Things To Prepare You For Living In France (and Germany!)

So we have been at the Chateau for about 3 full months now, and I wanted to highlight some of the major things I think students interested in studying abroad in Strasbourg should know before coming over.

1. Learn French ahead of time!
There are a couple of reasons for this.
A. You can take a whole different level of courses at the Political Science Institute in Strasbourg if you can understand and write French. Most courses in France are lecture, meaning you may or may not have mid-terms and likely will not have any take-home homework unless it's a team project. Had I known the amount of awesome courses at PolSci that are available only in French, I would have taken a couple of crash courses before leaving home and just gone for it here by taking more courses at a higher level. One other thing you avoid is repetition in the english-only classes, many of them repeat the history parts of the EU development because there are so many foreign students. Plus knowing and understanding more French will make your time here go MUCH more smoothly.

2. Get used to walking everywhere, taking the bus, and taking your time. The first two apply only to Germany, all three apply to France :-). The french love their culture, they love their language, they love their history, and they adore their food. This combination of things leads to a level of program we are not used to in the US. Take your time to eat, leave early for class, do your homework well ahead of time, and relax. It's the french way! Our German friends are more relaxed than they give themselves credit for, but they do have an utmost respect for time (never be late!). One area that the French and Germans agree with time is the train system. Trains (and most buses) ALWAYS run on time, no exceptions. It the train says it leaves at 11:05 and you get there at 11:06, the train has left the station. Same with buses. Everything else? Relax, always be polite, and don't rush.

3. Know how to take good notes from lecture and take more classes than you think you should. In France most classes are lecture classes. It's 2-3 hours (with breaks) of listening to your professor, some who will ask questions, most will not. Make sure you can take notes even though they provide you the presentations/slides from class. Most final exams have only 4-8 questions, so you have to know your material.

4. Be willing and open to trying new things. The food is much different here, it's prepared longer, it tastes better, and generally will knock your socks off (especially the pastries). This is one area where Americans should do well, but don't always. Take the French for example. If you come to France, you will notice very few French speak English to you at any time. It is NOT because they don't know any English, but because their culture setting holds them to very high standards. The french would never attempt to speak English to you because they don't think they should unless they can speak it perfectly. It may seem crazy, but as you meet and talk with new french friends, you'll find it endearing.
This is where you can excel. Learn how the train system works, between the trains, the trams, the cheap intra-europe flights and the buses, you can really cover a LOT of countries for little money compared to the US. Travel when you can!
Try new food and drink. There really is an amazing amount of new experiences in food and drink that I can't even begin to describe to you. Don't go to McDonald's when you're here. Try a sandwich shop or even a low-priced cafe. You won't regret it!

5. Save your money! Start stockpiling your change, start a new savings account, whatever you have to do. The chances of getting this opportunity again, anytime soon, is extremely rare. But traveling, eating out, evening spending an afternoon at an outdoor cafe with friends isn't free. You can live quite well on a small budget here in France by buying groceries smartly while your here, watch your spending at cafes and brasseries, and don't waste money on things that you don't really need. Use this money to travel, to go to museums, to go on an awesome winter and spring (or fall) break! You will not regret it, I promise.
On that note, you will generally have time built into the end of your trip for travel. In the spring this would be around the first week of march and again the last two weeks of april. By saving money carefully you can travel and visit some pretty cool places in Europe like Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Marseille, Rome, Athens, Budapest, Prague, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona and a lot more.

6. immerse yourself in the culture. University of Strasbourg has a number of student groups ranging from social groups at the School of Management like BDI (social) and BDS (sports) to Evolution (GLBT) and even Philosophy at the main campus. Most of the groups will be a mix of people who speak both French and English. Join, go to the activities, make new friends, and you'll soon find yourself going on trips (very cheaply i might add) going to birthday parties, local festivals and even weekend excursions before you know it. It's the only way to learn the real French language (not just classroom) and experience the world from a whole new perspective.

7. Have fun! Make new friends both in your group and at school and in Strasbourg. Travel when you can. Try the food and drink everywhere you go. Rely on your coordinators a lot, they are awesome and generally know everything (yay Sven & Sophie!).

Our time here in Strasbourg still has over a month to go, and it is already so completely rewarding, not just for the education, not just for the awesome trips, but more for the friends, relationships, and incredible experiences you will have and sights you will see and laughs you will have, together.

All for now,

Tim Cairl