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School of Business Administration

stUDy ABROAD Spring 2020

By Claire Esslinger, '21

January 15-30, 2020

This semester I have been blessed with the opportunity to study abroad in Nice, France, and am inviting you along to share in my experience, my excitement, and my education. This is the first of my blogs, so be on the lookout for future posts!

I am tackling this adventure with three of my friends who are also business majors in the School of Business Administration. Going into this adventure knowing little more than what “oui” means was a little nerve wracking; so far, though, nothing has been a big problem. We arrived in Nice two weeks before school started, so we had a chance to get settled in. We have a cute flat that we call home, a bakery around the corner, and “siesta” time from 2-4 everyday. The biggest challenge so far has been buying shampoo, believe it or not. Of course, we had no idea the proper french word for shampoo (I may have turned to Amazon for some help).

We dove into the Nice life without hesitation. Every evening we take a stroll by the harbor picking out our dream yacht, sit on the rock-filled beach at sunset, and we buy baguettes...like our lives depend on it. One thing we learned quickly is that the age old stereotype of French people walking down the streets wearing a beret and munching on a baguette is a reality. It's such a common sight, maybe we’ll all invest in berets!

Since our arrival, we've ventured beyond France twice, first to Monaco - such a beautiful country. Monte Carlo absolutely sparkled! We loved people-watching as we navigated the narrow, steep streets. We did lots of window shopping, and even made a stop in the opulent casino (see photo).

Our next stop after Monaco was lovely and historic Vienna. This second side trip may have been inspired by the song of the same name, ''Vienna'' by Billy Joel. Not only is this one of our favorite songs, but now we know the city lives up to these expectations. We took a tour of Schonbrunn Palace, visited the magnificent St. Stephen's Cathedral, went ice skating in front of City Hall, took a walking tour through Naschmarkt, and even saw the beautiful Hofburg. We had never before stayed in a hostel, but we absolutely loved it. We met fellow travelers from all over the world and enjoyed hanging out with new people. We were in Vienna for 3 days, but it felt like we needed at least another day to finish seeing the sights. The historic buildings are impressive, and the locals are so friendly. I can’t wait to go back for more exploring. School starts tomorrow, so more on class life in the near future.

Au revoir!

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