Report of an exchange to Marseille France – Kedge Business School
Jennifer Shed 1129433
This report is by Jennifer Shed, who spent one semester September- December at Kedge Business
School as an exchange student, studying the qualification CeseMed (in France) and Bachelor of
Management Studies (in NZ)
Getting Prepared:
Preparing for an exchange can be the most stressful part but if you are organised there
should be nothing to worry about. Having been born in England I didn’t need to worry about
a visa but this should be something near the top of your list to sort out. Study link (if
required) also needs to be taken care of I recommend you add a person who will be living in
NZ to act on your behalf in case anything goes wrong while you are away (simple
paperwork).
The French take times and deadlines very relaxed and are not the best at replying to emails
that being said if you want campus accommodation this is something you must do very
quickly and ON TIME! So you don’t miss out.
I also recommend asking for the pickup service from Inter Act from the Gare St Charles
(Train station)
On Arrival:
After arriving at the airport I had to find the shuttle bus to the train station which is outside
the main terminal Hall 1 the ticket is 5,80 Euro for students under 26 years of age. When I
arrived at the train station I was met by someone from Interact, the student association,
who helped me to my accommodation by metro and bus. It took about one hour from the
train station overall and it is a thirty minute journey back to the town from my
accommodation Alotra. This is near the kedge campus which is in the mountains.
Orientation:
There is one week of orientation the first day includes a welcome breakfast, lectures about
the school, banking, accommodation and the school website. You can also sign up for
activities, sports etc. The second day of orientation we had a bus tour of the city which is
beautiful,
rich
in
history
and
culture
this
is
fully
recommended.
This week we also visited one of the museums, there are different activities planned each
day so make the most of it.
Studies, Courses, and Professors:
Classes here are lectures only each for three hours plus a 15mins break there are no
tutorials, classes are composed of a lecture, followed by exercises related to the lecture. We
also have to take a lot papers (classes nobody understood what I was talking about when I
said papers) 6 papers to be exact. Lunch is two hours every day. Class times are from 8.3011.45am then 1.45-5pm and 5.15-8.30pm. If you sign up to French classes these are every
day of the week for a month during the lunch hour. There's genuinely an unbelievable
amount of group work with what I would say is the aim of benefiting French students.
Obviously group work is important in life/work but I would say there is a limit which is
greatly exceeded in France. Be aware French students talk a lot in class making it hard to
hear the lecturer and they are not told to be quiet.
Culture/important things:
1. Try not to take offence. Here in France there are many things we might find rude like
cutting someone off or reaching in front of someone but here it is normal.
2. Things run very slowly the attitude is do it tomorrow or next week so do not expect things
to be done straight away
3. Attempting to speak French is always good but not matter whether you try or not they
will still not like you mainly because they can tell from the accent. So they sometimes will
just ignore you or reply in English, make rude comments in French about you or give you
aggressive gestures. I experienced this while getting my metro card where the two ticket
officers made rude comments unfortunately for them we understood and told them off.
4. Dog crap in the street is normal so look where you walk.
5. The bank - easy to open at orientation however be aware nobody speaks English when
going into a branch when trying to collect your card.
6. It is weird to just randomly start talking to someone for us however creepy French men
will always try and talk to you if they hear you speaking English or if you have blonde hair
and blue eyes. As they say "I add you on face book" um no!! It is best to just ignore them
entirely.
7. Careful with possessions and bags on the metro and never travel alone late at night.
8. Never getting a reply from anyone about anything. Especially emails
9. Be aware of strikes these are very common and the city can come to a standstill as I
experienced
10. Sunday nothing is open no supermarkets no shops it is very boring. We would call these
beach days.
11. There is no such thing as a flat white, latte, mocha etc coffee is an espresso or you will
have to specifically ask for milk unless you go to Starbucks.
Marseille:
Is a beautiful city the second largest in France after Paris and also the oldest city. Marseille
has a metro and good bus system to get you around. I recommend getting a metro card, the
first one is free where you can then buy monthly passes for all transport because fines for
not having a ticket are very expensive. The bus 21 Luminy will be your new best friend.
Take the time to enjoy all the historic buildings and churches it is truly amazing.
Accommodation:
I stayed in the Alotra on campus accommodation which is an exchange student’s halls of
residence. It is a single room with shared toilets and kitchen. When I say shared I mean
there are 2 kitchens between about 100 or more of us and bathroom wise there are maybe
8- 12 toilets on each floor. Rent wise we over pay for our accommodation, it isn’t
particularly expensive but seriously any of the student halls people are living in back home
are luxury. It’s not very clean here, and we have very basic cooking facilities careful of the
cockroaches in the kitchen! My room is ok, it just needed cleaning when I arrived
unfortunately there’s certainly nothing special about it. We do have the cutest caretaker,
Jean-France and I think I will miss him when I leave he is always happy and always asked
how you are every time you see him.
10 things to see and do:
1. Opera/ballet – very cheap 5 Euros to 16 Euros student price.
2. Stade Velodrome – For football games 10 Euros
3. Les Callanques
4. Aix en Provence and Cassis
5. Travel, travel, travel – it’s so easy and cheap to travel to other cities and countries. Flights
are cheap if booked early and at the train station Gare St Charles you can get a south of
France train pass for students for 15 Euros which will reduce all normal ticket prices by 5075% and can take three friends at this price too.
6. IKEA visit – best place to get all things required for your room as well as kitchen and
bathroom supplies
7. Notre Dame de la Garde via le petit train
8. Chateau de IF
9. Beaches and Vieux Port
10. Les Terrasses du Port and the Palais Longchamp
Overall my experience has been good I came here to practice my French which did improve
however what I least expected from living abroad is not the culture or learning or anything I
thought, it is the friends I made. In no way were they temporary friends that I made for 4
months. The people I met have a really special place inside me forever now. We shared
everything together and I hope that one day I cross paths with as many people as possible.
To become so close to a group of people in a short space of time is amazing, they are almost
a family to me now - my study abroad family.
Au revoir, merci et s'il vous plaît demander si vous avez des questions
LLes Callanques
LL’opera
LChristmas market
LStade Velodrome