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TRAVEL & VISAS

Travel

Getting to Paris is not a problem. Getting out of it is! I did my first exchange at the

University of Mannheim, Germany and traveled quite extensively through Germany,France, Austria and Poland; however, once in Paris I found it difficult to leave the city tosee other places. There are two reasons why. First of all, Paris is such an enchanting cityto live in. It is so beautiful you will simply not want to leave. Paris is also huge. Althoughvirtually every highway and railway in France leads to Paris (just take a look at a transitmap of France) it is separated from the rest of the country by a characteristic ring road.Some call it a scar; others go even further claiming it is a man made barrier isolatingParis from its poor and turbulent suburbs. I know exactly what they mean havingexperienced trying to get out of the city by car during the rush hours. Of course, it ismuch easier to get in and out of the city by train, but it is also considerably moreexpensive. Some other alternatives include buses (Eurolines) and hitch-hiking internet

portals. My friends have done it and said that it works well but I would not recommend itif youre by yourself!

Visa

I did not need a visa because of my dual citizenship, but I doubt you will have anyproblems obtaining one as long as you follow the instructions of the SFU InternationalOffice and do not wait till the last moment.

COUNTRY INFORMATION

I have mixed feelings about France. The same goes for Paris since, as I have alreadymentioned, it really is almost like a city-country of its own. I absolutely adored thelandscape and architecture of the three cities I spent most of my time in: Paris, Tours, andLille but never really felt the connection as in the case of Mannheim in Germany. Themain reason for this was certainly my inability to communicate since I did not speakFrench and the French, more often than not, would not speak English with me. This isimportant because it is one thing to go to Paris for a week (my first contact with Paris in2004) and quite another to live there four whole months.

Language

As I already mentioned, French language will play an important role in how you feel inFrance. I was very fortunate to have my wonderful wife with me because she speaksFrench fluently. In fact, it was mainly due to her love for the country that we chose to dotwo exchanges and go to Paris. I really dont want to sound negative, but if it was not forher it could be quite difficult to enjoy Paris as much as I did. As a last word of advice, ifyou have never learned French or been to France, talk to someone who has or email mebefore you make the decision.

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Culture

I am a Polish Canadian so I thought that the so-called cultural shock that people fromSFU International warned us about would not apply to me. Well, it did not in Germany

but it did in France. Again, I have to stress that Paris is unique because of its size.Mannheim had only three hundred thousand inhabitants whereas Paris is one of thebiggest cities in Europe.

Beauty and wealth versus dirt and poverty of some of the parts of Paris, the diversity ofthe French people or the sensuality on the streets did not surprise me at all. The littlethings I had to get used to had to do mainly with food and included short till lines ingrocery stores, security guards looking whether Im not stealing anything, dirty at somestores (Ed), high prices, or finally not being able to do my shopping at all after 8 pm. Thebigger differences I never got used to included people smoking almost everywhere and acertain degree of concern for the personal safety of my wife and myself that I have never

felt in Canada. The good news is that you dont have to feel that way because, at leastwhen it comes to personal safety, as long as you do research and find a place to live in adecent part of the city, youll feel safe. As you may have guessed already, we lived in abeautiful apartment in a not so beautiful neighborhood (Rue Ramponeau near theBelleville metro station in the 20th district).

Formalities

Formalities, formalities, formalities! It is really difficult to open a bank account, so bettermake sure you can use your credit or debit card in France and have access to onlinebanking. If you absolutely have to open a bank account, make sure you do not go to theBNP Paribas branch north east of the school campus.

Formalities at school are actually not so bad. Eva Eljam, your international programcoordinator is quite helpful when you can get a hold of her.

ARRIVAL & ORIENTATION

Arrival

I would recommend arriving at least a week before the start of the semester just so thatyou have some time to get accustomed to the new environment and make sure you areready for school. You will definitely have an impression that French institutions areoverly bureaucratic, but once you have your first information session and get the studentand cafeteria cards you will be fine.

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Orientation

The orientation period is well organized. You will be taken for a short tour of the campus.I recommend attending because it provides a great opportunity to meet interesting peopleand make friends. The school building is actually quite small so you wont feel alienated

or lost.

ACCOMMODATION & LIVING

Accommodation

There are some student residences/dormitories to choose from, but remember to inquireabout those at their international office as soon as you find out youre going to ESCP. Igot in touch with an ESCP-EAP student going for an exchange to Brazil and got a prettygood deal: 600 Euro for a 35 square meter beautifully renovated and fully furnished

apartment with internet, within 15 minute walking distance from the school. Sounds likea good deal, but when I consider the fact that every day my wife and I had to pass by agroup of very peaceful, businesslike, but loud drug dealers I wish I did more researchabout the neighborhood. Again, talk to someone who knows Paris well before getting aplace to live.

Living

Living in Paris was very comfortable. One does not need a car because the metro is verywell developed. A monthly ticket will cost you 50 Euro, but it is well worth it if youreally want to get to know the whole city.

Food

French food is excellent. There are two main grocery store chains with a store nearlyevery 300 meters: Ed and Attack. They are quite cheap, but do not offer much choice.Auchan or Carefours are big department stores usually located at the border of the city,but accessible by metro. Fresh bread and baguettes are available on every corner. Thestudent cafeteria is really good and inexpensive too. 2.5 Euro usually gets you a full,delicious, home-style meal. I used it almost every day. Lastly, youll also enjoy some ofthe market places with fresh produce, fish, meat and much more.

SOCIAL AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Social activities

Although ESCP-EAP did not prepare as many social activities as the University ofMannheim, I was still quite impressed by the way French students organized school

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parties. There were at least four that I remember and all offered great music, originaldcor, and lots of free food and alcohol.

Extracurricular activities

Be sure to register for any excursions organized by Eva because space is very limited andyou, as I, may not have a chance to go to Normandy for example. There are always some200 other international students at ESCP at any given semester so there is alwayssomeone to hang out with too.

Also, dont just wait for someone to organize your free time. In Paris there is alwayssomething interesting to do.

ACADEMIC DETAILS

University

The ESCP-EAP European School of Management is abusiness school and one of themost prestigious French Grandes coles. It has campuses in five major European cities:Paris, London, Madrid, Berlin, and Turin.

In December 2006, it was ranked 6th best business school in Europe, 2nd best in Franceby the Financial Times. Its most selective degree, the Master's inManagement/Programme Grande cole, was ranked third best in Europe. It stands 37th inthe world ranking for its Executive MBA.

Founded as the cole Suprieure de Commerce de Paris in 1819 by the well-knowneconomist Jean-Baptiste Say, it is the oldest establishment dedicated tobusiness andfinance teaching in the world. Its programmes are accredited by the international AMBA,Equis, and AACSB.

It is ranked by the Financial Times and others as one the best business schools in France.It is noted for its European and international activities. The school has many notablealumni in business and politics, including the formerPrime Minister of France, Jean-Pierre Raffarin and the formerForeign MinisterMichel Barnier.

In 2000, ESCP merged with the EAP- European School of Management Studies, whichhad been the first European business school with campuses in Paris, Oxford, Berlin, andMadrid, to form the ESCP-EAP European School of Management. This merger was thestarting point for the new long-term strategy of the school to form managers able to adaptto any culture and work in any country. It adopted the slogan "Learn everywhere,Manage anywhere" to reflect its five campuses in the five major European countries.

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Courses

Many courses are offered in English every semester at ESCP, so take advantage of it andplan ahead. I had some problems getting into the courses that I wanted, so make sure tostudy the course calendar very carefully. Take note of their different English Tracks

which are basically boundless courses related to different subjects like marketing orfinance. If youre not in the Finance Track, for instance, you cannot take Derivatives orCorporate Finance.

I took three finance courses: international finance, corporate finance and Derivatives forwhich I got full credit at SFU. I also took a course about French history and couture andhow it relates to doing business in France as well as a beginners French Language course,and I highly recommend both of them. Unfortunately, both courses are only 2.5 ECTScredits, so I dont know if SFU will grant full credit. In terms of workload, studying atESCP-EAP was not as academically demanding as at SFU and I was rather disappointedwith the quality of the teaching abilities of at least one of my professors. His name is

SPISER. He teaches Derivatives and he is the worst professor I have ever had. I dontrecommend him. I really liked the chair of the Finance department who taught me theother two finance courses Mr. Kobrack though.

Internships

My stay was too short to consider an internship, but from what I have seen I can say thatESCP students have fantastic opportunities of getting work experience at the biggestnames out there. Just as an illustration, all major investment banks come to ESCP everysemester to encourage its students to apply for internships or work after they graduate.Because it is a Grandes Ecoles and one of the best business schools in Europe employersreally make an effort to recruit the most promising students at ESCP. I have never seenanything like it!

Lectures

With one exception, all of my lectures were interesting and engaging. Furthermore, allbut one offered a very good learning environment due to their small size and studentsability to communicate with the professor.

University system

France has its unique higher education system with the so called Grandes Ecoles. Thegrandes coles (French: elite schools) ofFrance are higher education establishmentsoutside the mainstream framework of the public universities. They are generally focusedon a single subject area, such as engineering, research,business oradministration, have amoderate size, and are highly selective in their admission of students. Some of them(Ecole Normale Suprieure, Ecole Polytechnique, Ecole Centrale Paris, Ecole des Minesde Paris, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausses, Ecole Superieure d'Electricite, EcoleNationale d'Administration, HEC, ESCP-EAP, ESSEC...)are highly prestigious,

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providing similar status to their graduates in France as Oxbridge in the UK or the IvyLeague schools in the US. They are truly elitist: About 0.5% of French high schoolstudents nationwide are accepted, less than 4,000 students graduate from them everyyear. These 12 schools, which the French praise for being "gnralistes", i.e.,interdisciplinary, have traditionally produced most of France's high ranking civil

servants, politicians, executives, scientists and philosophers.Some of them like the ESCP-EAP European School of Management (Paris, London,Berlin, Madrid, Torino), the Essec (Cergy , Singapore), or the Ecoles Centrales (Paris,Lyon, Lille, Nantes, Marseilles, Shanga) transcend the French boundaries and haveestablished campuses intenationally, thus gaining global recognition.

Transferring courses

Go to the SFU business website. There are many courses you can take at ESCP andsafely transfer back to SFU.

Participation in conferences & workshops

Many conferences and workshops with industry professionals were organized and free toattend for all interested students at ESCP-EAP. I attended two and wish I had the time toattend more.

FINANCIAL DETAILS

In terms of money, going to France was cheaper than I had expected. Food was very

inexpensive. I even joke from time to time that most wine is cheaper than orange juice.Food at the university cafeteria is also relatively inexpensive; I paid 3 Euro for a full mealwith a dessert on average and it was good food, nothing like what we get at SFU. Localtransportation is not so cheap, considering a monthly metro ticket costs 50 Euro. It is alsogood to think about getting a Eurorail Pas because it is cheaper when you buy it fromCanada if you plan on going to see other parts of France or Europe. Various options areavailable. I bought a ticket for 6 days of unlimited travel between Germany, France, andAustria valid for two months for about 250 Euro. It was well worth it! Sport activitieslike tennis, basketball, swimming, dance classes and many others are all offered at asmall fee, so enjoy. You can even sign up for golf at an additional charge.

MY FAVORITE AND WORSt EXPERIENCES

I really enjoyed myself in Paris, especially because I was there with my beloved wife.Life just could not be better! Ill always remember our countless walks on Champs-Elyses, by the Eiffel Tower or the Seine. I also liked that there was always something todo and because schoolwork was not so heavy as at SFU I really enjoyed myselfsightseeing, doing sports or simply spending time with my wife or friends. The worst

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experience I had all this time was probably a few days before midterms and finals when Ireally had to study.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED MOST AND CHALLENGES I HAVE FACED

I have learned that life is really beautiful and that change is something we all need fromtime to time. Living thousands of kilometers away from home and everything you areused to is great because you feel youre alive; you learn every day, especially if youenjoy learning languages and experiencing culture. The greatest challenge, on the otherhand, was trying not to spend too much time with people who spoke English because thisway I could not learn French or German. Although almost every student in Germanyspeaks English and everyone likes to practice it whenever he or she has an opportunity todo so, French students did not seem to be interested in getting to know their internationalfriends at all and that is not only my opinion. This is why most of the French people that Italked to or spent some time with were from my wifes work.

WHAT I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I LEFT

I wish I knew how awesome my stay in Paris was going to be because I could have beenlooking forward to it even more than I was. Knowing about the Eurorail Pass I talkedabout in the Traveling part would also have saved me a couple of dollars.

WORDS OF WISDOM FOR OTHER STUDENTS

Good accommodation, meaning as close to school as possible, will make a greatdifference for everyone. Plan your schedule and register for all courses that requireregistration prior to the beginning of the semester because it is very hard to find place insome courses later on. Do not be afraid to approach other exchange students as well asFrench students and try not to spend the whole week studying in your dorm. I did not andmy stay at ESCP-EAP was some of the best time in my life!

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2006fallescpjakubr

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