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.

Mundanities: The Dreaded Dishes

Written by Valerie

Eating is a fundamental part of human existence. Believe it or not, students attending Georgia Tech-Europe must cook for themselves. Hypothetically speaking, you could avoid cooking and buy all your meals, but that would undeniably be very expensive to do for the entire semester. Alternatively, you could be like one of my new friends on campus and try your very best to live off items strictly located in the snack aisle of the grocery store. However, I recommend going grocery shopping. 

In this week’s post, we will be covering the second topic in my “Mundanities” series: the dreaded dishes. I’ll cover everything you need to know about this basic activity, so you have all the information necessary to make your life easier. I know doing the dishes seems pretty self- explanatory and it is probably not a new task for the majority of you. However, the living situation at Georgia Tech-Europe might be a completely distinct dynamic from something you have experienced before. 

One thing that I didn’t know about the Lafayette dorms is that every generation of residents leaves their dishes in the cabinets for the next group of residents. It is almost like a fun game of seeing who got left with what kitchen utensils since everyone has a different collection of things. Regardless of what you inherited from the previous resident; it will more than likely be a small quantity. For example, I have a pair of forks, a pair of knives, and a single spoon. Since we all live alone in our dorms, there really isn’t a need for a large quantity of every piece of kitchenware. However, when it comes down to the practicality of not having a large quantity of dishes to work with, it is definitely more inconvenient. This is because every time you cook, you nearly use all the dishes you have at your disposal. This means you have to make sure everything is clean because you won’t be able to make anything else once you get hungry again. 

In one sense, this is a good thing. Constantly making sure you have all your dishes clean at all times pushes you to have a well-kept kitchen. With our busy schedule as students, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the household chores. They are the easiest and least pressing items on your to-do list, so logically, these activities often get neglected. However, maintaining a clean kitchen is a proactive way to cultivate an efficient studying and living environment. 

Become a Collector

Written by Valerie

It is an undeniable fact that if you choose to study abroad, you will have an unforgettable experience. As with all unforgettable experiences, we tend to want to have a way to remember them. For some, that may be in the form of a souvenir, a collectible item, or photos. Regardless of what you choose, it should be something personal that holds value to you. Considering this, I would like to inform all those interested parties to think ahead and start brainstorming how you would want to document your time abroad. Everything regarding the program goes by so fast and when you finally arrive at GTE, you will start traveling to new destinations almost immediately. This means that when the lightbulb goes off in your brain telling you to pick a uniform habit to remember your adventures by, it may be too late to start, or you will have some trips that are not included in the collection. 

The way I am choosing to remember my trips is by collecting at least one postcard from every country I visit, but ideally, I would get one per city. I know collecting postcards does not sound like an original or unique thought, but they are valuable to me. I mentioned before that I have a friend who is older than me and studied abroad while she attended Georgia State University. This friend inspired me to study abroad through the postcards she would send me from Italy and Japan. So now postcards are going to be my way of bridging a connection with others by sharing my thoughts and experiences from across the Atlantic. 

In addition to finding something that is tailored to your interests, it is important to consider the practical aspect of it as well. When you travel within the program, you always pack lightly. Anything more than a backpack will make it increasingly more difficult for you in your travels because travel days are filled with lots of walking, tight spaces on trains or planes, and less-than- favorable terrain such as cobblestone paths or endless staircases. To put this in a better perspective, I’ll share an example from a friend in the program. He is collecting snow globes from every country he visits. While snow globes are super unique and beautiful to admire, they are made of glass, weighted at the base, and filled with liquid. This makes snow globes very fragile and heavy, making it more inconvenient to bring back to campus.  

Regardless, at the end of the semester, he will have a beautiful collection of snow globes to illustrate all the locations of his travels. However, when the time comes to pack all our things into suitcases, make our way to the airport, and approach the check-in counter, our luggage will have to be weighed. We all dread that moment when we might face an overweight cost if the luggage is a couple of pounds over the limit. It is already hard enough to fit an entire semester’s worth of things needed for your survival into a few suitcases Therefore, you don’t want to choose a souvenir that will make your life harder further down the road. 

When Days Off Are a Bad Thing

Written by Valerie

After I came back from Barcelona, I started to feel a little tickle in my throat. That little tickle developed into a cold with a cough that I had for about a week, give or take. It didn’t exactly come as a surprise when you consider how many people we came into contact with to make the trip. We had to take two buses, two high-speed trains, two planes, and the metros in Barcelona and Paris. I also have to take into consideration that now is the time when the seasons are changing. As summer transitions into fall, the leaves start to change color, the breeze gets cooler, and the germs begin to spread. I wasn’t alone in my moment of illness — there were a handful of other students at GTE that felt the same way. I decided the best thing for me and my health was to stay in my apartment while my group of friends traveled to Berlin for the weekend.

I know what you’re all thinking. Yes of course there were a couple of moments where I felt like I was missing out. I missed out on bonding moments with friends, experiencing a new culture, and the sights Germany has to offer, but that is only if you think about what I gave up. If you think about what I gained, then it starts to look different. I thought the weekend was going to feel so painfully long since I was going to spend those days without any social interaction, but I actually enjoyed it. Some time to yourself is important every once in a while, especially in an environment like the one a Georgia Tech campus cultivates. So much time during the weekdays is devoted to attending classes, doing homework, and studying that any time you have leftover is spent cooking and cleaning. When the weekend arrives, you pack up your travel bag and hit the trains for whatever journey you are embarking on. As you can begin to see, life can get pretty fast-paced around here. It is too easy to get wrapped up in the routine that self-care, along with the status of your living space, can slip through the cracks of your tight schedule.

Sick days or days off for students are typically always something we enjoy. Personally, even if I was sick and had to stay home, under all that congestion and painful headaches would be my joy for not having to be at school and/or work. I can’t speak for everyone when I say that, but I think we can all agree on our appreciation for days off whether it is for holidays or assigned vacation days. However, under my current circumstances, breaks from traveling and the busy life of a student studying abroad in Europe are typically not by choice. Whether you stay in because of a cold, to save money, or another personal reason, remember that it can be a positive experience if you want it to be.

Trains, Planes, Metros, and More

Written by Valerie

Before coming to Europe, the closest thing even resembling a metro system I had ever been on was the plane train in the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. If any of you have flown into or out of Atlanta, then it is very likely you have used this train system and know it is very fast and useful. The news of me never having been on a train or metro came as a surprise to many of my friends considering I grew up on the outskirts of metropolitan Atlanta. To this very day, I have yet to ride the Marta around the city. I was always so afraid to have to navigate through the stations alone that I never gave it a try. In addition to that, I have thankfully always had a car at my disposal to get anywhere I needed to go.

Now I am in Europe, the land of abundant and intricate transnational railways and other forms of public transportation. I can’t simply avoid using public transportation here because I am afraid of not knowing how to navigate it and risk getting lost. As a long-stay visitor, I must do as the Europeans do and get a metro card. So far it has been a great experience but also a very humbling one. I could not possibly think of a better adjective to describe some of my experiences in trying to catch a bus or train in these cities than humbling. On the five long-distance trips I have been on so far, I have had to run to make it on time for four of them. That is four times too many. Everywhere I have traveled, I have only taken a backpack and a purse. No matter which way you look at it, there is unfortunately no way to look good while running with a backpack on. Hot take or not, it is a difficult task and much more so to do it in a fashionable manner. Then, if you are lucky, you make it and get on your train. However, if you are anything like me, you will walk onto the peaceful train car panting, winded, and sweaty with messy hair gasping for air. I thought I was a decently fit person when I was in the United States, but I was wrong. I learned that the issue was that I was never properly put to the test.

Despite all those moments that I think back to and laugh at, taking public transportation has been an enriching experience. You will see some of the most breathtaking views from the windows of a train that you may never get to see otherwise. There can be so many changes in scenery in a single ride. One minute you are watching the cows graze as you fly through the countryside and the next you are entering the city limits of a major metropolitan city like Paris.

Retiring my car keys was not easy on me, and I miss being behind the wheel in the comfort of my own car. However, there is a time and place for every lived experience and now is my time to enjoy being a passenger.

Mundanities: Laundry

Written by Valerie

Before having gone abroad myself, my initial thoughts surrounding the concept were always the same. I thought it was glamorous. How could it not be? A bunch of young adults living in another country together while being full-time students during the weekdays and full-time travelers on the weekends sounds almost cinematic. While this remains a reality about studying abroad, other key aspects are just as important a part of the life of a student abroad.

While you are not in your dorm room and somewhere outside your current country of residence, there is mundaneness awaiting your attention when you get back: those everyday household activities that some of us go to great lengths to avoid while others of us choose to do when we want to procrastinate our homework. Nevertheless, I’m here to talk about what tackling some of those chores looks like while attending Georgia Tech Europe in a multiple-part series about the mundane activities during life inside the dorm. Keep in mind the following information is solely based on my opinion and everyone’s experience is different.

Let’s start the series with the topic of laundry. I think I can say with utmost certainty that laundry day is the most dreadful of the chores on campus. There is no way out of it either — you must have clean clothes. Considering we could only bring as much as we could drag through the airport, we must all be outfit repeaters. Once the laundry basket fills up, it’s time to prepare for laundry day. In the residence building most of us are staying in, called Lafayette, there is a laundry room on the ground floor that everyone shares. This room has three washing machines, three dryers, and a little machine against the wall where you pay. A single load in the washer costs 3€ and a load in the dryer costs 1€. In total, this amounts to 4€ or $4.20 in US dollars according to the current currency exchange rate. However, if you are like me and can’t bring yourself to mix your colors with your whites, then you must do a second load in the washer, but it will still likely all fit in the dryer. However, the dryers are a little different than the ones in the United States. My professor called it “European dry” which is the term used to express how the dryers in Europe leave the clothes damp after the cycle is over. To tackle this, most Europeans use drying racks or clotheslines outside their home. The hot European sun handles the rest. However, we live in an apartment-style building that does not have access to outdoor clotheslines. So, the only options for you as students are to either buy a drying rack from the local store, put your clothes in the dryer as many times as needed, or decorate your room with your clothes until they dry. The drying rack in the local French version of a Walmart is 25€. This seemed a little pricey to me considering it will likely not fit all of my clothes on it anyway, so I simply do anywhere between two and three loads in the dryer depending on how many clothes I stuff in there. This seemed like the best option to me because then I could put all my clothes away immediately instead of having clothes spread around for a couple of days.

I hope this helps all the future students looking to study abroad here at Georgia Tech. Stay tuned for the next topic about household duties in the dorm.



Curating a Sense of Self

Written by Swati

March 24th 2023

Much of our twenties culminate to a strong sense of self, or a person we come to recognize as we grow older. Some people are known as “too much,” having opinions on every little thing, whereas others are so easygoing and blend in so well they barely exist at all. The overarching light behind studying abroad is the ability to pick up stories and experiences from different corners of Europe. From chatting in pre-med to seat partners in chocolate making classes in Belgium to fumbling through a French conversation with women from Montreal along the Portuguese riviera, pretty soon we’ll all be friends of friends that cover the globe. 

In Florence I found a quote by Doris Lessing that has stayed with me over the past few weeks, “Pensa in modo sbagliato, se vuoi, ma pensa con la tua testa.” Think wrong if you will, but think for yourself. 

Doris Lessing was also a citizen of the world. Born to British-Zimbabwean parents in Tehran, Iran, she lived in Southern Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe) before moving to London, where she spent the rest of her life writing. It’s ironic that I found a British writer’s quote to be the most moving amongst a wall of quotes from international authors in an Italian bookstore, but the phrase is something I hope to keep by my side for a long time. When you make mistakes, they are yours. When you triumph, those victories are yours. Autonomy and developing a strong sense of self with opinions and desires is the most freeing part of becoming an adult. You are free to explore, free to examine, free to think, and free to observe as you please. Take advantage of that, especially in a place like Europe, where you are peering in through the looking glass. Soon enough, French and the French lifestyle will fit like a comfortable second skin and you will go in search of more adventure. 

Break off from your group for a few hours and do the things no one will join you for: museums that only you find interesting about cars or bratwurst, a hike through the hills, feeding birds in a park, reading religious text in a new language. Some things are just yours and you’ll grow more as a person by fostering that love instead of trading it in for that which others find more acceptable or traditionally fun. 

I recently read “Everything I Know about Love” by Dolly Aderton, a British journalist, whose quippy memoir warns about the lack of a sense of self. She writes about decades of her party lifestyle that culminate in years of therapy where she grapples with figuring out who she really is. Which anticipates the thought: why do we waste so much time waiting to figure out what it is we like and who we are? I can say with full confidence that I came to Metz to break out of the monotony of my life on the main campus, but also to be away from peering eyes. I didn’t want the noise of competition, drawl about internship compensation, and irritation of far too many assignments to reasonably complete to distract from the fact that I will never be in a position to drop everything and adventure ever again. 

Think deeply about who you are, and who you want to be. Run amuck, strike up a conversation with a stranger (during daylight hours and in the vicinity of others-please!), throw flower petals and skip rocks, wave at dogs on the street, and fall so incredibly in love with your life that it physically tears at your heart to have to change it. 

What a wild and wonderful thing it is to be you in a world with millions of possibilities and millions of universes in which if one thing changed, your whole life would look different. In the most cheesy, 2012 Tumblr way possible, be yourself because everyone else is taken. Thanks, Oscar Wilde!

Monthly Musings #2

Written by Swati

March 6th 2023

They say it takes 21 days to build a habit. How sweet it is to know that your body works with your mind to make sure you thrive anywhere you go. In just three weeks you could be good as new. From weighing my own produce and getting stickers to scan at grocery stores to walking up cobblestone streets and deciding that 30-minute walks to the corners of new cities are good for the soul, every place I’ve been to has been so kind to me. I’m constantly surprised at the patience, gentleness, and warmth I’ve received from strangers and the reminder that every problem has a solution.

As always, here are 5 more things I’ve learned over the last month:

  1. Make mealtimes fun with friends! This sounds like the tagline to an awful commercial you just can’t get out of your head, but sharing meals with friends in the dorms make for good memories and opportunities to learn new recipes! Whether it’s a risotto or a simple pasta, sometimes life can get hectic and trying to figure out what to buy for your weekly grocery haul feels a bit too overwhelming. Share the burden with your neighbors and bundle in some time to swap stories about your travels!
  1. Reconnect with old friends and see who you can find nearby. Recently I shared about how I was able to spend time with an old friend from high school, but you’ll surprise yourself with the number of family or childhood friends that are currently in Europe or spent some time here and have recommendations! Keep your community and support system strong by having people outside of the GTE bubble to reach out to and connect with. 
  1. Go grocery shopping in new countries and pick up snacks and easy to eat on-the-go items! If one thing’s for sure it’s that businesses in several countries operate on their own schedules. Some restaurants close in between lunch and dinner, some close after lunch, some open just for dinner. With long days of traveling and arriving in new places at odd hours, try to stop by a grocery store to stock up on snacks and local favorites without the hefty tourist prices. If you’d like a recommendation, I favor Lidl over all of the other ones for both price and quality. Whether it’s a pastel de nata in Portugal or gelato in Italy, grocery stores have their own spin and charm on local classics. 
  1. Take pictures of everything! (Or videos, draw sketches, keep momentos, whatever your thing is.) It’s easy to fall into the normalcy of seeing cobblestone streets and grandiose balconies on every street corner, but I try to keep a collection of photos and journal entries with momentos from each city I go to just to see the differences in architecture and energy between them. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and while I’m unwont to agree completely, each city is unique and having the opportunity to look back on a clear retelling of it is truly something special. 
  1. Try to say something, anything, in the local language wherever you go because the effort is always appreciated. Even if it’s a greeting, please and thank you, and asking if someone speaks English in the local language if you’re truly at a loss for words will get you far in terms of warmth and reception. There’s a reason tourists are often regarded with exasperation and weariness, but showing appreciation and respect towards new cultures and languages will expand and increase the value of your time spent in a new place!

They say it takes 21 days to build a habit, and it’s been a little over 55, I slowly realize I could get used to this life. A desire to live, a desire to survive, a desire to thrive. I realize I’ve talked your ear off about Italy, what can I say it was 10 out of 28 days of the month and few more of preparation. But the sweetness of life is an addicting flavor. Lazy wandering streets and squeezing through back alleyways make the world feel like a treasure box. I’m glad to never know what I’ll find.

The People We Meet On The Train

Written by Swati

March 2nd 2023

The people we meet on the train are Fate’s hands knitting the cloth of our lives right before our eyes. On the way to Venice, a massage therapist from Thailand settled in Albania, hoping to move to Switzerland to join the rest of his family. A couple on vacation from

Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, on a romantic getaway from the cityscape. Fathers wrangle rows of children together, mothers patiently gather tickets and baggage for disembarkment.  The people I meet on the train will be scored on my heart forever. 

On the way to Florence, I could feel Fate’s hand pushing me forward into my life. After a gentle morning in Burano, a fishing village off of Venice with rows of colorful houses and small pieces of handmade lace, I took some extra time to write by the water. I decide that Venice must be God’s favorite place on Earth. Manmade creations meant to mimic greatness I’d assume he respects the attempt, and allows it to prosper. It wasn’t a place where I necessarily found happiness, but where I found that happiness could be found. And with that I took a ferry back to Venice, with more than enough time to make it to my train. Or so I thought. 

How quickly an hour disappears. Delays in turn to new ferry lines, turn into frantic scrambling down Venetian streets, canvas bag in hand, hair whipping through the wind. By the time I made it back to my hotel to pick up my bag, I had 25 minutes to make the 22 minute journey to the Venezia Santa Lucia train station. I had all but given up, but something about traveling abroad alone has instilled more fight in me. If I am to miss a train, I must first attempt to make it. A big problem I had growing up was giving up too early. As it goes with young children who are identified as talented early on, I always wanted to be a natural. I wanted to be good at everything. I wanted assurance that all attempts are rewarded. But the world doesn’t work that way. And it’s alright. Sometimes Fate reaches out a hand. And that’s all we need. 

After clattering my way to the train station, a glass bottle toppled out of one of my bags splattering all over the stoned road. I couldn’t tell you why, but once I decided I’d be spending more than 2 days at Lake Como, I fell into the domesticity of it all, and ran to the nearby Lidl to purchase supplies for a lakeside picnic. The unfortunate thing about going grocery shopping with me is that I’ll always shop as my Indian mother taught me to, looking for deals and purchasing a mix of fruits and snacks. But this meant that I ended up with 2 full bags of groceries that I then needed to take to Venice, and later Florence, with me. I’d managed to pack a backpack crammed full of clothes for 10 days in Italy, but the rest were plastic bags from grocery stores knotted haphazardly around my fingers. I ran to the terminal a mere 3 minutes prior to departure, only to find that my seat was in the last car of the train. In the midst of the chaos, I make the split decision to settle into the second car, and cross my fingers that no one else has reserved the seat that I just claimed. Across from me, I snuggle my backpack, two bags of groceries, and my tote bag. Sigh of relief. I’ve done it. I’m on the train and I will be in Florence in 2 hours. Enter Fate.

Stopping at a nearby station, Padova if I recall correctly, a dozen new passengers enter the train. A woman walks over to the couple next to me, explaining that she had reserved one of their seats, starting a bit of a stir that had me wondering if it was my mistake that would finally be revealed. But Fate would have it otherwise. A man enters as well, gesturing that he has reserved the seat that held my belongings. Eyes widening, I apologize profusely, knocking over my water bottle full of San Benedetto Allegro, a sparkling citrus fruit juice. Lovely. While I’m gathering my bearings, the couple and a nearby train hostess discuss, asking the woman with the original seat reservation if she would be okay taking a different seat nearby, as the train car was close to empty. With an agreement from all four of us in the vicinity, she heads over to a different seat and the man sits across from me, apologizing as well. I detect an English accent and a lack of the normal European distaste towards my clumsy nature. I take the plunge, asking if he was English which led to the most engaging conversation I’ve had in months.

I find that he’s John Armstrong, a Glasgow native and Oxford-educated philosopher, professor, author, and art collector. It’s difficult to read strangers, and with all the stranger danger training I received beginning at age 5, I’ve favored safety in traveling alone. But life in Italy, and maybe in overarching Europe, has an emphasis on most strangers minding their own business, often not starting conversation unless approached first. It gives me a greater feeling of control and ability to walk myself out of unsavory situations or break if conversation tapers off. In fact, the way a conversation begins is quite interesting. It feels too technical to ever engineer perfectly, which is why I’ll always believe Fate led me to that train, that train car, that seat, and that conversation. 

John Armstrong has enough stories to last lifetimes, but I find that much of the work that he’s done and continues to do in literature are along the lines of the realizations I’ve had along my European adventure thus far: small joys and finding beauty in the little things, more specifically why we are pulled to beautiful things like the stroke of a brush in a painting, or a curve of a hand in a sculpture. I’m amazed to have found a writer, but also such a mind, passing through at the same time as I did.  I’ve never quite been able to look Fate in the eye the way I did that Thursday afternoon.

If by chance you’re reading this now, Mr. John Armstrong, I hope you find that opening line you’re looking for to start your newest book. 

The people we meet on the train won’t fix us. But they will teach us, lead us, and guide us into understanding that we are fixing ourselves.

Hopped off the Train at LUX

Written by Swati

February 17th, 2023

When in doubt: hop in a moving vehicle. Wait, maybe not literally. I am a big proponent of changes of scenery, and there’s something particularly comforting about seeing some new faces and watching trees pass from a moving window. Something about galavanting through the world on public transport makes you feel limitless, just unstoppable. 

Many of you know this by now, but public transport in Europe is far and wide. As current GTE students gear up to start our spring breaks, let’s talk a little more about the modes of public transport you’ll be frequenting as a student and how to navigate them! As with anything, understanding train lines, bus routes, and flight terminals take time, but doing a little bit of reading ahead of time will definitely ease some of the anxiety. 

Shuttle: On Monday evenings, GTE has a personal shuttle waiting at the bus stop in front of Cora for students to catch back to campus after their weekly grocery shop! While I don’t frequent Cora any longer (see: C’est pas drôle from a few weeks ago) and favor the much smaller and more palatable Auchan, the benefits of having shuttle waiting to take you back to campus with a week’s worth of groceries instead of making the 20 minute trek back can really make a difference for your shoulders after a long day of class. 

Buses: The GTE campus and primary dorms are situated nearby many of the city’s bus stops running routes to places in downtown Metz like the train station, the Centre Pompidou, Metz Cathedral, and other neighborhoods along the way. Most bus routes can be found on transportation apps Moovit and Omio, but I’ve found Google Maps to be linked to the routes and times perfectly. When you get on the bus, you’ll tap your bus card, a blue pass with options for 1-way, round-trip, 10-way, and monthly passes purchased through Le Met. You can grab a 1-way or round trip pass directly from the bus driver when you enter the bus, or purchase a 1-way, round trip, or 10 way pass at any bus stop downtown! You can also purchase unlimited monthly passes at Le Met’s store downtown, but seeing as how I haven’t quite figured that one out yet, I’ve found the 10-way passes to work best for me. Make sure you remember to tap your card as public service workers frequent buses with a scanner to check that passengers all have valid bus passes that they used to get on the bus. If you haven’t tapped a pass, you’re subject to a hefty fine! 

Trains: My personal favorite! Trains run far and wide and Metz is the perfect location to easily get to different countries and cities, especially with a Eurail pass! It takes less than an hour to get to Luxembourg, my first stop to catch a flight on my spring break adventure, and under 5 hours to get to cities in Belgium, Amsterdam, Switzerland, and Germany! With Paris just an hour away, you’re free to hop on and catch the Eiffel Tower sparkling after class (just make sure to get a reservation beforehand!) 

Be aware that while Eurail passes essentially function as train tickets across Europe, there are high-volume cities and countries you’ll need to reserve seats for! France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal are included in the places that require seat reservations for an extra fee! You won’t be able to board a train to major destinations in these countries without a copy (physical or digital) of your reservation alongside your Eurail pass. 

Flights: It’s no secret RyanAir and EasyJet have European college students in the palms of their hands. With strongholds in smaller airports, expect a bit of a trek to and from these cheap flight hubs. RyanAir runs in several airports in France, but the one you’ll probably see as the most relevant is the airport in Beauvais. A tiny little thing with just 2 terminals, I spent the day exploring Beauvais prior to my flight to Scotland and left a little piece of my heart in the city. You won’t need to get to the airport any more than an hour to an hour and a half ahead of your flight because it’s so small and there’s really only one restaurant inside and another little shop with snacks and magazines next to it. Many tend to lean away from this airport as it is two train transfers away from Metz, but I loved the city too much to have anything bad to say about it. It has a similar small French town charm of Metz with a breathtaking cathedral and tourist stops along the way. Many favor the Luxembourg airport for its proximity, but I’d recommend taking just one flight out of Beauvais if there’s a destination you’d like to go to that flights out of Luxembourg don’t reach!

It’s no secret that the accessible, well-managed, and often clean methods of public transportation make Europe a well-oiled machine. With enough patience and willpower, you too can soon be on 15-hour long train journeys to Prague or Rome! Me on the other hand, I prefer to swap off between trains and airplanes based on time and cost efficiency. Happy traveling!

Monthly Musings #1

Written by Swati

February 8th, 2023

As I’m writing this, I’m sat on the train back to Metz from Paris, watching the sunrise and thinking back on my first month abroad. A month, over already, gone in the blink of an eye. I never want to leave. I want to go back this instant. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a dozen times. we are truly capable of so much just as we are. Weeks ago I could barely string together the words to introduce myself in French and while I’m most definitely stumbling around, I’ve only ever used English two or three times in particularly stressful situations, favoring the immersive style of language learning. I’ve met people from Scotland, Japan, Canada, and different ends of the United States across my travels so far and it reminds me that the world isn’t quite so big after all. I’ve always heard it told to me that fortune favors the bold, but recently I’ve figured the opposite. Fortune doesn’t favor anyone, the bold favor fortune. I’m pulled to believe that we’re all given a sacred few chances that set the course of the rest of our lives, if only we muster up the courage to take them. The things that have proven most useful to me the past few weeks are research and advice- to know and be aware is far more useful than I would’ve thought prior. So much of life is white noise, focus on the things that strike a chord in you. Soldier on and forge your own way, Better if it’s off the beaten path because that’s what makes it your own. And for future study abroaders and GTE students I’ll give you a few tips for reading through my musings:

1. Bring a card holder and only carry essentials! Your student ID, credit card, phone and bus pass are all you really need on any odd day out in Metz or traveling. If you’re here during the early spring or transition months, add an umbrella! The weather is much more overcast and rainy in Metz than many originally planned for!

2. Bring a reusable bag. Shops often charge for disposable bags or don’t have them at all! Purchasing reusable bags embossed in french grocery store emblems is a bit of a shared GTE experience, but I was thankful my mom sent me off with a big post-christmas reusable bag from Bed Bath and Beyond. I’ll always have a piece of her reminding me not to buy the unnecessary trinkets I always end up rummaging through. 

3. Give yourself lots of room to mess up! What I mean by this is to pad your travel time with time to transfer between trains or metro stations, budget time for getting lost or possible delays along the way (at least the first few times, metro and bus stations in new areas can be difficult to figure out! Coming from someone who has taken the wrong line one or two or four– too many times to admit). Public transit in Europe is far and wide and much better than the MARTA could ever dream of being, but it’s not foolproof and there are often strikes and delays. Try not to let a freak accident stop you from catching a connection or flight to a new place! 

4. Be cautious with new foods and favor cooked and familiar foods when possible! While some of us have the stomachs for escargot and steak tartare, it’s always tough to tell how you’ll react to unfamiliar ingredients and cooking styles, especially in travel. When in doubt, look around at who’s in a restaurant or street food stall, read reviews, favor fully cooked food, and gauge freshness and cleanliness before taking the leap. As someone with a very weak stomach, I’ve been lucky (knock on wood) to make it this far without a bout of food poisoning, but I’d advise caution! You don’t want a reaction to an unfamiliar food stall to ruin a trip. Along those lines, spend money on what’s important to you! If it’s a bit of a higher end restaurant, shopping in a popular district, or a nicer hotel, make sure you prioritize because this semester can quickly shape up to be not very budget-friendly.

5. Don’t be afraid to venture out on your own! Being a Georgia Tech student is intense to say the least and many follow the motto “work hard, play hard” to a certain extreme. If you’ve read any of my posts so far, you know that I’m a big proponent of solo travel (as long as you’re being safe and have done the proper research on safe places to stay and people to check in with) it’s easily the best way to really immerse yourself in meeting new people, understanding the lifestyle in a new town, and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. In my case, I find it easier to talk to locals and meet new people on my own. I find a greater sense of accomplishment in feats done on my own and I tend to have a stronger desire to do things at my own pace and based on my interests. don’t be afraid to say no to things you know you won’t enjoy, especially if it’s with people you’re not sure you feel totally comfortable with! 

At the end of the day, this experience is all about finding your footing and it really is what you make of it. I’m a strong believer that you get what you want out of new adventures if you do your due diligence, and what I came in search of is time and space to navigate my young adulthood as I come into my own. About a dozen marketplaces, bookstores, and museums later, I find I’m really liking who I’m shaping up to be.