As I am settling in during my first few weeks in Lyon, France, I can’t help comparing my observations of this new city and country with the experiences I had last semester in Beijing. On one hand, I figured I had the study abroad experience figured out. I knew what to pack, made lists of things to buy once I arrived, and made a million copies of every official document I received. But there is only so much you can prepare for ahead of time.

Lyon and Beijing both show an apparent lack of organization. In China, shopping was chaos: the stores were always packed with people and they often didn’t carry products that are easy to find in the United States. It was frustrating, but I also found it an interesting cultural study. For example, it is difficult to find sunscreen in China that does not also contain additional skin whiteners, because tanned skin is a sign of outdoor labor and thus more women desire a pale face.

In France, the stores and products are much more similar to those in the U.S. Instead, here it is the university system that gives me a headache. French students here choose their area of study in high school, and by the time they enter the university, they only need to take classes within their department. Unlike Arts and Sciences majors at Saint Louis University, they don’t have core math, science, philosophy, theology, literature or cultural studies requirements.

I prefer SLU’s system that allows us to study a little bit of everything; trying to take classes in multiple departments in Lyon is quite complicated. Students in their respective departments have preset schedules ahead of time, but international students register after classes have already started. This system requires a lot of paperwork, and often timetables are posted and then change at the last minute.

Another difference is that the French are very politically outspoken. Unlike in China, political protest here is almost encouraged. Just last week, the public transportation was unavailable because the workers organized a strike. Last year, the university students were often on strike, and you can still see their anti-authoritarian graffiti on walls, buildings and bathrooms all over campus.

At first this blatant distrust of authority seemed unnecessarily paranoid to me, but it shows that the French are very aware of their rights as citizens and refuse to let their government take advantage of them.

While their political situations are very different, Beijing and Lyon have something that the majority of American cities do not: hundreds, even thousands, of years of history. In Beijing, I was a 30 minute subway ride from the Forbidden City and about an hour away by bus to sections of the Great Wall. It was strange to have such influential and ancient monuments almost in my backyard.

Now in Lyon, I live within five minutes walking distance of the Place Bellecour, one of the largest squares in Europe, and 20 minutes walking distance of ancient Roman ruins. Around 200 A.D., Lyon was a major city in the Roman Empire, so there are still many traces of ancient Roman life here. Most of the streets in my area are paved with cobblestones. There are even houses in Old Lyon that date back to the Middle Ages. At home, we get excited about a building if it has been around for 100 years, but in Lyon that almost means nothing.

Both China and France have shown me two different perspectives on life and culture, and I am quickly learning that not all study abroad experiences are the same.

Sara Brouillette is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, studying in Lyon.