Buddy programme

After the first weeks, college life has now also started for me. I had my first week of lectures at Dauphine Université. The lectures are a bit different here in Paris, they are 3 hours long with a 15 minutes break after 1,5 hour. Quite intensive, it is even more intensive because the teachers want a lot of participation and discussion during the class. But besides the intensity, it makes it also much more interesting. They really use the fact that there are a lot of different cultures in class.

After finishing my intensive French language course last week, I had a week off. I filled this time with discovering Paris as a tourist with my Exchange friends. The University also organized some picnics and meetings and off course parties. By going to these events, you discover the less touristic places in Paris. The University organized also more. At Dauphine University they have a so called “buddy programme”. This buddy is a French student who helps you in Paris. My buddy had a couple of more exchange students to take care of, so she organized a picnic with all of them. This was quite interesting because we all agreed to speak French only during the picnic. A bit challenging, but really nice because it helps to improve your French. At Dauphine they also formed groups of students with the same French Level and some French students. They organize meetings where you discover Paris and learn French at the same time. Me and my French group went to see le Sénat (The French senate). Normally this is closed for visitors, but last weekend it was the European Heritage Days, so a lot of special buildings were open for visitors.

Off course I did a lot more, but it is just impossible to write about all my adventures. But let me share one claustrophobic one with you: I got stuck in a very tiny elevator for at least one hour. My roommates and I went to the cinema and when we were back home we wanted to take the elevator. But then we got stuck! The elevator was not bigger than half a square meter, so with three persons it was not possible to sit and we could barely move without standing on each other’s toes. Luckily a guy in our apartment helped us after we pushed the alarm button. After one hour they finally managed to open the lift and we could breathe again. Quite an adventure, but now I prefer the stairs over the elevator.