ICS France

Over three years ago, I made the decision to step out of my comfort zone and spend a year abroad. The only problem for me was that I had never lived or travelled on my own and so the idea of spending a year away from home was absolutely daunting. Despite feelings of excitement, I remember feeling really anxious about taking on the experience. Questions like “Will I have enough money?", “Can I really stay away from my friends and family for a year?” and “How the heck am I going to feed myself?!” were constant thoughts I had leading up to the moment I stepped onto the plane and headed to the small town of Montpellier in the south of France.

I don’t think anyone can be fully prepared for this experience but I have no regrets for taking on this challenge whatsoever.

Since I have family living in Paris, the French language and culture were always of interest to me. ICS has provided me with the opportunity to indulge in a culture so different to home while simultaneously learn a language that brings me closer to my family who live on this side of the world. Although I’m nowhere near speaking fluently in French, the classes I took in my first semester of ICS heavily revolved around the French language, from the basics of revising passé composé to reading and analysing French literature. My proficiency in the language has undoubtedly improved but it did take me a long time to become comfortable speaking in French within social settings, especially when I saw other international students excelling in the language. Nevertheless, challenging myself to speak the language has helped meet with so many people from all around the world who are also learning French and also engage with French students who can help me perfect my French, while I help them perfect their English!

Additionally, while the opportunity of studying on exchange and learning a new language is an amazing opportunity on its own, having a whole year abroad also opens the opportunity to travel. I have been fortunate to travel to numerous cities such as Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, London and even smaller cities such as Annecy and Marseille around France in the last few months and I have multiple trips lined up during my the summer break (FYI, my summer break here is 4 MONTHS long!). It’s definitely a chance to tick off all the Instagram-looking destinations on your bucket list.

Even by going around different cities in the same country such as France, each city has its own charm and character that will always take your breath away.

I can easily say that if ICS is available to you it’s an experience students should definitely take on. It definitely hasn’t been 100% smooth sailing but it’s definitely a learning curve in all aspects. Having to write this short blog post, as cliché as it sounds, I feel completely content and fortunate that I have the chance to live out this experience. I can’t wait to see what’s in store and to share it all with you! Bisous xo

As university classes, assignments and exams came to an end, I was excited to kick off my European summer by ticking off as many destinations off my bucket-list as I could. I dedicated the weeks following my exams to properly plan out my trips to be as low-cost as possible. I’m generally a very organised person and I’ve found booking in advance can save you much more money. For those of you who are worried about the money aspect of this whole ICS experience, my advice would be to cut costs where you can and for me, this means sucking it up and taking as many overnight buses as possible. Although it may be exhausting, I’ve found overnight buses to be a cheaper alternative, saves you from paying a night of accommodation and by the time you wake up the next morning, you’re in a whole other country or city and still have a full day to explore.

Since the beginning of June, I’ve had the opportunity to visit Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre in Italy and the Greek islands of Mykonos, Santorini and Milos and it’s safe for me to say that they are all BEAUTIFUL. All of these places are obvious destinations to see during a European summer, but I would highly recommend going during the month of June to dodge the peak of the tourist season in July and August.

Now, I’m currently back in Paris for some down time before I pack my bags to set off on the July leg of my European adventure. Life’s sweet as an ICS student!

The homesickness had definitely started to kick in but I was fortunate enough to have two of my close friends from home come to visit for the first two weeks of July. We spent Bastille Day in Paris and right before seeing JayZ and Beyonce live, we also watched France win the World Cup - AN INSANE EXPERIENCE. The atmosphere was something I’d never forget.

Afterwards, I spent the last two weeks exploring Germany. Visiting the smaller towns rather than the capital city has been so relaxing, given the number of tourists exploring Europe at this time of year. So make sure you try and venture out the typical European tourist destinations, everywhere else has been just as beautiful!

In terms of stresses, I felt this month the biggest stress I’ve had is finding my accommodation for next semester. For those of you who are spending your ICS in Montpellier, if you don’t plan on staying in student accommodation, I highly recommend finding a place before July. Trust me! Prices will rise, the room you want will be taken before you book it and your options will become slim since it is the start of the year for all the exchange students coming through! Be sure to check out iBuddy, La Carte Des Colocs and ChezNestor to see what’s available to you. Airbnb is great but ridiculously expensive unless you have a whole group of you together to chip in!

Anywho, that’s all for now!

Tschüss!

There was no better way to wrap up my last month of summer than with some of my favourite people in the whole world!

Putting our busy ICS schedules aside, I spent the majority of August with friends from home who were studying in other french-speaking countries/cities. If I had known that all our struggles in French Language and Culture 1-4 would’ve resulted in us having baguettes, wine and cheese in front of the Eiffel Tower and catching up on all the beautiful places we’ve seen throughout the year, I probably would have complained much less!

We started off the month in Budapest, where I finally made it to my first music festival - Sziget. Yet another highlight of my year! If you’re a music fanatic, I would definitely recommend venturing out and experiencing a music festival in Europe (there is honestly too many to count). From here, we visited Prague and finally, headed back to Paris where I prepared myself to go back to Montpellier. Although I have spent some time almost every month in Paris this year, there’s always things to do and see, so if you have the time, be sure to draw away from all the tourist sights because I can guarantee you that each city has plenty of hidden gems!

I’ve hit the nine-month mark of my ICS exchange and it’s time to begin my final semester here in Montpellier. This month, I had to click restart - I’m living with new roommates, a majority of the friends I had made last semester have left since they had completed their exchange and I’m no longer sheltered by language-supported subjects and have to take integrated classes instead. However, although enrolling into courses and settling into a new place with new people were all nerve wracking experiences, the most difficult thing about this month for me was adjusting to the integrated classes.

Despite being exposed to other ways of doing things throughout my travels and already completing a semester here before the break, I was overwhelmed at the lectures and tutorials which comprised of ridiculously fast french, no powerpoints or syllabus’ for reference, and teachers who simply read off a sheet of paper to pass on the information for the class. I was in awe as I watched fellow French students transcribing as the professors spoke and this definitely deflated the bubble of confidence I had, thinking that this semester wouldn’t be as difficult as the last. I hadn’t spoken as much French over the break as I would have hoped and this made me feel like I was falling behind very quickly.

These classes were a wake-up call and I knew I had to push a little harder to make sure I was prepared for the whole semester that’s ahead of me. So my word of advice would be to brush up on your French (or other chosen language), even if it’s an hour a day or even Duolingo-ing, even if you’re travelling outside of France during the break.

On the plus side, I saw an improvement in my French, both writing and speaking, as the weeks progressed and my confidence began to build up again. It may feel like all these changes are overwhelming and stressful at first but I’ve come to realise that it’s these changes that have helped me become more independent and grow throughout the year and have also forced me to take risks that have rewarded me with lessons and opportunities I’ll carry with me beyond my time here on exchange.

Checking my calendar this month and all I can see are mid-semester exams, a short mid-sem break and with a small scroll down, my flight home pops up too. It has been 6 weeks into my semester of integrated classes and in all honesty, it hasn’t really gotten much easier. You’d think that by now I would have experienced all the “culture shocks” and changes but I guess I never fully realised how different the learning system is here compared to home. In Sydney, I constantly relied on interaction with my tutors and lecturers via email if I had a question or I could simply jump onto Canvas for extra notes or my subject outline for exams. Here in Montpellier, it’s the complete opposite.

The easiest way to receive all this information isn’t through emails or a printed outline, instead, you rely on your own ears in class or you have to see the professors yourself just to be sure. Although it isn’t the biggest deal, I guess it’s all part of the experience.

Since these classes don’t completely align with my business degree, they have challenged my to take more initiative and be more open to asking questions in and outside of class. Although it may feel overwhelming at times, I see my french improving as the days go on and though my budget is tightening I’ve been pushing to explore as much as I can and make the most of the time I have left in Europe. This year has literally flown by so quickly so take on as many opportunities as you can, because despite being 10 months in, there are still so many things I want to do, see and accomplish!

There was no better way to jump into my second last month of ICS than to spend it with the people I started this whole ICS journey with. My friends and I finally had the time to step away from respective cities, our own travelling and studying, to join together for a weekend of catching up and also to show off our new-found cooking skills now that we’re living out of home. We’ve all come so far and I found comfort in knowing that all the challenges I had been facing were common things amongst all of us. So if you’re a stress-head like me, don’t hesitate to reach out to your mates on ICS as well, there’s bound to be people in a similar boat!

Besides this, November is the time to get your head in the books. The final methodology project I have been working on all year has finally started to come together and I feel the stress of final exams for my french university creeping in. My advice? START EARLY. I’m definitely the kind of person to procrastinate and I thoroughly believe that I thrive under pressure, but these aren’t things you can simply finish overnight.

As the countdown gets closer and closer to coming back home, I’ve also tried to fit in as much more exploring as I can. There are so many beautiful Christmas markets all around Europe, and even in my little town of Montpellier, so, get ahead and try to do as much as you can for your assessments so you have time left over to see these!

December marked my final month of ICS and it’s safe to say that this experience has been one of the most challenging but rewarding years of my life. I spent my final month wrapping up my major ICS project that I had been working on all year (finally) and with university exams out of the way, I leapt into the festive spirit and fit in as much travel as my wallet would allow me.

As my first Christmas away from home, I was lucky to have three of my cousins from Australia come and visit and during their time here we were able to go to London, Strasbourg, Amsterdam and Paris and completely immerse in all of the festivities going on.

I had always wanted to experience Christmas in winter and this was the perfect opportunity. We had our fair share of Christmas markets, vin chaud, Christmas sweaters and ice skating but having the opportunity to spend Christmas with my extended family in France was the biggest highlight of my month. 

Although I am so excited to be reunited with my family and friends back at home, I sadly packed my bags and left a piece of my heart in Montpellier (cliché I know). When I reflect on the year I have had I feel so fortunate to have had an opportunity like this come my way and would highly recommend it to anybody who has the chance to do it!