Too cool for school? I think not.

     Its going on our third week here in France and I think I have pretty much adjusted to the fact that I’m going to be in France for the semester. However, I haven’t quite accepted the fact that I’m supposed to be going to school. When I signed up for this trip, I was told that everything would be the same. It would be “just like me going to school in Morgantown but in France”. After only being here for 15 days, I can honestly say that nothing is the same as being in Morgantown and obviously that person just didn’t want to scare me. I was never scared to get here I was more of worried that I wouldn’t fit in. But yet again, I don’t think that person exactly knew what he was talking about because nothing in Morgantown is the same as being in Strasbourg, France. The major difference is the people and the fact that I’m in France. In Morgantown, there are thousands of people pretty much all supporting WVU but here its different. Strasbourg has a German flow to it but everyone here strongly believes that “while in France, you must speak French”. Yes, French is still a challenge for me but I think that’s when the idea of school kicks in.
     Speaking of classes, this week was our first week of classes and the Europeans have a unique way of handling students. I signed up for classes the same day they started and that wasn’t just because I was an exchange student but that was for all students. Not only that, but as of Sunday evening no one, no professors, no administrators, no students exactly knew when classes would start. Apparently, they varied and it could change. The thing that completely blew my mind about this was that people were okay with it. However, I wasn’t going to try and change it, I was just going to accept it along with accepting the idea that we all had a mini anxiety attack at 12:00pm Monday afternoon when we were finally allowed to register for classes. Thankfully, I got all of the classes that I wanted but it was stressful. The collapsing internet system was aggravating, connecting to the internet was a challenge, and simply making sure there were no overlapping classes was discouraging. But, we all made it through and got all the classes we wanted. This meant that our first class was that same day at 2:00PM. It wasn’t the case for everyone but 10 of the WVU students had our first class.
     My first class was International Leadership. It was supposed to begin at 2:00 but as of 2:30 there was no professor in the assigned classroom. So we thought. As we were leaving someone came into the classroom and told us the room number had been changed and we had already missed the beginning of class. It was a 4 hour class but still on the first day, I needed to be there because that is the most important day. This was crazy. We had no idea that the room number had changed. No emails were sent and nothing was posted on the door. I don’t mean to critique but I feel like if they want us to learn some communication is needed. The guessing game is not fun, especially not in a foreign environment. Actually, the original classroom was too small for 55 students so we all moved to the room next door but even so, nothing was posted on either doors. Thankfully, someone came into the second room and moved us all into the basement, which is where the class was taking place. I’m not sure how people don’t stress out. I’m definitely learning to relax. I’m that student in class that writes down everything and organizes my entire academic schedule in a planner based off a syllabus but some profoessors didn’t even give us a syllabus with any dates on it. I really don’t understand how we are supposed to know due dates. This class seems pretty simple. We only have 2 assignments, no attendance policy, 5 class sessions, and the class ends late October. My second and third classes took place on Tuesday. It was a long day but yet again we were in for a surprise. I had one class from 2-5 and then another from 6-8. The class that was 6-8 was downtown and the first one was here at the castle. The first class was interesting. I’m not sure how this relates to psychology but I went along with it. Speaking of psychology, my major, none of my classes relate to psychology but I’m really not worried about it because I enjoy spending time in France. The night class was cancelled but we didn’t find out until we got down there. Again, no emails were sent. I honestly wouldn’t even mind if the email was all in French, I just would have liked to know ahead of time.
        “While in France, you must speak French”. I feel like this is the biggest truth I have heard since I have been here. My French class started off rolling. It was about 30 people in the class with about 20 different nationalities. I felt like I was back in high school, good ole’ Glenelg Country School. I feel like my fellow WVU friends were somewhat amazed by the diversity because WVU is pretty clear-cut but being in this class gave me a taste of home. I was comfortable. No longer a minority. It was great. The professor started off speaking French and didn’t stop. It was alright though because she would break down what each word meant by talking slowly and writing on the board. Of course, I feel like this class could be challenging but this class will be the most practical out of all of my classes. I also think just being in France is a life changing experience. I’ll appreciate things so much more. I’m learning so much about me, about Europe, and about America. Things I took for granted in America are actually worthwhile here. (for example- water) But, there are some things I won’t take for granted here in France, which is the opportunity to see the European Parliament in action. This is such a big deal and not a lot of people can say they have done this. I’m not quite sure what was going on but at least I can say I did it. I’m so thankful for these opportunities, the fun and the not so fun.