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No exaggeration to say that Erasmus changed my life. Here’s why.
I had *never* been to mainland Europe prior to applying for the programme. I did a Law and French degree with the option of spending a year in France. I wanted to improve my language skills... #Erasmus 1/ https://twitter.com/lordrickettsp/status/1342792134185914368
I had *never* been to mainland Europe prior to applying for the programme. I did a Law and French degree with the option of spending a year in France. I wanted to improve my language skills... #Erasmus 1/ https://twitter.com/lordrickettsp/status/1342792134185914368
I thought it would distinguish my CV in the future. It was by chance that my French teacher was from St Etienne - which had an exchange programme. I applied. I couldn’t have afforded it without the EU grant (c.£5k) and was so v excited to go. Felt potentially life changing...2/
Arrived in St Etienne in late August 2005 via Ryanair and taxi to student digs was €50 (still have receipt!). First impression: no one picks up after their dogs, watch every step. My French was so basic really but dived straight in. Intense French lessons before university...3/
Everything had been so smooth. All the paperwork done back in UK, I was in funds & had student accomm sorted. It was bright & sunny. Classes would start in late Sep but for now crash course in French. Met ppl from all over Europe and the world (Japanese/Americans/Chinese....4/
...all seem to be paying extortionate fees) Meanwhile I was being offered French student subsidies (CAF). I had to explain I wasn’t French & was told it didn’t matter, I was European. It all felt so strange and too good to be true. But it wasn’t. Then I met so many wonderful...5/
people, fellow students, faculty keen to help us settle and then Oct/Nov came. Two young boys were electrocuted running away from police near Paris. All hell breaks loose. Cars were being burnt right in front our building, and the same across France’s cities. Was this normal? 6/
I felt like I was in another universe, only an hour’s flight away from Blighty. Debates and discussions about intense topics in a language I was trying to understand left me mentally exhausted every night and excited to wake up the next day! What would life have been like...7/
...for me if we sought asylum here? My life chances would have been worse I surmised. I was being treated different because I am British. Positively different but I know similar ppl like me didn’t get the same, despite being more French than I was British. And on it went...8/
New year, new protests. Chiraq being undermined by Sarkozy. de Villepin’s law led to nationwide protests and I attended them all - soaking it in. I didn’t attend enough classes as protests barricaded the gates. There were multiple speeches daily...I listened & soaked it in...9/
I organised debate forums over dinner (££ was so strong). I probed and asked questions. I was keen to really understand - I partied with Russians, cheap cinema 2x/ week, and played some great football with Spaniards from San Sebastián. There was never enough hours in the day. 10/
I did also learn French very fast as a result. I avoided most of the anglophones. I made a great friend (now a teacher in inner city Paris) who was patient enough to correct my grammar. He explained the politics, the history - he explained France to me...11/
Started reading Le Canard enchaine (equivalent to Private Eye, attempting to start with). Visited the inner cities. The countryside. Reading as much as I could (all of which I could do with my student *loan* & the Erasmus *grant*.) Felt so blessed. So lucky. I learnt so much. 12/
I drove with some Canadians and Colombians from St Etienne to Vienna and back. Stopping to party in Munich and Salzburg there and back. Just magical and boundless possibilities. At a Swiss border check scrutiny given to the non Europeans (all but me) was self evident. 12/
So much more I could add about those 12 fulsome months. 14 years later, I gave a best man speech in French. I am so sad #Erasmus hasn’t survived the deal. Not only did it make me feel European, but it also, for the first time, defined for me what it meant to be British. END/
