This past Sunday, I visited Saint-Malo, a beautiful resort town, about an hour north of Rennes. I have a lot to say about this experience, but in the meantime, I will leave you with a mid-week article that contains an eclectic collection of observations and personal musings on life in France.
Class Schedules
I am not sure if this is the case with other French universities, but at Rennes School of Business (RSB) your schedule changes every week. This stands in contrast to UH, which has a set schedule that remains static throughout the semester. When you sign up for classes at RSB, your schedule is adapted to best optimize classroom space. For example, if the scheduling team notices that a lot of students are taking the same classes together, then they schedule the classes so that one class will follow the other in the same room.
School Lunch
One of the most significant cultural shocks for me included how French schools handle school lunches. It is standard for the school to provide you with real plates and silverware. At RSB, for example, they provide you with nice ceramic plates and stainless steel utensils. Lunch periods are also very long, with the scheduling team at Rennes deliberately allocating long breaks between classes around lunchtime (11:30 am - 1:30 pm). Generally, the main dish costs around 4 euros, with the option to add a salad or dessert on the side for 1 euro extra. Note: at the time of writing this, the exchange rate between euros and USD is around 1:1.
Below is a gallery of the types of food they serve. The top left is roasted duck with thyme, rosemary, potatoes, and green string beans with cake as a dessert side. Top right is a beef quiche with a salad and some chocolate pudding on the side (covered in white chocolate shavings for good measure). Bottom left is the famous steak-frites dish, with a steak haché, some fries, and a side dish of paté. Bottom right is samosas with mixed vegetables and rice, as well as a brownie with white chocolate shavings for dessert.
I was so used to seeing disposable plates and plastic utensils during school lunch, so it was interesting to be able to eat as if I was at a restaurant.
Upon finishing your meal, you leave the plates on a rack posted alongside the walls of the cafeteria where they are picked up by staff and sent back to the kitchen to be washed. Having a "complete" meal is really important at Rennes School of Business, and France as a whole, and this is reflected in the completeness of the meal and the different side options.
Phone Numbers
For international calling, each country is assigned a country code. This country code is implied for domestic calls, but for international calls, you need to indicate the specific country you are calling. For example, +1 is the country code of the United States, so if I were to call someone in the US while I was not in the US, I would add a +1 in front of the number in addition to the area code. The US number may look something like +1 (xxx) xxx-xxxx.
In contrast, France's country code is +33. Furthermore, the number format in France ( and in the rest of the world it seems) is different. A French number may look like +33 0x xx xx xx xx, with the first two numbers after +33 being associated with a region of France or a special type of number (e.g., 06 is reserved for mobile phones).
Water Fountains
Water fountains are publicly available in most buildings. One quirk about water fountains in Bretagne (the region where Rennes is located in) is that they are activated with a foot pedal instead of a button near the top of the fountain. The water fountains have a faucet/dispenser for both hot water (on the left) and cold water (on the right). This way, people can dispense hot to cold water as needed. (Hot water for coffee and tea, and cold water for a nice drink of regular water).
Airlocks
The temperature in Rennes can fluctuate throughout the day. Although buildings are already designed with insulation to keep heat in, many buildings also utilize airlock entrances to prevent cold air from rushing in. This keeps the inside warm while also saving energy (as the heater does not need to work as "hard" to keep the building warm. Below is an example of what an airlock door looks like.
The RSB's Building 1 has two entrances you have to go through. You enter through one sliding door, where you promptly enter a small room. In front of you is another sliding door. The cold air front outside rushes into the small room, but not entirely because the door you entered through quickly closes behind you. You then enter through the second door to enter the main building.
The power of a single word
Manners and respect, wherever you may go, are important.
In France, it is important to acknowledge people by saying "Bonjour" to them. If you fail to say Bonjour to someone, whether that be a friend, classmate, teacher, bus driver, or service worker, (especially after they say Bonjour to you), they will not view you favorably, because it is like you are not acknowledging them as a person. I have been conscious to acknowledge people as much as I can, and they have shown great kindness in return. So instead of "demanding" a sandwich, you might say "Bonjour", and then politely ask for a sandwich, before ending it off with a please (s'il vous plaît) for good measure.
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