Bonjour from Emily in Paris!

Having spent over one month living away from home, I now consider myself just cosmopolitan enough to give my advice on living abroad. Undertaking an Erasmus placement is an absolutely amazing opportunity, but one that is not without many, many, MANY trials and tribulations. As someone who feels they have encountered every problem possible, I’m considering it my duty to pass on my hard-earned wisdom.

A little bit about me before I delve into my carefully cultivated list of rules for studying abroad. I’m Emily, I’m a third year English Literature student from Queen’s University Belfast and I’m studying in Paris at Nanterre University for the first semester of this academic year. As I'm in my final year of my undergraduate degree I can only study abroad for the first semester, because I’m graduating in June and heading off into the world of work - perhaps. My interests are in fashion, media and art so living in Paris is a little bit of a dream come true (especially as I’m writing this in the middle of Paris Fashion Week!)

Introductions over with, let’s get into it!

I found that the application process for Erasmus was actually surprisingly easy! It consists of general information about yourself and then a short section about why you want to study abroad.

When I applied there were 16 options of universities all around Europe; Nanterre was my top choice and I received confirmation shortly afterwards that I could proceed with my application! Then came the jumping through hoops.

Confirmation from my guest university came around three months before my intended departure date in my case - which is doable - however, the months between my initial confirmation and an actual acceptance from the guest institution became a bit of a limbo.

One of the main issues I faced was finding a place to live. I don’t think my mother’s blood pressure will ever recover from how relaxed I seemed at not having anywhere to live for three months. In France, student accommodation applications usually open in July, but with a priority given to French students. Most accommodation will also require a French guarantor, or for you to set up an account with a certified guarantor website. Airbnbs, as expected, are incredibly expensive, and there seem to be more scams than legitimate apartments or spare rooms. We reached out to both universities, neither of which could offer anything overly helpful other than a well-intentioned ‘Apologies and good luck in your search.’

Eventually, one month before arriving in France, I received an offer to stay at Cité Universitaire Internationale, an international student residence in the south of Paris. Phew! However, I was only granted a 30-day stay (with the possibility of extending!!!) as I'm not a Masters student, I’m an undergraduate - but due to the difference in the French schooling system I actually am considered a Masters student in France, but the French school system is a story I’ll save for another day. I deduced that it was better to accept my only option and hope they would let me extend. They did not. After countless afternoons begging a poor man at the front desk, who had nothing constructive to tell us other than that he liked our accents, we managed to wrangle the email address of the supervisor with our good cop/bad cop routine. He was equally as unhelpful and just as unconcerned to see two girls out on the streets of Paris. To cut this rather long tale of continuous rejection - something I’m not used too - short, I scoured Facebook to find something I believed wasn’t a scam, secured the first viewing and bagged a lovely apartment in the 13th arrondissement. I’m rather happy to be leaving this accommodation. I will, however, miss the cleaners.

This particular section is not intended as a rant about the Global Opportunities Office but excuse me if it reads that way!

Visas travel insurance, health insurance, accommodation. What do these things have in common? Yes, you’re right! They are ‘Things a student moving abroad might possibly, potentially seek advice on.’ They also happen to be issues that the Global Opportunities team cannot advise on. Additionally, when it comes to finances, you should receive 70 per cent of your Erasmus grant sometime after you move (I’ve been here over a month and there is still no sign) and the remaining 30 per cent the following September. This is absolutely impractical but as someone who has always believed that I should be paid for existing, the random payment in September 2023 will be nice.

So, in summary my advice is as follows:

Anything you’re sent, fill it out and return it immediately.
Speak to people who have done it before you if you can (like me, for example).
RESEARCH the university - alumni, location, transport, reviews. I was sold a dream of a prestigious, Parisian university only for a Frenchman to tell me it was considered ‘the slums’.
School systems - I’ll go into more detail in a later column but look into the education system of your host country so you can strike a balance of work and play - you are not living abroad to only live in the library.
Find a friend - I’ve been so lucky as to be able to navigate this whole thing with one of my best friends, Blyth.

If you made it through all that- congratulations, I promise to be more positive from now on.

As with anything in life, moving away for any period of time is not easy. I would absolutely go through all the painful emails, useless phone calls, and plain old stress for the opportunity that I have right now. I’m 20 years old and living in Paris with one of my best friends. I get to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle as much as I want and explore one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I can have wine, cheese, croissants and macarons for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The second-hand shops sell Prada - what more could I ask for?

À bientôt

Emily

Emily Hanna is a third year English Literature student and both a Culture Deputy Editor and Health and Lifestyle Columnist for The Scoop