cheap flight websites

							Advice:
      o come early to acquaint yourself with the city b/c you’re going to be
        busy with forms and setting everything up once school starts. Also
        it gives you a chance to set up your place and buy all those
        essentials
      o in France it goes: day/month/year
      o “lu et approuvé” means “read and approved” and you may be
        required to write it before your signature on some forms.
      o Show your student card everywhere because they give discounts
        for students. Especially in Chambéry, there’s usually a normal rate
        and then a student rate for everything.
      o Buy an international student card before you come to France
        because you won’t get the one from your university right away, but
        you need a student card for almost everything (bank, phone, etc),
        as well as all those deals. At McMaster you can buy it at Travelcuts.
      o Never be afraid to ask questions or ask anyone to repeat anything.
        The most important thing is that you’re clear. People in Chambéry
        were very helpful, especially with directions, they might even say
        “follow me and I’ll show you”
      o Speak French from the get go. It’s hard at first and intimidating, but
        it WILL GET EASIER and people are much more receptive to you
        because you are at least attempting to speak French.
      o Scotiabank and BNP Paribas have an agreement that you can take
        money from their machines free of charge, but transfers do cost
        money.
      o Grocery Shopping If you buy from the little shops, the “boulangerie,
        épicerie, boucherie, etc” it will cost more than at a bigger grocery
        store. The good ones in Chambéry are Monoprix, Leclerc and
        Carrefour (in order from the most expensive to the least). You can
        buy everything there, food, wine, pots, pans, phones, etc.
      o To use a payphone, you need a “télécarte” for “une cabine
        téléphonique”
      o The shopping is great! I wish I brought more toiletries and stuff like
        that and less clothes just to give me an excuse to go shopping.
      o Big sales all of January – it’s like boxing week all month long, and
        almost everything is like half off!
      o There is a big mall in Lyon right when you get out of the train
        station at “Part Dieu”. Three floors with all the good stores –
        heaven! lol
      o “Erasmus” is the name of the European exchange program. The
        first time someone asked me if I was an “Erasmus student”, I was
        so confused.
      o Get lots of little photos taken of yourself at a photobooth in the mall.
        You need a photo for almost everything. You can do it here, but it’s
    nice to have it prepared before you get here and you can just give
    them out as they are demanded.
o   Bring lots of pictures from home or things that remind you of home
    to put around your room, they will help with the homesickness – a
    lot, especially at the beginning
o   But try not to waste your time being homesick – it’s not worth it
    because then it really will be a waste of time and not worth it. It’s
    obviously normal and natural to miss your family, friends and the
    comfort of home, but remember you’re doing something so
    amazing and once in a lifetime so make the most of it!
o   RARE CASE: I had a lot of problems getting my “carte de sejour”
    for the following reason: The name on my birth certificate read
    ‘Lisa Marie’ and on my passport it read ‘Lisa M’. They required
    a document supporting this discrepancy. So check to make sure
    the names on all your documents are the same before you leave
    Canada, because it’s easy to change there. If you get stuck with the
    same problem as me, what I had to do was call the French
    Embassy in Paris and ask for an “Attestation de nom”. The first lady
    I talked to told me that I would have to mail my original birth
    certificate, a copy of my passport and 35 euros. When I called
    back, the second lady I talked to told me just to fax both
    documents, didn’t even mention a fee and it was sent to me within
    2 days. So be careful who you talk to, I got lucky because I just
    called back to see how long it would take for them to send out the
    “attestation de nom” and I ended up explaining my situation to the
    second lady who was a lot more accommodating.
o   Keep all papers! Sometimes French people will ask for a document
    just to make whatever you’re asking for more official. For example, I
    had to get the faculty changed on my student card and the guy
    asked me if I had a paper which proved that I was in fact in the
    “LLSH” faculty instead of “IMUS”. He didn’t require the paper at all,
    it just made him feel more official, so just be ready for anything.
o   Don’t wait until the last week of classes to start studying for exams
    because then it will cut into your vacation time as exams are
    usually after Christmas.
o   If you can afford it, go home for Christmas! It was one of the best
    decisions I made because it broke up the semesters and eased the
    homesickness because it wasn’t like I was gone for an entire year,
    but rather two times for less than 6 months at a time.
o   I loved reading magazines because they were small articles and
    they helped a lot with vocabulary, especially for articles of clothing.
    They are also cheaper than in Canada. Another way I improved my
    French was reading light, girly books – they were such a breath of
    fresh air in comparison to the heavy literature books we have to
    read in class.
          o Get the 12-25 card before you go on your first train ride. It gives
            you awesome reductions and will totally pay for itself in the savings
            you’ll get. With one trip to Paris it paid for itself for me (it’s 50 euros
            and my train to Paris would have cost 100 euros, but with the card
            it was only about 60). You can buy them at the SNCF office, which
            won’t be hard to find.
          o Keep a diary. It’s a great way to keep your memories (obviously)
            and vent when you’re sad/angry, especially because you’re
            emotions and attitude will throughout your stay. It was interesting to
            look back at what I wrote during the first month in comparison to the
            last.
          o Spend time traveling before you come back to Canada. You’re
            going to make a lot of friends from different countries and you’re
            already in Europe so why not?!
          o Long distance relationships are hard, but they can work! A lot of the
            girls I met were actually in relationships, and their boyfriends were
            back in their home countries (mind you it’s much easier if they live
            in Europe). But if you both put forth the time and effort you will
            actually see your relationship grow and you’ll be stronger and
            closer than ever! And if you’re single, go chat up those French
            boys! Everyone tells me the best way to learn a language is to get a
            boyfriend. My roommate told me that’s how she improved her
            English when she spent a year in BC.
          o The vacations we had: a week called “toussaint” at the end of
            October/beginning of November; there is another week in February
            and then again in April
          o Be prepared for strikes! (en français: grèves) Apparently every year
            around November there are strikes at the university. Ours lasted
            just under two weeks, but that meant makeup classes during the
            last week of classes in December
          o Booking Flights to France and Home: I looked around at a bunch of
            travel agents and the best price I was getting was $1400 for a
            return flight, not including a change of date at the end the year. The
            problem is that flights are not scheduled past a certain date, so you
            can’t book your return flight home in July for the following June or
            July, because there aren’t any scheduled, so even if you book that
            far in advance, you are going to need to change your return flight. I
            finally found one for $1100 with Czech Air with one free date
            change, which was amazing. My flight home was scheduled in
            March and I just changed in for July once I was in France. Even if
            you could reserve your flight home to be in June, you don’t know
            when school is going to end or if you’re going to do any traveling
            after.

HOW TO:
Open a bank account:
At University de Savoie during the 2 week prep course, a bunch of
representatives from BNP Paribas Bank came and gave us a presentation. At
then end, we all signed up for an interview. They tell you all the papers you need
to bring and you just show up to your interview and that’s that. It was really easy.
A few weeks later they send you a letter telling you that your bank card is ready
to be picked up. I went right away when I got the letter, but I had to wait about 2
weeks later until my card was actually ready for me to be picked up, so don’t
waste your time going right away, because it was like that for everyone. Just go
about 2 weeks later and it should be ready. Also, you need your carte de sejour
in order to get your bank card. Since I didn’t get my carte de sejour until January,
I just showed them the piece of paper saying that my carte was being processed
and they gave it to me with that.

Student Card
Again, with the student card, at the University de Savoie, they give you a time
and you show up with the required papers. It was really confusing, but just ask
someone where to go and what to do. You have to buy insurance, there are two
kinds and I just picked the cheapest one which was about 10 euros. I wasn’t
supposed to get my student card because I didn’t have my carte de sejour, but
they made a mistake and gave it to me anyway. But normally you can’t get your
carte de sejour without your student card. I gave them my letter of acceptance
from the university before I had my student card. When the Prefecture sent me a
letter with the documents I was missing, my student card was one of them, so
luckily I had it. You would probably have to explain that you can’t get one without
the other, and one of them would have to let up.

Internet & Phone Line
Once you have a bank account, you can open a phone line with France Telecom.
Again, lots of papers are required, but they will give you the list of them when you
go into a France telecom store. Then from there you sign up for a subscription to
a phone/internet company. France Telecom has a deal with phone/internet for
students, which is about 30 euros/month, I think. I signed up for “Neuf Telecom”
because they had free calling in France and 30 international countries (including
Canada). But beware that it takes literally a month to kick in. There is also one
more place called “Noos”. Their shop in Chambéry is just around the corner from
Monoprix in town. They give you internet, no phone, but installation is much
faster and everyone who I know has it is very satisfied.
As for having free calls to Canada was a blessing and a curse. Of course free
calling is amazing, but it also takes up a lot of time and with the time difference
forces you to stay up quite late sometimes. Although it is godsend to have when
you’re really homesick and can talk to someone forever without having the cost
of the phone call in the back of your head.

CAF
You don’t need to include your revenues that you received Canada (jobs or
otherwise) under the financial resources part. Ask your landlord for advice on
how to fill it in. That’s what I did and he knew exactly what I needed to fill in;
they’re used to the procedures – so don’t worry! As for me, I only got reimbursed
starting in November (not September or October).

Carte de sejour
Make sure you bring all the documents listed in the ORA handbook. It will be so
much easier that way. They require the results from your last year’s exams. I just
used a print out from my account at McMaster (I don’t know if other schools have
something similar to our “mugsi” system, but for MAC students, you can just use
the degree audit offered on mugsi).
LIST OF REQUIRED ITEMS:


SPECIFIC TO CHAMBERY:
        o In Chambéry, the carte de sejour process takes significantly longer
           than other cities. So get going as soon as you have all your
           documents!
        o The video store just across the street from “Residence de Comte
           Vert” has a deal every Tuesday that you can rent a movie for 24
           hours for 2 euros without a becoming a member of the store. All
           you have to do is give them a piece of identity (ie: Driver’s liscence)
           and they keep it until the next day when you return the movie. It’s a
           good deal.
        o Cybercafés: there is one right across from the train station (you can
           print there too) & the “Office du Tourisme” has internet access, but
           doesn’t do printing there.
  - cheap flight websites:
        o ryanair.com
        o easyjet.com
        o zoomair
        o easyvol.com

I would definitely recommend going on an exchange. It’s an opportunity like no
other and going with school makes it a lot easier because you have a lot of
people there to help you (both at your home university and your university
abroad). It’s a great way to learn a language, gain independence, explore a
country (and surrounding countries) and experience about a culture first-hand. I
would also definitely recommend going for a full year because (well as for me) I
spent the first few months homesick and it wasn’t until second semester that I
really appreciated the experience and made the most of it. A year really isn’t a
long time in the grand scheme of things!