UCLA in España

I finally finished up my travels this past weekend with a trip to visit friends who are studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. After trekking around Paris, London, and Luxembourg, my friend Sasha and I had a few days of rest before hopping on a tiny plane that took us across the border into the land…

Toussaint

Ahhhh, I have just gotten back from a ten-day trip to Paris, London, and Luxembourg. I know I’ve written a little bit about traveling around before, but this was my first big trip outside of France. And it was a blast. The week break came in the middle of the semester and was for a…

A potluck with the host families

This week there was a potluck get-together with all of the host families from my program. Studying in France with EAP, you have the option to live in a homestay with a “famille d’accueil” (or in English, a host family). A host family is there to help you practice your French and to acclimate you…

Summer travels in Asia

What an incredible summer it has been!  Over the past few months, I have embarked upon 14 flights, trodden the soils of six nations, crossed many time zones, and enjoyed countless foreign delicacies.  It has been a journey of journeys, one embedded in another, all of them combined to give me the incredible experience that…

Geneva

Last weekend I went on yet another day trip – this time to Geneva. Weekends in LA are spent going to LACMA and eating Chipotle in Westwood. Over in France all I ever do is hop on trains and eat fancy food is European cities. Like most of my day trips, this one was planned…

Wine tasting with EAP

The Education Abroad Program is great for a number of reasons. All of the classes you take abroad count for units when you get back to your UC, the cost of tuition is about the same, you get to meet other California kids, and (in my case) your program includes a free day in the…

Sojourn in the south

I am now officially a seasoned traveler of the French landscape. I have taken two trips thus far – a day trip to Grenoble (very beautiful, we took a gondola to the top of the city) and an overnight stay in the south of France (we went to three cities!). Being able to travel around…

Choosing classes

I have now finished my introductory French courses and have moved on to the full-blown real-life university courses here in Lyon. At UCLA, choosing your classes happens long before you ever get into them (in most cases – you can always drop and add), but here the course system works differently.  French students all have…

A Sunday parade

Lyon always has lots going on, especially on weekends, which makes studying here a real pleasure. This past Sunday there was a parade on the city’s “presqu’ile,” which means “almost island.” It’s a peninsula formed by the two rivers that run through Lyon that is full of shops, restaurants, people, and (recently) paraders. The parade…

Done with my first week of classes (kinda)

I am now finished with my first week of classes here in France! It feels a little weird to be starting school so early because back at UCLA the quarter system doesn’t get going for another few weeks. I haven’t started my official classes quite yet, though – the ones I’m in right now (for…