Hi! How is everyone doing? We hope you are all doing great! We are doing well; we are currently in the middle of finals. Our finals began on Tuesday and we have already taken three, one on Wednesday, one on Thursday and one today, Saturday. Our last and final one is on Monday night. We can’t believe how fast the semester has gone by, it seems like we just started school a few weeks ago! School was one of our favorite parts about this whole experience. The kids in our classes were great, always very friendly and helpful to us and we loved hearing them try to talk in English! We have realized that they understand English a lot better than they speak it! The students here do not take school as seriously as they do in America so they were fun to have class with! We are going to miss the hot chocolate vending machines that helped get us through our 8:30am classes, the half hour smoking breaks in the middle of class, the baguette sandwiches we would get for lunch after class, our teachers who were always checking to make sure we were doing well and eating okay, listening to the French students talk about America and hearing about their way of life, and of course all of the friends we made! (Plus the two kisses on the cheek!)
Finals is a completely different process here than it is at Millersville or most schools back home. We were completely shocked when we arrived at our first one! All of our finals were in the masters building instead of in the building where we normally had class so we got very lost looking for our classroom the first day. Even though we arrived about fifteen minutes early we were still two of the last ones to arrive for the exam. (This was a big surprise since the French students usually arrive exactly at the time class started or a little late!) We were required to show our school IDs in order to get into the room to take our final. Once we got inside we were asked what final we were taking and then we were told what color test to look for. There were about four different finals all taking place at the same time in the same room and each final had a different color test. The finals were all mixed together and spread around the room so that the closest person was sitting a few seats away from you and no one was sitting in front of or behind you. We weren’t allowed to have anything with us, all of our bags, purses, and phones had to be put against a wall away from all of the desks. One of our friends who was taking his first final did not know this and he was looking through his notebook reviewing before the test began. One of the proctors asked him in French to put it away. He did not understand what they were saying to him so he asked them to repeat it in English, but instead the proctor grabbed his notebook and threw it against the wall! Once we all found our correct finals the proctors gave directions (in French so hopefully they weren’t too important!) and then they began handing out the tests. It was good that a bunch of us Americans were sitting some what close together so that we could work together to figure out what all of the different papers were for and try to interpret what the proctors were saying! It took a little while to hand out all of the tests since everyone was taking different finals and we were all spread out!
We then had to sign a contract before we could begin the test stating that we would not cheat, leave early, talk to others, etc. while taking the test. (This was another surprise since EVERY French student cheats! I guess it didn’t matter though because most of them already had the answers to all of the questions! None of the Americans could figure out where they always got the answers from for each exam!) There were some proctors walking around and others standing in the front of the classroom to make sure no one was cheating. All of our finals except one are all essay. Usually we don’t mind all essay tests but it is especially hard to write essays here because the paper they provide you with is graph paper instead of lined paper. It is hard for us to read our own handwriting on graph paper; I don’t know how the teachers can read it! You also have to write in pen. The French are all always prepared with about four pens and two white outs on their desks during tests. For the Americans this means lots of crossing out since none of us have white out! You aren’t allowed to hand your test in before a half hour is up, and then once it is you can leave when you are finished. We are anxious to finish finals and be done with studying and school, but we are definitely going to miss going to school and all of the kids in our classes.
When were not studying or taking finals we have been spending time at the beach, shopping, and walking around trying to see some last few things before we leave. Tomorrow we are supposed to go on a boat trip leaving from Cannes with our CEA group, but it is supposed to be very windy and rainy so we will see how it turns out! On Tuesday after finals are over we leave for Rome and Venice, Italy so we will be sure to blog and keep you updated on that! We return back to Antibes on Saturday and then we leave the following Saturday to come home! We are getting more and more excited each day to come home and see everyone! We miss you guys so much and can’t wait to see you! We will talk to you soon, love you!
Love,
Jen and Em
** 1: This is one of the lounges where students can study or use their computers in between classes in the master's building. 2: The hot chocolate and coffe machine which we are going to miss! 3: Ceram 2 - master's building where we got lunch and studied/used the computer lab before and after classes. This is the main building of Ceram.
Finals is a completely different process here than it is at Millersville or most schools back home. We were completely shocked when we arrived at our first one! All of our finals were in the masters building instead of in the building where we normally had class so we got very lost looking for our classroom the first day. Even though we arrived about fifteen minutes early we were still two of the last ones to arrive for the exam. (This was a big surprise since the French students usually arrive exactly at the time class started or a little late!) We were required to show our school IDs in order to get into the room to take our final. Once we got inside we were asked what final we were taking and then we were told what color test to look for. There were about four different finals all taking place at the same time in the same room and each final had a different color test. The finals were all mixed together and spread around the room so that the closest person was sitting a few seats away from you and no one was sitting in front of or behind you. We weren’t allowed to have anything with us, all of our bags, purses, and phones had to be put against a wall away from all of the desks. One of our friends who was taking his first final did not know this and he was looking through his notebook reviewing before the test began. One of the proctors asked him in French to put it away. He did not understand what they were saying to him so he asked them to repeat it in English, but instead the proctor grabbed his notebook and threw it against the wall! Once we all found our correct finals the proctors gave directions (in French so hopefully they weren’t too important!) and then they began handing out the tests. It was good that a bunch of us Americans were sitting some what close together so that we could work together to figure out what all of the different papers were for and try to interpret what the proctors were saying! It took a little while to hand out all of the tests since everyone was taking different finals and we were all spread out!
We then had to sign a contract before we could begin the test stating that we would not cheat, leave early, talk to others, etc. while taking the test. (This was another surprise since EVERY French student cheats! I guess it didn’t matter though because most of them already had the answers to all of the questions! None of the Americans could figure out where they always got the answers from for each exam!) There were some proctors walking around and others standing in the front of the classroom to make sure no one was cheating. All of our finals except one are all essay. Usually we don’t mind all essay tests but it is especially hard to write essays here because the paper they provide you with is graph paper instead of lined paper. It is hard for us to read our own handwriting on graph paper; I don’t know how the teachers can read it! You also have to write in pen. The French are all always prepared with about four pens and two white outs on their desks during tests. For the Americans this means lots of crossing out since none of us have white out! You aren’t allowed to hand your test in before a half hour is up, and then once it is you can leave when you are finished. We are anxious to finish finals and be done with studying and school, but we are definitely going to miss going to school and all of the kids in our classes.
When were not studying or taking finals we have been spending time at the beach, shopping, and walking around trying to see some last few things before we leave. Tomorrow we are supposed to go on a boat trip leaving from Cannes with our CEA group, but it is supposed to be very windy and rainy so we will see how it turns out! On Tuesday after finals are over we leave for Rome and Venice, Italy so we will be sure to blog and keep you updated on that! We return back to Antibes on Saturday and then we leave the following Saturday to come home! We are getting more and more excited each day to come home and see everyone! We miss you guys so much and can’t wait to see you! We will talk to you soon, love you!
Love,
Jen and Em
** 1: This is one of the lounges where students can study or use their computers in between classes in the master's building. 2: The hot chocolate and coffe machine which we are going to miss! 3: Ceram 2 - master's building where we got lunch and studied/used the computer lab before and after classes. This is the main building of Ceram.
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