A message to the US democrates

I know less about the US politics, better still nothing about politics and that is why I would love to have a better explanation on why the US democratic party still has up till this stage,two presidential aspirants.

France is not better than a lot other countries in politics related issues, but I think she has some positive ideologies about politics that some countries might need to learn from. Such as, at national level, France understands its mixed race and cultures and gives it the chance to co-exist. A testimony is the recent minister of justice Rashida Dati who's parents were immigrants; as well as the young minister of Human Rights Rama Yade who was born in Senegal but naturalised and became French.

I remember last year's presidential elections in France, the recent president of France (Nicolas Sarkozy) was nominated the unique candidate of his UMP republican party mostly known as the rightist party. This nomination led to the wining of the presidential sit by the UMP party because Nicolas Sarkozy had every support he most needed from his party members to out match his opponent Ségolène Royal of the socialist party, who went through thick and thin due to lack of support from her party.
I doubt if history will not repeat itself as regards the US republican party wining the upcoming presidential elections in November.

I was believing that the US have come of age and have out grown the race and religion issues. I am really disappointed to know that US is still not accepting the fact that it is a country with mix race, people, culture and religion. I expected this election to have been its turning point to truly make a change with the way politics is played. I do not have any lessons to give to a sovereign state but as an observer, I think the people of US should more concentrate on how to resolve their internal problems and give the chance to the candidate who most can deliver and render solutions that will bring about positive results.

How long will we continue to leave in a world full of discrimination? How long will we continue to see each other differently? Why do we draw back ourselves and put our families and country in jeopardy due to our lack of understanding. I sometimes ask if we really do want and fight for world peace. If the answer is yes that peace in the world is what we want, why do we then segregate one another?
No he is black, he is not capable enough to rule and we use the pretext that Obama is not well experienced. I suppose a president of a country has a qualified and capable personnels/cabinet, even if he makes the final decisions.

It is true Hillary Clinton was once a first Lady of the US and might have learnt a couple of things from the way her husband led the country, but that does not make her any more experienced than her opponent. She has never held the position of a president and the hard task of making a tough decision when necessary.

My advice is that if the democratic party wants to win the upcoming presidential elections, it should stop the show and rally around a candidate who not only has the chance of wining, but who can also deliver, bring US back on the right track and make a positive change.

The US people fail to understand that the US is not indispensable to the world, but that their political decisions in choosing the right candidate in this presidential elections do matter to the entire world.

I watch the presidential debates and hear the candidates call some countries their enemies. Its not because a country is an Islamic country that a Christian country can not be in good terms with the Islamic country. I am not taking sides with any religion but I only look forward to the day when the US will stop counting their enemies and learn to make peace even with people who do not agree with their ideas.
We all wish to live in a world that is war free, a world that is terrorist free, but we do not fight war with war; we can learn to make peace by dialogue.

Whether its the democrates or the republicans who wins the final elections, all we want is that the US people keep sentiments aside, take away the barriers of choosing a candidate based on his faith and believes, take away the barriers of race and look at the realities that face them. Then and only then, will they make quality decisions and give their country the best that it desrves.

Special China travel

I often spend my holidays visiting new places and so I was going to have the usual 2 months June-July vacations. Given that most of my friends in Lille are Asians and that I admire their courage to travel far and wide to study or settle in countries where they have to learn new languages, I decided to make China my next destination. I was equally keen in better understanding the people in their own home.

My mother in-law called to know if I was travelling and if so, she inquired about my intended destination (because she knows I always had interesting travel destination ideas). Informing her of my plan, my globe trotting family decided to join in the adventure, apart from Mat who was already working in Venezuela and their father who had to visit his home in Colombia.

Sent our passports to the Chinese embassy in Paris, got our visas and then set to go.
On the d-day, we all met at the Charles De Gaulle airport, took our different flights and rejoined ourselves in Moscow, where we finally took off for Beijing.

On our arrival at the Beijing airport, we jumped in a bus right outside the airport and headed to the centre of the city where we booked a hotel close to Tienanmen square.
I must say that I am proud to be one of the last people who saw China before they dismantled buildings in some parts of the city, in preparations for the forthcoming Olympics.

The streets of China

Even though we made reservations for the first 2 nights, arriving at the hotel in Beijing, you need some re-explanations for the receptionist to understand your demands. They already gave out our rooms to their Chinese clients for fear we might not show up, and they do not wish to loose their clients. One thing you need to know is that tourists in China are mostly the Chinese themselves.
We finally got installed and went to fill our stomach as well as visit the place, of course like other tourists would do.

Eating the Chinese way(Lao Tseu restaurant Beijing)

Happy to be in China

View behind is The People's Hero (Tienanmen)

Public bus

T he following day, we commenced our real visit starting with Tienanmen square, the Summer palace and other interesting sites. To visit these sites around the square, you do need to wake up early in order to avoid the big rush because the Chinese are anxious people who love to know and understand their legendary history . In other words, you will meet a never ending queue and will not have the opportunity to visit a site you made thousands of kilometres to see.

A view on Mao's memorial hall

The forbidden city

Ticket stand to the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City under reconstruction

Throne in the Forbidden City

Chinese playing game

The Cixi's Marble boat built in 1893 (Summer Palace)

Dragon head at the Forbidden City

Spectacle in Beijing

Transit boat through Lake Kunming (Summer Palace)

We went to visit the Great Walls of China after visiting the centre of Beijing. You might call us selfish travellers but we like visiting a site and having it all to ourselves. For this reason, we opted for Simatai which is less populated and you can have a swell time up and down the walls.

The Great Walls of China (Simatai)

We had the Simatai walls to ourselves

Simatai from above

After a few days in Beijing, we headed south ward to Xian and Chengdu in the Sichuan province. We first needed to make a stop in Datong to visit the Buddha cave. We arrived Datong at 3 am without hotel reservations but we sure got ourselves a place to lay our heads for the night (trust the Chinese business spirit).

The next day, we took a 2 to 3 hours bus to Ping Yao, a small mining town with traditional buildings. Ping Yao is expensive due to the fact that the locals are used to tourists; which explains why you pay twice for a product in Ping Yao than the price the same item is sold in Beijing, the capital city of China. We left for the train station to catch up with any train heading to Xian. Since we did not know in advance that we were visiting the cave, we could not board on an early train. We later got on a soft sitter space ready for a 10 hour journey to Xian.

Leaving for Datong (Beijing train station)

A Buddha encrusted into the mountain at the Datong cave

The way to Xian and Chengdu was very long and tiring. In the case of Xian, the roads were chocked up with commercial trucks and trailers and we spent more hours than previewed. Going to Chengdu was by train and since its usually a 16 hours travel, I demanded we travel by night. I also demanded we have the possibility to lay down comfortably and stretch out our tired bodies. Unfortunately, I learnt that the soft sleepers were completely booked. We had to contend with what we had at the moment (half loaf of bread is better than nothing) and this time, we reserved in advance.

You can travel by road either by train or by bus and I assure you that the transport system is very well organised and well maintained. The roads are long with many a times, tiny and high bridges in the mountains, but you will be entertained by watching Chinese movies and listening to Chinese songs.

If you must visit other states of China by road, try and book your tickets 10 days in advance, in order to avoid every inconveniences. In Datong, there is a system put in place to help visitors purchase their transport tickets (either by air or by land). Ask for the foreigners transport aide office at the train station in Datong.

Xian (armées entérées) old and new soldiers

If you wish to travel to China, the Lonely planet is a good guide to help you maneuver your way around thanks to some useful translated words in Chinese. If you are having difficulties in pronouncing some words to a Chinese, you can simply show the person you are speaking to, what you intend to say and you bet, the misunderstanding is resolved immediately.
The down side of this guide is that their accommodation proposals will only be useful if you are travelling alone or if you are a back packer. My advice is when travelling in China, look for newly built hotels; you are sure to sleep on a clean bed and take a proper shower.



Tea spectacle on the streets of Chengdu

Chengdu panda reserve

Mao's statue (Chengdu)

Traveling to China is an enriching experience and if you love to visit more than Beijing, you need to be adventurous and patient. This entails learning how to insist when you are refused some favours by the Chinese who are used to saying "meyu" (do not mind my spelling) meaning, it is finished or we no longer have in stock what you demand. You will learn a lot about the way the Chinese go about their daily activities; for example, the way they travel, like taking long hours transport, and the way the locals live. You will gradually feel at ease sharing common space with the Chinese who are comfortable with spitting in the public.

Asian and Western attires

Camping in the mountains of Tibet

Camp guards and Tibetan horse riders

Well, China was a great experience and I learnt a lot from the people whom I met. I had a wonderful time camping in the mountains at the border of Tibet. We all wished the holidays continued but we had to go back home.

Travel tips to the French Polynesia

After seeing the film "Six days and Seven nights" with Harrison Ford and Ann Heche, I fell in love with the French Polynesia most of all Tahiti. I decided to visit this part of the world so far away but so beautiful that you can not resist the temptations.

I made my research about this French territory on the internet and travel books like Lonely Planet and some others, drew out my plans and spoke to my hubby, who saw my plan interesting. He added his childhood dream destination Easter Island in Chili and we then started the travel preparations which included booking and buying of flight tickets, making hotel reservations and transfer flights in and around the islands.

Type of transportation:

When traveling to these destinations (Tahiti, its neighbouring islands and Easter Island), you need to determine the parts of the islands you wish to visit. You equally need to consider the means of transportation most suitable as regards your financial capability.

Some people prefer visiting the French Polynesia on a cruse ship, while others prefer arriving by air and visiting the inlands.

Transfer truck at Vaitape Village (le truck Bora Bora)

Visa enquiries:

The French Polynesia is a French territory, not a French department and thus can make their own administrative decisions so if you are one of those who need a visa, you should address your demand to the necessary visa authorities. You can get in formations from the French embassies, consulates and if you are in France, you can get in formations at the prefecture.

Flight reservations:

For the flights, you need to book in advance say at least a month in advance. I advice you reserve your internal flights to, within and from the islands because there are no constant flights and some times there might simply be a flight per week (maybe the carrier services have added more flights that I do not know of). The flights are safe except for a few accidents reported lately.

Flight schedule in and around Polynesia (Tikehau Airport)

Accommodation reservations:

You need to prepare your lodging accommodations. You have different possibilities which can vary from half-board (demi-pension), complete-board (pension-complète) or you can simply book for room in a hotel and eat out in restaurants. My advice is that you take a complete-board(either in hotels or "pension-complète") if you will have to stay in small islands, because it will be very difficult for you to find a restaurant or a supermarket that sells everything you might need for a meal.

If you are visiting Bora Bora, Rangiroa, Tahiti Iti or some bigger Islands, you can make whatever choice you wish to concerning your accommodation. But if you want to spend say your honey moon at the Meridian in Bora Bora, the Pearl beach resort in Tikehau in the Touamotou Archipel, in the Marquise Achipel or some smaller islands, you might want to consider the complete-board, except if you can afford the stress of needing to take the speed boat at all times you wish to eat away from your hotel. And remember, the transfers are at your cost.

Dancing with the locals (Bora Bora)

Mount Otemanu (Bora Bora)

Taking a walk across Vaitape (Bora Bora)

Polynesian dancers

Polynesian islands, seen from the sky

Xmas polynesian dance concert

What to pack:

The Islands are often warm with at most 32°c, so you can pack light. Don't travel like me, remember to be ready for at least a special night out, with a special dress for the ladies and a special party look for the boys. You never know he might be preparing a surprise!

When going to the beach or going for a walk, your sunscreen needs to come handy and always cover your head because the weather can be very scorching.

Take guard:

If you intend to visit the Marquise Island, take care of the tiny insects (nono) that bite mostly in Ua Pou around the natural spring bath. This sort of fly leaves in the sandy paradise beaches, waiting to bite you when you innocently rest on the beach. Apply your mosquito cream all over your body and enjoy your bath.

Ua Pou spring bath

The 7 pillars of the sky, native meaning of Ua Pou (Marquise Islands)

Polynesian tattoo

In general, the French Polynesian travel was a very interesting and an unforgettable journey. The Polynesians are peaceful people and proud of their culture and identity. We met with lovely people, learnt from the mayor as well as the professor of a small community of 400 and 1200 inhabitants respectively. He talked to us of the culture, the beliefs and the difficulties that the Polynesians undergo to import building materials and food stuffs; he said that this is due to the distance that exist between the territory and other neighbouring countries.

Easter Island:

After 3 weeks in Tahiti, we took a 5 day trip to Rapa Nui like the locals call their island. It was a 6 to 7 hours flight from Papeete on the Lan Chile air line. Arriving at the airport, it took the immigration officers a while to find out the immigration rule regarding my nationality.

When I inquired why this was so, they made me understand that I am the first black to visit the Island, they told me they have never seen a black person ever before, except on the television.

This explains the reason why I became a star in Rapa Nui. I only spent 5 days on the Island but I was a friend to almost all the locals. They invited my hubby and I to night clubs and in house parties, I hear people call my name when I walk past the streets and people want to take photo with me. It was a lovely experience.

Tongariki, the 11 Moais of Isla de Pasqua

Orongo volcano (Rapa Nui)

One error we made and wish any future traveller to any distant destination never makes, was that on arrival in Easter Island and after a quick shower, we took to the streets. Guess what, we fell sick that night and learnt our lesson. You should always make a pause after a long flight before pursuing your visit.

Passions

Every one in life has a passion. I for one, I am someone who immensely have passion for singing, dancing and travelling.

My father was a choir master in my growing days and I used to sing a lot. At six, I joined the senior choir of my church and went for all choir practices despite the fact that my church was at a 20 kilometres distance, enough to dissuade a little child. I later became a lead singer and then joined the Sunday school choir, where I was the soloist until I left the church.

During singing competitions at the National Head Quarters of my denomination, if our choir master hurts my feelings (I did not tell you dear readers that I was a stubborn child, but for positive reasons), when singing the processional hymn, I will shut my mouth up and will not sing and my sister who was the assistant soloist (she sings alto) will decide to join in, as well as the tenor singer and you can imagine what sort of a situation this can lead to.

How does my being a chorister relate to the issue of passion you may ask. There is a link because being someone who loves music, someone who has an inborn artistic features, immediately I hear the instrumentalists play, I let loose and give the best of myself to the occasion and my choir group always comes out victorious.

Same goes to the cultural and acrobatic dance group that I belonged to (Apapa Atilogu dance group). When the group is invited to occasions and as Africans who dance with passion, we liven up a so tight up corporate parties.

Every one around me believed I was going to become a professional singer or better still, carry on to becoming a professional dancer. Instead, it was my elder sister (the alto singer) who finally pursued a singing carrier.

Today, I am following up studies and I have focused my passion into leisure, cultural and educating travels (of course not necessarily study and professional travels) but to enhance my experiences through travel.

Some images of me with class mates, travel images and some cultural activities.

Lion dominating the way at the Kings Big Game Park Hlane in Swaziland

"Bombayser" discover India's cultural celebration in Lille

Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (Les Giants de Lille Nord-Pas-de-Calais)

at school and Ping's birthday

Wahala at the Nigeria (a.k.a naija) seme borders

I want to bring to light the difficulties travelers encounter when trying to cross the borders between Nigeria and Benin Republic (Seme border).
Do you dare to travel to the neighbouring countries to Nigeria by road, I advice you add a day to your estimated travelling schedule (that is if you finally make it through the frontier).

For those of us who are adventurous, who love travelling to discover new places, who have made some interesting travels and some in difficult conditions, can testify that this is one place that is completely out of the ordinary.
Given that Nigeria is an active member of the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS), Nigerians who wish to travel either on a business trip or on a leisure trip, once in possession of your international passport or your ECOWAS passport, you are authorised to travel. But at this border, reverse is the case.

I have taken this frontier a couple of times and I have either been obliged to consider renouncing my plans to visit Benin, even worst, I have shed tears twice due to their aggressive manners. When approaching the border, you meet series of check points, police and custom posts all with their Kalashnikov. When coming back into the country from Benin try counting the check points, they are about 22. I have never in all my travels, seen so much gun in the air like as much as you will encounter at this precise border. You only see such situations in areas where there is war or rebels in view, like in N'Djaména Tchad.

Last June when I went visiting my family and after being frustrated with the inconsistent power supply, I decided in August to take a trip to Grand Popo in Benin. To my greatest disappointment, things were still the way they were.
On your arrival, you are greeted with a row of desks without positions written on them, with men and women who are not in uniform and they all demand you make a stop in front of each and every of these desks. Some claim to be from the health, NAFDAC, and a whole lot of others that I really do not remember what the call themselves.
The most annoying part of all this is that while passing in front of all these desks, you are demanded by these so called officials of the state and the country to pay money before you are allowed to go to the next table.
When you refuse to pay because you are fed up of the situation, they threaten to throw you in jail. Even the Hausa tribe at the customs that we used to be proud of are now the ones you should beware of. They believe the country belongs to them and so they can do whatever they wish and nobody can call them to order.When you refuse to pay, they equally refuse to let you go because they do not want to loose out on their piece of the days ration. They find it difficult to believe you when you tell them that you did not pay their other colleagues because they are if I may say, all corrupt.

What worries me most is that in this their shameless act, no one is exempted, even other foreigners are subjected to these treatment. How do we imagine to be purged of the image the world have about us as regards to corruption.
My advice is not only that these people at the border comprising of the corrupt custom officers, the immigration officers, the so called NDLEA officers who after searching your car ask you to pay them to have searched your car, the health officers who do not know how to read the yellow fever card, and the touts who do work for these state officials should all be taken away and sent to centres where they should be educated on how to be true civil servants. There should equally be put in place a high standard or some particular personality requirements. This is important because we should consider the fact that this is the first port of entry into the country and if we keep having such unqualified and some of them uneducated individuals who keep denting the country's image and efforts, the country will find it difficult to advance.

After much said, I am proud to be a Nigerian and that is why I wish issues be discussed and this will help Nigerians in every part of the world to proudly talk of their country to ears who wish to listen.

Farewell Aimé Cesaire

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The world just learnt of the passing away of a VIP Aimé Cesaire, a renowned french (original of the West Indies) poet and politician.

For those of us out there who might be wondering who he is, Aimé Cesaire is one of the founding fathers of the concept "Negritude", a concept that brought to light the acceptance of the black identity and culture.
This concept came to the limelight thanks to the francophone African literary writers in the likes of the first president of Senegal , Léopold Sedar Senghor.

Aimé Cesaire has been ill for a while but was hospitalised recently. Although I doubted his chances of sailing through due to his fading health (aged 94), I still kept all hopes alive.I wept this morning when I learnt of his death publicized on one of French's national channels (France 2).

Men like him are rare in this world, men who had courage against all odds to fight for humanity and justice, to fight against the tyranny of colonialism and imperialism. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.

My happiness is that he left behind him a rich legacy, teaching us to be proud of who we are. I encourage you dear blogers to read about this great mind and some of his writings.

List of some of his inspiring poems:

The atomic rock Cristal, day and night, prophecy, and night tom tom

Labels: Aimé Cesaire gone to the great beyond

Job experience search and the disappointments

Monday, April 14, 2008

Hello comrades,

Remember my job interview of last week (07-04-2008)? OK, I was supposed to wait to be called by the human resource department of the company, previewed in two weeks from the interview date. But I decided to call a week before, and as usual, It is a refusal due to "insufficient level of experience to be able to carry out any post that MIGHT be given."

Such refusals are bound to come up during ones stay in a foreign country (even in ones country of origin), especially in a country like France.
People might believe am a pessimist but the fact is that to get a job in France, even when you have a resident's permit that authorises you to work, it is practically impossible to be employed because the country does not give opportunities to people.
It is more or less impossible to find a job here (whether it be a student job or an experienced worker)and I really can not tell why.I believe that the country is not very welcoming as it claims to be.

Anyway, they say that the kind of welcome that you receive when you travel as a tourist is not the same kind of treatment you get when you finally install as a resident.

I do anyway think that the Anglo-Saxon countries give more opportunities to their settlers and are more open in matters concerning foreign and internal policies than there (mainly European) counterparts. No wonder the Anglo-Saxon countries are more attractive to international carrier seekers, and this makes them better placed to face the competitions that surround globalisation.

Student internship (job) interview

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Hello! dear readers,

Happy to be back to share more experience with you. As I promised to keep you informed of my job interview, I intend to abide by my words. I was called upon for an interview in the north west of France for an internship in the human resource department.As it often entails in the country side, regardless of the post you are applying for, you need to have a drivers licence as well as a vehicle but I happen to not be in possession of any of these documents.

The interview went well and the interviewer was very comprehensive and considerate and considered my personal working experience as professional experience.
As you all can imagine, there are also other candidates applying for the same post. Students here need to acquire professional experience while in school, in order to be competitive and easily fit into the professional world.
But the lady interviewer, a young lady of about 28 years of age promised to call me in 2 weeks time to inform me of her final decision (when she would have met with the other candidates).

I keep my fingers crossed and hope there is no other candidate better placed than I am i.e, a candidate with driving licence, a car, who have acquired more experience within the course of his or her studies, or better still, in a business school.
Here in France, a business school applicant is more priced than an applicant from the university. The reason is that the business schools are more professionally oriented (the teaching technique is centered on enterprises/companies), and the students are advised to go for internships in companies as early as their first year as an undergraduate.

To keep all chances on my side while I wait for a favorable response from the company, I have gone to register at a driving school (which cost the hell, 800 euros ). If I finally do not get the job, I will at least have my driving licence and hopefully a car .

Difficulties of student job search in europe

Friday, April 4, 2008

Since I arrived in France, I have not stopped searching for a student job or a free internship. I am yet to land myself one. It is very difficult to find a student job mostly when you do not study in the capital cities. There are not a lot of internationally oriented companies in the smaller cities, especially in a city like Lille (in the north of France, at the borders between London, Belgium and close to Amsterdam and Germany). Companies always ask for experienced/qualified candidates and I ask how much chances are giving to students who do not have the absolute possibilities to be qualified because they are busy with their paper works.

I received a call this morning for an interview scheduled for next Monday. The job is supposed to be an internship in the human resource department, in a city 3 hours away. Given the fact that I am a foreign student and do have enough holiday to spend away from the city where I live, I do not have to worry about going to work in a far away city because, I already live far away from my home land.

I will keep my dear readers informed about the out come of the interview. It is my first since I have been applying (so you can imagine how nervous I am) . Only a few companies have taken the time to contact me, while some others only reply by mail, informing that even though your candidature is very convincing, they are sorry not to offer you the job because your spoken french is not up to the standard required.

I do not get very sad because I am still in school and do know that it will not be the case when I would be through with school. But one still needs some professional experience to boost ones CV.

I promise to keep you informed.

Travel preparatory steps, visa and integration problems

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Etant donné que mon blog est centré sur ma vie ailleurs, je m'intéresserai aussi de parler de pleines de choses comme: ma préparation pour venir étudier en France (comment j'ai dû laisser ma famille et mes copains), le problème de visa (étant anglophone), mon arrivé en France, comment j'ai repri mes études (mon esprit de "never say die), rencontré des amis chinois (centre de langue pour étudiants étrangers), mon intégration en France, la possibilité d'avoir décroché une place à l'université après ma réussite au examen de Texte de Connaissance de langue Française (TCF), ainsi que mes nombreuses voyages et découvertes.

Mon blog comportera de deux langues: l'Anglais (langue officielle de mon pays) et le Français (langue adoptive, où je vie et poursuivre mes études).

I invite interested readers of my blog to bear with the fact that I write both in French and in English. This is due to the fact that I am originally English speaking; the French language is because I was an undergraduate of "Modern European Languages" majoring in French language, a discipline I droped out from in my third year to follow up studies in France on a fresh slate.

My choice to study French language in the university in an English speaking country came from the fact that my country Nigeria (in West Africa, popularly called "the heart beat of Africa"), is surrounded by the francophone African countries (former French colonies). I always envied the tranlators at the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) meetings and I saw the need in acquiring this knowledge. When the opportunity came knocking on my door to live and study abroad, I decided to give it a try. Besides, my university was always on strike!

And here, the trouble begins. The difficult task to convince the embassy to trust in one and let go of the visa. When you are an African and wish to study abroad, you have to give the benefit of doubt to the embassies that your mission is genuine (mostly our europian counterparts) and my Nigerian brothers can testify.

You might wonder why all these stories, it still relates to my ideology of fighting and never give up. Of course I finally got the visa (after three refusals, a meeting with the vice ambassador of France to Nigeria in Abuja, and three meetings with the consul at the French Consulat in Lagos), if not I would not have mentioned it that I live and study in France.

Eventhoug I was an undergraduate of french language, on my arrival in France, I had to start all over. I was asked to register into a programme of french for foreigners if I wish to follow up studies in the university. At first I thought it was useless and a waist of time but I finally realised how important it was. I strongly advice that a student, worker or a wife of an expat who wishes to spend quality time in a country that does not speak ones language of origine, should try and enroll in one of the language classes. This will enable your easy communication and understanding of your new environment.

Some list of language centres in the city of Lille (France):

- CLARIFE LILLE
Campus Saint Raphael
Université Catholique de Lille
60 Boulevard Vauban

Tel: 03.02.57.92.19

- CUEEP LILLE
9/11 Rue AngellierLille

Tel: 03.20.58.11.11

- DEE VILLENEUVE D'ASCQ
Université Lille3
Domaine du Pont de Bois

Tel: 03.20.41.63.8362.96

You can as well check on the "EduFrance" site. You will find all the adresse you need.

I met with lovely friends, mostly my Asian friends at the centre of French language for foreign students, with whom I shared very wonderful time. I later moved on into the univerity of law and I am at the moment in the departement of administation, economics and social sciences, where I am expected to graduate in the next two years (with hope there are no carry overs).

While in school, I profit of my holidays to visit the world, meet new people, learn new cultures and expand my horizen in every way that I can (intellectually and ortherwise).

A peep into my world in image. I live by the day to discover new things and seek for more adventures.......

Posted by jennifer iwuoha at 4:12 PM

New home away from home

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Hello every one out there,
My name is Jennifer from Africa but I live and study in Europe. My blog will mainly focus on life away as an expat.

Many of us live, work, study,or travel far away from our loved ones. This is due to time, time that brings about changes in ones life. We grow up and make decisions on the part to follow, on what studies we wish to pursue, on issues concerning relocating abroad as expats or as residents, meeting people and making new friends, career changes and then we look forward to new adventures in life.

If you find yourself linked to these aspects of life, then we most likely share some ideas and might have some common interests like: traveling to visit places, change completely our life style and discover the hidden passion in us, the true you.

So join me as we take a trip into the world of travel, to discover new places and different cultures. Welcome aboard the mile high club of globe trotters with Jennifer IWUOHA and discover the whole new you.