Coffee and French academia

I had been hoping to get over my budding caffeine addiction by relaxing on the French Riviera, getting a gorgeous tan, sampling local wine and of course calling my friends back home to let them know how much fun I've been having. Unfortunately this year, the long vacation into exotic far away lands happens to include one major inconvenience: class. \nNot that I find it hard to imagine anything more annoying than some brat complaining about her semester in southern France. Heck, I get two whole weeks for spring break! That said, I think it is important to discuss the academic side of study abroad and the particular challenges it presents for overseas students. By the way, I want to congratulate all the international students at IU -- it isn't always easy!\nAmerican universities are different from schools in France. Most French students are from the area and live with their families, because it's not very common to go far away for college in France. We don't really have a campus, with different schools scattered around the entire city, although I do feel very at home in my building -- it is just as ugly as Ballantine Hall. \nFor me, it doesn't feel like a university, because the "college experience" here doesn't include dorm life, frat parties or basketball games. There are definitely things to do here, but social life revolves much more around downtown's bars and clubs than around the University. \nEven though I know the grading is much tougher here (14/20 is an "A" grade) I can't help cringing when I get papers back. Generally, there are only two or three grades for each class and little or no homework, so I alternatively feel like I have nothing to do and everything to worry about. \nIt's no big deal for students to skip class, which we have in weekly three-hour blocks, but for tests we're expected to have our notes practically memorized. Exams are a huge deal because the professors rarely, if ever, assign homework. That means constantly working throughout the semester, but we don't have any assignments to keep me focused. I also don't have the luxury of figuring out how each professor grades and how to study for exams before I get my grades back in June.\nFor the moment, I'm looking forward to coming back to Bloomington, the comfort of a familiar campus and the grade inflation. However, I have been amazed by what the system in France has to offer. Despite the difficulty of contacting the professors, they are superb and generally very nice. The university in Aix-en-Provence is well known for its literature and history departments, as well as "rare" languages such as Provencal, Berber and Arabic among many others. \nI have also found that the extra independence expected of students is very important. If I want to learn here, I have all the resources I need at my disposal, but nobody's forcing me to study. That's my job, and I'll definitely need more coffee to do it.