Walking through Strasbourg, France for the first time felt like walking through the pages of a storybook. The character of the city can be felt through the cobblestone roads and witnessed through the unique French-German architecture. Each layer of the city reveals an integral part of Strasbourg?s history. Constantly changing nationality since the 1600s, Strasbourg is culturally rich with influences from both German and French cultures. However, it seems that most inhabitants speak French since the city has remained a part of France since the end of World War Two. After only a few days, I have already been exposed to so much culture and have even started picking up some French. I have been pleasantly surprised by how welcoming the locals have been to our American group. We even visit a local pastry chef most mornings who has been giving us some French lessons when his shop isn?t busy. Did you know that in French, a cinnamon roll is called ?escargot de la cannelle? which directly means ?cinnamon snail??
We have finished our first week of classes at EM Strasbourg and the material has been so eye-opening. Our morning class is International Finance. In this class we have been studying exchange rates and how they are affected by the economy. Before this program, I knew almost nothing about this topic other than how to google search for the exchange rate somewhere. Now I can confidently analyze changes in exchange rates, discover cross exchange rates, and predict the effects of different influences on exchange rates. All of which are extremely applicable to spending time abroad. Our second class is European Integration and it consists of rotating guest lectures, teaching on the history of the EU and its influences in the world. As an American student with very little prior knowledge of the EU, I find this class to be very insightful. I am excited to see what is in store for the next few weeks of class and the rest of our time in Strasbourg.
