Hello all! This is Corrine again.
Well, we survived our first French final! We had it two weeks ago from today. It was 5 short answer questions about European Integration. We haven’t received grades yet, but the general consensus is that we all studied hard and did well! 
The grading system in France is different, however. They grade on a 0-20 scale, with a 14 or above being considered “really good” or an A by our scale. I, not being used to lower numbers, will probably still be upset at seeing a “14″ or anything resembling that on my paper! Hopefully our grades will show the effort we put into it. It’s hard to believe we found time to study with all of our travels 
Upon arriving in France, our apprehensions about class were great. Despite the assurances that they would all be in English, we wondered at the format of class, the language barrier that still seems to exist between cultures, despite speaking a common language, and the grades/tests. All of our worries were in vain, however, because our professors are generally easy to understand, and are more than willing to clarify until we understand. Plus, they have cute French accents! In all seriousness, we have found that the professors genuinely want to help. Our European Integration classes were designed around a desire for debate; the notes Professor Kreitz provided were outlines of the direction he wanted to go, but the class centered around our discussions. In a class full of students from all over the world, it was always interesting to hear the opinions and afflictions of other cultures, regions, etc. (It is worth mentioning here that the University of Strasbourg is a huge school, but the part we are enrolled in is primarily for foreign exchange students. The classes are predominantly taught in English, but we have classmates from Slovenia, Russia, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Brazil, Colombia, Australia, Korea, and many more I am sure. The debates are often as diverse as the students themselves.)
Dr. Dollat’s class (EU Citizenship) is similar, but more research based. We get assigned topics on his syllabus to prepare a paper and presentation for the class. He is interested not only in informing the class, but understanding the United States similarities and differences as well. For example, Justin and I are to present information on the free movement of workers: we have to present the EU laws, and the different sections of those laws, how it is applied, etc. He also wants us to compare it to the movement of workers between the different states in the US. Accordingly, we have found similar laws in place, but the Europeans utilize the freedom to move much less than Americans do.
With all of the studying, we find it useful to experience the European Union first hand. Collectively, the GSU students on this program have visited (or will have visited by the end of the program) Belgium, the UK, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Greece, Germany, Russia, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Romania, and Austria. We don’t advise traveling completely independently (although Chris seems to ignore that warning often), so we travel together. We of course have academic excursions planned with the program which we all attend, but Katie, Kelly, Justin, Nikki and I went to Prague together; Kelly, Abby and Nikki are going to Transylvania together. The week break from school was the perfect time for us to travel further away from our home base. Justin and I went to a small town in the Swiss Alps, Cinque Terre, Florence and Rome. Our favorite was Cinque Terre. Rome and Florence were fascinating because of the history and ruins, but Cinque Terre offered unbeatable scenery and amazing hiking! We were most sad to leave there. I am proud to say that I am one of the blessed to have been able to do yoga along the Italian Riviera!
As a whole, I love to travel- but this experience has taught me so much more. Not only am I seeing all these iconic, amazing things, but I am beginning to understand the cultural aspects. We talk to locals on the trains to all of these places (language permitting), and it’s amazing to hear their opinions and stories that coincide with what we are hearing in class. We talked for almost 2 hours on the way back from Rome to a native Roman who now lives in France. One of my favorite topics is health care, since that is my concentration. I’m sure others don’t share my affinity towards it, but I just love hearing the Europeans talk about it! Each country has a different, independent system- there isn’t one system for the entire EU or anything. Some are similar, while others are vastly different. However, they all share the same shock about the failures of our system, and are eager to tell me why their country has the “best” system. I don’t mean to bore everyone; I’m merely trying to show the willingness (and even eagerness at times) for the Europeans to talk to us Americans. The French, we have learned, do not live up to the rude, unhelpful stereotype they have been given. We personally have had no problem getting around or help when needed; the most we have had to deal with is angry looks on the bus for being loud (which we really can’t help, since the French are completely silent while on public transport; being a group of predominately girls, this is impossible for us.)
Well, I must go finish part of an assignment for a professor at home. I am doing the directed readings class with a professor back home at GSU in addition to the classes in France (which I highly recommend!)
Corrine
