Kategorie: ‘France’
Getting to know a different culture
- Mechanical Engineering B.Sc.
- France, Signy L’Abbaye
- Beuret Sarl
- 09/22 – 12/22
My internship in France
The company I worked for produces agricultural equipment and steel structures for buildings. Since the company moved to a new location recently, they needed new custom equipment like tool cart for storing and moving heavy tools. I spent the majority of my time developing, designing in the office and manufacturing this equipment in the factory. Having the responsibility for those projects and completing them was a truly rewarding experience.
Even though I did not work on the division of the company that was responsible for the buildings they let me go on the respective construction sites a few times during my stay. Although this was not at all part of my internship, I still enjoyed discovering the big machines and assembly techniques they used to join the massive components that were previously prepared in the factory.
Working in a small company (about 10 persons in total) helped me to get to know all the people very quickly. I had a great relationship with both the employees and the supervisors from the beginning on which made my time in the company really enjoyable.
I worked a total of 40 hours a week which is not necessarily typical in France. Many people only work 35 hours. This makes room for other activities after work. Also, the meals have a much greater importance than in other European countries. Lots of companies have 60 to 90-minute lunch breaks and it is common for grocery stores and other shops to close during midday. But many stores make up for this by opening their doors on Sunday morning.
© Dimitri Robert
Luckily, on Fridays I only worked till 12 pm which made it possible to plan longer activities for the weekend. I tried to discover as much as possible of the “Champagne” region. It’s especially known for its production of champagne and its vineyards.
On another occasion I had the opportunity to travel to the beaches of the Normandy and admire the breath-taking landscape. These places are not only beautiful but also have an undeniably interesting historic relevance.
Travelling to these different destinations by train is difficult and takes a lot of time. In addition, the company I worked for was situated in a very rural area. So, having a car was a necessity in this region of the country.
© Dimitri Robert
Something you need to get used to when you live in France are long and late dinners. Most of the time, they start with the well-known “apéro” where you have a few drinks and snacks before beginning to eat your meal. I really enjoyed those convivial evenings. I also observed that drinking wine at dinner was a lot more common than in Germany. Even a lot of young people enjoy drinking a glass of wine instead of beer. In general, the locals are proud of their local wine and especially champagne.
Helpful information
Good news is my phone worked without any issue thanks to EU-Roaming. On the other hand, German mobile network operators have put in place a limit of months that you can spend abroad. Exceeding this time limit will result in them charging you extra roaming fees. Luckily, many French carriers provide very generous offers for the first year of contract. Combined with a pricing that is generally much lower than in Germany, getting a mobile plan with a lot or even unlimited data becomes very affordable. Your mobile plan can even replace Wi-Fi. So, if you plan on staying more than a few months in France, I would definitely recommend getting a French mobile plan.
Same thing goes for your bank account and credit card. You should check with your bank if the card you plan on using works abroad. Opening a bank account was not necessary for me but it made withdrawing money free of charge and receiving my salary was also easier this way.
Keeping in mind that finding a fitting internship and going through the application process would take a bit longer than in my home country, I started to plan my stay more than 6 months ahead. This gave me enough time to prepare everything properly and I would recommend this to anyone who wants to go abroad. All in all, my internship abroad was a great experience for me. Getting to know a different culture and improving my language skills while completing a mandatory part of my curriculum was amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to do so.
My practical year in France
- Staatsexamen, Medizin
- Rouen, France
- Hôpital Charles-Nicolle de Rouen
- May 2022 – September 2022
Preparation
The preparation began about a year before I started my Practical year (Praktisches Jahr- PJ). For the registration and application, I contacted Ms. Watteel directly, who is responsible for Erasmus stays at Université de Rouen Normandie. She was my contact person during the entire Erasmus stay and took care of all formal requirements and certificates in a timely manner.
Housing
Accommodation can be found at leboncoin.fr (something like Ebay in Germany) or Facebook. There is also the possibility to apply for student residences, but I did not do this. Furthermore, there are many real estate companies in Rouen that rent both furnished and unfurnished apartments. It should be noted that if the apartment is rented through a company, a fee of approximately one month’s rent must be paid. For students, the right side of the city is warmly recommended, because most of the activities and parties are on this side of the city. There are good bus connections to other parts of the city, but they are very limited at night. The university hospital is located almost in the city center and is easily accessible by public transportation.
Job and everyday life
© Lara Gubeljak
I completed a PJ tertial in the clinic for general surgery (chirurgie digestive). There I was in the OR every day and was allowed to assist most of the time, be it directly on the patient or administering the instruments. There were many opportunities for me to actively participate. I found it very good that I was allowed to sew up, that I could participate in organ donations, and that I was also able to perform some tasks beyond the student tasks. A normal day started at 7:30 a.m. and ended between 4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The visceral surgery team was very nice and had a lot of patience, especially when I occasionally didn’t understand things because of the language barrier. There were some doctors who also explained things in English, although this is not the rule in France.
For the internship, you get a reimbursement of about 250€ per month, but you must check with the HR department often and have a French bank account. All students who are currently doing their internship in a surgical department share the 24 hour duties among themselves. These services are additionally paid but are not obligatory for exchange students. During the night duty you have to do instrumentation and assist in the OR. You get your own room with your own DECT phone. If you are lucky and there are no emergencies, you may (and should!) sleep.
Leisure
© Lara Gubeljak
I was very fortunate to have a large circle of friends in Rouen, which made the stay overall very social and gave a different perspective to the busy PJ. It is very common to end the evening in a bar or café, although it must be said that due to the early working hours this was often not possible. Rouen is a student city and there is always something going on. In summer there are concerts every Thursday, there is the daily Cathederal de Lumiere, which was exciting every time again. It is a beautiful city from the Middle Ages, so there is a lot of history to see. The numerous museums are free until the age of 26. The surrounding cities like Paris, Le Havre, Étretat or Vernon are very worth seeing and easy to reach by train.
Conclusion
Rouen should and can definitely be recommended for tourism as well as for the PJ. I learned a lot there, was able to do a lot of practical work and strengthened many social skills in the professional setting. The beginning of the PJ was very exhausting, because a lot of things happened very quickly in the hospital and the medical terminology is clearly different, plus it contains many abbreviations. It was a great opportunity to deepen my French and to get an insight into general surgery. Four months were enough to settle in well and to get a little insight into the rest of Normandy.
Limoges hat mich wahnsinnig positiv überrascht!
- Electrical Engineering M.Sc.
- Limoges, Frankreich
- I.Ceram
- 03.05.-23.07.2021
Ich habe das Industriepraktikum, das ich für meinen Master in Elektrotechnik an der RWTH absolvieren muss, in Frankreich in Limoges absolviert. Dort war ich bei der Firma I.CERAM angestellt.
I.CERAM ist eine eher kleine Firma mit etwa 30-40 Mitarbeitern, die sich in der Herstellung von medizinischen Implantaten, besonders auf Implantate aus Keramik, spezialisiert haben. Mein Praktikumsbetreuer war der CEO, also der Geschäftsführer der Firma. Mein Büro hatte ich bei der Produktionsmanagerin der Firma. Dies hing damit zusammen, dass mein Praktikumsthema eine Produktionsanalyse und das Design neuer Produktlinien und -familien beinhaltet hat. Es hat sich also nicht um ein klassisches Elektrotechnik-Praktikum gehandelt, sondern eher um eine Mischung aus Ingenieur- und Betriebswirtschaftlichem, was ich allerdings auch sehr interessant fand. In der Firma hatte ich überall freien Zugang und habe neben meiner Hauptaufgabe auch jede Menge anderer Aufgaben erledigt, die in fast alle Bereiche gefallen sind. Dadurch habe ich einen guten Überblick über die gesamte Firmenstruktur und die Funktionsweise einer solchen Firma bekommen. Dies ist denke ich auch der Vorteil an einer kleineren Firma. Das Team war im allgemeinen super nett und ich habe mich dort sehr wohlgefühlt. Mein Chef hatte einen eher schwierigen Charakter und einen Führungsstil, der mir nicht so gut entsprochen hat. Für ein paar Monate hat mich dies allerdings nicht gestört.
Bei der Praktikumssuche hatte ich einige Schwierigkeiten. Ich hatte mich von Anfang an auf Frankreich fixiert und wollte davon auch nicht abweichen. Da ich im tiefsten Corona-Winter meine Bewerbungen verschickt habe, kamen zahlreiche Absagen mit der Begründung, dass sie im Homeoffice nicht auch noch Praktikanten gebrauchen können. Viele haben mir auch einfach gar nicht geantwortet. Letztendlich habe ich aufgehört, meine Suche auf bestimmte Städte festzulegen und habe einfach nach irgendetwas in einem Bereich gesucht, der mich thematisch interessiert. So bin ich in Limoges gelandet, einer Stadt, von der ich vorher noch nie etwas gehört hatte. Nach anfänglich eher schwerfälligen Wochen, da ich Frankreich Anfang Mai immer noch eine Ausgangssperre ab 19 Uhr verhängt war, bin ich in Limoges richtig angekommen. Die Stadt ist nahezu aufgeblüht und ich kann sie gerade für ein Praktikum oder zum Studieren nur empfehlen. Es handelt sich zwar nicht um eine Stadt, die man als Tourist besichtigen würde, da sie nicht sonderlich viele Attraktionen hat. Sie ist allerdings unfassbar lebenswert. Die Altstadt ist mit lauter Fachwerkhäusern ausgestattet, in denen es von kleinen Bars und Restaurants nur so wimmelt. Die Vienne, der große Fluss, der durch Limoges fließt, ist wunderschön und lädt ein zum Relaxen oder auch für die ein oder andere Open-Air-Veranstaltung, die dort stattfindet. Ein weiterer Vorteil von Limoges ist, dass man zu Fuß sehr gut klarkommt. In einer halben Stunde kommt gut überall hin, wo man hinwill. Die Fahrradwege sind mittlerweile auch immer mehr und mehr ausgebaut, allerdings ist es hier sehr hügelig, weshalb das vielleicht nicht jedermanns Sache ist. Auch mit den öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln, die au elektrischen Busen bestehen, kommt man hier gut rum. Sie sind im Vergleich zu Deutschland auch deutlich günstiger. Mit 22 Euro im Monat kann man sich da wirklich nicht beschweren. In der Innenstadt braucht man diese allerdings nicht wirklich. Wer aber wie ich jeden Tag ein wenig weiter außerhalb zur Arbeit fahren muss, kann hiermit absolut glücklich werden.
Gewohnt habe ich während meines Praktikums in einer WG mit zwei anderen Mädels. Gerade am Anfang war diese auch eine sehr gute Lösung für mich, da man so trotz Ausgangssperre noch Gesellschaft hatte. Beide haben so wie ich gearbeitet, wodurch wir einen ähnlichen Rhythmus hatten. Dies hat vermutlich auch zu dem Wohlbefinden aller beigetragen. Ein Vorteil von Limoges ist, dass die Wohnpreise günstiger sind als in anderen Teilen Frankreichs. Für ein recht kleines Zimmer in einer Wohnung mit einem riesigen Wohnzimmer, das auch ausgiebig genutzt wurde, habe ich pro Monat 375 Euro gezahlt. Allgemein lässt sich sagen, dass die Lebenserhaltenskosten in Frankeich höher sind als in Deutschland. Sowohl im Supermarkt, aber auch vor allem in Bars und Restaurants merkt man da auf jeden Fall einen Preisunterschied.
Alles in allem hat mir meine Zeit in Limoges sehr gefallen. Die Stadt ist sehr lebenswert und hat mich wahnsinnig positiv überrascht. Auch die Firma hat mir viele interessante Einblicke gegeben, was ich als große Bereicherung empfinde.