Week 1 - May 19-27

I arrived in Marseille Sunday, May 19. I had a window seat on the plane so I really enjoyed the view of Marseille as we landed. It was very pretty to see the port, the city, and the calanques.

After I left my bags at the hotel, I went to the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde, which is located on the highest hill in the city. It took me about 30 minutes to climb the hill and all the stairs but it was worth it! Afterwards I walked me all around the Old Port neighborhood of Noailles, the Prefecture and the Cours Julien.

On Monday, I took the bus to the Luminy neighborhood because I was told by email that despite being a holiday, I would be able to move into the residence hall after 9 am. With my two heavy suitcases, I took the metro to stops to then take the 21 bus. However, when I got to the residence hall around 11 am, the building was locked. Luckily, a few minutes later, a lady who was dropping something off let me into the building. The reception office was closed but there was a study room nearby with a few students doing work (I believe they were all studying for their final exams). I asked them about the reception and told them that I was supposed to move in. They tried to contact me with the man works there but he didn't answer his door. They told me that the next day, the residence would open at 9 am. They were really nice and one of them let me use their phone to try to contact one of my supervisors.

So in the end, I took the bus back to the hotel and it's a good thing I made a reservation for an extra night. The rest of the day I visited the View Port and the shops around the neighborhoods of Préfecture, Noailles, and Cours Julien. 

Below are some pictures of the beautiful city of Marseille :)

Notre Dame de la Garde

View from the Notre Dame de la Garde of the Port and the city

View from the Notre Dame de la Garde of the Calanques and the city

On Tuesday, my first day of work, I got a quick coffee and a croissant at a café on the way to the metro. When I got to the metro, the escalators were broken and there was no elevator; thank goodness a guy offered to help me carry my largest suitcase down 4 flights of stairs. By the time I got off the metro and onto the bus, it was 8 am and I was getting nervous because I was supposed to be at the school at 8:30 and there was much more traffic than the previous day. I arrived at my stop--the last stop--at 8:40 and was confused where exactly the business school was located. On the map, it was right next to the residence hall but in person, I couldn't find it. I asked this one guy at the sandwich station if I could use his phone and he was really nice and let me use it. I called my supervisor but it was her colleague who picked up. She explained to me to take the rocky hill up to the school. Once again, I was offered by a man to carry my heavy suitcase up the hill (he was on a run and saw me struggling up the hill). Had I had to have transported the suitcases myself, it probably would've taken me 15 minutes. Anyway, I finally arrived and went to the Student Services office, where I met Madame Spanu, whom I spoke to on the phone. I told her that I had two huge suitcases and she said? "That's normal--you're a girl!" She was very nice and apologized to me for not having been able to move in the previous day. She informed me I'd be able to leave early in the afternoon to move into my studio. I then left my suitcases in her office and then went to the orientation. I was really nervous because I was late and I didn't want to make a bad first impression. I only arrived a few minutes late and thankfully didn’t miss much.

I am an intern at Euromed Management (but from July 1, the name will be Kedge Business School because Euromed and a business school in Bordeaux merged). I work at the QGAdmin (administrative headquarters), with the two other American interns and five French students.

Every day, the candidates come to pass their interviews and language oral exams to get into the business school. We give the candidates their exam and interview schedule, we prepare the interviewers’ folders, we assign rooms for the exams, and we make changes to the schedules according to absences and time conflicts of the candidates. In addition, we respond to emails and phone calls. There are also people who cannot come to school because they live far away (ex. Africa, South America, and Asia). Therefore, they take their orals by videoconference. We organize videoconference schedules and the folders with all important documents of each candidate. In short, the majority of our work is administrative things.

I really like the people with whom I work. When I do not understand something (and I ask (lots of) questions), they are very patient and they explain again. When I write emails, they reread what I wrote to make sure it is well written. At the beginning, the hardest thing for me was answering phones because sometimes I do not know the answer to certain questions and also, it is more difficult to understand on the phone but little by little, it is becoming easier.

On Sunday morning, I went to the beach. There were a lot of people because it was Sunday, even though it was kind of cold. I met six Euromed students on my way to the beach; they were really nice and invited me to their picnic.

That evening, Jemil and Cameron (the other two interns) and I went to the Olympique de Marseille soccer game against Reims. The match ended 0-0 but I still had a great time. The stadium atmosphere was fantastic. I loved the chants and the enthusiasm of the fans. Also, there was an old man in front of us who made very funny comments. At the end of the match, there was a fireworks display to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the victory of the Champions League won by Olympique de Marseille against AC Milan in 1993.