C'est Ma Vie: An American in France
by Vicky Moy, vvm206
Issue date: 10/12/04 Section: Voices
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Hey! How's France? How are you enjoying it? What's it like living over there?
The usual questions.
But answering them is hard. It's so much fun! It's eye-opening. It's frustrating. It's a different reality.
First, allow me to make a little introduction. HEC School of Management is comprised of several programs: the MBA, the Specialized Masters, the PhD, the Executive MBA and the Grande École. The Grande École is similar to the undergraduate colleges in the U.S. and many liken it to the "Harvard" of France. And like Harvard, the Grande École is extremely difficult to get into. After high school, students attend a 2-year preparatory school to study for the entrance exam. Although an extremely small percentage gets accepted, the Grande École makes up the majority of the students here on campus - they are well over 1,000! In contrast, the MBA program is about 200 students.
Despite the name HEC-Paris, the school is not really IN Paris. It is situated in a suburb of Paris called Jouy-en-Josas. (It is very close to Versailles - former home of King Louis XVI and the royal family.) To get into the center of Paris via public transportation will take a good hour and a half. So not having a car on campus is quite inconvenient. Most students take the unofficial "shortcut", which is a path that winds through the woods and leads you to a rear gate. At night and on the weekends though, this gate is closed. Students then have to make a choice - climb the wall and jump or go all the way around to the main entrance/exit and walk for another 20-25 minutes to the town train station. (NB: Some well-placed trash bins saves you a couple of bloody knees!)
My first night in Paris I went to see a movie on the Champs-Elysees. We arrived at 9:22 p.m. and decided to purchase tickets for a 10:30 p.m. showing. Normally, one would go right up to the window, ask for a ticket and pay. Not in France. According to the ticket seller, they were not open until 9:30 p.m. So we ended up standing there for 8 minutes watching the ticket sellers chat and do their nails until 9:30 p.m. Finally, we were able to buy the tickets!
The usual questions.
But answering them is hard. It's so much fun! It's eye-opening. It's frustrating. It's a different reality.
First, allow me to make a little introduction. HEC School of Management is comprised of several programs: the MBA, the Specialized Masters, the PhD, the Executive MBA and the Grande École. The Grande École is similar to the undergraduate colleges in the U.S. and many liken it to the "Harvard" of France. And like Harvard, the Grande École is extremely difficult to get into. After high school, students attend a 2-year preparatory school to study for the entrance exam. Although an extremely small percentage gets accepted, the Grande École makes up the majority of the students here on campus - they are well over 1,000! In contrast, the MBA program is about 200 students.
Despite the name HEC-Paris, the school is not really IN Paris. It is situated in a suburb of Paris called Jouy-en-Josas. (It is very close to Versailles - former home of King Louis XVI and the royal family.) To get into the center of Paris via public transportation will take a good hour and a half. So not having a car on campus is quite inconvenient. Most students take the unofficial "shortcut", which is a path that winds through the woods and leads you to a rear gate. At night and on the weekends though, this gate is closed. Students then have to make a choice - climb the wall and jump or go all the way around to the main entrance/exit and walk for another 20-25 minutes to the town train station. (NB: Some well-placed trash bins saves you a couple of bloody knees!)
My first night in Paris I went to see a movie on the Champs-Elysees. We arrived at 9:22 p.m. and decided to purchase tickets for a 10:30 p.m. showing. Normally, one would go right up to the window, ask for a ticket and pay. Not in France. According to the ticket seller, they were not open until 9:30 p.m. So we ended up standing there for 8 minutes watching the ticket sellers chat and do their nails until 9:30 p.m. Finally, we were able to buy the tickets!