End of Exchange Report: insa lyon 2009-2010

End of Exchange Report: INSA Lyon 2009-2010

Thank you to the ORA program and everyone else who made this exchange possible

Hi, my name is Kristina Nangle. I am a 3^rd year Engineering student from the University of Western Ontario and I have just come back from spending the last ten months studying at INSA Lyon, in Lyon, France. I’ll start off by saying that no matter how much paper work you need to do before you go on an exchange – and I know that there’s quite a bit of it – it’s worth it. I honestly don’t really remember too much about all the pre-departure work that was needed, but the ORA does of a good job of explaining it. This report will cover what happens once in France, and what I think you should absolutely try out or avoid.

INSA Lyon offers a four week long summer school for all its incoming exchange students to either brush up on your French or to give you a crash course in that language. In either case, I recommend that you don’t miss out on this opportunity. You’ll spend about eight hours a day in an intensive French course, get occasional homework, but most importantly you’ll meet other exchange students from around the world. The summer school is free for full year exchange students, but those there for only a semester are expected to pay for it. Summer school also gives you a chance to settle in and explore your new surroundings. Lyon has an excellent public transportation system, with plenty of trams, metros and buses. They also have a great public bike system called Velo’v you should check out. For 15 euros, you can get a yearlong pass for Velo’v. Also worth looking into is the train discount pass called “12-25” (or ‘douze vingt-cinq’) for discounts up to 50% on most train tickets for everyone between the ages of 12 and 25 years old. As for accommodation, INSA offers on campus living which consists mostly of suite style rooms (your own bedroom, kitchen and bathroom) or shared rooms (your own bedroom, and a shared kitchen and bathroom between you and your roommate). The dorms are a bit old but well taken care of by a friendly staff. Most dorms offer two or three washers, and only a couple of dorms have dryers, so think of buying a drying rack. Accommodation also includes a meal plan to INSA’s four cafeterias which serve your typical cafeteria food – don’t expect anything close to Lyon’s first class cuisine reputation.

Once the temperature finally starts to drop a bit and the French residents come back from their August vacation, school starts up. At INSA, you’re asked to choose one main subject area and are allowed to take courses in one other department if need be (you can possibly make it one other department per semester, instead of per year, if your counselor agrees). Most course descriptions are available online and if not, professors are often willing to provide you with any information you need - their emails should be available online as well. Just be wary of a certain Prof. Ambroise who teaches SB1 and SB2. He’s an excellent teacher but fairly unfriendly verging on rude. Most courses are done by PowerPoint and don’t require you to buy any books, and sometimes provide you with a book put together by the professor. Those books are known as “polycope”. Labs are called TP (or travaux pratiques) and tutorials are called TD (travaux dirigés), and be sure to get old exams and lab write-ups from classmates or older students to get an idea of what is expected. You are required to go to the classes, but if anything, be sure not to miss the TDs and TPs, as most of the work will be done there in small groups. Overall, INSA’s reputation within France is quite good but most international students find the teaching to be average. The biggest challenge with regard to the courses for me, which are all taught in French, was concentrating for two hour long classes with only ten minutes between each class. On another note, if you’re interested in taking up another language while you’re there, there’s lots of choices: German, Spanish, Russian and Chinese to name a few, and some languages are also offered as theater classes.

INSA provides a wide range of activities and clubs for its students which are all outlined in a small book that’s distributed at the beginning of the year. Personally, I joined the salsa club (never having done it before) and had a great time. Best of all, once you get the hang of the basics, you can go to one of Lyon’s many salsa nightclubs! VinSaveurs, INSA wine club, often invites specialists to give a presentation on a variety of wines while you savour them. Melt’INSA is INSA’s international students club run by French students and it’s a great way of hearing about events that are going on in the city. Lyon itself also has so much to offer that I don’t know where to begin, besides to encourage you to just go out there and explore. Go see the ruins of two roman amphitheaters on the hill side, check out Lyon’s many museums, and if you’re interested in the opera/theater/concerts/etc., consider getting a ‘Pass Culture’. It’s a great deal just for students. Lastly, consider joining Jeunes Ambassadeurs. It’s a program sponsored by the city of Lyon oriented to master students, but for some reason also offered to INSA exchange students too! They make it sound like a lot of work, but it’s not and so worth it. You’ll be paired up with a local business leader and will be shown around to some of the best places and industries that Lyon and its surrounding region have to offer. To sum it all up, INSA and Lyon have much to offer when it comes down to extra-curricular activities. And if you just feel like chilling with friends, check out the “Guillotière”, a favorite student hangout right along the Rhone river.

Honestly, one of my favourite things about Lyon is its central location in Western Europe which is excellent for travelling. As I’ve mentioned, you should definitely consider investing in a 12-25 pass before you start travelling around by train – and you’re only two hours away from Paris thanks to the TGV! For long trips, look into getting a ‘Eurorail Pass’ or, once you’ll lived there for at least 6 months, an ‘Interail Pass’ which are considerably cheaper than the Eurorail Passes. For cheap plane tickets, look into the airlines such as Easyjet or Ryanair. Easyjet flies out of Lyon’s airport and I believe Ryanair’s closest airport is Grenoble. You can find excellent deals with airlines if you time it right, as prices tend to fluctuate quite a bit. The only big problems are the frequent strikes (one of the country’s favorite pastimes) and choosing a destination, since the possibilities are endless.

This past year was one of the best of my life. I was so nervous before going there, but once I got there I never looked back. I’ve had the chance to meet people from around the world – which that alone makes this whole experience worthwhile – and to explore the French culture and lifestyle. The best part of the experience are the people you’ll met with whom you’ll discover the French culture, live, laugh and travel with, completely carefree and living in the moment. What I’ve come to notice is that we’re all different, yet at the end of the day, we are all the same.

Good luck and have fun!

If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me at [e-mail]. Cheers!