My third-year direct entry of Bachelor in International Management and Business in Montpellier

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The Genesis

My name is Michael and I’ll be your storyteller for the next few minutes. I am from Nigeria where I previously held a two years diploma in Business Administration and Management at the Port Harcourt Polytechnic. I decided to continue my studies in France because I’ve seen myself living in France in my dreams hence why I need to live it in real life (that’s me being dramatic). Technically, I have always loved France as a study destination in Europe because I understand France offers a great multicultural study experience by bringing together different people from different cultures all around the world. Not to forget the cost of studying in France is cheaper compared to other countries that offer the same standard of education.

Earlier in the year I began my research and submitted my applications to a few public business schools known as the IAE and also submitted to a privately owned business school.

I was lucky and got two offers and I had to choose between going to Montpellier or Nantes. Ohh, what a blessing you say? YES! I mean I just got offered admission to two of the world-class top business schools in Europe.

After serious thinking, I decided to go to MONTPELLIER and I made the right choice. One of my many reasons is that it’s not so cold here in the city because I am from a hot part of the world moreover “who rejects an offer from the great Université de Montpellier?”. No one? EXACTEMENT!

I registered for a third-year program in International Management and Business at the IAE Montpellier of Université de Montpellier.

My trip to France

After the rigorous visa process which I don’t want to bore you with, I finally got my visa approved. Yaaay… France, here I come!

I searched for affordable flights and finally got one with the best airline… yeah you guessed right, Qatar Airways! The flight was smooth, with amazing service, good in-flight entertainment, and great food and drinks (I was served Nigerian dishes so they won my heart because I’m so picky with food). I had a nine-hour stopover at the Hamad International Airport in Doha and got to explore the whole airport. Overall, the flight experience from Lagos to Doha and finally to Paris was awesome and I strongly recommend this airline to you my friend (Oh yeah, you’re my friend because only friends will read to this extent).

We touched down at the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris late in the night. I joined the queue to get checked in at the border and when I finished collecting my luggage, I rushed down to the bus park at the Terminal 3 to get my bus going to Pau (yeah I know, I should be going to Montpellier, not Pau).

***So backstory…. Remember I got two offers in separate cities? That’s right! So while I was so busy deciding which city to go all accommodations got booked so I had to go to my friend’s place in the city of Pau (almost six hours away from Montpellier by train) while I searched for mine in Montpellier. ***

Let’s continue, I missed my bus because I was a minute late to the bus park (it’s a shock to me, French don’t joke with schedules haha) and it happens to be the last bus leaving for Pau for the night. My friend helped me book another ticket for the next morning which was a train ticket this time.

I stayed at the station till the next morning and located the train station earlier this time (got there 2 hours early haha). I couldn’t read the display board so I asked people for help and they were all so willing to help and were very helpful even though some don’t speak English and I don’t speak much French either.

It was boarding time, and a stranger guided me to my gate and wished me good luck. The official scanned my ticket and directed me. Well, to be short I boarded the wrong train SMH, I know you’re probably wondering ‘HOW?’ after so much guidance that I got. Oh well, I misplaced “à droite” for “à gauche”.

I was so tired and slept for the next 4 hours of my unplanned trip to Marseille.

My friend bought me another train ticket to Pau yet again. The train left the Marseille St Charles station almost immediately and the trip to Pau lasted for about 6 hours.

I arrived in Pau, settled, and continued with my accommodation search but no luck as Livinfrance was booked up. My school wanted me in Montpellier as soon as possible as I already missed the first week of classes and that’s a lot of hours of lectures missed.

My Adventure in Montpellier

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I bought a ticket to Montpellier on Monday morning so I can meet up with the second class of the day because Pau to Montpellier is about 4 hours. I missed the train again as usual courtesy of google maps this time though.

I exchanged the ticket for another train leaving in 1 hour and I finally arrived at Montpellier. I bought the Transportation card and found my way to my school’s international desk to get things sorted.

Since I have no accommodation yet, I searched on google for cheap hotels and got one 55 minutes away from school at Lattes. I stayed there for five days while I continued my accommodation search. In the process of house hunting I also used the ‘Couchsurfing’ app, it's a very good app for meeting hosts around the world and this French man agreed to host me for three days before I finally found a Nigerian student who hosted me and agreed to share rent with me (with the consent of his landlord of course).

During my third week, the student association of my school organized a Salsa class for anyone interested to join at a Latino Bar called ‘Mosquito Latino’ in the City Center. I was so eager to learn the famous salsa dance and of course, visit the Montpellier city center for the FIRST TIME since I got to Montpellier.

The beauty of the city center wowed me and I made arrangements with some friends to walk around the beautiful place on a Saturday. We went to the Musée Fabre, La Panacée, Pharmacie et Chapelle de la Miséricorde, Polygone, and Esplanade de l’Europe.

We had a great time taking breathtaking pictures and capturing great moments in these historical places.

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This is a summary of my first days in France and as at the time of writing this experience for you my friend, I have made arrangements to visit new places like the Lac du Cres and I can't wait to share my experience with you again hopefully through another writing opportunity from LivinFrance.

Thank you so much for reading my story up to this point, I'm so excited writing this story knowing a lot of people will get to share in my experience and memories. It gives me a great feeling of pleasure and please do not hesitate to share and click on the like button if you find my story interesting.

LOVE AND LIGHT!

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