Devon Parsons.com

Viva la France. It has been quite an exciting past few days.You’ll have to forgive me; internet access has been few and far between. Our apartment does not have wireless internet, and to get a USB-internet-stick froma France provider we had to open a bank account which Katie and I are in the process of doing. Speaking of the apartment, it is definitely nice even if farout of the way. It’s a 30 minute walk from town (10 minute bus ride when theyare running). See the video below!

First impressions of school were good. It is about an hour commute via the bus. The school is in an industrial park literally in the woodson the side of a mountain. It’s crazy! Our classroom building isminiscule—maybe a dozen classrooms or so. The internet availability is great,and the cafeteria in the main building offers delicious, full French meals for 3 Euros. (Cheapest meal yet!) Orientation was information-packed, and class wasby-the-book Corporate Finance. The classes are taught at an easier pace,keeping in mind that English is a second language for many students. So excited for an “easier” semester… looks like I’ll wind up with Accounting, CorporateFinance, Management, and Marketing, knocking out nearly all my classes for my business minor. Score.

Last week was all about getting settled in. Got a bus pass,figured out the system, met some of the other exchange students, and went to the Carrefour market on the bus—only to find out there is a market downtown only one bus ride away, not two. Saturday we toured Old Town Antibes with the other students, saw the rich mega-yachts, the Picasso Museum for which the cityis known, and had a great dinner of mussels and French fries at our first foreign restaurant experience with some friends. On Sunday, Katie and I voyaged on our first out of town trip to Cannes fifteen minutes down the tracks. It wasa disaster; we left at 9am and were back in the room by noon. First off it was FREEZING  and secondly, everything isclosed here on Sunday and I mean EVERY-EVERY-THING.  Good to note for future weekends. I think next weekend we’ll go explore Nice and its nightlife.