Category: Tips, Tricks, & Advice

Budgeting, lodging, planning, public transport, dorm life + more! Anything and everything our students have given advice on while studying at GTE.

Creating the Nearly Perfect School Schedule for Travel

What goes into a semester schedule at Georgia Tech-Lorraine? Let Karsten walk you through the thought process in his latest blog post!

Thursday, September 5, 2019 | Written by Karsten

When I make my class schedule for a semester, I normally try to get my classes all in the range from 9 am to about noon and make the beginning of the week heavier than the end of the week. However, this semester, I knew I would want to make my schedule a little different. Because Georgia Tech knows that students who take part in this program want to travel a lot, they give students Fridays off, for the most part, in the spring and fall semesters. The exceptions come on bank holidays and other reasons that we would have Monday off. In these cases, our Monday classes get pushed to the Friday of that week. I knew I wouldn’t want to take only electives while studying abroad, but I also did not want to take an entire course load of engineering classes. I settled by scheduling three classes that are required for my major, one class that will eventually complete my humanities requirement, and one 2000-level elective. I could have found a computer science class that begins the respective minor, but I’m still unsure if I want to do that. I talked to my advisor and the required classes that she recommended I take while abroad were ME 3322 (Thermodynamics), MATH 3670 (Probability and Statistics with Applications), and ECE 3741 (Instrum and Electronics Lab). It worked out well that Thermodynamics meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 am, Probability and Statistics meets on Mondays and Wednesdays at 3:30, and Instrum and Electronics Lab meets on Wednesdays at 9:30, and none of these hinder travel in any way. For Electronics Lab, it was convenient that I had taken the lecture part of the class (ECE 3710) in the spring, so I have some of what we’ll talk about in my recent memory. Since the other two classes are not required courses for my major, I had a bit more leeway with what I chose. I knew I wanted to begin getting my humanities out of the way and I was likely going to take a language, so since I am studying in France, I chose FREN 1001 (Elementary French 1). French class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays at 2 pm, which means I would have to be back earlier, but it’s unlikely that I would be getting back that late on a school day anyway. Lastly, I picked Science and Technology in the Modern World (HTS 2100) because it is a study of European regions and because it begins to fill up my 2000 level electives. This class meets on Tuesdays at 12:30, and therefore also doesn’t affect travel in any way due to lecture, though there are a few fieldtrips that occur on Friday throughout the semester. A normal week for me this semester starts at 2 pm on Monday and ends at 9:30 on Thursday, which technically gives me 100.5 hours per week to travel out of 168 total hours in a week. Though I won’t be using all of this time to travel, as school does come first, it is reassuring to know that if I have an easier week ahead, I can make some pretty ambitious travel plans and still make it back with plenty of time for class. 

Managing Time with Travel (Part One)

Georgia Tech-Lorraine students travel a LOT, but it’s a great way to learn time management and prioritization. Karsten has a plan in place so that he can do as much as he can while abroad!

Sunday, September 1, 2019 | Written by Karsten

Normally, when at school, I try to think about actually doing school as little as possible. While this isn’t always the smartest idea, I’d much rather hang out than do schoolwork, and therefore I can only really do schoolwork when I’m alone. Now that I’m here in France, I have even more distractions. It seems like all anybody can think about is where they’re going to travel next, and I’m the same way. Luckily, as with any typical semester, the first couple weeks—or first full week, in this case—are usually pretty slow, with the occasional homework assignment needing to be completed. Because of this, I’ve been able to make new friends, take lots of pictures (and stay on top of editing them), get the recommended eight hours of sleep, and yes, travel in both of my first two weekends (I’m currently writing this in Belgium).

The classes I’m taking this semester are Thermodynamics, Probability and Statistics, Instrum and Electronics Lab, French 1, and Science, Technology, and the Modern World. The most worrying ones are the three that are mandatory to graduate as a mechanical engineer: Thermodynamics, Probability and Statistics, and Instrum and Electronics Lab. These classes, though fair according to past students, will be very difficult to get an A in if I don’t take them seriously and make time to review the material. Thermodynamics is a flipped classroom, so in class we’re solving problems and outside of class we’re watching lectures. There are eighteen evaluations to be completed throughout the semester, and if they all get completed successfully, we get an A. Probability and Statistics is heavily based on the midterms and the final, but if I’m able to stay on top of the homework and not miss any classes, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Instrum and Electronics Lab is based around lab quizzes and lab reports, so if Jake and I are able to get the labs done in class, we should be set. French 1 will be the most useful class I take while I’m in France, because, well, I don’t know any French yet. Maybe by the end of the semester, I’ll actually understand what’s going on around me. Lastly, as long as I stay up to date on my readings in Science, Technology, and the Modern World, the class should be manageable.

The method of attack that I think is best for managing my time is to get as much work as I can done during the first three nights of the week, and then doing my reading, writing, and eventually studying while I’m on the train. So far, that’s what I’ve done, and it seems to be like the best idea. Hopefully, by managing school this way, I’ll be able to keep my stress levels low and stay ahead on my work (although I already feel a little behind—hopefully I can work to feel caught up this week).

Arrival, Orientation, and Excitement!

Check out the first blog from Karsten – the new Georgia Tech-Lorraine student blogger for the fall – on his thoughts and emotions as he traveled across the Atlantic for the first time!

Wednesday, August 21, 2019 | Written by Karsten

Overview

Forty-eight hours have passed since I arrived in France, which means that seventy-two hours ago, I was asleep in my bed at home. Since Sunday morning, I have packed, flown solo for the first time, forgotten every bit of French I thought I knew, eaten six croissants and five pain au chocolat in a very short time frame, slept for a total of fifteen hours, and have frequented the Cora hypermarket more times than I care to admit.

Travel

Travelling without family or friends for the first time is definitely stressful, especially when going overseas. Even though I have traveled several times in my life, I second guessed myself and my flying experience. Thankfully, I flew out of Augusta Regional Airport, which only has six gates, and is therefore never crowded and would take a talented individual to get lost in. Once I connected in Charlotte, however, it was a different story. I needed to go from Terminal E to Terminal B, so I traveled all the way across the Charlotte Douglas International Airport only to find that the flight had been delayed and moved minutes before boarding should have started. Terminal D, all the way back by E, was my new destination. Once we boarded, the flight was uneventful and we landed on schedule. This was where I met up with other students going to Georgia Tech-Lorraine for the first time. There were ten people from GTL on my flight, so we went through customs and found our bags as a group. We somehow managed to find our meeting location for the shuttle without anyone speaking a word of French.

Arrival at Lafayette

The shuttle to Lafayette, where we are housed, took roughly three hours. When I stepped off of the shuttle, I was met with gorgeous weather. A dramatic drop in humidity and the shift from Atlanta’s ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit to Metz’s seventy-five was a welcome surprise. Long sleeves and hoodies are quite comfortable to wear outside. That night (Monday August 19, 2019), there was a pizza party encouraging us to meet new people. Everyone I talked to seemed excited to be here, despite the exhaustion from jet lag and general travel fatigue.

Orientation

Tuesday morning, everyone went to the building neighboring Georgia Tech-Lorraine campus and had coffee, juice, croissants, and pain au chocolat, which I had more than my fair share of. We then went into the auditorium and heard multiple presentations, covering the topics of safety, school, research projects, and more. It was a miracle that no one fell asleep. After, some faculty took us on tours, though it seemed unnecessary, besides which class rooms were where. After all of the introductions and orientation, we had one minute to collect what we wanted from a donation pile that previous students had left. This was the most nerve-racking thing that has happened so far, as we were supposed to grab stuff that we didn’t have but that we needed. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize what exactly I needed until after this event took place.

Thoughts

I’m ecstatic to have the opportunity to study abroad and to get to see so many of the places and events that I could have only dreamed of seeing before, but I’m also sad that I won’t see my family and friends from Georgia Tech and from home for so long. However, thanks to modern conveniences such as FaceTime, calls, and texts, I’m only really a call (and spotty service) away. I’m looking forward to being immersed in French culture and being able to call France home for a semester, as well as making friends with people whom I probably would not have otherwise met.

No “Go, Go, Go” Mindset

Students are always “go go go” as Noa says, but she took a lower-key approach to her weekend so that she could get some school stuff done and enjoy some time in Metz with friends!

Hello –

So you must be thinking: you travel a lot! We get the abroad part, but are you actually studying? What goes on during the week?

That in all honesty is a fair question. While I’m usually out of town Thursday night through Sunday, I do actually spend some time in downtown Metz and stay on top of my school work. Since everyone here is in this “go, go, go” mindset of seeing everything Europe has to offer, I think that the teachers have eased up a bit here in comparison to studying in the States. I also believe that part of the lack of stress on the school front here is because aside from classes, I don’t really have the same commitments I did back in school. In Boulder I was working several jobs, a part of multiple extracurriculars, and tried to balance a way heavier class load which my classes here don’t really compare to. Don’t get me wrong, my classes are still intellectually challenging, and I have coursework and projects to complete, but I am a lot less stressed than I am when I am back home. Another nice part is that each class is only twice a week, which gives me time to do all of the other things I’ve described in past blogs.

This past week I decided it was probably in my best interest to travel less. I’ve been pretty exhausted – and so is my bank account, especially after planning and reserving everything for the month of April. Also this past week I had a fairly large portion of my CS project due, and so I spent most of Friday and Saturday working on my code. Saturday morning I was planning on taking a Flixbus to Paris but when I woke up at 6am and saw that there was a train later at night for cheap, I canceled my bus and spent the rest of the day doing homework. It was really nice because my friend Taylor stayed back in Metz most of the weekend too, so we got dinner downtown before my train left. We ate at this burrito place which was actually pretty good… nothing compared to burritos back in the States, but a good temporary replacement. The reason I went to Paris that evening was because my boyfriend Danny is on his spring break, and I was going to meet him Sunday afternoon, so I thought I’d make a little day trip out of it. I stayed in a hostel that was fairly nice, but I have never in my life experienced that much noise from other people at night. The man underneath me was snoring so loudly I thought he might die, and the girl in the bed that was connected to mine kept moving so intensely that all the beds collectively shook. It was quite challenging to stay asleep. Especially when the entire 8 person room all woke at the same time at approximately 4am and started packing up their stuff, “quietly” whispering to each other, and stomping out. I tried to sleep in since check out was at 12pm, but woke up to the cleaning ladies stripping the beds at 9am. It was a truly bizarre experience, but I hopped out of bed and made my way to a breakfast place.

After my açai bowl experience in Lisbon last week I kind of had to relive it. But the açai bowl I had in Paris was nowhere near the fresh taste or cheap price that I had had in Lisbon. Regardless, it was pretty yummy, and I headed to a nice park where I finished my book I’ve been reading and then bought some new jeans at a mall nearby. I promised myself I would finish the book before buying a new one so after some lunch (I had a burger of course, at Steak-n-shake, which I found out they have in Paris) I headed to Shakespeare and Company to buy another book. I ended up getting the book Boomerang by Michael Lewis, which is the same author as the book I had read before (Flash Boys, would recommend). Once I bought the book I grabbed some boba next door and headed to the train station where I met Danny, and we trained back home to Metz.

It was finally nice to have a laid back weekend, especially because the month of April will be very travel-heavy for me.

Love, Noa

A Day in Metz

Future Georgia Tech-Lorraine students and travel enthusiasts, pay attention! In her latest blog post, Noa gives a run down of some of the history and activities Metz offers!

Metz is honestly a great place to be. Everyday I go downtown I discover another nook or little cafe that makes me wish I had a little bit more time here.

While I wish I had known more in the past, I think it is important that I share with you all what I do know in case you find yourselves in Metz.

The first place I would recommend to go in Metz, and somewhere I visit quite often, is a coffee shop called Fox. It’s situated about a 5 minute walk from the train station, with little lights hung around the door and hip decor throughout the entire two rooms that it takes up. When I walk in, I usually first find a chair to sit (by an outlet if I know I’ll be doing work for a while) and then maneuver my way to order a drink. The coffee shop is usually busy at almost all times of the day, which makes me wonder sometimes how the French have time for this. I usually order a Black Chai Latte Glace, which is an iced chai with a shot of espresso, and then sometimes I treat myself to one of the infinite pastries they have to offer. The best thing I ever had to eat there was a bagel with brie, spinach, and balsamic which looked and sounded not necessarily incredible, but it was so delicious. They’ve only had it one time even though I go there so often and I’m hoping they have it again before I leave. After spending an hour or so at Fox, whether you are chatting with a friend or doing some work, you can walk to the main area of downtown, or where I sometimes take the bus (to the République bus stop).

Once you’re downtown you’ll find yourself on a main stretch of shops, with every store you can think of. If you’re trying to fit in to France and find yourself wearing more dresses than usual, then Calzedonia is a chain store where you can find all of the tights and leggings you may need to accompany your newly found outfit. After continuing on that street you’ll eventually arrive to Place St Jacques, where you can see a lot of restaurants, bars, or coffee shops to visit. You’ll also see the Klub, which is the local movie theater of Metz. I’ve yet to see a movie there, but it was recently remodeled and seems to be a great place to catch a movie.

If you walk a little bit past that you will run into the most beautiful cathedral that takes my breath away every time I walk up to it. Recently I actually went inside and visited the crypt and the treasury. It’s only two euros for students and is really fascinating actually. They have information to read about the history of the cathedral and about all the different stories of all the cathedrals in France. I didn’t realize how many replicas of different cathedrals there were in France, and we even had a nice guide explain to us the influences behind certain statues and show us the impact that Germans had on the church as well, since Metz was occupied by Germany for quite some time.

You could honestly spend a long time in the cathedral, but when you’re ready to leave, there is a great indoor market right next  door that while it smells strongly of fish it is still fun to see all the different fresh food vendors in Metz. Nearby you can walk alongside a beautiful river, and even catch a ballet at the Opera. I was able to see an opera/ballet through GTL, and while it wasn’t my favorite, it was definitely a good experience.

If you want a more modern side of Metz, you can definitely visit the mall Muse, which has a lot more dining options, but overall I really like the older, downtown side of Metz. While I spend so much time out of town, I also do enjoy my time spent in town, and I would definitely recommend someone to come visit Metz because I  have grown to love it.

There Is No “S” in Hotel

Noa gave hoStels another try during her trip to London, and this time around it was much better! Check out her latest blog post to get some ideas on what to do during your trip to London.

Hello again!

I am now the self-proclaimed cheap flight-finding queen. After my 20 euro trip to Milan, I have become slightly obsessed with finding cheap flights because they are less stressful than trains. With trains they can just sort of cancel them, give you no other options at 1 AM, and when you ask for other options they pretend to Google things for 25 minutes until telling you in German that you could take a taxi for 400 euros.

That being said, I quickly found a cheap trip to London for the next weekend! My friend and I decided we would give a hostel another chance since it wasn’t as last minute as Amsterdam. Also, for those who don’t know, one of my best most avid readers, my 12 year old sister, kindly sent me an edit saying, “you wrote hotel wrong, you put an s in it btw just lettin’ you know.” Just in case any other 12-year-olds reading my blog are confused, hostels are a version of a hotel that you do not want to stay in. The s stands for “super bad.” 

When we got to the hostel in London, called the Wombat, it was actually “Super great!”  Everything was clean, the staff was really nice, and there were no cats in our beds. We got in really late so we went to bed, and the next morning we had a free breakfast at the hostel before we all split up. I visited Oxford Street and walked around all of the shops until I met up with my friend in Chinatown to drink boba. I may be inconsistent about posting my blogs, but at least I am consistent about my nutrition. From there we decided to head over to Camden Market, which I absolutely loved. It reminded me of Pike Place Market in Seattle a bit, but also those indoor jewelry markets in NYC. Definitely up my alley. I love unique jewelry and art vendors, so it was really fun to see.

After the markets we met up with our third friend at an incredible taco restaurant. I cannot remember for the life of me what it was called, but they were exactly what I needed. The most exciting part of London for me was that a few days before with the help of my families convincing, I bought a ticket to see the Book of Mormon. I was worried spending a lot of money on a ticket, but let me tell you that after watching that show I would pay triple what I had paid for. It was by far the funniest show I have ever seen. So crude and hilarious, and the cast was so talented. I have not stopped listening to the music ever since, and I can’t wait to watch it again one day.

To end the night my friends and I sat at a jazz speakeasy, which was really nice. We met a good group of people that had recently graduated from Cambridge, and we spent the rest of the night hanging out with them. The next morning we woke up after only a few hours of sleep, walked around Notting Hill and Kensington Palace, and headed back for the flight home.

These weekends are extremely quick but every one of them has left me with memories that I hope will last me a lifetime. I am feeling really lucky recently and am thankful for everyone in my life. I’ll definitely let you all know about my spring break as soon as I have another chance to write!

For now, thanks for reading!

Meet Elizabeth – Grad Student Extraordinaire!

Getting your Master’s give you the opportunity to concentrate on in-depth topics, but getting your Master’s at Georgia Tech means you can also go to GT-Lorraine! That was important for Elizabeth, who is taking full advantage of her first semester abroad!

This past week school has definitely started to pick up a little bit. While I am still spending time getting to know Metz and traveling around, I’m still my good old stressed-out self and making sure I’m understanding all my school materials before I leave on a weekend trip. I visited both Amsterdam and Paris, which I’ll share about another time, but for this week I got to interview two different graduate students about their experiences at Georgia Tech Lorraine!

The first student I met is Elizabeth, who is an Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) graduate student with a concentration on telecom. She did ECE as an undergraduate student at University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) with an English minor, before coming to Georgia Tech in Atlanta for graduate school.

Part of the reason she actually chose Georgia Tech was because of the fact they have Georgia Tech-Lorraine as an option. She is doing her graduate degree at the Atlanta campus, and because most graduate schools don’t have study abroad opportunities and she wasn’t able to study abroad in her undergrad, Georgia Tech was the perfect fit.

When I asked why she wanted to go to grad school, she shared that it’s mostly because she needs more time to figure out what exactly she wants to do, and get more specialized in ECE. There are so many things that she wants to have more specific knowledge in, since undergrad is more surface-level and graduate school is more focused.

The graduate classes sound pretty similar in their structure to undergraduate courses, but most graduate students take around 3 classes and have a strong focus. Elizabeth is in her second semester and is taking the start-up lab course, 1 online class (wireless networks), and a network security class with Dr. Voss. So far she likes network security a lot since it covers interesting topics such as encryption and all things that she feels that she has seen before, but didn’t fully understand at the time.

The startup class is also really interesting for her and she said that, “It’s cool because we have a startup project and pitch it to people in France to see what they think.” It really gives the hands on experience and ties in her post grad school interests.

Regarding her interests after graduate school, she shared that she is interested more in telecom which is a change for her because she has always done software related studies. When I asked more about that she said, “I like to find out what exactly is going underneath the surface, and telecom looks into that.”  After having worked at big companies and very small companies, she prefers the small companies because she doesn’t like the bureaucracy of big companies, and with a small startup she feels you get to take more initiative and see a project from start to end.

Lastly, when I asked her about how life was just living in Metz, her excitement was what I’ve been feeling during my first couple weeks as well: “I never would have actually considered living abroad until I came here and now I’m like, wait, this is fun!”

Trying to Make Metz Home: The Adjustment Period

Moving to a new country for a semester is no joke, and Noa hit a few bumps on the way, but it looks like smooth sailing from here on out! Check out her latest blog!

Written by Noa Margalit

My first day in Metz was super exciting. It still hadn’t occurred to me that I was actually here, and to be completely honest the next couple of days after that I learned a lot about myself. The adjustment was rather difficult. It feels strange that I’ve only been here for two weeks, because it feels like a lifetime.

On the first day of class, I stayed up pretty late cause of my jetlag, set my alarm wrong, and it never went off. I woke up very late and thoroughly confused, and after a few minutes realized that I had missed the bulk of orientation. Luckily, I made it in time for the tours and other important information, even if I tripped on the stairs in front of a ton of people and felt like a hot mess. The glow of being in a new place was kind of going away, and I barely ate anything the first day. I didn’t really enjoy CROUS, the dining hall here, since they served some couscous and weird meats which I did not try. It was fine for the price (3.25 euro) but I quickly learned during the week that there are other cheap food options that I actually will eat.

I think that the hardest adjustment was that I felt like I was spending a lot of money on things I didn’t really want to buy but needed and wasn’t eating like I am used to. I didn’t really think about it when I was back home, but I had to buy pots,pans, and cleaning supplies and it added up pretty fast. I budgeted myself out pretty well for this trip but I did not anticipate spending so much within the first week. Food wise, the first trip to Cora I bought some food I like, but didn’t really think about cooking anything and of COURSE my refrigerator froze all of my food cause the settings were off and so I ate soggy lettuce for that week. I was really adamant about eating everything that I bought because I didn’t want to be wasteful.

On the second day, I felt like I needed to get away from the area we live in and took a bus downtown which made me feel so much better. Downtown Metz is absolutely beautiful and seeing all of the quaint shops and things to do made me remember why I came here in the first place. I also ate a hamburger at this place called Burger Kebab which was really good – and the meal was only 5 euros! You will learn quickly through my blogs that I love hamburgers and fries, and they will probably be my only source of food (I’ve had it three times already). I also started meeting the girls that live on my floor, and they are all so welcoming and fun to adventure with. The bus system here is super easy to figure out and the train station is absolutely beautiful. It was actually voted the most beautiful in France! Here is a picture of it:

While the first week was definitely an adjustment, I learned that while I am definitely a social person, I also really need my time to myself. Taking a day to myself and not really talking to anyone was helpful, since I’ve never really lived in a dorm and needed some alone time. I also definitely shifted my sleeping patterns while here and have been going to bed rather late to stay in touch with people back home. Really thankful my classes start later in the day.

Class wise, I am taking an Electrical Engineering course, a Probability class, a Mobile Applications class, and a French class. I love my French class because it is improving my French so much, and we get to visit downtown Metz once every other week to learn more about the city and the associations within the city. It has been an excellent way to get to know the area so far. I also am one of the only people in my group of friends to speak some French, so I definitely have been forced out of my comfort zone trying to communicate with other people (like buying them sim cards, getting train reservations, and other daily interactions).

The last thing I did was join an Ultimate Frisbee team here! It’s a team of mostly adults and they play indoors (which was rough) but they were so nice and it was fun to do something completely unaffiliated with anyone I know. Playing was really exciting, and it was funny to see them practice the same drills and try to understand everything they were saying in French. I’ll probably continue to do that while I’m here!

Well, I have to say that the first week was definitely an adjustment, but I feel so much better now. I finally figured out which groceries to buy (got some tortillas woop!) and found more of a daily routine. My friends and I even found an adorable and hip coffee shop downtown to do homework at!

While I’m glad this adjustment period is mostly over, it was definitely the best way to learn about myself and figure out how to make this place feel more like home.

Oh, The Places You’ll Go (Like Cora)

Meet Noa – the Georgia Tech-Lorraine student blogger for Spring 2019! She’s already settling in nicely, and is ready to take on the semester. Check out her first blog!

Written by Noa Margalit

Bonjour! Salut! Oh la la une baguette! Je m’appelle Noa Margalit and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to blog about my experience at GTL and provide some insight into the things I wish I knew even a day ago.

I wish I could have told myself yesterday or even this morning what my first evening at GTL would be like. After waking up at 3AM in Denver, having an 8 hour layover in Dallas, and finally making it to Paris, I honestly arrived feeling pretty detached. I’ve never left home before alone for such a long period of time, and I’m a transient student from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Having lived with my parents for this long, leaving was pretty emotional. While I’m sad to leave all the close people in my life behind for four months, it’s about time I got out of my parent’s basement. (Just kidding, I live in the backyard, which is a HUGE upgrade from the basement.) Luckily on my flight there were two other students who were from Georgia Tech, and while we weren’t able to sit together on the flight, it was nice to already have some familiar faces when we landed. I also am really glad that another student from CU-Boulder is on this trip, but I also quickly found out that some people don’t know anyone, and we all started meeting people pretty quickly.

I was on the shuttle which (WOAH) took 4 hours when the train only takes an hour and a half. Not gonna lie though, I really am glad I did because I took up two seats, fell asleep, and felt a whole lot better afterwards. Maybe don’t do this though because I’m currently up at a very late hour writing this blog post due to my inevitable jet lag and my lack of attempt in trying to stop it.

When we arrived to the dorms (I’m living in Aloes), we signed in, got our room keys and made our way to our rooms. I live in a suite with my own cute room and a shared bathroom. My suitemate, whom I met a few hours ago, is from Tunisia and doesn’t speak much English, which will honestly be great since I need to practice my French a lot. I tried as much as I could today to speak in French but it’s pretty nerve wracking, and I felt like a small child who couldn’t formulate coherent sentences. I know it’ll get better, and I am looking forward to being able to speak more confidently.

I spent about two hours getting my dorm looking nice, showering and getting comfortable. I am really happy I brought a tapestry because the walls here are pretty bare, and I also was glad that I brought my favorite toiletries from Target (which I can now justifiably pronounce that as Tarjay since I’m in France). It was nice to have those immediately after all that travelling and I made sure to underpack on clothes because I know myself, and know that I will convince myself to buy a lot more clothes than I need.

My cute room!

Afterwards we had some weird pizza, set up the internet which works well in ALOES, and then 3 other students on my floor and I decided to head to the supermarket. We went to Cora, which is like a massive Walmart where all of my dreams came true. It’s only about a 7 minute walk from the dorm which is super manageable, and I brought my backpack to use since they charge for bags, and it was easier to carry that way anyway.

The first thing I bought was sheets for my bed since I really didn’t like the ones provided by ALOES. They gave us two fitted sheets and I’m definitely a duvet cover kind of girl. I also got a power strip since there are three outlets in the room and you need to unplug the fridge to use the microwave or the desk lights?? Problem solved, thanks Cora. I also got a BAGUETTE! For .90 Euros! And CAMEMBERT. And some yogurt, cause yogurt here is good. I don’t know why, since I hate yogurt in the States, but the French do yogurt right. The people at the supermarket were super nice, even though we were slightly overwhelmed by the monstrosity that is Cora. My French penpal from high school was saying people in the Northern areas of France are nicer than other areas, and even though it’s only day one I am feeling good about that statement. While I wasn’t sure about going to Cora on the first night, I’m really glad I did since now I’m sitting in my bed with my new linens and feeling a little bit more familiar with the area and the people.

But you know what is most important? That I had some of my baguette. (Fine. A lot of my baguette.) This is going to be fun.

Looking Back on the Se-Metz-ter

In the spirit of the new year, Maddie has some reflections on her semester at Georgia Tech-Lorraine, appreciating all the good that came her way and advising future students as to what she could have done better. As the spring semester students get ready to leave today, check out her blog reflecting on the fall 2019 semester!

How could I end my time at Georgia Tech Lorraine with anything other than a bad pun? I can’t believe that the semester is already over, it seems to have flown by so quickly. Now that I’m back at home in the USA, it practically feels like I never even left—I’d almost believe that GTL was one long, crazy, wonderful dream if I didn’t have the pictures that proved otherwise! Thankfully, it wasn’t a dream, and I’m so thankful for the friends I’ve made, the memories I have, and the growth I’ve experienced that I know will last.

At Mont-Saint-Michel on my very first weekend trip!

This semester, I rode on a total of 64 trains and 4 flights, visited 10 countries (8 of which I’d never been to before), took 5 classes and 16 exams, and consumed more baguettes than I’m comfortable counting, all over the course of 17 weeks. It was definitely a whirlwind! More important than the numbers, though, is the quality of the incredible experiences I had. There were the big, exciting events, like visiting Mont-Saint-Michel, climbing a mountain, or spending a day in the Lego House. Then there were also the more everyday things, like the food eaten, games played, conversations had, and the many, many jokes laughed at. There were the hours spent in the library and in the student lounge at GTL, and the interesting things learned—from delving into society’s relationship with technology, to calculating that yes, wearing a tin foil hat actually would shield you from certain electromagnetic wave frequencies. All these things together—the highs and the lows, the big things and the small—helped to make my abroad experience as great as it was!

Sarah and I, halfway up the Schilthorn summit in Switzerland!
Laughing at dinner in Portugal over the long break 🙂

As to what I would have done differently, in general, I wish that I had taken more opportunities to push my own limits. Many of the experiences that I’m most grateful for or where I feel like I learned the most are where I was outside of my comfort zone: experiences like practicing my French “in the field,” or speaking to strangers and learning about their country and culture. (Not to mention hiking up a mountain; that was several thousand feet above my comfort zone!) I can think of many instances where I painstakingly composed sentences in French, about to pose a question or try my hand (tongue?) at a conversation, but chickening out at the last second. It may have saved me a couple of trips to Auchan, as well as given me a huge confidence boost, if I had only plucked up the courage to ask a stranger, “Excuse me, do you know where the bouillon cubes are?” Similarly, striking up conversations with people I didn’t know, while intimidating, usually resulted in an interesting conversation where I learned something new about the country or culture I was visiting. The funny thing is, every time I did go for it in these scenarios, I never regretted it. The worst thing that can happen is that someone won’t understand you or they won’t respond, which, although awkward, otherwise has no negative impact on you whatsoever. Bottom line: with things like these, if it scares you, you should probably go for it!

My blue octopus creation at the LEGO House in Denmark!

Although I regret never taking a solo trip to explore a new place on my own, I’m glad that I took a couple of weekends in Metz just for me when I needed to slow down and relax. GTL is filled with lots of fun and excitement, but all that activity gets pretty tiring, so I would recommend setting aside enough time to recuperate. Plus, Metz is such a beautiful city anyway that it’s a wonderful place to spend your time! Studying at Fox Café, walking along the Moselle, and taking in the Metz Cathedral are just a few of the activities you can do that are both fun and a relaxing break from the frequently fast pace of weekend travels.

I can’t even count how many great experiences that I’m grateful I had over the course of this semester. I’m really glad that I visited such a variety of countries that I’d never seen before, and that I had the chance to experience and learn about a wide breadth of cultures. On a more everyday note, I’m also happy that I branched out in the cooking department and tried lots of new recipes—my favorite dish that I made was Thai coconut chicken soup! I do wish that I had gotten to know more people better; there are tons of amazing people at GTL that I wish I had the chance to spend more time with. At the same time, though, I’m really glad that I got to know the people that I did spend lots of time with so well. (And that I’ve accumulated so many funny pictures of them sleeping on trains!)

 I’m so grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to come to GTL and experience how amazing it is. I know I’ll treasure these memories for life. Thanks so much for following along with me on this journey, and best of luck to any future GTL students reading—I hope you’re ready to have the experience of a lifetime!