Travel report Strasbourg

HT19 - 2

If France is your destination, as it was for me, then I strongly recommend going to Strasbourg. The city and university have a great experience to offer for the party person, the good student or the adventures one. The party person will find several bars and clubs that are closing at 7 am, events with live music or DJs and friendly people who are easy to talk with. The ESN will provide events like Wednesday’s club at The Living Room. From partying to studying, EM business school have a great set of courses for all kinds of interest within management and economics.

I complement my studies from Sweden with Finance, the European economy, and my favorite one Business Negotiation. If you want to learn more about the European parliament, take the course introduction to European economic policy, where you will have a half-day case at the Parliament (the parliament is open for the public as well).

When you want to leave the studies for a while and explore the city and the areas around it, then could I recommend the tour provided by the ESN group. They will tell you about the history and take you to the beautiful places in the city, as “petit France” (little France) and the old city defenses. Located in an area called Alsace which is famous for its history, white wine culture and cozy atmospheres will provide a fantastic opportunity to discover a vast variety of things. ESN group will provide one white wine tasting tour and one Christmas tour which I strongly recommend. You will meet new people on the bus and have the possibility to see the villages around Strasbourg. They also work hard to provide trips to the other capitals in Europe for the ones who want to travel around. I did not attend these trips but heard plenty of good things about them. Keep in mind that almost all the courses have mandatory attendance (you have to sign your name at the lectures) so try to manage your courses and the schedule if you want to travel.

But what about accommodation? In the middle of the summer will you be able to apply for student dorms that are affordable but hard to get. I finished my application within 3 minutes, and I didn’t get it. It wasn’t until 4 days before departure I finally found a room in a shared apartment from https://housinganywhere.com/. It was out of pure luck I got a place in the end; another site is https://www.leboncoin.fr/ where you can find a place.

Beyond the housing problem did I experience a lack of information from the university during my semester. Some professors didn’t hand out the PowerPoints after the lectures or informed the rules regarding exams (you need to have a pen and not a pencil!). The level of the studies was on a mediocre level even for the graduate courses so do not be afraid about any language barriers or pre-knowledge. But this was just minor things which only provided the opportunity to spend more time enjoying my visit.