CLASSES:
Here is what my class schedule looks like, as of right now. I’m going to be taking five classes, but only the business classes are starting this week, while the French language and culture classes start at the end of September (because they’re less credits, I’m guessing). It's also a little strange because some classes start later than others - for example, this week, I only have my Advertising class. Next week, I have two classes, and the following week, I start my third business class. Very strange, but I guess it's good because it gives me time to get used to my life here! Registration for classes was a few months ago, and you’ll get an email from the school letting you know when it’s time to register – but beware, because it takes place during French time, I stayed up until 3am to get the classes I wanted. You register through their platform called RISE and you can download the syllabi to see what they’ll be like, before signing up for them. However, you only get your classes once you arrive at the school. This basically means that even if you sign up for a class, there’s no absolute guarantee that you’ll get in, and you can’t choose your classes based on times/dates like you can UH. I had trouble registering because it only allowed me to put in four classes into my cart, even though it indicated you could sign up for up to six. This gave me the impression that that was all I needed to transfer back the 12 credits I needed. But like everything with my trip so far, that turned out to be wrong, and I had to talk to the registrar and add on another class when I got to France. So, let me just get this straight so you don’t make the same mistake I did: CHECK. THE. CREDIT. TRANSFERS. My businesses classes count for 3 credits each in the UH system, while the French language and culture classes count for 1.5 each, giving a total of 12 UH Manoa credits (special thanks to Moana’s travel blog for helping me understand this better, she explains it really well!) HOUSING: If you’ve been keeping up with my blog or IG you’ll know that I was living an absolute nightmare this past week due to housing issues. The school partners with a very straightforward, simple to use housing platform called Studapart, where you can find a place to stay, whether it be student housing, homestay, or your own apartment. Contrary to the ease that other students from UH had finding their housing last Spring, this process was horrendous for me (but I’ll save you the sob story). I had a housing secured after two months of searching, but two days before I left, my landlord told me I wasn’t his tenant, and that it was my job to find a new home – which was near impossible at this point. I stayed at a hotel my first night, paid out of pocket, and after crying to Aurelie, the wonderful woman in charge of housing at RSB, I was able to work out something with Studapart, in which they paid for an Airbnb for me to stay at for the week while they searched for a new home. After much back & forth, they finally found me a home (although not the most ideal) in which I was able to move into today. My new home is right next to the Italie metro station, which is nine metro stations away from the school. It’s crazy far in comparison to where everyone else lives (the furthest I know is someone living three metro stops away from school). I’ll be paying 415 euros a month, which only includes rent, water, and electricity. I live with a husband and wife duo who have been hosting students for 19 years in France, and got to meet his two daughters that visit every week. I have my own room with a comfy bed, desk, and closet, and we may be welcoming another student into the home in a few weeks.
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