Mi Experiencia Erasmus en Francia

This last entry will not only focus on my final weekend here but also on all the people I have met. First of all, on Saturday, Lilie, her parents, and I went bowling, played for a while, and then had a few games of pool. To finish the day, we went to McDonald’s for dinner. Secondly, on Sunday, we went to Lilie’s boyfriend’s house. The important thing about this was that Lilie was the one driving, as she had just passed her driving test the day before. Lastly, I just want to say that it has been a great pleasure to live this experience and meet wonderful people like Lilie, her parents, the Spanish students I shared my Erasmus experience with, and the French students who participated in the program. Without a doubt, one day we will see each other again and reunite all together.

My last week in France is starting to feel a bit sad. I have already said goodbye to the Spanish students from Almería, Valladolid, and Logroño, and now I am the only Spaniard left at the school. I am starting to realize that this experience is coming to an end and that I will have to say goodbye to all the people I have met. But as I always say, it’s not a “goodbye,” but a “see you soon.” Lilie’s family, her friends, and her classmates have treated me amazingly well. I have made many friends, and I know that I now have a third home in France. As an anecdote, I have to mention that this Thursday, I was a bit scared because there was a bomb threat at three schools in the city. We were told to pack our bags and place them in another room in case we needed to evacuate. Fortunately, nothing happened.

Today, I will talk about French cuisine. In France, most foods are cooked with butter—even fried eggs are made with butter. During meals, you’ll notice that the first and second courses are served together on the same plate. Also, cheese is widely used, either as a snack between the main course and dessert or as the main ingredient in dishes like fondue au fromage . On the other hand, there are many delicious desserts, such as crêpes and macarons. In general, French food is amazing, but sometimes I miss croquettes or Iberian ham.

Today, I am going to talk about the city of Angers, where my school is located. Angers is a city about the same size as Logroño. It has a tram that connects all parts of the city, making transportation easier. In the city center, there is a beautiful Christmas market located next to Galeries Lafayette , a well-known French department store similar to El Corte Inglés , where you can find all kinds of brand-name clothing and accessories. In another square nearby, there is a second part of the Christmas market, which features a giant Ferris wheel and numerous food stalls. I bought a macaron, a crêpe, and a pretzel. A few streets away, there is a beautiful park where you can see various animals such as goats, ducks, and rabbits. Something that really surprised me is that there are no drinking fountains anywhere in the city.

I have now passed the halfway point of my stay here, and I’m going to talk about the activities I have been doing. One day, Lilie’s family and I went to a Christmas market that was inside caves. Inside, you could see both Christmas decorations and artisan markets selling all kinds of products. It was amazing how beautiful it was and the atmosphere there. At the end of the day, we went to a restaurant inside a cave. There, they served all kinds of food that had to be eaten with freshly baked bread, made in-house. In the middle of the meal, we could take a tour of the cave to aid digestion and see how the bread was made. Another day, Lilie, her boyfriend, and I visited the city center of Angers and an old castle known for its city views and a well beneath the bridge connecting the street to the castle. We had a great time together.

Today, I am going to talk about my third weekend in France. On Saturday morning, Lilie and I went shopping and looked at perfumes because I wanted to buy one. In the afternoon, we went to watch a basketball game to support Théo, a French Erasmus student. Fortunately, he won the match, and afterward, all the Spanish and French Erasmus students went to Théo and Adèle's house for dinner. We had an amazing night full of laughter and jokes, and when it got late, Lilie and I went to Juliette and Laura’s house to sleep. In the morning, Juliette and I woke up early, so we decided to go for a run around the town. The scenery was beautiful, and the people we passed were very friendly. However, I couldn’t keep up with Juliette’s pace since she does athletics, and I hadn’t exercised in a long time. Without a doubt, it was an incredible weekend.

After two weeks here, I am going to talk about the general differences I have noticed between both countries. First of all, I have realized that most people live in townhouses in villages with several pets. Inside the houses, there are two bathrooms—one with a shower and another with a toilet, but they are not in the same place. Regarding daily life, since everyone lives in different towns, people don’t usually meet up during the week or even on weekends. Another surprising thing was how birthdays are celebrated. Here, birthdays are like parties that take place at the birthday person's house, where all the guests stay overnight. Lastly, something that surprised me was that when you enter a store with a backpack, they either make you leave it at the entrance or secure it with a zip tie so you can't open it.

Today, I am going to talk about the daily schedule here. Every day, I wake up at 7:00 a.m. I get dressed, get ready, and by 7:30 a.m., I have to be at the restaurant for breakfast. Classes start at 8:00 a.m., although some days I start later. Around 11:30 a.m. or 12:00 p.m., we go to lunch and stay there until 1:00 p.m. when classes resume. Every day, the MDL opens the bedrooms at 6:00 p.m., except on Wednesdays when they open at 4:00 p.m. At 6:30 p.m., we have to go down to the restaurant for dinner and stay at the school until 7:45 p.m., when the rooms open on Mondays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, there is study time until 9:00 p.m. From 9:00 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. is shower time, and at 10:00 p.m., a bell rings to signal bedtime.

In this entry, I will talk about the boarding school. The boarding school, also known as the MDL ( Maison des Lycéens ), has four floors. The ground floor is open from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. for anyone who wants to work, rest, or play foosball with friends. The other three floors contain the students' bedrooms. The first and second floors (where my room is) are for boys, while the third floor is for girls. I share my room with two guys, Julian and Manoa. In the room, each of us has our own bed, a wardrobe, and a sink. Additionally, each hallway has three bathrooms with toilets and showers. Inside the boarding school, there are eight people called " surveillants " , who act as both school custodians and camp-like supervisors for the students who live in the school. In general, everything is great, but the food at the restaurant is not very good.

For this entry, after spending a week here, I am going to talk about the differences in the educational system between both countries. First of all, the class schedule is very irregular. You can start as early as 8:00 in the morning and finish as late as 6:00 in the evening. During this time, students usually have free time to do homework, projects, and eat. Generally, they don’t have to work much outside of school, even though, just like in Spain, they have 30 hours of lessons per week. On the other hand, the content of the subjects is much simpler, and the classes last 55 minutes, with 5 to 15-minute breaks between them. If they change subjects, they also change classrooms. To conclude, an important aspect of the French educational system is that they have an application called Pronote , where they can check their schedule, see where and when they have class, find out if teachers are absent (and therefore, not attend class), and view their exam and assignment grades, including the cl...

I will use this entry to talk about the differences between high schools in France and Spain. Jean Moulin is located at the second-highest point in the city of Angers. Here, we can find two main buildings: the boarding school and the high school. The high school has three floors with numerous hallways and classrooms, which are labeled with both letters and numbers. Additionally, outside this main building, there are some containers that have been converted into classrooms. The classrooms are very similar to those in Spain. However, there are some differences, such as the desks being for two or more people, and students always sitting in groups. Also, they only have projectors and whiteboards instead of digital screens.

  My first day of high school was very fun and surprising. I met all my classmates, introduced myself to the teachers, and started making friends. What I didn’t know was that I would also meet seven other Spaniards at the school who were sharing our Erasmus experience abroad. We started talking and—spoiler alert—we ended up becoming very good friends. Here, both the schedules and the education system in general are very different from those in Spain. Not only did we have to adapt to life inside the school, but we also had classes from 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening. That was a bit exhausting, but in the end, I got used to it.

My experience in France began with a warm welcome from Lilie's parents and her boyfriend. We were in the car for about an hour, and then we arrived at their house. There, they showed me around, I settled in, played with their dog and cats, and we had lasagna for dinner. After dessert, we made a video call with my parents so both families could meet. After such an intense day, I went to bed early. It was then when I discovered the first difference between Spain and France; they use smaller pillows because they also use cushions. Furthermore, they found really strange to put the pijama under the bed.