From Cows to U-Bahn: Bye, Rural Life!

Servus!

I’m Mathis, a 20-year-old French student from rural Calvados in Normandy. I grew up between fields, cows, and apple trees, and after that, I decided to take the leap and move to Munich for my Erasmus exchange. I come from that part of Normandy where the holy trinity is cows, apples, and raincoats… and, unfortunately, the rain part is probably true. But yes, with a completely unbiased opinion, Normandy is the most beautiful part of France.

We have a bit of everything: delicious food, including camembert and other local specialties (Just don’t google “tripe à la mode de Caen” unless you’re ready for a challenge…), a strong drinking culture that is very much part of French life, stunning landscapes from wide green fields to the sea, and a rich history.

The first thing I learned about Germany was that you should never fully trust Deutsche Bahn. Back home, though, I never really cared about being late, because public transport was basically a myth. I had exactly one bus at 6:50 a.m. and one bus to bring me home at 6 p.m… if you missed it, you were doomed. So this is a formal apology to my mum, who had to wake up and drive me to school more than once because I missed my bus after my twin brother spent too much time in the bathroom. Now in Munich, I still panic when I see a train leaving, and then remember another U‑Bahn is coming in three minutes, not next year!

Back home, getting a driving licence was absolutely mandatory if you wanted any freedom. I failed miserably the first time, but finally passed on my second attempt, which felt like winning the lottery. With that little pink card, I could finally move around on my own and study at the Université de Caen. I’m doing a “LEA degree”, a multidisciplinary “applied foreign languages” Bachelor that mixes three foreign languages with subjects like economics, politics and communication. Now I’m here in Munich, trying to push my German to the next level. Speaking is still pretty tough to practise, but I can already feel a real difference in my listening and understanding.

Arriving in Munich felt like landing on another planet. The city was bigger, louder and faster than anything I was used to. Of course, there were U‑Bahn lines everywhere, trains every few minutes and people switching between German and English on every corner. On my first day, I was overwhelmed and a bit lost, but also excited. What really surprised me about Munich is how much green there is everywhere. Parks and trees are intertwined into the city in a way I had never seen before. The Englischer Garten quickly became one of my favourite places, but I still need to see the famous surfers on the Eisbachwelle with my own eyes. At the moment surfing there is often restricted and debated, so I just hope it will be fully and safely allowed again as soon as possible. And to be honest, for a guy from Calvados, there is nothing more surreal than the idea of people surfing in a river in the middle of a city. Moreover, I definitely want to explore the areas around Munich too, with landscapes I don’t know at all yet, like real mountains and huge lakes.

One of my goals here is to try as many different German beers as I can, but I’m starting to realise that might take a lifetime… so I’ll probably stick to the so-called “Big Six” for now. If you have any beer suggestions, let me know!

Anyway, I hope to learn a lot from this semester abroad, make new connections, and that FC Bayern München wins the treble this year… MIA SAN MIA ❤️🤍