My school HEC (Ecole des
Hautes Etudes Commerciales)
September 19, 2002 FIGURING THINGS OUT
My school HEC (Ecole des
Hautes Etudes Commerciales)
I
got here in Paris on Wednesday the 18th. I
was lucky because a guy in my program named Dams offered to come pick me up at
the airport. Otherwise I don't know how I would have got from there to my
campus with all the luggage and bicycle I was carrying.
I was even luckier because the Northwest ticket agent in Minneapolis
forgot to charge me the $110 she should have charged me for carrying my bike on
the plane. Everything was smooth
and on-time getting here. Just getting here is half the battle.
My
campus is in a town called Jouy-en-Josas, which despite being less than ten
miles from Paris, is a small, sleepy village surrounded by hills and forests.
The campus of my school is further isolated, being about a mile or so
from the town and surrounded by more forests and farms.
You'd have no idea you're so close to Paris.
Needless to say the campus is quiet.
The atmosphere is more like a US private college than a big university. The
buildings are modern glass and steel instead of old, "great halls of
learning" type architecture you might expect. The campus is grassy but the grass is not maintained very
well. There are lots of hills and
woods all around the campus on one side, and flat corn or wheat fields
stretching out from the other.
The
first night I had to stay in an under-grad dorm room which sucked.
It was gloomy and concrete, and I was fearing the worst when I went to
move into my own room the next day. Fortunately,
my room is in the "elite" housing complex, reserved for MBA and PhD
students. Finally the respect I
deserve : ) . My room is modern,
clean, airy and spacious. It's on
the third floor (in US terms; second floor in French terms) and has a nice
bathroom and shower (no place to cook though.) There is a huge window which
looks out onto a bunch of trees, and there is twice as much storage space as
I'll even need. And the cleaning
lady comes and cleans my room twice a week!
So far my only complaint is that the water is too hard in the shower.
The
only place to eat anything more than a snack on campus is a hall aptly titled
"The Restaurant". Most students give it mixed reviews, but I think it's great
so far. It's cheap and you get a
wide selection of quality food. No
greasy burgers or fries here, but actual meals with different types of real
cheeses, salads, sides, veggies, fruits and main dishes. And instead of a bunch of fat old greasy cooks, they have
guys in white chef outfits who tell you bon appetite when they serve you the
grub.
I've
got to know a few people already. My
neighbor across the hall is a German PhD student.
Yesterday I had dinner with him and a Greek guy who is on his program.
In my building there is a small rec room with a TV, grand piano, bar and
sundeck. About 15 or so people got
together for a party there last night so I'm starting to get to know some
people. For some reason half of the
party was from Canada. One American
guy I met has lived in Minneapolis for a few years. There is another party tonight (Friday) and tomorrow is a big
welcome cocktail party for everyone. Monday
classes start.
For all you would-be visitors who are cheapos like me, there is a lot of space on my (carpeted) floor for someone to sleep. Otherwise there is a Holiday Inn right on campus here, five minutes walk from my place. Unfortunately getting to Paris from here is not very convenient. It takes an hour or so, and I guess the trains are not all that frequent. It would be difficult to really get around here without a vehicle. And there is nothing to do in this town itself. But all is not bad for tourists. The palace of Versailles is very close, and I hear there are some nice small towns the other direction from Paris. I'll go explore this weekend on my bike.
Catch you later.