I'm finally back on my favorite rock, aka Oahu, aka Home, and now more than ever, I am so glad to call this place where I belong.
It feels so nice sleeping in my own bed again, showering in my own bathtub, not having to wear the same 4 sweaters that I've had with me for the past five months, and to see my family, friends, coworkers, and dogs again. My study abroad experience is not at all what I hoped it would be, but it was a great experience nonetheless, and for anyone who wants to study abroad at the Rennes School of Business... don't. HAHA. jk. but not really. Okay, it was a good school, but I can't fully recommend it to anyone. But, if you have your heart set on studying in the beautiful city of Rennes, home to the crepes, galettes, and kouign amann, here are a few tips: 1. Start your process as soon as you get your acceptance letter. I started my housing search and visa applications 5 months before the beginning of the term, and it was still not enough time. In order to get your visa, you need a housing certificate, but finding a suitable home, and a landlord who was willing to let me stay for such a short amount of time was EXTREMELY difficult. 2. Do NOT find housing through STUDAPART. The ESC Rennes School of Business partners with a student housing platform called Studapart, to help students find housing. However, unless you pay the premium €100+ fees on top of the €179 booking fees, your chances of finding an accommodation are little to none. I paid for my home two months before I left for France, but the housing platform messed up, and I was homeless for a week. They didn't do a background check on the accommodation they proposed after their initial mess up, and as a result, I was stuck in a home with a violent, mentally unstable man who physically and mentally abused his wife, invaded my personal sleeping space, had a gambling problem, and scammed me out of over €1,000. Furthermore, the platform didn't claim any responsibility for placing me in this accommodation, and refused to provide help. 3. Join the Facebook Groups and contact local agents Most people that had good homes during their time in Rennes told me that they didn't find their accommodation through STUDAPART, but rather saw ads in the RSB Facebook Groups, or contacted French agents, or heard from their upperclassman about open residences. Whoo is one of the nicest student residences that I've seen during my time in Rennes. It's a little on the expensive side, but you get your own room, wifi, a study area, laundry services, and gym in safe areas near the school. Carre Malo - my friend lived in this residence last semester and loved it, plus it's close to the school. They told me they don't accommodate students studying for less than 6 months, which I found strange, since my friend did the same semester program as me, but try reaching out to them as soon as you get your acceptance letter, and maybe they'll have spaces open. Airbnb - If you're studying abroad with friends, renting a house or unit on Airbnb is also an option. My five Indian friends all pitched in for an Airbnb, giving them the freedom to have their own living space on their terms. 4. Get a KorriGo card The KorriGo card is a public transportation pass that you can use for metros and busses in Rennes. You can get it at the Villejean metro stop or the Gare metro stop. You can purchase it by number of tickets (10, 30, 80, etc.) or by month, and this saves you from having to purchase a new ticket every time, and can save you quite a lot if you'll be studying for four months. 5. Reach out to people Studying abroad can get lonely, and if you let your sadness consume you, you lose. Don't forget that you have amazing friends and family back at home, and your friends in your new country also want the best for you! Don't be afraid to reach out to your school or UH. 6. Look for (Free) Events So many of my best memories came from events that I found on Facebook or flyers or billboard ads. There's a farmers market every Saturday at the Place des Lices in the city center, and I've made it my weekly activity - so much that some vendors started to remember me and give me free stuff! Every first Sunday of the month, there's a food truck festival at the Marche la Criee, and the Museum of Bretagne and FRAC museum of contemporary art have free admission.
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These past few months have been nothing short of crazy, depressing, empowering, stressful, and amazing. As I sit on the plane heading out of the country that I called my home for four months, I started reflecting on the very first time I got to Rennes reliving everything I went through. When I booked my original accommodation in June, I thought I was set. I didn’t think my cultural rollercoaster ride would begin before I even left Hawaii, but when I was told by that landlord that I had to find a new accommodation because he “gave my room away to another student” even though I had already paid, I knew it was going to be a rough journey. It’s crazy to think that it all started here. IBIS Style Hotel. The first place I ever stayed in Rennes, when the student housing platform didn’t help me in time, resulting in me having to book a hotel room. Thanks to Moana, a fellow SGL that went through the same program last semester, I was able to find and book this accommodation as soon as I got to Paris. AirBnb. The next day, I rolled out all my belongings, caught the bus and metro to the Airbnb that the student housing platform booked for me. I was blessed with one of my first experiences of sweet French people, when a sister and brother duo offered to help me bring my suitcase up to the second floor. This would be my new home for a week, until I was able to find another accommodation. Crazy Shack. The name that I now refer to whenever talking about this accommodation, because it was by no means a home, or a shelter. It was just a place for me to keep my belongings, while fearing for my safety and constantly felt uncomfortable. Despite it being very expensive, small, and dirty, everything seemed okay at first. It wasn’t until my housemate, Fernise, came to live in the room next to me, that I learned of all the deception that I was subjected to, and all the violence that I could have been involved in. Hisseo. The budget hotel that I got evacuated to when the school pulled me out of the Crazy Shack. It was a crazy few days leading up to my move. I came back from Switzerland, and my roommate told me about all the violence that happened in the house while I was gone – he hit his wife, the wife tried to jump out of our windows, and he once again came into my room without my permission. I was shocked and called the housing coordinator out of fear of having to stay in that house. I didn’t receive an answer even after three calls and no response back when I left a voice message, and I felt helpless. The following Monday, I couldn’t stay focused in class and constantly cried, so I excused myself early after our midterm presentation, and met with the Housing Coordinator. After my second class, she was waiting outside my building, and accompanied by an IT worker, drove me back to the Crazy Shack to hurriedly pack my stuff. I packed up my whole life in France thus far in a mere 30 minutes. Hisseo was a nice change – I had a room that I could actually lock and feel safe in, a bathroom with toilet paper, and working wifi. My New Home. After talking to Anja, the person who coordinated the cooking workshops that I had been attending, about my situation, she connected me with a girl who just so happened to be vacating her room for the same duration that I needed accommodation. I moved out of HISSEO after a week, slept on the couch of my new home for a week, and finally moved into a room which I could call my own. My roommates and I got along well, it was in a safer neighborhood than the Crazy Shack, the rent was cheaper, the space was cleaner, and I was able to finally invite friends over.
I think throughout the past four months, I’ve lived in pretty much every part of the central town. I wish I never had to go through so much hassle and spend so much money, but through this I was able to meet Fernise, one of the kindest girls I’ve met, and my new roommates, Nastia, Vicky, Belicia, and Yas Mine. I was also able to explore parts of the city I know I never would have if I hadn’t lived there. It’s the most beautiful time of the year…
Finals week! The final exams are separated by your program. For example, I am a UGTC4 student (Undergraduate program) so my business exams were in the second week of December, while my French Culture and French Language classes were during the last week of November. The PGE1 students (freshmen) have finals the week after mine, and the PG3 (post graduate students) had two weeks of finals. The final exams here are MUCH stricter than UH or any other program I have been through. We received an email about the guidelines of the rules, but this is basically how it goes: When you enter the rom, you must show your student ID or you’re not allowed in. You take only what you need (pen, water, and calculator if applicable) and leave all your belongings in the front. Some proctors even make students take off coats and scarves and leave them in the front. Watches have to be off your wrist and on the table. Once you’re in the room, you’re not allowed to leave for an hour. There’s a proctor in place of the professor, which I found inconvenient, because some of the questions were ambiguous, but we weren’t able to clarify what it was asking. All of the exams, except my French Language class, followed the same format of open-ended essay questions. There were anywhere from 3 questions to 12 questions, depending on the subject, and you’re allotted 3 hours to complete the exam. Once you’re done, you hide your name so that the professor can grade with no biases, and sign out of the room. Although the exams weren’t too difficult in my opinion, the grading system here is pretty strict so I’m not too sure what my final grades will be like. We weren’t informed when we’ll be getting back exam grades, but we just go back our grades for the project we did a month ago, so I’m guessing our final exam grades will be given back by January, and I’m hoping for the best. Wednesday morning was a beautiful and butt-freezing cold morning, but I forced myself out of bed, threw on two layers of pants and five layers of tops, gritted my teeth, and bared the cold, because it was finally the long-awaited day that I got to see my fellow SGL scholar, Monique. We met at IF Cafe, a cute place that she told me I would probably love because of my affinity for cakes, and she was right. We spent at least 10 minutes at the display case deciding on which cakes we wanted. We each got two cakes (#yolo) and chatted for a good hour before we headed out. We went to Vyšehrad again because I wanted to take photos in the good weather, and we did some thrift shopping along the way too. Monique took me to a cute spot near her school where the swans stopped, and HAHA who knew swans looked so dumb when they’re out of water? We took the famous (and crowded) Charles Bridge back to the other side, where we had a quick dinner at a local and cheap canteen called Havelska Koruna. We caught the tram to a lesser-known Christmas Market, where Monique tried her hand at haggling in a setting where they definitely did NOT haggle.
On Thursday, I explored the nearby farmers market before meeting Monique at Cafefin, a place I had been DYING to try ever since she posted a picture of it four months ago. I now know never to hype myself up for a place, because my expectations exceeded reality, leaving me sad and disappointed. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as spectacular as I was hoping :( The rest of the day was spent trying to find shelter every 20 steps we took, because it was too cold for us Hawaii girls. We ended up cutting our day short, and grabbed cake at another place on my food list called Cafe Savoy, and saying our goodbyes. I knew I needed to burn off the calories I had consumed, so despite the freezing cold, I tried to be productive and find the Prague Castle that every website had written about. I searched for a good 90 minutes, going up and down a hill with my not-so-handy-dandy Google Maps, until I finally gave up and went home. Time flies! As I was walking to school yesterday, I realized that I only have three weeks left in this city, before I head home. Crazy to think that just a few months ago, I was packing my suitcase and excitedly telling people that I would be studying in my dream country.
It makes me sad that the first two and a half months here were torture, with constantly having to move and going through a rough experience with my housing and classes. I feel like so much time was wasted on things that shouldn't have been a problem, like making the 25 minute commute to school every day to use the wifi and bathroom because of the dysfunctional ones at my house, or staying out as long as I could to avoid going back to my unsafe home, and spending time looking for a place to stay and fighting to get my money back. I told my sister, but while I was miserable here, every day seemed like an eternity. Every day I woke up, I would count the hours I had left in the day until I could sleep and get everything over with. But now that I'm in a good home and my classes are finishing up, it seems like there aren't enough hours or days left. ANYHOW, back to the reason I started this post - classes are finally coming to an end! Two weeks ago, I had my last Advertising class. Last week, I had my last CSR class. This Monday, I had my last Strategic HR class. Today, I had my last French Language class. And Friday, I have my last French Culture class, which marks the end of the session and which paves way for finals week. The finals week here is a little strange - Unlike UH Manoa where 99% of our finals are held at the last week of the semester, it seems as though only the business classes in my undergraduate program have final exams during this time (Dec. 9-13). We had our French Culture final exam last Friday, and I just finished my French Language final today. I like this method a lot more because it gives me time to prepare thoroughly for all my exams, instead of having to cram for all five within a week. My French Culture exam was extremely straightforward and simple - two essays regarding the topics we learned in class, and about our identities. My French Language exam was quite the opposite, as it was extremely complicated and broken up into three parts - speaking/presenting, listening, and reading/writing. I should also note that some of the content given on the exam was not covered in our lectures, so it was a struggle completing some of the questions. But just like with any other professor, I know that my professors here created their examinations in a way they thought would measure our knowledge the best, so all I can do now is hope for the best and prepare for the rest of my finals, coming up in two weeks! I’m a sucker for markets (all I did in Amsterdam and Germany was going to the food markets HAHA) so when I heard about the largest food market in Rennes, I knew I had to go.
The Marché des Lices is held every Saturday, and I've made it my weekly routine to go to this market. The market spans a whole street and occupies two indoor spaces too. It’s sectioned off into flowers, produce, meats & cheeses, seafood, food trucks, and baked goods & others. There are so many vendors that it kind of gets overwhelming trying to choose the best place. The prices are pretty similar, but I found a stall that sells peaches, nectarines, potatoes, and zucchini’s for 1 euro/kg which is insanely cheap. My favorite part of this market is the food stalls (duh). You can get the signature Saussice Galette that Rennes is known for, from a few different vendors. My legs took me straight to the baked goods section, where I bought a few mini kouign amann that were the best I’ve ever had during my stay here so far. The market starts to get really busy each hour that goes by so make sure to get there early! No one has told me definitive times for this market, but as far as I’m aware they’re open from 9am-1pm. |