Week 1 update - International Business and Advertising blog with Savannah Lorenzin

Group photo while on our guided tour

Hello again everyone!

What a crazy first week it has been! It has felt like there has been a bit of everything jammed into just one week: arriving to a new and exciting city, meeting so many amazing people, learning French, ‘corridor’ parties, going to class in a whole new university, discovering the awesomely gigantic Carrefour, French cooking classes, the night life of Tours and so much more!

I’ll start from the beginning when I first arrived to Tours; my first impression of this beautiful town was just that: beautiful! It is a town that mixes old worldly charm with modern architecture in a truly captivating way. On our second day in Tours we were taken on a guided tour of the city and discovering the old historic buildings and cobbled stone roads was just incredible!

We all had a survival French class on Monday which was interesting, where we learnt things like the alphabet, numbers and phrases such as je suis etudiante (I am a student). Our teacher for that class could barely speak English, yet she was such an incredible teacher and managed to convey what she wanted to say perfectly!

Our first week of class at ECSEM University has been great so far, we have a group assignment and an exam this Wednesday but it has all been really interesting stuff so hopefully it won’t be too bad! Our teacher Michael Yorke has been fantastic and has even given some students nick-names (mine is Tinnie in reference to the few beers I had on our welcome dinner! Haha)

One thing I did find interesting was how long we get to have for lunch. I have been told it is a part of French culture to take long, leisurely lunches which is very different to how it is done back home. And everyone at the Uni have been lovely and are more than happy to help if you somehow get lost, although sometimes it takes a lot of sign language and patience to do so!

As I mentioned before, we have all been allocated into groups made up of Australian and French students to complete our assignments which has been keeping us busy over the weekend (some while also nursing a very sore head- myself included.) But we are all so lucky to have come over with an incredible group of people, and can easily work together and help each other out!

So the first week it has been a little challenging in regard to the work we have been given, but that is quickly forgotten by the loads of fun that has been had!!

Au revoir til next time!
Savannah xxx


Beautiful fountain in town



A church in Tours


Cathedral of Tours


Thao, Julia, Yuki, Koki and Krystal in our cooking class



Awesome night out!


Koki, Sarah and myself studying up a storm



The best buskers you will ever see and hear!



Savannah Lorenzin is participating in our January 2012 International Business and Advertising program at ESCEM, France. Savannah is going into her 4th year of a Bachelor of Management Marketing degree at the University of South Australia

Bonjour from Paris - International Business and Advertising blog with Savannah Lorenzin

Bonjour everyone!

I write this blog post from the comfort of my cushy apartment room looking out to the Eiffel Tower in Paris! Yippee! I have come here a week early with a friend who is about to embark on a Contiki tour and so far it has been incredible. Well, to be honest it has all felt surreal being here as I thought this time would never come. So during these crisp days it feels as though I am living in a wonderful dream. Everything here is so beautiful, and I am almost thankful that I wasn’t born here because I would hate to take any of these buildings for granted. The buildings that line the streets are remarkable to say the least; you just don’t see this kind of intricate detailing and regal structures in Australia.

The weather too is not as bad as what I had thought- locals have even said that these are nice winter days. While the air has a definite nip to it, it has not rained or snowed yet (I don’t know if I am happy or sad about this, I have never seen snow before!) So exploring the windy streets of Paris all day is a breeze.

As far as organisation and packing goes, I was very relaxed about it. As long as you have your passport, flights and travel insurance booked - you’re fine. I did however pre-book a seat on the train from the Montparnasse station in Paris to the Tours station and that was easy enough to do on the website given to us in the AIM pre-departure package.

One thing I would have to say is not to pack too much clothes, especially girls! While I was packing the night before I had to leave, I just basically put all my winter jumpers and long-sleeve tops in my suit case with a few coats thinking that should get me though. It would have, yet I seemed to have forgotten I was going to be in the fashion capital and the shopping here is insane! So now I have an influx of clothes, and all I want to wear is my new stuff! So pack lightly, because it won’t be so light coming home!

Au revoir, see you all soon!
Savannah


Savannah Lorenzin is participating in our January 2012 International Business and Advertising program at ESCEM, France. Savannah is going into her 4th year of a Bachelor of Management Marketing degree at the University of South Australia