A Day In the Life

What does a typical day look like for me? Honestly, it very much depends— each weekday has its own schedule; my Monday routine is very different from my Thursday routine, for example.  Here’s what I did on Wednesday, October 11:

9:00: I wake up, take a shower, and get dressed.

9:30: I make breakfast.  Here, I usually have some combination of bread and cheese or jam, muesli (granola) and milk, fruit, and/or yogurt.  I also often have tea. Here’s my breakfast from this morning: two clementines, toast (using bread from the bakery nearby!) and cheese, and some earl grey tea.

9:50: I take a few minutes to tidy my room and assemble all of my folders, notebooks, etc. that I’ll need for the day. 

Today, I’ll have some time to catch up on homework, so I’m going to take my notebook for my class, « Arab Civilization before the arrival of Islam » (a direct enrolment class I’m taking through Rennes 2, not through CIREFE). 

10:05: I leave the house to take the bus, saying goodbye to my host mom, Ghislaine. On the way, I drop off a letter in the postbox for my sister— the postboxes here look much different than in the U.S.!

10:13: The bus arrives at the bus stop, about 5 blocks away from my apartment.

10:23: I arrive at République, the central square, to take the métro to Université-Villejean.

  10:35: I arrive at Université-Villejean.  Usually on Wednesday mornings at 10:45, I have my first of two classes for the day, which is the Intercultural Communication and Language class, taught by Daniel Audaz, the Director of CIEE.  However, that class was canceled this morning, so I’m heading to the library to work on homework! Here’s a picture featuring one of my usual study buddies, Aidan.

  12:20: I walk to the Restaurant Universitaire, where I’ll eat lunch with some friends from CIEE. Lunch here is 3.25 euro, and here’s a typical meal:

  The lunch crew! I’m the blonde in the corner of the booth.

  1:45: Back to the library, where I’ll do homework until my next class, at 4 p.m. (*Note: usually, I don’t do this much homework during one day, but I’m trying to get ahead this week, since midterms will be soon!)

  4:00-6:00: Cours d’expression et compréhension écrites

Today we’re learning about how to write an argumentative paper, as well as discussing an article that we read about book digitization.

6:20: I take the metro, then the bus to get home. Here’s what the walk from the bus stop looks like:

 
6:40: I arrive home and work on a bit more homework.

7:20: I set the table, then we eat supper! Tonight we’re having quiche, salad, and potage (a type of vegetable soup).  Afterwards, I do the dishes.

8:20: I get out my knitting (here’s a picture of my current project: a pair of socks)

and Ghislaine and I settle in for an episode of French-dubbed Rizzoli and Isles.

 10:00: Time for bed! I’ll journal a bit before I go to sleep; just a recap of the day so that I can remember the important details.

How does my daily life differ in France from my daily life in the U.S.?   Well, to start, going to university in a city is much, much different than going to a private, liberal arts college in a rural town. For one, using mass transit is great here in Rennes— I have no need for a car, I can explore the city as I desire, and there is a good selection of things to see and do: museums, restaurants, the Opéra, the theatre. . . My college at home, St. Olaf, is about 3,000 students (as opposed to the ~24,000 in Rennes) and everything is within a walking distance of ten minutes or so: my dormitory, the cafeteria, the natural lands, and all of my classes.  Downtown Northfield is small, filled with cute shops and local cafés and restaurants. To me, Rennes doesn’t feel overwhelmingly big, but the students don’t have the same relationship with each other and with the professors, in large part because it’s not a residential campus.    Class structure is very different, too: most classes are two hours, once per week for the whole semester, so I’m taking seven total courses.  At St. Olaf, students usually take 4 classes a semester, which meet either twice per week (1.5 hours every Tuesday/Thursday) or three times (for 55 minutes Mon/Weds/Fri). I’m also active in Model United Nations, Feed my Starving Children, and Chapel Choir at St. Olaf; here in Rennes there are clubs, but they’re more « workshops » and not to the same intensity/skill that I’m used to… especially for choir! That being said, I am enjoying my activities in Rennes: student teaching one hour per week, leading an English discussion group on Thursday afternoons for 1.5 hours at the Franco-American Institute, and being in the choir atelier (workshop).    I’m only in Rennes for one semester; for me, that’s the perfect amount of time to better understand the French university system, to improve my French, and to acclimate to French culture. I miss my family, friends, and university at home more than I thought I would, but I think that it’s because the people, traditions, and location are all more familiar to me. Four months means that, at the end of the semester, I can go home and « dive back into » life at St. Olaf with  a deepened understanding of what it means to be a student abroad and how much I appreciate being home. 

Thanks for reading! :)

Rachel Beran

St. Olaf College