Five Exams in One Week? It Can Be Done, Says 10,000th Outgoing Erasmus Student












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            * Five Exams in One Week? It Can Be Done, Says 10,000th Outgoing Erasmus Student
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            20. 9. 2011, by P. K., category: Students

            Pavlína Sýkorová decided to take advantage of the Erasmus exchange programme and spent ten
            law faculty of theUniversité Lille 2 Droit et Santé [ URL "http://www.univ-lille2.fr/"] in
            of Lille. At the beginning, she was being surprised all the time – by the dormitories, the

            and also by the libraries. Everything was so different from what she was used to at her ho
            the Charles University records, she is the Erasmus student number 10,000.
            Why did you choose to study law in Northern France?

            I wanted to spend some time abroad and found myself attracted to Northern France. Once you
            a language for some time, you establish a relationship with its country. In Prague, I sele

            my compulsory second language of expertise and took some other related courses, so I was w
            the terminology and had some knowledge of French law. Also, I’m not into hot weather. If I
            English than French, I might have gone to Scandinavia instead.

            In the end, I found Lille based on database references and personal recommendations and I 
            for it. It’s a very pleasant city and so is the region. When I was applying for Erasmus, t
            interest among the students in the French-speaking regions than in the previous years. The

            positions for outgoing students was being reduced and eventually, only twenty of us got in
            When you came to Lille knowing that you will spend two semesters there, weren’t you a litt
            It reminded me of my first year in Prague five years ago, when I also came into a new city

            know that well. You’re on your own in a strange town, carrying a huge luggage, not knowing
            is. You might have a map, but the reality is completely different.
            Some people from the faculty’s student organization were waiting for me in Lille. I was an

            but luckily for me, they were patient and eventually we found each other. They saw a girl 
            guessed it was me. For the first two days, they were helping us get around, which was a hu
            How did you like the dormitories?

            I was looking forward to having my own room, but at the beginning, it felt a little strang
            years, I had lived at the Hvězda dormitory, which is probably Charles University’s worst o
            complained. I grew fond of it, because in the end, it’s not the looks but the people and t

            that are important.
            In France, it is common to have your own room; you also have a small enclosed shower, in w
            barely turn around, your own toilet and a kitchenette. I missed a communal kitchen, which 

            site of social life at dormitories. At the beginning, I felt a little lonely, maybe becaus
            a more lively atmosphere. But eventually, once I had got to know my neighbours at other ac
            did cook together.

            French bureaucracy is just as famous as French cuisine. Which one of these surprised you m
            Some of the initial administrative problems were my fault, but all in all, it was all a li
            disorganized. The way they run things is a little different – I only have words of praise 

            University Faculty of Law in this respect. In Lille, we received information about various
            faculty via email. But signing up for exams was more difficult: we had to check the notice
            of the international office regularly, sometimes the information was even wrong.

            The biggest shock was to find out I had to do five exams in one week. I had three in a day
            worse, two exams at the same time! Then I learned it’s not a huge problem, you just switch
            People are waiting in lines for the exam and somehow it works out.  It shocked me in the f

            but the second one brought no more surprises.
            The library had some surprises in store for me, too. There was a guard walking around the 
            out for disorderly conduct. He was even checking if there was actual water in your water b

            food, the dining hall had a wide selection of food for three euros – you could choose not 
            dish, but also pick your choice of appetizers, desserts or fruit.
            What did you learn in the course of your stay in France?

            I learned to find my bearings in a new environment, where nobody knows me. I had to establ
            have to figure things out yourself – you get into situations and meet people that you migh
            so you have react to all kinds of unfamiliar situations. It has lots of pros, while the co

            sometimes you might feel sad, but that usually passes very fast.

                                                                                                      
            Pavlína Sýkorová, 5th year student of the Charles University Faculty of Law: “I think I’ve
            interesting, but let’s wait what the future has in store for me.”