I have officially completed my first week of classes at EM Strasbourg Business School in Strasbourg France and it has been absolutely amazing! Coming here, I feel like I had an idea of what living and going to school in a foreign country would be like. I expected 50-minute lectures, bakeries on every corner, and beautiful sunny days. I was wrong about everything except the bakeries.
One of the biggest differences I noticed between the university here and TAMU is the way classes meet. Here we meet maybe once a week for a 3 or 4 hour lecture. You sometimes get a 15-minute break. All of my class grades are also dependent on either a singular exam or a group project. The professors are great and I am really excited to learn from them all semester long. Surprisingly there are so many students here from Texas. I have seriously met like 7 girls from Texas in 10 days. My favorite part so far has been meeting other international students. Getting to learn about everyone else’s culture and things from home has been so exciting. Even during the small class breaks, you can learn so much from talking to everyone around you!
Strasbourg as a city isn’t half bad either. The town itself is so beautiful. It is like something out of a fairy tale. There are so many restaurants, shops, and things to go see that I have yet to be bored. It is also a major walking city, which I love! There is just such rich history everywhere in Strasbourg and it is evident. Walking to class in the morning and smelling fresh croissants the whole way is something I can get used to. It has snowed multiple times and it was gorgeous. I also came to France with the expectation that French people weren’t the nicest to people who weren’t French. I can say that stereotype is completely wrong in Strasbourg. Everyone has been so incredibly nice and helpful. Honestly, they have been some of the nicest people I have met. I look forward to practicing my French with them and getting used to the French culture.
Overall, I have had a great time so far. Initial culture shock aside, I truly think this is going to be the best 5 months of my life. These last 2 weeks have already surpassed every expectation I had. I look forward to how I will grow through this experience and all of the people I will meet along the way.
