Name: Meredith Kulpaka
Program at Carleton: International business, third year
Location: Amiens, France
I’m currently studying in Amiens, a small city located an hour north of Paris.
I left Canada on Aug. 31 and arrived here with two massive bags and a few smaller ones on Sept. 1.
At the beginning of my exchange, I ran into a series of unfortunate events concerning culture shock and language confusions, but I eventually figured out enough to get by and made a lot of good friends.
I chose to live in Amiens because of the schooling and the location. My business school only has 1,200 students, making it really easy to meet people.
I have class three days a week and in those three days, I study for 18 hours to complete one class. This means I have a different class, different assignment and different professor every week, with no homework or assignments in between.
It’s an ideal situation for travelling, but it’s a really weird feeling to never have big assignments looming over your head — a very welcome feeling, I must add.
During my first semester, I ran around Europe, visiting over 15 different cities in eight countries, including France. As much as I love seeing the world, I was exhausted.
This semester, I’m going to try and focus more on improving my French and visiting my friends who have returned to their homes throughout Europe. (Most international students only come to Amiens for one semester.)
I’m excited to continue my adventures with some of my friends who have stayed for the second semester and the new ones I’ll meet in a few days.
