Time has come to recap all the things I have done during this semester abroad.

First of all I want to thank Miss Huska, Miss Castillo and all the ESDES team in charge of the abroad semesters for the organization and for their involvement.

When we arrived in Lancaster, at the beginning we stayed only with the French people and with the Erasmus students but when the lessons started and the sports training also we have been meeting many different people. In fact I have been playing rugby for all the semester with the rugby team and I met their some very nice people and I will keep them in touch. Some are supposed to come to see me in the west coast of France, to spend some days next to the Atlantic Ocean. Playing with an English rugby team was a great experience because I was the “frenchie player” of the team and I had no choice, I had to practice my English and I improve my level thanks to it.

I appreciate discovering and traveling around United Kingdom. I will keep some good memories of my trip to Edinburg and the one to Blackpool.

What I also really enjoy during this semester is the fact that our accommodations were situated in the campus of the university and that’s why it was easier to meet people, to go and play a sport with them and it helps you improving your English and become more altruist

because of living with foreign roommates.

Our lessons were quiet interesting especially International Finance because the teacher took the time to explain us each calculation we didn’t understand, or explain us some difficult sentences in the slides of the presentation. The course of Business Research and Practice was also interesting because we had to do a market study before opening a virtual fitness center in Ambleside, a touristic place next to Lancaster in the Lake District area. International Marketing Strategy was also interesting but quiet close to the lessons we had in our first study year.

We were a bit disappointed because all the other Erasmus student were much more older than us and they stay together, it was quiet hard to spend to time with them, even if we had great time with all the group.

I really enjoyed my semester abroad and I would like to thank all the people who contribute to my happiness. Here is the last picture of our last meal together.

Hope you enjoyed my english blog !

This article is going to talk about the conflict that took place in Northern Ireland, also called “The Troubles". It is a period of violence and unrest in Northern Ireland in the second half of the twentieth century. It starts at the late 1960 and is considered over between 1997 and 2007 according to different interpretations. However violence is still seen after that date, but occasionally and with a smaller impact.

The conflict began in the second half of the 1960’s with a movement for civil rights against the sectarian segregation suffered by the Catholic minority. The opposition between Republicans and nationalists (mainly Catholic) on the one hand, loyalists and unionists (mainly Protestant) on the other hand on the future of Northern Ireland leads to a rise in violence that lasted for thirty years.

The Northern Ireland conflict is variously defined by many of his actors, either as a war, as an ethnic conflict, or a civilian’s war.

This conflict affects the daily lives of most Northern Irish and incidentally that of the English and Irish in the South of the island. On several times between 1969 and 1998, the conflict was close to turn into a civil war. For example in 1972, after Bloody Sunday or during the hunger strike of 1981, when there is some massive demonstrations.

In 1998, a peace process brings an end to the conflict based on the Good Friday Agreement. Recognition by the British government for the first time the "Irish dimension", the principle that the people of the island of Ireland can solve the problems between North and South by mutual consent, without external intervention allows to obtain the agreement of nationalists and republicans. It also establishes in Northern Ireland a consociation government composed of must unionists and nationalist. 

You will be able to read my last article in a few days. It will be recap of all the great experiences I had during my semester abroad. 

See you !

My semester abroad is over now. Let me tell you about my European trip in Prague and Vienna. It was a pleasure to visit these two wonderful cities.

First of all, I have been to Prague to see some friends of mine from our management school, who were studying there for their semester abroad. It was a good way to see them and to visit these main capitals of Eastern Europe.

During the first day I have been walking with a friend on the hills situated in the suburbs of Prague so that we could get a better view of the city. Prague is very famous and also called "the city with hundred bell towers". We made an amazing walk because I could get a first approach of the main monuments I will have to visit. We have been to the Castle of Prague, to St Charles’s Bridge and we have been walking in the old city center. We had to pay to go into most of the monuments that is why we decided to walk into the city to see the more monuments as possible in 2 days, and the weather was also really nice.

After that I have been to Vienna to see other friends of mine, for 3 days. I also had a really good time in this capital, because of the very good weather we had, as you can see in the followed pictures. We have been to a barbecue organized buy some Erasmus students and we met there some nice people. After that I have been walking in the center town of Vienna, visiting some museums, some beautiful gardens, the Parliament, and finally the Castle of Schönbrunn where some famous Austrian empress used to live a few centuries ago. This is a very touristic site but walking in the gardens of the Castle you can admire the wonderful view of Vienna, as you can see in these pictures.

Anyway I had a very good time by visiting my friends and visiting these 2 capitals but I just regret the fact I didn’t had enough time to visit everything because these cities are very big and impressive.

See you !

My semester abroad in Lancaster is finished now. I had some exams during my last week, like International Finance or Business Research and Practice. I tried to enjoy each last moment in the campus or in the city because I knew I would miss it: my last rugby training session, last meal with the roommates, and last parties with the English students. This was a really interesting experience and helps me improving my English level almost thanks to the lessons and the oral presentations we had but also thanks to the rugby team because I was the only French player in the team.

We decided to go to Manchester with the French people for a shopping day. We tried to visit some places but the weather was really wet and the monuments in Manchester are not so beautiful. Here are a few picture of the day.

We were lucky because we had a sunny last week in Lancaster, so we were sometimes walking next to the River Lune, a small river and it was really pleasant.

We also had good times here because there was a really cool atmosphere between the French groups of students, no one was forgotten and we were close friends.

I really appreciated meeting new people and new students and I found English student where very welcoming to us. It was anyway a great experience I and will promote University of Cumbria and the City of Lancaster next year for Second Year Student of our management school.

So my English experience is over now, but I decided to go and visit friends of mine to Prague and to Vienna for a week and to visit these two capitals. I will let you know about this trip soon. 

Here is a new article to give you some news about my last weeks in Lancaster. In fact I am leaving the city soon that is why I decided to visit the main cities around Lancaster before leaving. Last week, we have been to Blackpool, on the west coast of England. It is a popular sea resort, and attracts a lot of tourists from the North of England. Among its attractions are the Tower of Blackpool, built in 1983, and inspired of the Eiffel Tower, a pleasure beach and an amusement park. Blackpool counts a circus, situated under the Tower, a zoo, and an aquarium. The city is famous for its casinos and gaming rooms, the station of Blackpool in the seaside of Ireland, and has a festive reputation and people come from Manchester or Liverpool to celebrate Christmas.

We have been playing rugby on the beach, we went to the casino.

Most of my flat mates have already left the flat so we decided to organize a meal with all of us, to share a last good time together. Each one cooked a special meal from its country (Chile, France and England) and we enjoyed our night.

 See you !