Earlier this month, I began my the French leg of my third year abroad in Mulhouse, a small city Alsace in Eastern France near the border with Switzerland and Germany. My host university for the semester is the University of Upper-Alsace (a.k.a Université de Haute-Alsace or UHA), a small university on the outskirts of the city. It was established in 1975, so it is much more modern than both Heriot-Watt and PUCV in Chile. However, it similar to PUCV in the sense that one must walk up a hill when going to classes! Despite the bureaucracy and inefficiency, the University staff are very accessible due to the small size of the university.
Mulhouse is a small but an interesting city of contrast, with a mixture of French and Alsatian-Germanic architecture. In certain areas of town, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Germany or Switzerland! This is however when you look at the history of the Alsace region, as it has previously been a part of Germany.
One thing I am loving about France at the moment in the transportation. Although not as cheap as Chile (but definitely a lot less hair-raising!), the trams and buses can take you anywhere in the city, including the centre of town, the supermarket or the train station An unlimited pass for a month costs just under 20€.
As well as public transport in Mulhouse, intercity transport is also fantastic. From the central station in Mulhouse, one can travel to multiple destinations across France, Switzerland and Germany. The previous two Saturdays, I have been in both Basel in Switzerland and Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany. I will write both of these visits in later blogs.
Hugh's Voyages and Discoveries 