to drop my e-marketing class but I look at that from a bright side I am not enrolled in Project Dutch economy and I get to really learn all about the country I am living in and truly get a grasp on a different society. I have had my first presentation in Business 2 Business Marketing, and ahh it was the worst presentation I have ever been marked on. Not necessarily the worst presentation ever given (not the best) but still it was hard to get a mark like that. Working in the international group turned out well I was lucky to get such a great team but the professor did not very the marks across the board which means all three groups that presented got the same grade. It was a little frustrating but all I can do is improve for the next time. What will really be upsetting is if he specially did not vary our marks and the groups next week have that chance and can do better than all of us I will be upset because than it just won’t be fair. Moving along in business ethics not much has happened. We have gotten our first case and slowly the class is started to learn more and more about the ethical cycle and theories. Last but not least event management; this is a lot more work than I thought it would be. not just the event because we know going into that it was going to be a lot of work but we have assignments every week that can be something like 7 pages reports have to get these done while as well putting together our event and working in other classes. This is defiantly going to be a class to work on your time management skills. Our event though the ideas are coming along; we are going to be hosting a formal presentation with buffet dinner and a Mardi Gras party afterwards. WISH US LUCK!

Friends

YAY, as I said it takes time but I have friends J Of course since France when you are travelling with 14 other people it is hard not to make friends. Slowly as the time goes on I am still meeting more and more people and hanging out in different crowds. As well as around here it is student night every Thursday so partaking in those events is helping to get out meet people and make this time a little more interesting. Some of the new and exciting people in my life are;

Danielle-Australia

Essi-Finland

Viddie-Indonesia

Shaye-Canada

Of course if I don’t mention Sonya she will kill me (She does read this)! There are so many people it would take too long to name on this but I have to say people around here are so nice and accepting. Being on an exchange is such a great experience to meet people from all around the world and really indulge in their cultures. When can you ever say again you made so many friends from literally all across the globe in such a short period of time?

Arnhem

It’s a slow process but it is moving along-UPDATES

I got a bike- YAY I can finally be considered like any other Holland person around but there is one downfall. I AM SO SHORT! Being so small and Holland people being so tall the bike I got does not quite fit right. I need to stand on a ledge to get on and off and pedaling feels a little wobbly here and there, should be an interesting time trying to ride that one every day J Picture will be updated soon since I have not taken one yet.

Food- As I said I am a picky eater but slowly I will start to try things that aren’t of my normal nature and I have done it. I tried what is called a doner pronounce done air it’s like a shwarma type of sandwich. What I did not know while eating it and enjoying it most defiantly was that I was eating sheep. SHEEP AHH!! But what can I say, I enjoyed it. There will as well be a picture of that but I must get it off Sonya’s camera first.

Travels

Back from France and heading out again this weekend. This weekend Sonya, Ryan, David Tom and I are driving to Munich on Friday. In Munich we shall be attending….OKTOBERFEST … I could not be more stoked to say I went to Oktoberfest like how many people can say that in their lifetime. From Oktoberfest on Sunday we are going to drive our way to Prague which is only 3 hours away from Munich and spend Sunday and Monday there heading back Monday driving through the night so Ryan and David can make class on Tuesday. I am so excited … Especially for Prague as well.

Well to all the people reading this I know it’s a long one I am sorry again but enjoy the pictures and I am hoping you are enjoying my weekly blog.

I would just like to finish off by saying THANK YOU AGAIN UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR BEING ABLE TO REPRESENT YOU AND THE ODETTE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS <3 HAS BEEN AN HONOUR AND I AM ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT OF IT.

I CAN HONESTLY SAY EVERYONE SHOULD TRY AN EXCHANGE!!!!!!