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I think I have finally decided on the cities for which I am applying to study abroad at, although this may change…

1st is Rennes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennes It has a metro system (subways kind of send my heart a flutter from time to time), fine arts museum, is in the northwest region of France, and has a nice large population.

2nd is Saint-Étienne. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-%C3%89tienne It is in the mountains just southeast of the center of France and has a tramway, museum of modern art, and their main industry is bicycle manufacturing.

3rd is Montpellier. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montpellier It is near the Mediterranean to the south of France, has a tramway, hosts lots of cultural events, the largest population of any of my choices (265,364), and it pretty much stays at 50 degrees all year round.

4th is Amiens. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiens A smaller town to the north of France with a population just under 140,000 with a river that runs through the town and all the way to the English channel, and an oceanic climate of regular rainfall.

Now I just get to have the pleasure of going through the University websites for each town to figure out which classes I would like, although once I have chosen all these they will change once it actually gets closer to moving over there. Oh well, the prof that I had last semester for French is as well the department head and when I went by his office the other day to get a recommendation from him for this study abroad program he said that he would be placing me in all of the above average and outstanding categories that the form provided. As well as advise me a bit into letting me know that I should be taking two different French classes next semester. It seems that I will be having some pretty French heavy Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays next semester. Now hopefully I will be able to figure out how graduate while abroad and make things a bit more interesting, since it seems that I will be coming close, if not breaking, 100 credits at the end of next semester. Although what I find odd is that as the French classes get more difficult they begin to be worth less credits…

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