Bienvenue à Strasbourg !

I’ve been in Strasbourg for about a month now and am enjoying every minute! The town centre is incredibly beautiful and it’s very easy to get around. The university is great, especially having an extra week off and only a few classes in the first couple of weeks (Au revoir Strasbourg there are just too many cheap flights). If you are considering Strasbourg or are already going, I’ll try to keep this post pretty succinct and as helpful as possible!

ARRIVAL

Strasbourg is very central in Europe and so it is easy to arrive from nearby countries. I got the train from Paris which took about 2 hours, but Strasbourg has its own airport, or you could come from other airports that are nearby, e.g. Basel, Stuttgart, Frankfurt or Baden-Baden. EM also provided the option to have a buddy pick me up from the train station which was a great way to learn how to use the trams and meet a French student from EM!

STRASBOURG 

Strasbourg is a gorgeous town, there are heaps of boulangeries, it is quick to walk everywhere, and the trams are easy to use. I highly recommend going to Petit France, it is the most beautiful part of Strasbourg not including the Cathedral. There are bike lanes everywhere so if you end up living a bit further away, it would be a good idea to get a bike. Strasbourg feels very safe during the day and mostly at night. It is very central in Europe and you can be in Germany in 20 minutes by tram (groceries are much cheaper here).

HOUSING

The student accommodation is ok but is still pretty average. I chose to stay privately and I found an apartment on Housing Anywhere (I found the link on EM’s intranet: https://housinganywhere.com). I found a room in a 4 bedroom apartment with a shared kitchen and living room that I could rent for 4 months. My housemates ended up being all girls on exchange at EM also which was fantastic. I would get in early as accommodation sells out quickly and there is a huge demand (there is a chance you may not get in to the student accommodation). 

ORIENTATION

EM Strasbourg fortunately has lots of events on for exchange students. The orientation week was pretty long and was dragged out across 4 days, however there was lots of extra curricular events like scavenger hunts which were a great way to make friends. There are also Erasmus events on every Monday and Wednesday nights each week which are a good way to catchup with friends you have made and meet new people. Because there are so many events it is pretty easy to make friends, my advice would be just go to lots of events and talk to the people next to you at orientation, everyone is in the same boat and is eager to make friends. You will definitely end up running into people all around the city!

Strasbourg was a great choice for me for exchange and I have thoroughly enjoyed everything so far and am looking forward to the next few months (especially the infamous Christmas markets)!

Grace Cox
Bachelor of Information Technology
University of Strasbourg
France

For more information about the UTS Global Exchange program please visit: www.global-exchange.uts.edu.au