This week I’ll be entering my fourth week of classes at Universit� Paul Val�ry in Montpellier, France and I must say that the differences between Paul Val�ry and Penn State are about as extreme as they get.  The two universities are different in about every regard imaginable: esthetics (or lack thereof), teaching styles, grading, organization, and cost (or again, now that I think about it, lack thereof).

The first difference I noticed when I walked on campus for my first class was the overall appearance of the school – about as different from Penn State as can be.  Many of the walls are covered in colorful graffiti, the grass isn’t always meticulously trimmed, the gardens are a bit over-grown, and many of the buildings are just…drab…

Sitting down in Amphitheatre A for History of Cinema I look around and notice the phrases sharpie on the walls, desks, tables – some in French, some in clearly not-native-language-English.  There are scuff marks on the lower half of many of the walls from too many shoes being kicked or rested against them.  Before starting the lecture professor explains that the Amphitheater was renovated and cleaned this summer and asked us not to doodle on the desks we’re sitting in.  I’m still not sure if that was a serious remark or not.

Then the professor started to lecture.  And when I say ‘lecture’ I mean lecture.  I’ve had professors at Penn State that I thought were boring.  I was wrong.  The first lecture consisted of the professor sitting at a table in front of the 400-student class and mumbling into a microphone for an hour and a half.  Trying to understand the professor’s rambling was made harder by the mass of students around me having their own conversations.  For what it’s worth, I’ve learned to sit in the front row since then.

Grading is also a little different.  History of Cinema: one (1) 4-page typed paper to turn in at the end of the semester.  Fin.

The university isn’t quite as organized either.  My first class was delayed half an hour because another class was scheduled for the same time in the same room.

The biggest difference (and possibly the cause for many of the above-listed differences) would be cost.  Think about what we pay in-state at PSU.  I think this year is around $15,000.  That equals roughly 11,000 euro.  Now, what do French students pay per year?  Take that 11,000 euro and divide it by 10.  If you’re able to read this you probably got 1,000 euro.  Cut that in half equals 500 euro.  That’s still about 100 euro MORE than what a French student without any scholarships pays per year to attend the university.  But, like I said, that’s part of the reason for the stark differences between our universities.

So, as much as I am loving France, and despite the enormous difference in price, I think it’s safe to say that I prefer the way Penn State does things.

Location: Montpellier, France

Leaving the US

10 August 2011

It’s hard to believe that the day is finally here; today is the last day I will spend in the US until late December.  I am heading to France a week and a half before my program start date with my family for a vacation before they return to America and I stay behind. 

I first made the decision to study abroad the summer after my freshmen year (I’m now in my super-senior last semester).  At the time I was like many freshmen and bouncing around from one major to another with no clue at all what I wanted to study.  French wasn’t even an option up until that point.  Finally that summer I stumbled upon a PSU program that allows students to double-major in engineering (which was my major at the time) and French (which I had enjoyed all through high school).  Feeling lucky that I found a program that let me combine my two interests, I decided to go with it.  The only hitch was that the curriculum “requires” students to study abroad in order to graduate.  Woe is me, right?

So, this trip has been three years in the making.  Anyone who has ever looked forward to something for an extended period of time can attest to the fact that waiting stinks.  As a to-be sophomore looking forward to a trip I was planning to take after my senior year it seemed the date would never come; three years might as well have been thirty.  On the other hand everyone also knows that looking back on it the time has flown by.  It seems like in the blink of an eye I went from being a rising sophomore to being one short trip shy of my diploma and entering the real world.

All-in-all this experience has been a long time coming.  I know I’m about to learn things I never expected to know.  There will be memories that I’ll never lose and friends I’ll make for a lifetime.  I’m also aware that before I know it it’ll be December and I’ll be on a flight home to snowy Pennsylvania.  So, I’m going to make the most of it.  I’ll learn and experience as much as I can.  But I also know that I need to step back from time to time and take it all in because it’ll be over as quickly as it began.   

Location: Kennett Square, PA

Bonjour!
Being as this is my first blog post, I’ll start with a brief introduction.  My name is John Austin; I’m at 22 year old senior studying at Penn State getting ready to study abroad in Montpellier, France.  I’m double majoring in Civil Engineering and French (odd combination I know, I’ve been told).  I’ve got 12 credits remaining to earn in France before I complete my two degrees.  When I come back to the US at the end of December I’ll be able to graduate (although not able to walk until May 2012 because of commencement dates and time it takes to transfer credits from overseas) and move in to the ‘real world’.  I’m currently living in State College and interning with the Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. working in construction management at Penn State’s new Millennium Science Complex.  Last Thursday June 9 I drove down to D.C. for my Visa appointment at the French Consulate, which I guess is where the ‘blogging’ actually begins…

If you’ve already been through the process then you know that after sorting through the plethora of information pertaining to getting a Visa, the process really isn’t all that bad.  But, if you’re considering studying abroad or haven’t gotten your Visa yet, it may seem pretty intimidating – it did to me.  Between applying to CampusFrance, receiving their acceptance, getting approvals from the University of Minnesota (who actually runs the Montpellier program), scheduling a Visa interview (avec un vrai fran�ais!?), getting all the paper work in order, sending money to UMn, CampusFrance, the Consulate, getting (multiple) passport pictures at CVS and perhaps a last minute stick of glue (?), it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.  And all that’s assuming you’ve already got a passport.

But, like I said, it really isn’t all that bad.  Sit down one evening and sort through it all and it begins to make sense.  Here’s the abbreviated ‘to do’ list, just make sure you start early:

1. Apply to CampusFrance on their website.  This is actually the most confusing part because it’s a bit tricky navigating around their application page.  But they provide a ‘cheat sheet’ to help you through it.

2. Pay CampusFrance.  It’s always about the money.

3. Schedule your Visa appointment about 3 weeks after CampusFrance notifies you that they received your payment.

4. Wait.  This seems to be the most nerve-wracking part.  Waiting in limbo, not knowing if you’ll be approved to apply for a Visa, never mind actually getting the Visa.  Just waiting for the seemingly ultimate say in whether or not you get to experience the study abroad.  If you don’t get approval within 2 weeks shoot them an email.  When I did that they responded within a day and approved me the following.

5. Get on the consulate website and find the list of documents needed for the ‘longer than 90 day / long stay Visa’.  Get a manila folder; put all these documents in a pile in the folder in the order listed on the website.  Make another pile of photocopies.  Put the entire folder in a pre-paid self-addressed express mail envelope along with your passport and go to your consulate.  For my ‘interview’ (and it’s all in English for those of you who might be worried) l’homme fran�ais asked for the documents one at a time in the same order listed on the consulate website.  I handed them over, signed a few papers, paid my fee (again, the money) handed over my passport (to be returned to me in the express mail envelope) and was done.  Easy.  And no, I didn’t need to glue my passport picture to the Visa application.

So, after waiting my turn at the consulate and passing the time by watching people hopelessly argue with the employees over missing documentation or incomplete applications and fluster over a mess of disorganized and excessive paperwork I was free to enjoy the rest of the 95 degree sunny day with my girlfriend touring the monuments around the nation’s capital. 

It’s been quite some time since I’d visited D.C. and despite the oppressive heat it was a pretty inspiring experience.  The huge stone monuments have a way of making you feel like you’re actually in the presence of the legendary person they were constructed to honor.  Reading the words of the Gettysburg Address inscribed on the walls of the Lincoln Memorial, or standing in the spot that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech seemed to send me back in time for a brief moment as if to live the event myself.  It’s a pretty cool feeling.  If you’re ever in the D.C. area I strongly recommend spending a few hours walking around the monuments and immersing yourself in our history.  I think it’s pretty neat I got to experience some of our own culture and history before shipping off overseas to learn about someone else’s story.

Despite the unnecessarily stressful Visa appointment, walking several miles in the 95 degree heat, and the speeding ticket I managed to acquire on the drive down, it was a great trip.  The Visa appointment was a success, I got to experience a little history and spend the day with my girlfriend.  And, at the end of the day I grabbed a pretty good (I think) shot of the Jefferson Memorial with the sun breaking through the clouds.  Now I’ve just got to wait the 58 days till I board the plane for France, but who’s counting?

Location: Washington D.C.