Howdy! My name is Christina Boyes, and I want to tell you about my initial impressions from studying in Strasbourg, France. As I arrived, the weather was much colder than in Texas, and there were beautiful Christmas decorations and lighting hung all throughout the town. It was perfect to enjoy local foods and drinks such as French quiche, pain de chocolat, Alsace wine, and exquisite pasta dishes. The town was quaint yet beautiful; easy and enjoyable to walk through with small shops and restaurants, rivers, and cathedrals. What surprised me was how consistently quiet and peaceful the town was, even on weekends. It wasn?t as much of a party city, but the culture was prominent, and many people walked through town even late at night, instilling a nice sense of safety and security.
The international student involvement was quite high in Strasbourg; certain events organized by the school in the beginning aided in making friends easily. I did not expect there to be so many students in this program, about 120 exchange students I believe (as Strasbourg is not a huge city). The international students held the tradition every semester of going to a local club every Wednesday night, which was crazy to me at first, but made sense realizing how many exchange students tended to make travel plans to other cities on weekends. After a couple weeks, most everyone managed to solidify new friends within the exchange program.
Pertaining to culture shock, France is quite different than the States in many ways. Most businesses are closed on Sundays, allowing time for family. The French language is much more common than I expected. Though most locals understand at least some English, there is an assumed expectation to first try to speak some French to them. They value their culture and take pride in being different than other countries. Public transportation and tram systems are more common to use than cars, and the systems are quite modern and efficient.
What I did not realize before coming to Strasbourg was how insanely close the city is to the German border. The closest city, Kehl, Germany, is only about a 30 minute tram ride or 1 hour walk away. This makes it easy to make day trips to other small German cities, such as Freiburg and Heidelburg as me and some friends had already made within the first few weeks of being here.
After only a few weeks, I fell in love with Strasbourg and the exchange experience. I made friends easily and learned how to travel efficiently using different resources such as Airbnb and Flixbus.
