Why we want to do Study Abroad in Strasbourg

Okay, okay, so we (Cricket and Dave) are a bit past the point of seriously thinking about being students again -- we go to bed when students are just thinking about going out! But visiting Strasbourg recently, and in particular walking around the campus of the University Louis Pasteur, made us want to turn back the clock and find a way to seize more of the myriad opportunities that are just ripe for the picking.


The real reason we're writing this post is so that the folks in the Study Abroad office in Penn State's College of Science can show it to prospective students who might want to consider doing study abroad at the Université Louis Pasteur. Note to such students: make sure your French is not too bad if you want to consider this route! You will definitely learn quickly once you're immersed in the language, so it's not necessary to be fluent before you come, but if you want to be able to do well in your courses you should arrive in France with at least a basic facility. If you're worried, look into a French immersion program during the summer prior to coming to Strasbourg; that should be plenty of preparation.

The ULP campus itself is just a typical college campus, as in this picture of the math building -- of course Dave the statistician took that one -- but the city of Strasbourg would make this university a great place to be a student, particularly if you come from a university like Penn State that is not in a big city and want to experience a more bustling setting.

Here are some of the things we like about the city:

(1) Strasbourg is easy to get around. Walking from the Cathédrale in the heart of the city to the campus of the University Louis Pasteur, as we did with two small children following the red line in the picture from left to right (thank you Google maps!), is only three-fourths of a mile.

If you'd rather bike, then Strasbourg appears to be incredibly bike-friendly (see our previous post on this subject). Judging from the fact that we were there in February, it seems reasonable to assume that folks there bike year-round. There is clearly no need to own a car in Strasbourg, but owning a bike would not be a bad idea.

Finally, there are the trams and buses. There are five tram lines in Strasbourg and we can attest that they are really easy to use. In the picture at left, for example, you can see the "Observatoire" stop, served by two of the five lines, with the university campus in the background (that's one of the chemistry buildings up and to the left of center, the beige-colored building behind the construction equipment). Note the wide pedestrian / bicycle path on the right of the picture; the cars along this particular street get squeezed into a single lane in each direction to make room for trams, pedestrians, and cyclists.

(2) Strasbourg is Alsatian. Strasbourg is in the Alsace region of France, and if you look at a map it's obvious why Alsace has a very strong German influence. In fact, Alsace was actually part of Germany as recently as the early 1900's (and also from 1940-44, when the region was under Nazi control). Though French is very much the main language of Strasbourg today, there is also quite a bit of German, some English, and even Alsatian, which is a separate language and which is taught (as an option, not a requirement) in schools today.

This history is interesting because it means that Strasbourg has both a strong regional identity and an international flavor. As such, it can provide even more of an international experience than many study abroad programs would. On a sunny day, you might decide to walk to Germany from Strasbourg, or travel to Luxembourg or a host of other European countries that are not far off.

(3) Strasbourg has canals. Admittedly, a student might never set foot in a boat in Strasbourg, particularly the touristy type of boat that we mentioned in another blog post. Nonetheless, the canals that wind all over the city give Strasbourg a great deal of character. The numerous small bridges and canalside walkways somehow make the place feel less frenetic than cities of this size often feel, and there are some places like the area called Petite France that can only be described as "charming". I mean, who could fail to be intrigued by the house in this picture, exactly the width of this island? (Possible answer: The two girls with little legs who had to walk the long way around to reach the very cool public playground just behind it.)

(4) Strasbourg is a large city. Despite the somewhat quaint feel that the canals can give, Strasbourg is still the seventh-largest city in France and there are over 700,000 people in the greater metro area. This means the usual things about lots of things to do and see, about which you can learn more at http://www.strasbourg.fr/accueil. Some things that make Strasbourg different from a lot of big cities are its long (dating back to Roman times) history as a border city between France and Germany as well as the fact that it is the home of the European Parliament. Curious about what the European Parliament does? The English tourists sharing our sightseeing boat explained that "this is where they decide whether we can eat straight bahnahnahs or curved bahnahnahs." Ahhh. Of course.

(5) Finally, the Université Louis Pasteur is "attractive et accueillante" for foreigners. This from their international web site, where I learned that 18% of the students at ULP come from foreign countries. We had dinner while we were in Strasbourg with Michèle Debay, shown here with Molly and Betsy. As you can see, they found her très accueillante (very welcoming)! Michèle works in the international office at ULP and is extremely nice (and also very much likes to travel to the US!). So now, when you are exchanging email with her after deciding that study abroad at ULP is just too good a chance to pass up, you'll have a face to go with the name.