Strasbourg: My Little Corner of Heaven Past Review
By Emily S (International/Comparitive Politics, Trinity University) for
Syracuse University: Strasbourg - Syracuse University in Strasbourg
My experience was definitely worthwhile. My abilities in French skyrocketed, and I learned that I definitely want to work abroad at some point in my life.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
While they were very helpful, it was often difficult to find them at a time when they were not busy. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I absolutely loved the location of the apartment, as well as my room. However, I only lived with one woman, and she was extremely odd. The apartment consisted of her bedroom, my bedroom, one bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. I was allowed in the kitchen during meal times, the bathroom when it was convenient to her, and my bedroom. I felt very unwelcome at times. Also, she would ask me questions about my traveling plans or my courses only to intervene and force her opinion on me. Also, she would purposely serve seafood after reaffirming with me that I did not like seafood. So by the end of the semester I was only coming home at mealtimes and to sleep. However, I can't complain too much about this because it got me to explore Strasbourg and the rest of Europe |
| * Food: |
My host mother was a fairly decent chef, despite a few odd dinners. The food in Strasbourg is incredible. Our favorite restaurant was Le Brasseur. A regional specialty is tarte flambee, which is a thin crust pizza with creme fraiche, white cheese, onions, and bacon. Tarte flambee can be found at almost any restaurant in Strasbourg, and is delicious everywhere. I would definitely recommend that students take advantage of Alsatian cuisine while in Strasbourg. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I absolutely loved getting to travel and explore new cultures. While most of the traveling was done on our own, Syracuse did take us to Paris, Amsterdam, and Cologne on a 15 day seminar at the beginning of the semester. Additionally, we had a weekend trip in the Champagne region. We were supposed to go to Istanbul for one of my classes, but due to booked hotels we were unable to go. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Pharmacies in France were a little different. Instead of selecting what you wanted, you spoke with a pharmacist and described your symptoms, and they would give you medicine. My only issue was trying to get an inhaler in France. They would not take an American doctor's prescription, so I would have had to go see a French doctor. If anyone was seriously ill, the program heads did a very good job of getting them to the doctor. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I usually spent around 80-100 Euros a week. Lunch was very cheap (a sandwich usually cost 3 Euros) but dinners tended to get quite expensive. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | In the middle of the semester, we had to go get chest x-rays with the office of immigration. after this, we had to take the results to the immigration office and present them with a stamp that cost 50 Euros. This was difficult for many students, since they were taking out loans and this was an unexpected cost. One thing that I would advise is to order tap water at the restaurants. Otherwise, they will bring you bottled water which is expensive and disappears faster. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Advanced French Grammar |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I would recommend this program to any political science student. The courses taught were extremely interesting and expanded my horizons greatly. The location of Strasbourg is incredible. We were at a perfect location to travel all over Europe. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Minorites, Migrants, and Discrimination in Contemporary Europe |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Samim Akgonul |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | In this course, we learned about one of the greatest issues facing Europe: immigrants. We looked at the history of immigration in Europe and studied various migrant groups. In the process, we redefined identity and citizenship several times |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Policy Seminar on Contemporary Europe |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Kjell Torbiorn |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This was an amazing course. We looked at various countries in Europe and discussed issues facing Europe as a whole. During the course, we traveled to Luxembourg to visit the European Court of Justice and to Brussels to visit the NATO headquarters and the United States Mission to the European Union. We were given a better understanding of the Europe of the present and the future, as opposed to the Europe of the past that we tend to over-study in the US |
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