1
The words written at the beginning
The half year of my junior year abroad was not my happiest time, nor was it the most unforgettable. The past six months have not been vigorous, but an ordinary semester. Like the other five years I have spent, I have forgotten many details. Communication is an experience. In this process, I failed to get high marks and made no friends. Now I am still uneasy about the result of transferring credits, and I am not sure whether this will be an advantage in finding a job in the future.
Despite these utilitarian shortcomings, I still think it is worthwhile, because I control the time, not determined by "this stage should be"; Everything you have taken seriously in the past six months may be helpful in the future. Similarly, different people value different "meanings". After all, this experience can only be defined by itself.
Catholic University of Lille, France
2
The decision of "exchange"
For myself, the decision of "going or not to exchange" is quite tangled. Intellectually, transferring credits is risky and faces the pressure of making up lessons; Emotionally, I am longing for the experience of studying abroad. I hope that four years of college can leave a slightly different memory.
In my freshman year, I joined the International Development Office (IDO) as a student assistant, hoping to prepare for university exchange. Later, I gradually got my own comfort zone, worried about the credit risk, and prepared for the strange environment. To really make a decision is actually "carelessness", that is, having the courage to think for a while, so I choose to seize the last chance in case I regret it later.
Some people may think that people with certain personalities are more suitable for exchange, while certain personalities and habits will weaken the gains of exchange. Actually, it is not. Take me as a simple example. After living in a strange environment for half a year, I saw many other aspects of myself. I didn't live as well as I thought, but I also learned to observe better and get along with myself during the time when social interaction plummeted. I think there is no limit to exchange. Timid people may become bold, impetuous people may learn to precipitate.
UIC offers many choices, mainly the United States, South Korea and some European countries. This year, exchange colleges in Japan and Thailand have also been added. Secondly, you only need to prepare the required items (universities, language scores, visa materials, and visas for individual countries may take a long time) about one semester before the exchange, and there is no high threshold. So generally speaking, it is not difficult to decide whether to exchange or not. It is not so much utility as happiness.
three
The largest part
In my opinion, exploring the city, experiencing the university and traveling are the best three parts.
Lille is an industrial city in northern France. It takes one hour by train from Paris and about one and a half hours by bus from Brussels. Lille is not big, and the zoning is relatively simple. There are many bars and clubs near the school, and dancing and drinking are also the main extracurricular activities of many French students. Old Lille is our favorite place, with countless winding alleys and exquisite storefronts; Rainy weather always makes uneven stone roads slippery, and warm glass windows are dripping. This is the first city I know in Europe. It is irregular and has its own warm color filter, which is very different from China and even some cities in Eastern Europe.
The block where Lille Catholic University is located.
A few friends and I choose to rent a house in the city center, so we walk to school for about 20 minutes every day (the detailed strategy of food, clothing, housing and transportation is at the end of the article). There are many colleges in Catholic University of Lille, and the scale of each college is different. Among them, IESEG (Business School), which ranks first and has the largest number of international students, is similar to ours. The curriculum mode is mostly interactive teaching plus personal assignments, group projects and demonstrations.
It is worth pointing out that IESEG offers many "intensive" courses, that is to say, the courses end within one week, and the first four mornings are full, with exams on Friday. Lecturers come from all over the world and are mobile. There are many types of this subject, and most of them are only exchange students, so it is often very interesting, hi. "Extensive" courses run through the whole semester. IESEG's courses are mostly taught in English (UICer should be able to adapt quickly), and most teachers' English is very clear. However, for UIC students who are not majoring in business administration (DBM) (or students who can choose professional courses in IESEG), if they want to transfer professional course credits, they may need to choose two colleges at the same time. For example, in addition to IESEG, international news exchange students can also choose ISTC (Communication) or ESPOL (Humanities and Social Sciences).
Dussha is at Catholic University in Lille.
On the other hand, no matter how good a college is, it is inevitable to meet "pig-like teammates" ... After our unanimous summary, French students prefer to work hard and then try their best to catch the death line. If I happen to meet a class where you are the only exchange student, I choose to worry and work hard, but the best policy is to forward it to koi fish and try to form a top student delegation (serious expression).
On the 25th anniversary of ISTC College, a student band performed.
Dushasha and other UIC exchange students attended the IESEG farewell party.
What is more worth having, in Europe, must be a romantic trip! The holidays in Europe in the second half of the semester are mostly one week, such as winter vacation, Easter vacation and spring vacation, which is enough for three long-distance trips; Coupled with some short trips on weekends, it is no wonder that exchange students who come to Europe always receive resentment from North America. As long as the visa is correct (mentioned at the end of the article), buy a cheap air ticket, bring a camera and do a good job of raiders, and you can travel with your bag!
Dushasha accompanied a strange donkey friend and completed a dream trip to Iceland.
There is too much to say about travel, and it is very important to remind everyone to pay special attention to property and personal safety. It's much safer to have a traveling companion, and you can help each other in case of emergency. But sometimes what if you can't travel with familiar friends? If you are smart and bold enough, you can try online companionship. Both poor travel network and cellular network have the function of companionship. I used it twice, once to Barcelona (3 people) and once to Iceland (5 people) by car. When you are with strangers, you should first pay attention to verifying your identity. You can determine whether the other party is reliable through friends circle and chat. Secondly, organize as many groups as possible, preferably 3-5, which can not only avoid the disagreement of the itinerary, but also alleviate the depression when it is not in harmony with the travel companions. In this way, fate depends on luck. If it is really inappropriate, it is best to take a short trip or travel with a group.
There is another difficult thing: come back from vacation and study hard.
four
Those tips that let you communicate smoothly.
First of all, the word visa for French exchange students is as heavy as Mount Tai.
● First of all, you need to be patient enough to prepare more than 20 required materials. IDO will sort this out, but mainly I will check it myself and prepare it myself.
Secondly, we need enough patience and peace to face the "emotion first" style of French visa officers (which may affect the length of validity and the strictness of material requirements, and indirectly determine the whole period).
● Finally, be patient enough to wait for the visa to succeed.
Due to the visa factor, the French exchange this semester may be cancelled under the tight preparation time. In view of the update of information, it is necessary to find out clearly so as not to be separated.
Second, transfer credits. Objectively speaking, UIC has very strict requirements for transferring credits. ● Only for students who exchange in Europe, due to different credit systems, it is usually necessary to take multiple courses to transfer back to one, which is why we choose both intensive reading courses and extensive reading courses.
● AR will list all the procedures to be taken at the demonstration meeting, and the general process is as follows:
A. Pre-application in pre-application (select courses according to the course list given by the other school, and indicate the courses you want to transfer back to UIC); B. Pre-application (after arrival, check the time, whether classes are started normally during the addition and subtraction period, and get the final course selection list); C. Pre-application for approval; D. Get the grades after the semester, fill in and submit the final application form; E.AR inspection, which involves departments to review separately; F. results of credit transfer.
● The standard given by ●UIC is that at least C can transfer credits. In France, because of the different credit system, "this C" is not necessarily "that C", so you must confirm which grade you follow and the accurate grading standard before the exchange, so as to ensure that you can control your grading results in the learning process and avoid falling into the pit.
Finally, after the transition period, everything will be on the right track. Different from the "honeymoon" period of free enjoyment and freedom, the initial transition period is always a little anxious and insecure. The best way to spend this time quickly and happily is to take good care of yourself.
● Be sure to prepare commonly used drugs. After all, health is the premise of all interests.
● Clothes: Bring warm clothes. Winter in Lille is wet and cold, so thick clothes, scarves and hats and at least one pair of waterproof shoes are essential.
● Food: To be on the safe side, a small rice cooker is definitely worth occupying a corner of the suitcase. When you are new here, unfamiliar with the supermarkets in China, and haven't really started cooking, eating hot rice will increase your sense of security.
● Living: Living in a student dormitory may be worse, but it is easier to integrate into exchange students and safer; Renting a house will be a little more troublesome, but it will be closer to the bustling area and more comfortable in hardware.
● Good: You can basically walk. Bus and subway are also a good choice. When traveling, if you don't mind, low-cost air tickets are very affordable, but pay attention to baggage regulations; Bus travel is also very comfortable, with permanent wifi and toilets. Because there are many bus companies, there are also many choices in time.
Keep healthy and take care of yourself in all aspects. The turning point passed in an instant. To say the least, the school will also have student groups and offices to help exchange students deal with what needs to be done. They will never be isolated.
Special reminder: If you want to live gracefully in France, you'd better do everything "as soon as possible". ● If you want to apply for a bank card, you'd better consult the school and do it a few days ago. The same is true for returning bank cards.
● In order to fly legally, you must apply for OFII permanent residence certificate. Why not start as soon as school starts?
● In the period of frequent strikes, it is best to go out one hour earlier. For example, on my way to catch a plane, I was kicked off the train in the middle and changed to another car because there was a strike ahead.
● Get used to them sending you important notices by email, and try to write your name and house number in a prominent position in the mailbox.
Low efficiency, a little careless. Grasping these two styles of French people should be able to expand the expected range of "possible occurrence" by a scale.
five
Record more and summarize more, and keep memories for time.
A brand-new environment will cause me a lot of curious observation and thinking, so I often can't help writing down my feelings. Whether it is photos, words, videos or even recordings, it can effectively help us to keep the details that may be forgotten and bring us back to the environment and mood at that time.