Settling In

It’s been almost a week since I landed in Strasbourg and I have to say that I am still in love with this city. This week has been the most stressful week that I’ve had in a long time and in spite of this I still love this city.

It’s absolutely beautiful. The architecture reminds me of a little village but it’s far from it. The city is vibrant and quite large, larger than Leicester I think. Or it may be because I’m new to the city that it looks so big compared to Leicester, which I’m used to. I still haven’t had the chance to explore due to all the things on my list that I had to complete.

After landing on Monday (31^st August), Tuesday was an incredibly stressful and challenging day. I had to check out of the hotel that I stayed in, get to my accommodation, collect my key, go to IKEA and buy the basic essentials (duvet, pillows, plates, pots, cutlery etc.). Next I had to get a phone contract sim card, (only to find out my iPhone is locked), then I had to go food shopping and buy some food and had to go back to the city to buy a new phone and a Nano sim adapter and also to make an appointment at a bank to open an account. I had to do all this with a stressed out father and a huge headache due to my brain not being able to handle all the French.

Wednesday was also stressful, but less so. I had to help my dad find his way to the airport from his hotel, then I went to IKEA again because I forgot to buy some things as we were so stressed on Tuesday, went food shopping again, and had to help my friend get a phone contract sim card and then I went home to rest.

Thursday I went to my bank appointment and opened a bank account and went to the supermarket again. Despite all my lists, I seem to always forget to buy something. I then went to see the University of Strasbourg for the first time, only to realise that I hadn’t registered and lectures start on Monday. So I had to find the history department and register.

Friday was the induction for ERASMUS students, and it was so amazing to see that I was not the only one struggling to settle in. In fact, I had done more than most people, as I had a French bank account and a French phone number, whilst some were still trying to find out where IKEA is. Saturday, I stayed in and rested and made more lists of things I had to do (e.g. find my timetable, which I finally found today). Today I went to Church, took a long afternoon nap and watched Arrow on my tablet.

I don’t plan on giving a day by day itinerary on the blog from now on, but I felt that I needed to do so for the first few days as they were the most challenging and difficult.

Week 2 here I come.