After my first week abroad my first impressions have been extremely positive. The classes and professors here have been so interesting and fun. I was worried about the difficulty of the classes while trying to get as much experience in Europe as possible but the classes have kept me really engaged and not difficult to stay on top of. Our international business class has been really interesting as it gives us tangible things to learn while we get the real experience with it living here. The city of Strasbourg is so unique with it being so French and German at the same time. It’s very bilingual and the history of its culture is amazing. I’ve gotten to travel to Paris and Blois already too and those cities and experiences have also been amazing. The castles near Blois were beautiful and learning about how old they were and all the incredibly famous and powerful people that related to them in some way was crazy. Everything here is basically older than the U.S. and trying to wrap my head around that has been interesting. The culture itself is definitely different from the United States and having to adapt in interactions has been nothing like I’ve ever experienced. Things even like smiling at strangers and holding doors open as being seen as odd here. They walk extremely fast everywhere and they talk so much quieter than we do. We’ve already gotten many odd looks while traveling on public transport. Many people here are very curious about our current political state and even our views. I really hope through the rest of this study abroad I get the full perspective of life in Europe and have a better understanding of cultures different and so far away from mine. Especially right now the interactions I think will open my eyes a lot and learning about the relationship between the U.S. and the EU currently.
