Studying in France as Americans: Old Chapters, New Experiences, and Relaxation Preparation
The month of August has come and gone, and for the first time since 2002, we didn’t spend it getting ready for a new school year! Instead, the month seemed to drag on as Maria and I completed the last of our obligations for our master’s degrees in Public Law and Logistics respectively. Between finishing up graduate school at the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne and hanging out around Reims, we had an interesting few weeks. Here’s everything we’ve been doing as foreign master’s degree students in France lately.
At the very beginning of the month, Maria completed her law internship! Her experience certainly helped her grow professionally, and she thoroughly enjoyed working in the non-profit sector. Her internship will be graded through the rapport de stage, or internship report, of around 30 pages that she turned in near the end of the month. The report explains everything about her internship, from how she obtained the position, to details about the organization she worked for, to the projects she completed, to the results she accomplished. With her internship over and report turned in, Maria has finished her law degree! Though she’ll have to wait a while longer for the official results to be published, I’m really proud of her – especially considering that her program was extremely challenging and intense from beginning to end.
As for me, even though I finished my last master’s degree assignment in July, I’ve continued to work my alternance all month long. I cannot overstate what a formative, enjoyable experience I have had as an alternant, and I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to work and study in France simultaneously. Today was my last day, meaning that I, too, have completed all of my master’s-related obligations! Like Maria, my final grades won’t be published for a while, but I’m so relieved to be done.
Outside of school and work, we fit in a few fun events this month as well. We had time to explore two marchés, or markets, at the Halles du Boulingrin in Reims. The first was the weekly farmers’ market where we bought fresh strawberries that we incorporated in a summery fruit salad. The second was a used book sale where we perused the stands and ended up snagging two french-language novels, Hélène Grémillon’s La garçonnière and Jean-Christophe Rufin’s Check-point, for cheap!
We also prioritized taking walks around the city, despite a few days of scorching heat! We usually try to discover corners of Reims that we’ve yet to visit on foot, but it’s increasingly difficult to do so after two whole years of thorough exploration! It’s hard to believe that we’ve been wandering around Reims since August 2020, and that we’ve all but finished what we set out to do when we moved here.
Finally, we spent an evening at Le Clos, a unique bar with a cozy outdoor space in Reims, with a couple of our friends. Our school responsibilities so rarely gave us the chance to have fun nights out during the last few years, so hanging out with cold beers and good company was a treat!
The last update we want to share is that we’re going on vacation! Now that our master’s degree commitments have come to an end, we’re finally able to take some much-needed time off. We’re headed to the United States for around two weeks! We are definitely looking forward to spending a bit of quality time with our friends and family in our home country.
When our visit to the USA ends, we’re coming back to France for a beach vacation in Biarritz, a coastal city in southwest France. We can’t wait to see the French Basque Country and relax together after two years of near-constant stress. We’ve worked hard to schedule content on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and our blog to be published during our vacation, and we also plan to share our experiences in the USA and in Biarritz both in real time on social media and in longer-form content when we get back home to Reims.
All in all, August was an important month in our graduate school journey. By the time we post our next update in a couple of months, we hope to have our final grades and tons of vacation stories to share. Cross your fingers that we both pass, and wish us bon voyage!
If you have any questions or want to know more about studying in France as Americans, let us know in a comment!
Check out this month’s update video!
Check out our other monthly updates!
- September 2020
- October 2020
- November 2020
- December 2020
- January 2021
- February 2021
- March 2021
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3 Comments
KJ
BON VOYAGE!!
Jalen & Maria
Merci !
ProfP
You need a poussette à courses! Saves carrying heavy groceries, etc. Couldn’t live in France without one.
– an occasional resident of L’Hexagone