Enjoy!

This might be one of the most crucial pieces of advice I can give.  You are abroad, in a new place with so many adventures waiting to happen.  So enjoy and take advantage of any opportunity to discover your new surroundings.  I was able to travel so much when I was in France, so many countries, so many beautiful experiences.  I would have definitely regretted it if i'd stayed in my Aix dorm room for four months.

Also, when living these great moments, remember your camera!

Travelling Light

As I briefly mentioned before, traveling light is a very important aspect when embarking on an overseas adventure.

First of all, you will most likely be taking a plane to get to wherever this new home will be. That means weight restrictions on your luggage from the very beginning.  Most airlines allow for one checked bags not exceeding 23 kilos.  It may seem like a lot of weight, enough weight, but when you have packed all your clothes, shoes, toiletries and other essential travel items, the weight adds up.  And extra weight costs a lot of money.
I am not a light packer, but I have learned to lessen the weight of my luggage from experiencing these exchange semesters.  When I went to France, for my first exchange semester and the first time I would be away from home for more than a couple weeks, I overloaded my suitcases.  I brought many pairs of shoes, at least three different coats, many pairs of long pants, some sweaters, etc.  I didn't even use half of the things I brought.  Many of the shoes weren't comfortable enough to wear walking long distances, so I couldn't wear them to walk to school or when I travelled or to go out at night.

Secondly, the less stuff you bring with you at the beginning, the more stuff you can bring back, like souvenirs and gifts for people back home.  When you are travelling and experiencing new things, you will want to bring back bits and pieces of these places home.

So pack light, bring only two pairs of pants, one sweater (warm), one jacket (preferably a rain coat), minimal toiletries (they can be bought once you get there), and comfortable shoes, ones that can be worn for long periods of time and not hurt your feet.  You might want to test that out before hand, because I had a pair of shoes that I thought would be ok, but turns out they made my feet incredibly sore and my ankles were swollen too.

Important documents/photocopies

Still on the same note as the previous post, having extras of important documents will always be useful. Like the pictures, they will be required by many people (i.e. bank, uni, rez, insurance, etc...).  Before leaving it is a good idea to make photocopies of all the important documents, so you have extra copies on hand when you get to your exchange destination, but also leave a copy of all the documents you are bringing at home, just in case.  That way all your bases are covered.  If by same stroke of bad luck your stuff gets stolen, you won't loose everything because you'll have copies of those important documents at home, so someone will be able to scan them and send them your way.  It also allows you to not have to search for a photocopying place when you get there, which is always a good thing if you are going somewhere where there might be a language barrier.

Passport pictures

When you do an exchange with a university abroad, there will be many documents to be filled in and  all that jazz.  One thing they require a lot of is an identity picture, which means a passport quality picture.  These are used for various things, from Uni cards to dorm room applications.  Since they are required for almost everything, a very useful tip is to bring extras.

When I arrived at my dorm on the first day, I of course had to fill out some forms and one things they asked for was a picture. I didn't have an extra picture with me so I had to walk a little ways down the road, to a supermarket and use a Photomaton to get some passport quality pics for the dorm.  This doesn't sound too bad, but when you add extreme fatigue, jet lag and homesickness to the mix, this simple task becomes quite horrible.  The result also ends up being a teary-eyed girl in the pictures.

Also, when you are doing an exchange, you will be required to have a visa, and for said visa you will have had to take some passport quality pictures.  When you get those done, just ask for a few more copies and you are all set.

There, simple!

Arriving in France

Alright, so my first semester abroad started in France at Université de Provence (which has since fused with two other universities in the region) in Aix-en-Provence in the South of France. It's a very beautiful place with great weather. I was there from the end of August until the end of January and I think the coldest temperature may have been 15 degrees celsius. Which for someone who comes from such a changing climate as the one we have in Canada, I was used to 30+ temperatures in summer and often -20 or -30 degrees in the winter. So I was quite happy with the constant sun and mild temperatures in Provence.

But let's be honest, the French have a bad reputation for being rude and snobish and not necessarily the most open and welcoming community around. Before arriving to the Marignane airport on August 29th 2011 I made sure that there would be someone there from the university to meet me and show me where my dorm was and all. I had sent many emails and received confirmations that I would be greeted at the airport on that date. Unfortunately, my flight got in a little later than scheduled and the greeter apparently decided to not stick around long enough. So once I had gone through customs and retrieved my luggage (which was very large and heavy, and which I will talk about more late). So there was no one there, I looked around for a while, waited, walked around the terminal, found no one. Luckily for me there was another girl there waiting for the same person so we ended up helping each other get to Aix-en-Provence and to our respective dorms.

Bottom line, I depended way too much on the French university and their student association to help me out on that first day. I should have prepared myself for the worst and brought a map or information about transportation to my dorm.

If you are going on an exchange, prepare yourself extensively (I will have further examples of this late on as well). The more prepared you are, the happier you will be and the easier the transition into your new far away life will be ! :)

cheers !

where to get started

Let me start by introducing myself and explain a little about why I am doing this. My name is Adèle and I am a canadian student studying modern languages at Bishop's University. I am doing my undergraduate degree, or bachelors, and since I am from Quebec my degree is only taking me 3 years.

A great thing about many universities are the exchange programs available for the students. You can go pretty much anywhere nowadays and study for a semester or a year. The question is where to go and how the heck is this exchange possible. Well it's actually a lot easier and affordable than most people may think. And of course, any kind of exchange experience looks really good on a resume!

So if you are at all interested in going on a student exchange with your university, I suggest you start with asking your school about where you can go and how to get that entire process started. Once you have everything set up and you are ready to leave for a semester, or two, abroad, that's when I can come in and help out with little things that some may not necessarily think about before leaving home.