Chiara, student from the British Colombia Institute of Technology in Canada, in international exchange program in Paris

Chiara is canadian, from Vancouver. She studies at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and is in international exchange at EMLV.

My name is Chiara and I’m from Vancouver, Canada. I’m from BCIT which is in British Columbia as well. I have chosen the exchange program as I actually speak French. I took French Immersion back at home. So I chose France due to that reason and I’ve actually visited when I was young. So I decided I wanted to come back. Plus, it’s very central to a lot of places in Europe so you’re able to travel around here as well.

I chose EMLV because I heard that there’s a great exchange program here. They really get everyone involved and get to meet a lot of different people. So, yeah, that’s why I chose it.

What surprised me the most about France is probably all the cultures a lot different than Canada.

So, people take their time when they go out and eat. I find the eating is like a huge part of their culture. I love the cafés and everything around here. One of the main things that shocks me probably is actually the rules of the road. When you’re… like walking and trying to cross the street, it’s pretty hard as you don’t know if they actually gonna run you over. So that’s a little bit different than in Canada but you know, you get used to it.

My favorite part at EMLV is meeting people from all over the world. So you can have connections with people from Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Korea, everywhere and then you can make friends with them and possibly even travel and visit them later in the future.

I live in the “Le Marais”. Which is not too far from the school so it takes about 20 minutes to get to school every day and it’s a really nice. So, they have a lot of cute petites boutiques, cafés and things and it’s very safe. So yeah, I like it a lot.

An advice for students coming to EMLV would probably be just enjoy your whole time here. Be open to the culture. Anything that might surprise you : just kind of embrace it! Because it’s a great opportunity and you may not ever get this opportunity ever again !