all the small things

I'm finally starting to feel more settled in to my life here in Strasbourg and have more of a feeling for what the next 3 months will be like. I've gotten over the initial shocks of moving and adapting to a new place. However, despite this, I still feel like whatever's to come isn't clear. Of course, there are classes to go to and a few small responsibilities here and there, but I'm more curious about what else I'll be experiencing and what I'll be gaining from my time here.
I started reading The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton this past week. I feel like there were a few things that he said to which I could relate. In one part he talks about minute observations that he makes in the Netherlands, watching people and observing homes from the outside. He speaks of "anchoring our emotions" to small details that we find unlike what we're familiar with and that we become fond of.
Just this past weekend I discovered that I have attachments to places that I've been previously. A few of us from the Chateau went to Basel for the weekend. This is one Swiss city that I had not been to after living and working in CH for 3 months a couple years ago. Immediately when I arrived, I felt a wave of emotions. Even just seeing the station, with paintings of the famous mountains (some of which I saw on a weekly basis), left me with a stupid big smile. I stared at the departure board and found the train routes with which I am so familiar. Even though I'd never been to Basel, it just felt strangely familiar. At one point in the day, we found a tent in the street giving out free Swiss cheese and Swiss beer. There were people in traditional costume singing. Afterwards one of the men started playing an instrument which looked like a dulcimer (I don't have the greatest ability to identify musical instruments). I listened and suddenly felt sick with myself. I knew that he was playing the Swiss national anthem and for some reason this was stirring emotions. How can such a short time in one place leave me with such significant emotional impressions? I can't imagine what will happen if I go somewhere to which I've been before, let alone where I've lived! I can understand having emotions towards my home in the US, but for somewhere abroad or "exotic" (as de Botton would say)?
I'm starting to wonder what I'll be sentimental about here in France. I'm going to try to appreciate the details of living here and the daily routines. De Botton goes on to say in the passage that to "condemn ourselves for minute concerns is the ignore how rich in meaning details may be." I surely look forward to the day that I can return to Strasbourg in the future and discover what I'm "anchored" to here.
-Maria