Studying in France
First things first; guess who's back back back.. back again, look who's back, back back... Holly's back - okay lets stop now (its far too early in the day and just a little bit weird to be mimicking Eminem). But - I'm back from travelling! Three weeks of copious amounts of hostels, hotels, apartments and dodgy European food, and I'm back in my little home town. My plane landed this morning from Paris.. I am SO excited to be home!
I thought I'd give you the low down on my studies in France through June and July before beginning to ramble about Inter-railing around Europe. That way my posts will have some sort of order to them.
So, if you read my last post you'll know that I attended the Ecole De Management at The University of Strasbourg for four weeks through June and July. When I applied I had no idea that I would actually get in - I just did it on a whim with no idea that they would actually consider my application. I've never been the sort of person to be top of my class or anything like that - so being accepted was so surprising. (maybe my application got switched with someone else's!) If you're wondering, I studied Business, The History of European Integration and French.
I shared a flat with another girl from my university back in England. That in itself was an experience - I've never shared a room before, let alone with someone who was basically a stranger. Thankfully, the situation turned out perfectly. She was hilarious, with a huge cackling laugh that would set me off in a fit of giggles of my own. We've turned out to be great friends - not actually a psycho like I initially feared! (such a drama queen).
I thought I'd give you the low down on my studies in France through June and July before beginning to ramble about Inter-railing around Europe. That way my posts will have some sort of order to them.
So, if you read my last post you'll know that I attended the Ecole De Management at The University of Strasbourg for four weeks through June and July. When I applied I had no idea that I would actually get in - I just did it on a whim with no idea that they would actually consider my application. I've never been the sort of person to be top of my class or anything like that - so being accepted was so surprising. (maybe my application got switched with someone else's!) If you're wondering, I studied Business, The History of European Integration and French.
I shared a flat with another girl from my university back in England. That in itself was an experience - I've never shared a room before, let alone with someone who was basically a stranger. Thankfully, the situation turned out perfectly. She was hilarious, with a huge cackling laugh that would set me off in a fit of giggles of my own. We've turned out to be great friends - not actually a psycho like I initially feared! (such a drama queen).
I went to lectures (that were often four hours long, ugh) with students from 17 other countries. Lebanon, the US, South Africa, Columbia and Argentina, to name a few! After a night of playing bullshit with a few drinks (a Russian guy supplied us with some seriously heavy measures of whisky), we all quickly became friends.
We had such a laugh while we were there. Making sure that we did something different every night and weekend - we all wanted to make the most of the little time we had together, and the incredibly unique opportunity we had been given. Okay, so we didn't study as much as we perhaps should have - trips to Germany, Switzerland and The Czech Republic may have taken a toll on our work. A few trips to a Latin night club on a boat may have also been squeezed in there too. (where I got taught to Salsa!). We ended up being absolutely knackered all of the time, I fell asleep in a few lectures! But, it was SO worth it.
Basel, Switzerland
Prague & Europa Park, Germany
Strasbourg itself is a gorgeous city, ideally placed if you want to visit neighbouring countries. It took a short bike ride to get to Germany and an hour and a half train journey to get to Switzerland. There was a park called De L'Orangerie, where we ended up spending a lot of our time. I spent my breaks from lectures there, sunbathing and attempting to read French Vogue! There was also a huge shopping centre, something I (thankfully) discovered towards the end of my stay... I spent far too much money there! The city centre is beautiful, with plenty of ice-cream parlours to dive into between beers or touristy, nik-nak shops.
If any of you get the opportunity to study abroad I would strongly recommend it. I've gained friends for life from countries all around the world, something seriously bad ass to put on my CV and a level of confidence that I would of never of thought I could have. " Nothing ventured, nothing gained" is so true, you just need to put yourself out there & who knows what could happen!
(My French is still pretty shabby though!)
Holly xxx
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Holly xxx