Day 40 (092911): A day before Paris
This coming weekend, I finally decided to join my class’ tour to Paris. Even though Ryan and I just went a few weeks ago, we joined because traveling with the class was a once in a blue moon experience! :) The trip cost EUR 100 for the bus and the hostel. We were going to Paris to visit La Nuit Blanche or the White Night which is a yearly festival they have and they light up the city and stuff! :)
The day before this, i was running around trying to get a hold of Fred who is the VISA president. I had to pay him the 100 Euros.
Afterwards, we had French class! :) We learned food if I’m not mistaken. Example, haricot verts (green beans), oeufs (eggs) and la viande. WE told our teacher that we had a trip the next day so he agreed to give us a free cut! YAY! :)
Day 39 (092811): European Business Law
Today, it was the first day of class for our European Business Law course. It’s only of the optional classes we took along with TQM. Our teacher in this class was Mr. Oliver Bedeleem who is a French man. Our class today was from 2:30-4:30 however, it changed sometimes during the sem. Our classmates were the same from those in IBM but there were less exchange students.
On the first day of class, Pearl and I were even late because we went to Roubaix to take a look at the outlet stores (I’ll write about this in another post!) :)) So after running to class, sitting at the back row and having attendance checked, our class officially started. Mr. Bedeleem introduced himself. Then, we had our first “quiz”. Basically, it was basic need to know things about European Business Law.
Ofcourse, we found it very very difficult because we didn’t really know anything. :|
Examples of the questions were:
-What are the countries in the EU?
- What is the EU?
- What is the Marshall agreement?
- What is OECD?
- How many departments does the EU have?
- What qualifies a country to join the EU and based on this, should Turkey be part of the EU?
We didn’t feel awful though since our other classmates seemed to be confused as well. That was good. :))
We just went home after this!
Day 38 (092711): International Negotiation
Today, we continued our activities in the Doing Business in USA class. One interesting thing we did was a general knowledge question where you can earn dollars for every answer. Sadly, Torben Staude answered everything! :)) So i started calling him rich kid and stuff.
For me, the more interesting part of the day was the negotiation activity. For this, we had to partner with a person who was not of the same nationality. Each of us had 2 Euros in our hands and we had to make a deal of who would get the euros in exchange of something. I partnered with Eva Francic (<3) who is may Slovenian friend. :) At first, she was offering me French lessons because of her exceptional French skills. But then, she mentioned that she wanted something from the Philippines. Thankfully, i knew that Ryan’s parents were coming to France to visit him during the break. So I bargained dried mangoes and something from the Philippines! And it worked. HAHA. I got 2 Euros for that. Though it would cost higher, my parents would shoulder the cost from here so it was okay. I also wanted to share with Eva the Philippine culture.
We also played this game wherein we identified the values behind the different quotations (leadership, negotiation etc). We got really confused with some but we were able to finish. After that, we had to post these quotes in the boards/walls of the classroom. That was also a neat activity.
There are so many ways to make teaching more fun, interactive and more enjoyable even to college students like us. Despite the added homework, I would definitely take this class again compared to the others.
Since it was Tuesday, i would think we joined the Youth group for Bible study today. :)
Day 37 (092611): Earning Some Dollars
Today was the start of our Doing Business in USA course. It’s part of the International Business courses that we take. Our teachers were George Simmons and Bob who were both American but go around to teach this course. They also created the game Diversophy which aims to teach cultural differences with Americans. They were assisted by Ms. Katie who came all the way from Estonia. I think i would say that of all of my classes in ESPEME, Doing Business in the USA proved to be the most heavy in terms of workload but also the most enjoyable. There was no dull moment in class.
One interesting thing about this class was the dollar system. Basically, America, being capitalist and all is greatly dependent on earning money. Therefore, the same was applied in class. We would be given dollars for doing good things and deducted dollars for doing bad things. For example, for going to class on time, you earned 20 dollars but you got deducted 5 for every minute you were late. The grading system was depended on this. USD $400 would get an A etc etc. They also have an online platform where you can do things for extra dollars.
On the first day of class, we learned more about american culture such as their core traits etc through an activity called the cultural detective wherein you write down the differences you observed between the people in the case. It was really interesting. Being workaholics, we also had a working lunch break where we worked on one of the cases with Marta and Michelle.
In the afternoon, we learned more about American culture. We also answered this math quiz wherein the three of us were the first to finish. HAHA. :)) Math skillz.
Our teacher was really nice and seemed genuinely interested in the Phillipines. Later that day, we found out that he had worked in the Philippines for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and he resided in Ortigas for some time. I got excted when he said, “What’s that famous bookstore there? The red one?” and all of us were like “National!”.
I love new and innovative ways of teaching. Even though I had to do more for this class, i really enjoyed it. Instead of having deadly exams which are worth more than half of your grade. :))
Day 36 (092511): Sunday with Tita J
Seeing as we went to Luxembourg yesterday and we have classes tomorrow, we don’t have time to go anywhere for today. So instead, we went to visit tita J! <3
Before we went here, Pearl and I decided to go to Wazemmes for our favorite spring rolls and Debrique! :) We also bought Tita Juliet some strawberries (which Pearl actually bought for herself but we felt so guilty that we just gave it. :))) I really miss those things. It was even so funny because the bus was supposed to leave at 12:35 (i think). And we were almost late so we ended up running to the bus stop again. The problem during the weekends is that buses run less so if we didn’t make it, we’d have to wait another hour or so for the next. :|
the best thing about going to Tita J’s house is that you get fed real authentic food! =)) YAY! I think she fed us Sinigang this day. It’s really interesting how there’s a fusion of Filipino and French culture in their house. Filipino food accompanied by antipasti of cheese. Definitely, there’s always coke but also wine which Tita never hesitated to share with us. :) After lunch, we sang Karaoke! :) Hindi talaga mawawala sa mga Pilipino ang MagicSing. But Tere stole the show with her awesome singing skills.
We caught the 5:30 bus back to Lille in time for church at l’eglise. I think we just cooked dinner after this since all the stores in Lille are usually closed by this day and time! :| :))
On a side note: I’m saddened by my little knowledge of French slowly rotting away here. :( I want to be fluent! :) Je voudrais practice. :))
JTA Sem 2
So, I’ve decided to make a resolution to finish this blog by the time the new batch of JTA-ers leave for the sem abroad. :))
Anyway, I just want to write that JTA Sem 2 is draining the life out of me. Seriously, i feel happy one day, sad the other. I’m tired. And i don’t know what to do anymore. I’m trying my best but then it seems like it’s not enough. But it’s about to end, and like my mom said, I did my best. :)
Haaaay. Please pray for me. :)
Licking the Eiffel Tower. :))
I miss this. At the end of the day, for me, it’s still worth it. :)
Day 35 (92411): Lux(ury)embourg
Usually, while on JTA, your plans change. Ours did, a lot. So I can’t exactly remember how we ended up having a weekend off and deciding to go to Luxembourg. Anyway, living in the North of France, we’re very near to Luxembourg and Petit Prix Voyages, an organization of Chinese French cultural exchange or something always organizes trips to places. We paid 30 Euros to get to Luxembourg.
It was a 4 hour bus ride to Luxembourg so we left really early and slept on the bus. (HELLO BUS SEATMATE LEO! :)) )When we got there, we were just given a paper and the meeting time. Frankly, i thought that we had a tour but apparently, we were all on our own.
On the bus at 6AM!
So we started with their version of Notre Dame (which is also named Notre Dame) and then worked our way to this market which sold food and flowers. It was noticeable that the food in the market was more expensive than those in Lille. But it hit me that Luxembourg was such a rich country when, while walking around, i saw and Aston Martin parked outside a restaurant. Okay, so I’m used to seeing BMWs and Mercedes Benz’s in Europe already. BUT AN ASTON MARTIN? I was amazed.
Notre Dame du Luxembourg
Saturday Market!
Hihihi.
By lunchtime, i had seen in Luxembourg, a Ferrari, an Aston Martin and a Maserati and ofcourse a lot of Porsches, BMs and Benzs.
There’s actually not much to see in Luxembourg except trees and nice architecture. Travel tip: don’t go to Luxembrourg unless you really have an extra day for it or you like trees and nature and all that stuff. :)
Luxembourg!
Since they chose a semi-expensive restaurant to eat at, we decided to wander off a bit more to look for places to eat. And lo and behold, we found a Chinese restaurant with a buffet! Haha. Oh, i miss asian food so much. :))
We went around the other side of the city after lunch and we did some shopping. Luxembourg is so small that we didn’t really have much to do. So we just got ice cream, hung out in a park and waited for the meeting time.
Buffet Lunch at a Chinese Restaurant!
Chiling in the Park
Don’t get me wrong, Luxembourg is a lovely place, there’s not really just that much to do. Haha. :)
Day 34 (92311): Deciding to go to Luxembourg
Originally, we had no plans for this weekend but then, Petit Prix Voyages organized a trip to Luxembourg. Petit Prix Voyages is an organization of Chinese-French students in Lille Catholic and they organize trips often. The good thing about their trips is that it’s cheaper than if you go on your own and you get to ride a bus (which made me miss having a car more! :)) ) So Pearl and I decided to go with them.
We had to pay only 30 Euros for the trip which was for the entire day. :) Today was the first time we rode til the end of the metro because they met up at 4 Cantons metro stop. Nothing different there, just less rural, i guess. :)) When we got back, i got a bit nervous because there were checkers on the metro! But, since our ticket validation was within one hour, they let us go.
We had no French classes today so we just stayed home and got ready cine our but would be leaving at 6AM the next day!
Day 33 (92211): Growing Garlic!
After our normal Thursday routine, we went home today after French class ready to cook. You see, in our dorm, we have the common frigo (refrigerator) and i also have one in my room (for some weird reason, Pearl didn’t have one. But she did have a fireplace. =)) ) We never really put anything in the common frigo because we were afraid that someone would eat it or whatnot. :)) Until we got comfortable and lazy and, in the end, we were already putting everything there. :))
So the highlight of this day was that we were going to cook pasta, i think. :)) And we went up to get our ingredients. When i tried to get our garlic, I couldn’t remove it from the net. And thus, we found out that it started growing! =))
Garlic with Roots
Thankfully, the garlic was still edible! :))
You can watch our reaction via Pearl’s video here (http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150304137852274). (Okay, ako na hindi marunong mag-link. :| :)) )
Day 32 (92111): Finally Getting my Carte Viva
Seriously, Tumblr. :| So I’d written this post and basically, Tumblr erased all of it. :| :((
Today, i finally finally got my Carte Viva! The Carte Viva is the discount card for people ages 17 - 26 for the transportation system in Lille. :)
Why did it take me an entire month to get mine?
Well, it all started out around a week after we got to Lille. The three of us (Pearl, Ryan and I) were supposed to apply for our carte together. But, when we go to La Poste near Ryan’s dorm, my picture suddenly went missing. :( So Pearl and Ryan sent theirs and I sent mine a day after in La Poste in La Madeleine. Theirs came within the next week. Mine never came. :(( And since the waiting time was at most two weeks, i was patiently waiting for it before i called.
After two weeks and it hadn’t arrived yet, i really wanted to call Transpole already. But seeing as i had zero chances of understanding what they would say and like 10% chance that someone there spoke english. I asked one of my dormmates to call for me. The problem was that we were never home during office hours. Hihi. So i scrapped that idea. :|
I was left with no choice but to re-apply at Republique Beaux-Arts where it took me not more than 30 minutes to get my card. Wow. If only I had known, i would have gone straight there and saved myself the trouble of a) waking up Manuela at 9AM and having her write a 2 Euro check for us, b) mailing the application and actually paying for it and c) the bad feeling i got everytime i rode the metro, tram or bus without a ticket. :|
My Carte Viva! :)
