My Erasmus Experience - Nancy, France

I travelled to Nancy in France on Erasmus and studied at ICN Business School. My experience was incredible. My journey began by flying from Dublin airport to Luxembourg airport. From Luxembourg airport I got a bus to Nancy in France. This was easiest and cheapest route available to me on the way to Nancy. I booked on one 20kg suitcase for the flight and had a 10kg carry on suitcase with me. I had enough room for all of my belongings in that but when I got there I needed to purchase a duvet and pillows for my bed. I travelled alongside the two other students from NUIG studying in Nancy so they knew the best route making things a lot easier for me. I got to move into a room in the apartment they were already living in. For the trip home I got the train from Nancy to Luxembourg train station, then a bus from the train station to Luxembourg airport, Luxembourg have free transport believe it or not! I flew from there to Dublin airport on a return trip. The price of flights were always under 50 euro, the train cost about 35 euro and the Flexibus costs as little as 4 or 5 euro. I was on Erasmus for the second semester of college so I had arranged to live in an apartment with the two other students in France before I left Ireland; luckily for me there was a room available in their apartment. It was in a perfect location and ideal living space for students. The company was called Colocation City, it was not the easiest to contact and book the room with them because of the language barrier and the need to provide evidence of insurance, French bank account details etc. This was not a university residence but there were other students in the apartments in our building too so it felt just as good as a student resisdence. As a deposit I paid one month of rent in advance, which was 495 euro, this was the monthly fee for the apartment, which worked out cheaper than the university residence in Nancy. In the apartment there were Spanish and French living there too so even by living with Irish I still got to experience the way the cultures of Spanish and French. The registration at ICN Business School was straightforward. Céline Levrechon, the academic office assistant was extremely helpful if I ever needed anything I could send an email or ask at her office. I found Nancy to be safe and the only thing that worried me was the amount of strike action taking place. The tram lines would stop and be guarded by police and military men during these times, which happened quite often. I never experienced it getting out of hand but if it occurred at a time that you needed to get to college you would need to plan in advance and leave extra time to walk instead. The academic set-up was straightforward, because I was joining an English stream all courses are set out previously and you just follow the timetable set out. The courses were split up differently from the way NUIG teach. A lecturer would teach us one module for two weeks and then the next lecturer would teach us the next module. The teaching methods were very different to what I was accustomed to because there was a lot more interaction in the classroom and getting the students to present during class time was a regular occurrence. The college is known for its innovation and creativity, which definitely shone through in its lectures personality’s and teaching methods. The courses were assessed by a combination of online assignments and online exams. This was mainly due to the covid restrictions. The ICN student union organized nights out for the college, which allowed me to mix with students I wouldn’t have gotten to know otherwise. I joined the local gym, which was separate to the college because they didn’t provide sports facilities there. As for transport in Nancy I used was the tram. This cost 10-euro for a ticket for 10 passes or there was the option of getting a STAN pass, which I never got around to. The university canteen is brilliant value, it would cost 3.70 euro for a whole dinner and a piece of fruit. The most common thing that people eat is baguettes. They cost less than a euro in the local supermarkets, overall the food shopping cost about the same as Ireland. For laundry we had a washing machine and dryer in the apartment and electricity was included in the rent price. I used my normal phone and stuck with my same pricing plan as usual. If I were to do it again I would recommend getting a STAN card for transport if you want the option to travel to college via tram. Use every opportunity you get to travel at the weekends. The city of Nancy is very beautiful so I recommend visiting Place Stanislas, the Old town and any churches you can find. The best part was meeting so many difference cultures that really intrigued me. It was an experience that definitely opened my mind up to the way people live across the world and showed that by all coming together to study we could get along so well.