Letter Home - Nguyen Le

1. In what country and University are you studying?
I did my Double Degree Program at Sup de Co, La Rochelle, France

2. In what Study program are you studying at Centria?
Business Management 

3. What are the courses like at the host University?
In France, there is more student per class than in Finland, sometimes it can come up to 120 students in the class.There are courses about major study where we were divided into smaller groups and French class is compulsory for all the exchange students. 

4. Describe the study culture?
I would say the study culture in France is more formal and more tense than in Finland. For exapmle, we had to call the teacher as professor, monsieur or madam with their last names. During the class, no drinks or food are allowed, even coffee or tea, we had to finish before the class. The study pace is super fast, some subjects are finished within only a week (5 days a week, 6-7 hours a day studying only 1 subject) with a lot of homework and assignment, so it was a bit overwhelming and stressful for me at first but by the time, I got used to with it. However, 1 weird thing i found in France that een it was a quite professional and formal environment, the teacher sometimes cancel the class or allow us to go home early because "the weather is so sunny and beautiful today to stay in class".


5. What is your study group like?
We were divided into 2 groups, French-speaking class and English-speaking class and most of my classmates are also exchange students. The class is really international: 50 students come from nearly different 20 countries. We are pretty close to each other, partly because of we are all new to La Rochelle.

6. Please describe what the everyday life is like in your host country? What do you like in particular?
Most of my days went around the university, the supermarket, the beach and home. On the afternoon which we did not have class, me and my friends will go swimming or sunbathing on the beach with a bottle of wine. On every Thursday, we had the student night so everyone went out to the bars and parties. In the weekend, I mostly met with my friends, cooking dinner, chilling on the beach or drive to Ile de Ré (the beautiful island closes to La Rochele). I also spent good time with my host family, they taught me to cook French food and some French language, I taught them to cook Vietnamese food and sometimes we drove to another city to shopping.
I really like the French way of life. Even though sometimes I complained about their laziness and bureaucracy, the French people really know how to enjoy the life: They love good food (dinner can last 3-4 hours), good wine, balance life-work and having fun with friends. I love discovering new things with other exchang students and adpat into the French lifestyle.

7. What has been challenging? Why?
I would say that language is the most challenging thing during my exchange. Not many people in France speak in French, therefore, it is neccessary to learn basic French for the daily tasks like eating out, doing groceries, paying bills, emails, etc. Sometimes, even the teachers had some trouble speaking English and a French student in my class had to translate. 

8. What has been the highlight of your exchange so far?
I think the most highlight during my exchange is the people I met in La Rochelle. Since we are all exchange students, we are quite close with, always try to help each other when in needand we continue to keep this bond after our exchange period. They literally made my Eramus exchange better.
My second highlight is that I can choose my study major in Sup de Co. And I chose 'Luxury Marketing' since I think it's such an interesting opportunity and not many countriy or universitity offerred this major. I had chance to work with many experts in the luxury field in France and I have learned a lot during my exchange.