Kana Leia's Adventures: Settling in | Life in Rennes & Cesson-Sévigné

I haven't posted much about my daily life in Rennes mainly because it hasn't been as action-packed and adventurous as my two months in Taiwan. The main reason for that is because everything here in France is so expensive, especially when compared to Taiwan. I have been using my downtime to plan my trips to Cairo, Milan, and Amsterdam and begin researching and applying for internships for my graduating semester.

Host Family Living

In the past three months I have lived with three different host families, one in Taiwan and two in France. Every family has been incredibly nice and helpful and I am really grateful for the experiences!

When I arrived in Rennes, I had to scramble to find accommodations after I decided that the dorm I originally planned on living in was far from suitable (for me). Luckily, I was referred to my current host family, the Alexandres, who live in a cute French house in Cesson-Sévigné. I have my own room (picture below), shared bathroom, and breakfast included in rent. Additionally, I have the option of eating lunch and/or dinner that my host family prepares for a meager 3 euros.

When I made arrangements with my first host family, they already had someone staying with them for three weeks in September so they arranged for me to stay with their friends during that time. My second host family also live in Cesson-Sévigné in a beautiful home with a large backyard and even a swimming pool! I also had my own room, a shared bathroom, and all meals included which was a real treat.

Living with both host families in Cesson-Sévigné has given me opportunities that I wouldn't have otherwise had if I lived in the dorms. I've learned how to cook some French dishes (galettes, crêpes, macaroons, ratatouille, and cannelés bordelais), tried a Kudulini yoga class, sunbathed and swam in a private swimming pool, and attended a supplementary English class for toddlers taught by my host mom.

Kudalini Yoga with my first host mom, Christèle

My room in my first host family's house

Second host family

My room in my second host family's house

Crêperie La Saint Georges à Rennes

Baked Quiche Lorraine with my second host mom, Lolly

Sunbathing in the backyard of my second host family

Horse selfies at the barn (second host family's daughter rides horses)

Making macaroons

Cannelés Bordelais

Classes at ESC

The course schedule at ESC is very different from the traditional American school system. First of all, you can choose which courses you register for but you have no choice in the "group" you're placed in that determines the times and dates of your classes.

Each course syllabus is divided into sessions and each session lasts 1.5 hours. Some classes may be scheduled so that you have four sessions at a time so you could have one class for 6 hours. It may seem long but every class has a coffee/smoke break in the middle.

The nice thing about this system is that depending on how many courses you're in, you could only have to go to campus a couple of times a week. Another important thing to note is that your class schedule will most likely change every other week, if not every week. Below is an example of one of two weeks of my schedule.

So far, my classes are all pretty easy. I have a group presentation in every class that accounts for anywhere from 20-40% of my grade, 60% is from the only and final exam (not a fan of that!), and the remainder coming from attendance and sometimes in-class work. Other than the presentations, I don't have any homework except for readings for one class. Compared to my school schedule in Hawaii, this is a piece of cake!

Note: I'm not enrolled in any finance, accounting, or French language/culture courses but I've heard that those do have homework and are pretty difficult.

Nightlife in Rennes

The only downside to living with a host family in Cesson-Sévigné, a neighboring town of Rennes, is being so far away from campus and most of the students. From my first host family's house it took me anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes to get to campus whereas it took about 45 to 60 minutes from my second host family's house. Additionally, the buses don't run as frequently at night and stop running around 12:30am most nights. This makes it difficult for me to enjoy the nightlife with my friends because I have to leave very early to make sure I catch the last bus.

Luckily, this past weekend a friend of mine invited me to stay at her flat one night so we could go to a "Color Date" party at a nightclub in Rennes called Le Pyms. We had a great time dancing with people from all over the world to a variety of music. We had so much fun that we only had to wait 30 minutes for the metro to start running again... at 5:30am.

Although my social calendar isn't nearly as exciting as it is in Hawaii, having more time alone means making time for more healthy activities such as yoga and cooking at home and it also means saving more money for other, better activities like visiting other countries!