Bienvenue à Montpellier!

I flew overnight to Paris into the 2nd of January. From there I took a four hour TGV ride to Montpellier. I spent two nights in a hotel with the rest of the students from my program for orientation, moved in with my homestay family and by Monday I was sitting in class.

Before leaving, I had an idea that the French university would be different from my own but I didn't realize just how different until I experienced it for myself.
In America, students are expected to pay thousands of dollars in tuition. As a result, we have beautiful, clean, modern buildings and are equipped with the latest technology. In France, students do not have to pay nearly as much and their universities are reflective of this. Basically, you get what you pay for. Paul-Valery University is covered in graffiti, the bathrooms are pretty gross and its just overall aesthetically non-pleasing. There also seems to be a lack of organization. At Penn State, for example, we sign up for courses online at a specified date and time. The system is organized and has to be because of the number of students. This week, I looked up my courses in an incomplete course book (some of the classes didn't even have a day or time listed and they were due to start the next day) and showed up to the ones I thought sounded interesting. The professors passed out a sheet of scrap paper and had students sign their names to create a course roster. No worries about class size or anything... I showed up to a film class and there was no teacher. Turns out the class no longer exists and they just decided not to tell anyone. The next day, I went to an 18th century lit class and there was no teacher. After twenty minutes of waiting we found out he's sick.
I guess I'll write more about school later...

In other news, I was surprised to see snow today. I never thought I'd see snow on palm trees... I always have my camera in my purse but I have yet to take any photos.