So, I've made it through my first week in the world of foreign academia. Here are my observations: International Economics is taught by a man so unsure of himself that he actually added PhD to his name on the board halfway through the class once he realized nobody thought he knew what he was doing. It's too bad CEFAM has a very strict attendance policy (supposedly modeled after the American university systems) because the opportunity cost of going to class is th...

Today was a long, busy day for all of us. We started the day with a 9:15 orientation at our school, which meant that we left our apartments at 8:30 (that's 2:30 AM for those of us who haven't yet adjusted to the time difference). I knew that CEFAM was a much smaller school than Northeastern, but I had no idea that it was this small. Not only is all of CEFAM housed in a single building no larger than the smallest on the Northeastern campus, but it also shares tha...

So, I've arrived in Lyon after a stressful, emotional, exciting and exhausting departure from the US. In the 24 hours before my flight, I made lists of places I wanted to visit while seriously considering not going on this trip- I was confused, scared and more sad than I have been in a long time at the prospect of leaving everyone I love at home, but at the same time I knew that this will be a great opportunity for me and it is now or never. My parents brought ...